The Scorpios + Gnawa London

Life-affirming Afrobeat & Arabic funk

Listening to the life-affirming soul and vintage funk of London collective The Scorpios, you probably won’t be surprised to find that many of its members originate from Sudan. Its a truly global band however with backing members from the UK, Japan and Jamaica.

After fleeing the fundamentalist takeover in Central Sudan in the eighties, the band now properly breaks down cultural boundaries with its mesmerizing, funk-infused Sudanese afrobeat/Arabic flavours . Over the years The Scorpios have played UK festivals and venues such as Womad and The Jazz cafe as well as many European shows such as Fasching in Sweden. Their new upcoming album “Lemon Barah” will be finished and released at the end of 2025.

Gnawa London / Simo Lagnawi

The Moroccan musician Simo Lagnawi was raised in the Gnawa tradition and is an award-winning ambassador for Gnawa music. Never afraid to blend non-traditional elements into his work, he always remains true to his musical heritage.

Simo was nominated for 2 SONGLINES awards for 2014 BEST NEWCOMER, and BEST ARTIST, as the leader of different bands including his School of Gnawa London workshops.

He made 7 albums online, 4 albums with himself, 3 albums with EJ band, his first Solo Debut Album ‘gnawa london ‘ released in 2013. Waulk records was featured in Songlines magazine as one of their ‘Top of the World Albums’ September 2013.

He has been to BBC World service ,CNN World BBC 3 ,BBC 6 ,BBC Proms ,Vox Africa & other radios & Magazines around the world & performed at a host of festivals including Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party, Latitude and Boomtown.