The Audience Award One of the main awards has now been decided by you the audience. The winner will be announced at the Poll Winners concert in March. A huge thanks to all those who contributed. It was wonderful to see such a wide-ranging list of nominations (left) and the way so many of the musicians have touched your lives.
Here are the bands who were voted onto the final shortlist. Click on each name to read more about them and click on the 'listen' icon to hear a selected track from each band. A large selection of your comments can be found by clicking on the list to the left.
Gina Hendry, London:
'Brilliant collaboration between a couple of giants of understated talent.'
Mick Coleman, Swansea:
'He is one of the unsung heroes of Congolese music. He nearly died 18 months ago. Thankfully he recovered and I had the pleasure and delight of booking him and Adan Pedroso for a concert in that well known cultural desert, Swansea, early in 2002. All those that were there were stunned by this magical guitarist including myself. He also released a delightful collaboration with the Cuban tres player Papi Oviedo this year. "Bana Congo" emphasises the link between cuban rumba and cuban music. All strength to their respective talents and best wishes to "Nono" for 2003. He's a lovely man as well as a majestic musician.
