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Winners of the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music 2006 played to a packed audience at Brixton Academy on April 7th. The event was presented by Hugh Masekela, with Radio 3’s Verity Sharp and Fiona Talkington. Winners performed and were presented with their awards:
Souad Massi (Algeria) – Middle East/North Africa
Fanfare Ciocarlia (Romania) – Europe
Konono No 1 (Congo) – Newcomer
DJ Shantel (Germany/Ukraine) – Club Global
Sain Zahoor (Pakistan) – Asia/Pacific
Nitin Sawhney (UK/India) – Culture Crossing
Armenian Navy Band (Armenia) – Audience Award
Amadou & Mariam (Mali) – Africa
Amadou & Mariam (Mali) – Album of the Year
Ry Cooder (USA), winner of the Americas award, was unable to attend but accepted in song, via satellite. The Armenian Navy Band was declared the winner of the Audience Award and their founder, Arto Tunçboyaciyan, gave a riveting solo performance. There was also a short tribute to the late Ali Farka Touré, who died last month.
The evening ended with the Chelsea footballer, Côte d’Ivoire’s Didier Drogba, presenting Amadou & Mariam with their second award (Album of the Year). This was followed by a storming set from the Malian couple who have won both critical and popular acclaim for their album, ‘Dimanche à Bamako’.
The whole concert will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 at 7.30pm on Monday 10th April and is available on broadband on www.bbc.co.uk/radio3. Highlights were broadcast on BBC 4 on Saturday 8th April. A compilation double cd is available on Union Square Music.
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