Legendary Jamaican-born singer Grace Jones set for London festival
Veteran Jamaican-born singer and actress Grace Jones.
Veteran Jamaican-born singer and actress Grace Jones will next week be among the highlights during the Meldown Festival to be held at London’s Southbank Centre in England.
Grace, known for some of her earlier songs like ‘Pull Up to the Bumper’, ‘Dor Die’ and ‘Slave to Rhythm’ will be backed by among others London-based Tanzanian-born musician Saidi Tumba Kanda.
Speaking to ‘Saturday Nation’ earlier this week, Guy Morley (Grace’s artistic producer during the festival) confirmed that she would stage a special one-off show at the Royal Festival Hall. Also working on recording her number album is London-based guitarist and producer Fiston Lusambo .
“This year, singer Grace Jones is bringing her take to the festivities with 10 days of concerts across the three venues of the famous Southbank Centre,” Guy said.
Notably, on June 14, Fiston and Saidi will perform in a collaboration with musicians from the Congolese band, The Kasai All Stars, and UK dance-music superstars Hot Chip at Royal Festival Hall.
Also expected to perform during the festival, according to Guy, is Dave Okumu ,a UK- based producer and musician of Kenyan heritage..
Others expected to perform are Beninese music star Angelique Kidjo, John Grant, Sky Ferreira, Baaba Maal, Peaches, Skunk Anansie, Meshell Ndegeocello, Oumou Sangaré, The Love Unlimited Synth Orchestra, Lee Fields and a special tribute to Lee ‘Scratch Perry’ by Adrian Sherwood.
Angelique will present her new work, ‘Mother Nature’, during a show on June 12. She has garnered global acclaim for her unique blend of West African traditional music with soul and R&B beats.
Sky Ferreira will perform during Grace Jones’ Meltdown show on June 16.
The 27th edition of the Meltdown Festival will run from next Friday to June 19. London's Southbank Centre is an established part of the UK's cultural landscape. Each year, they feature a host of big names in the industry. In previous years, the honour has fallen to, among many others, Nile Rogers (2019), David Byrne (2015), Yoko Ono (2013) and David Bowie (2002).
