Womad

Atongo Zimba

From Fela's warm-up act to WOMAD favourite

When it comes to paying your dues, few have better credentials than Ghana's Atongo Zimba. As a young man in the late '80s, he made his way to the Nigerian capital Lagos. Busking in a local market, he was spotted by a representative from Fela Kuti's club The Shrine and spent 18 months as the warm-up act for the great man at this, the legendary headquarters of Afrobeat. He might have only been paid a dollar a show but he'd have probably played for free - to perform at The Shrine was a dream come true for it was the lure of Fela's music that had first led him to leave the countryside of Ghana and travel around West Africa. Back in Ghana in the '90s, he became busy on the local music scene, playing in different groups and becoming a familiar voice on radio and television, before moving to London in 2003. Since then, he's become a prominent figure in the cultural life of the UK's African communities.

Biog by Nigel Williamson