UB40 to headline Stanbic Bank Music Festival
Well-known British reggae and pop band UB40 will headline the 2016 Stanbic Bank Music Festival to be held next month in Zambia.
According to the schedule, the group will perform on October 7 and 8 during the festival which is now in its third year.
The tickets for the festival are selling at K1,000 VVIP, K750 VIP and K500 standard.
According to Zambia Daily Mail, UB40 will share the stage with local artists that include JK, Wezi, Pompi, James Sakala, Afunika, Israel and South Africa-based violinist Caitlin.
Formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England, UB40 has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success.
According to available information, UB40 have been nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album f o u r times, and in 1984 were nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Group.
Their hit singles include their debut Food for Thought and two Billboard Hot 100 number ones with Red Red Wine and Can’t Help Falling in Love.
The band’s line-up was stable for nearly 29 years, from March 1979 until January 2008, when front man Ali Campbell left the band; followed shortly thereafter by keyboardist Mickey Virtue.
Another member, Astro, remained with the band until November 2013; when he departed the original band to team up with Campbell and Virtue in a new version of UB40.
In 2014, legal advice was sought by the original band (now consisting of remaining co-founding members drummer Jimmy Brown, guitarist Robin Campbell, bassist Earl Falconer, percussionist Norman Hassan, and saxophonist Brian Travers, along with new vocalist Duncan Campbell) against the group containing Campbell, Virtue, and Astro over usage of the band name, due to it being used by both parties.
Stanbic Bank is holding the two-day festival in line with the theme Move with the Rhythm.
Stanbic Bank Head of Marketing and Communications Perry Siame told Zambia Daily Mail at a press briefing that this year they have cast their nets wide to not only focus on jazz which is a specific genre of music but to encompass the different music genres that appeal to their customers.
“As a listening bank, we take time to understand our customer’s needs and lifestyle, which is part of the reason we have hosted the Stanbic Jazz Festival over the last two years and have presented artists of international repute such as Hugh Masekela, Oliver Mtukudzi, Mi Casa, Earl Klugh, Zonke and varied local artists,” Siame said.
He said as part of the Standard Bank Group, which is a big sponsor of arts and culture across the African continent such as the Joy of Jazz in South Africa and other jazz festivals in Malawi and Ghana, Stanbic Bank Zambia is poised to lift the Stanbic Music Festival.
National Arts Council (NAC) Director Adrian Chipindi said they were happy to partner with Stanbic to promote the arts through a festival such as the Stanbic Music Festival.
Several people including Malawians writing on social media have indicated that they will attend the festival to watch UB40.
Meanwhile, it is not yet clear as to when Standard Bank in the country will hold its event which was rebranded from Joy of Jazz to Blue Mingoli.
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