African music rocks!... So will tell you the innumerable white-noise lovers (taking a break from their beloved distortion and reverb) filling Amadou and Mariam's shows of late... But however great the blind couple of Mali are, there is so much more to African music as celeb chef and musician, Lloyd Grossman, recently confirmed by rating Cameroonian Jazz bassist, Richard Bona in a recent interview.

London African Music Festival 2010

And the London African Music Festival, now in its eighth edition, will give all you curious cats yet another opportunity to discover and appreciate the diversity and richness of African sounds, as it will take place in September, from the 10th to the 25th.

Hosted across five key music venues that are the Southbank Centre, the Bloomsbury Theatre, Jazz Café, Rich Mix and Stratford Circus, the London African Music Festival will see a line-up counting the likes of The London Community Gospel Choir, The Master Drummers of Africa, Sudanese jazzstress Amira Kheir, The African Jazz Allstars, The Yoruba Women Choir, London-based Cape-verdean songstress Carmen Souza, Cuban jazz pianist Omar Sosa, Hip Hop collective We Are Africans (featuring JJC, Smokey, S.O. Simple, M.P. aka Masta Plan + DJs), the Afro-pop pioneers of Osibisa who close proceedings on 24th September at Stratford Circus, and many more. Also expect some headliners of choice in MC Solaar, Cheick Tidiane Seck and Dennis Bovell.

MC Solaar

In a recent interview, after gracing the city with three consecutive shows at the Jazz Café earlier this year, the Paris-based Chadian rapper, had promised he would make his visits less sporadic, so there he is opening festivities on 10th September, at the Southbank's Queen Elizabeth Hall, for which tickets are already on sale and cost £20.00.

Dennis Bovell

The revered Barbadian bassist/record producer and founding member of the defunct reggae dub outfit, Matumbi, will take to the stage of the Rich Mix on 16th September, to deliver a live masterclass of dub-and-bass-heavy grooves.

Cheick Tidiane Seck

The favourite collaborator of many artists, from his fellow nationals, Salif Keita, Amadou and Mariam and Omou Sangare to jazz heavyweights Dee Dee Bridgewater and Ornette Coleman, Malian organist, Cheick Tidiane Seck, will guarantee an enchanting performance at the Jazz Café on 22nd September, as witnessed last December. Cheick will be joined on the night by Guy Nsangué on bass, drummer Julien Tekeyan, guitarist/ngoni player Guimba Kouyaté, djembe player Madou Koné and vocalist Kabiné Kouyaté.

Ticket prices and availability vary from venue to venue - check below for the full list.

Solange Moffi