By the BBC's Ian Youngs and Martin Vennard in Reading.
Sunday, 29 July, 2001. BBC News Online
The middle day of the Womad music festival saw some of the biggest names on
the bill perform - with extravagant headliners the Afro Cuban All Stars emerging
as the best of many highlights.
And it was not just the global music fans who lapped up Saturday's events as
the activities and atmosphere on offer drew thousands of families to the site.
If they had not heard of the bands before - and some, like Modou Diouf and
Cecile Kayirebwa, are not household names - it was easy to spend a whole day
enjoying a range of worldwide delights on offer.
From global food and craft stalls to a fairground and a variety of
workshops, the music could have become an aside on this sunny Saturday.
The organisers were clearly not just aiming at the world music buffs,
providing things like a cabaret tent - which had a queue hundreds long.
The amount of push-chairs present proved that Womad has become accepted as
the most welcoming and laid-back festival in the musical year.
Non-musical entertainment of a more serious nature was also provided, with
one of the main draws being an impassioned talk by actress Vanessa Redgrave.
She is campaigning for better treatment of Chechens on behalf of Amnesty
International.
The music, however, was what most were there for - and some artists who may
be unheralded in Britain are superstars in their home countries.
Oliver Mtukudzi is a best-selling artist in Zimbabwe, and his early
afternoon performance with The Black Spirits was anything but as sombre as his
band's name suggests.
They did sing of the scourge of Aids at home - and even if we did not
understand the lyrics, the meaning was loud and clear.
Another find in the rich vein of Zimbabwean music was Siyaya.
They summed up their philosophy by saying: "In times of happiness we
sing. In times of sadness we sing."
Starting off in tribal dress, the male singers and dancers in the group
performed a Full Monty in reverse - ending up in Western clothes for a rousing a
cappella finale.
Staying in Africa, the name of Modou Diouf's backing group, Beugue Djamm,
translates as "desiring peace".
But these Senegalese drummers did not give the audience any quiet with their
frantic playing - nor with their dancing, where they imitated birds and animals.
The young folk from Tarras gave the audience a mellow start to the afternoon
on the main stage before Algerian Hamid Baroudi warmed things up.
Mixing rai with music from that country's desert, Baroudi further
demonstrated his musical openness by inviting an Argentinean musician along to
give things a Latin touch.
In the Siam tent, Cheikh Lô cut a striking figure in his blue robes -
and his past collaborations with his fellow Senegalese Youssou N'Dour were
evident in his music.
He too showed his eclectic tastes by incorporating some Cuban rhythms into
his vibrant show.
Cuban rhythms were the flavour of the day, as double bass player Cachaito
Lopez took a 10-strong all-star band of his own to the Siam tent.
Cachaito provided the heavy strings, while the addition of sultry brass and
remarkable vocals resulted in sounds that were funky, seething and irresistible.
But his compatriots would not be outdone.
The Afro Cuban All Stars is a band of the best the country has to offer -
masterminded by Juan de Marcos, who had a role in the Buena Vista All Stars.
And they lived up to their name - performing like stars, all 18 of them.
If this is how they put on shows in Cuba, then British musicians could learn
a thing or two.
With the middle-aged front men dancing like a boy band, it was part jazz,
part rumba, part easy listening - and totally captivating. | 
