Reggae/trip hop star Finley Quaye says he's honoured to be playing in Liverpool after being confirmed as the headline act on this summer's Africa Oye.
He will be joined on the bill by hot Congo combo Jupiter & Okwess International and London based Cuban nine-piece band Wara, among otheres, in the UK's biggest free festival of African and Caribbean music.
Rising to fame in the 90s, platinum-album-selling Quaye topped the UK charts with hits like ‘Even After All’ and ‘Sunday Shining’ and has won all sorts of MOB0 and BRIT stuff.
Scottish-born Quaye (whose relatives include Afrobeat purveyor Femi Kuti and trip hop starTricky) will play a mix of classic and new material when he brings his warm Sunshine sounds to the stage - weather permitting!
"It's an honour to be headlining Africa Oye in Liverpool; Songwriter City as I often refer to it"said Quaye. "It's a privilege for us to be gracing the stage in Sefton Park; a park I often talk about and we are also blessed to be part of such a prestigious event and line up."
Meanwhile, co-act Jupiter are best known in the UK for collaborating with Damon Albarn on the album Kinhasa One Two in 2011.
Now in its 22nd year, Africa Oye attracted around 30,000 in 2013 to the two-day event, and the team say they are "over the moon" with this year’s line up.
June's non-camping festival, funded by the Arts Council and Liverpool City Council, will be bigger and better than ever, say organisers, with workshops, the Oye Active Zone, DJ tent, "world cuisine" and the Oye Traders Market.
Artistic Director, Paul Duhaney says: “There are some stunning artists coming to perform in Liverpool from Africa and all over the diaspora in 2014. We've got more fantastic traders and stalls and of course the best festival audience in the UK.”
The bill also features HAJAmadagascar & The Groovy People who create Afro trance in a project that gathers musicians from across Africa and the Diaspora.
*Africa Oye, Sefton Park, Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd June 2014. 12:30pm - 9:30pm both days. FREE
