"Aisha's solo concert took place at a venue that has been graced by giants of African American music such as Sun Ra, David Murray, Clifford Jarvis, Will Gaines, Charles McPherson, Greg Osby and Ed Thigpen, and within a programme, Re-Verberations, that sought to articulate how Black artists engage with history through the creative process."

Dinesh Allirajah
Bluecoat Arts Centre

It was a privilege to work with Aisha and Bankole, both living reminders of what the arts should be about and how the business of being an artist should be conducted. Aisha's solo concert took place at a venue that has been graced by giants of African American music such as Sun Ra, David Murray, Clifford Jarvis, Will Gaines, Charles McPherson, Greg Osby and Ed Thigpen, and within a programme, Re-Verberations, that sought to articulate how Black artists engage with history through the creative process. In both contexts, Aisha's contribution was memorable. Aisha's choice of material welcomed a multitude of friendly spirits from a great musical tradition into the room, but her singing and playing were completely distinctive and personal. The style of performance was incredibly affecting too. Aisha was honouring her audience, not just entertaining them, and there was genuine warmth and exhiliration in the response she got in return. This was a crowd who had, for the most part, never come across Aisha in person or on record before, incidentally including a fair proportion of opera followers whose main interest in the evening was an earlier Paul Robeson presentation, and yet all who acclaimed Aisha at the end of the night were visibly and vocally uplifted by the experience. It felt like the start of a long relationship with the city and I hope this can be built.

best wishes to both of you

Dinesh Allirajah
Events Programmer
Bluecoat Arts Centre