WOMAD

Apache Indian & The Reggae Revolution

From United Kingdom

While Panjabi MC was justly celebrated a couple of years back for crashing into the charts with the UK top ten’s first bhangra smash hit, Mundian To Bach Ke, the real trailblazer for Anglo-Asian music punctured the UK mainstream a good decade earlier. After a trio of modestly released but brilliantly executed singles encouraged a strong cult following, Apache Indian (or Steve Kapur as he was known to his folks) scored big in the early 1990s with a string of worldwide hits. The likes of Arranged Marriage, Boom-Shack-A-Lack and Movin’ On were canny creations that fused dancehall with varying degrees of bhangra. Apache’s time had certainly come and Radio 1 rewarded him with his own show, making him the station’s first Asian DJ. He took full advantage of all this attention and paid homage to his musical heroes through a series of collaborations with some very impressive individuals, whether Jamaican (Frankie Paul, Luciano, Sly & Robbie) or Indian (Asha Bhosle, AR Rahman, Malkit Singh). He can now add the names of Desmond Dekker and Pras from The Fugees to that list, as they crop up on his new booming album, Time 4A Change. Revived, refreshed and ready to raise the roof, expect a lively, dreadlocks-shaking performance from the man, charged with all the good vibes and downright danceability of those great old Reggae Sunsplash shows.