A TRUE giant of African music is making a rare UK appearance in the Midlands.

Salif Keita - performing at Birmingham's Town Hall on Monday, October 25 - has for more than forty years been the goldsmith of modern Malian music, crossing musical and cultural frontiers with abandon, meshing rock, funk and jazz with the deepest West African traditions to forge a modern and original African sound.

The Town Hall show will be Keita’s only autumn appearance and will feature songs from his critically acclaimed albumn La Differénce.

For tickets, priced £26, call 0121 780 3333 or book online at thsh.co.uk.

"Keita arrived like the superstar he is, enigmatic in white suit, white Panama hat and dark glasses; dropping to his knees before his mic-stand for dramatic effect.

"But the best thing about him was his voice. A grainy and searing tenor, its power continues to drop jaws, cause goosebumps." - Evening Standard on Salif Keita at the Barbican.