大象传媒

Senegalese musician Mame Ndiack collaborated with Scottish DJ and producer Brian D'Souza (also known as Auntie Flo) when the two of them met in Uganda. The result is The Soniferous Garden, an evocative and compelling record which combines traditional African instruments with club-friendly beats.

When Global Beats invited D'Souza to take part in the Scotland edition, he saw an opportunity: Mame Ndiack just happened to be in the Netherlands. Surely it couldn't be that difficult to fly him to Edinburgh? That way, the duo could perform together in front of a live audience for the first time and give 大象传媒 World Service listeners an exclusive experience.

But, as any African who has attempted to get a UK visa will agree, it was quite something to pull this off in three weeks. Ndiack had to travel from Amsterdam to lodge his application in Dusseldorf. There, thanks to his considerable charm, complete strangers helped him jump through one bureaucratic, technological or financial hurdle after another. As Ndiack puts it, he is no good with computers.

The express visa was supposed to take five days to arrive, but the day before the Global Beats show, it had still not arrived. After several inconclusive and expensive phone calls to the UK immigration service, on the morning of the show Ndiack decided to have one last try and set off first thing for Dusseldorf - only to be told that the visa had just been sent by courier to Amsterdam! He did a U-turn, intercepted the courier at Amsterdam airport and, passport in hand, jumped on the first plane to Edinburgh. He landed on Scottish soil less than an hour before the show began, and battled through festival traffic to take the stage. He was cool as a cucumber throughout and delighted the audience with his performance.

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