World Exclusive:
Vieux Farka Touré & Pee Wee Ellis

"Touré is an excellent guitarist and singer, already fully-formed, and a songwriter of great depth. Not just one to watch for the future, but one who's already here."
Chris Nickson

"The king is dead, long live the king!"
London Evening Standard

Vieux Farka Touré, son of Grammy-winning Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré, plays his first ever headline gig in the UK at the Cheese and Grain on Sunday 8 July (Event 0820).

Vieux's self-titled debut album was recently released to worldwide critical acclaim. As Dennis Rozanski from BluesRag said, "Mali has a new guitar god, and his name is Vieux Farka Toure." Vieux displays extraordinary expressiveness, virtuosity and flair, with blues-inflected lead and rhythm guitar subtly bridging the gap between old and new, adding hints of reggae, funk and rock, with an underlying feel of Malian desert and delta blues. Appealing to fans of both modern and traditional African music, western guitar music and almost everything in-between, Vieux Farka Touré writes beautiful, passionate tunes and sings them with a grace and joy that is refreshing and memorable.

And having worked with Vieux's mentor Toumani Diabaté and father Ali Farka Touré, Frome's own Pee Wee Ellis, legendary saxophonist to James Brown, will be joining Vieux for their first ever performance together.

Pee Wee Ellis says the concert will be an occasion to both celebrate and commemorate. "Talk about your full circle! Sadly, in the past year we lost not only the great African bluesman Ali Farke Touré but also the man with whom I created funk, the Godfather of Soul, Mr James Brown. I feel blessed that I had the opportunity to work with them both. Now I'm excited to be part of the continuing heritage of both dynasties, by the opportunity to work with Ali's son - and in my adopted UK hometown of Frome! The world gets smaller but the beat goes on."

Vieux is bringing his full band to the UK for the first time for the festival event. As Vieux says, "It is terrific that I am going to get to bring my whole band to Frome, because we have a unique sound. We have players from Africa and America sharing their musical language, which really pushes my music into new, exciting worlds. We are a high-energy group, so I hope you are ready to dance!"

On the evening, African food will be available to purchase from the African Safari Kitchen, to raise funds for the Mama Africa orphanage in Kenya.

This event is sponsored by BiscuitBox Ltd, Café La Strada, Raves from the Grave, Paslode® Spit, Red Star Frome, Anne Furniss.

Pee Wee Ellis - Official website - www.peewee-ellis.com

Vieux Farka Touré - Official website - www.vieuxfarkatoure.com

This event is subject to international travel permits & visas.

See Sunday 8 July 19:30 Doors, Event 0820 for more information