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Afro Celt Sound System

Afro Celt Sound System image

It has been an extraordinary 10 year journey for the Afro Celt Sound System - one of the most innovative music collectives of its time. In that period there have been many lesser imitators and the global beat movement they pioneered has entered the mainstream.

When Simon Emmerson began to piece together the Afro Celt Sound System in 1992 he had no idea where the journey would take him. But Emmerson's fascination with the link between Irish and African traditions introduced him to three like-minded souls - co-producer and multi-instrumentalist James McNally; vocalist and lyricist Iarla O Lionaird; co-producer, engineer and programmer Martin Russell.

The bonding of these four members turned the Afro Celts from a project into a band. Over the years they have formed an ever-changing collaborative collective with numerous outstanding guest performers who have taken cross-cultural fusion to dizzying hights. As well as core members Johnny Kalsi and N'Faly Koyate they have been joined by a host of names from Robert Plant to Sinead O Connor, Davy Spillane to Liam O'Flynn, Peter Gabriel and Eileen Ivers to name but a few.

As a band they have broken down musical barriers and celebrated musical and cultural differences to create an organic whole out of many parts. They have sold well over 1.2 million albums, contributed to the sound tracks of numerous films - from Hotel Rwanda to Stigmata, and been nominated for two Grammy awards. They have built a formidable live reputation playing to sell out crowds worldwide headlining Festivals at WOMAD and numerous other events.

After five albums the impact and influence of the Afro Celt Sound System remains undiminshed.

Links For Afro Celt Sound System

  • Afro Celt Sound System

    • The legendary world music sound system featuring information about all the albums including video and audio downloads.

  • Capture - Afro Celt Sound System

    • a career-spanning double CD that cherry-picks from the collective's five acclaimed studio albums and divides the glittering proceeds into songs (Verse) and instrumentals (Chorus).