INTERNATIONAL, eclectic and joyful beats dominate the autumn season at a Mossley venue which has stepped up its live music offering.
Congolese and Cuban fusion, ska, punk and energetic soul have also been thrown into the mix of the line-up at The Vale.
Launching the programme on Saturday, September 21, will be Grupo Lokito with original songs telling stories of life, love, wisdom and the joy of dancing.
The band – which will be supported by the Global Grooves Youth Bloco – consists of Congolese frontman Iddo Donnatella, guitarists Shama Shah and Dan Waldman, keyboard player Sara McGuinness, bassist Jimmy Martinez, drummer Ernesto Marichales and Lilli Ahvenian on congas.
Manchester’s Jeramiah Ferrari will bring its blend of indie, alternative rock and reggae to the stage on Saturday, October 12.
Supported by Naomi Kalu, audiences can expect a calypso-ska dance party with seasoned performers Ryan Paul Mario Barton (lead vocals and guitar), lead guitarist Chris Sykes, Hanson Pollitt (bass and vocals) and Paddy Monaghan (drums and percussion).
The season continues on Saturday, November 2, as New York-based Guinean singer Natu Camara performs as part of her 12-month tour of the UK, with a mix of West African soul, rock and pop to weave a tapestry of musical stories and create musical versions of her beloved home.
She will be supported by Shirley May and Clive Hunte, a.k.a Busha Mann, who intertwine poetry and music as influential figures in the Manchester cultural scene.
Winner of the 2023 Glastonbury emerging talent competition, N’famady Kouyate is guaranteed to entertain on Friday, November 22, by fusing Mandingue African and Western jazz, pop, indie and funk. His primary instrument is the balafon – the traditional wooden xylophone sacred to West African culture.
Kora player John Haydock, who has trained with Gambian griot and kora master Jali Nyonkoling Kuyateh for over 10 years, will be the support act.
And the party season will get well and truly started on Friday, December 13, courtesy of Baked A La Ska. The Manchester collective is, in its own words, “a band of assembled oddballs and pranksters fronted by an unholy trio of singers: Frank ‘The Skank’, Tommy Robot and Kuntry Ranks.
Tickets for all of the shows are available on The Vale’s website.