Brunswick Music Festival Unveils First Artists For 2017 Program

The annual Brunswick Music Festival has revealed the first two names on its line-up of acts for 2017's event.

Leading the charge for what is sure to be a sonically and culturally diverse spread of entertainment are Sahrawi singer and actress Aziza Brahim and New Orleans jazz/hip hop/funk troupe Hot 8 Brass Band, representing a brilliantly mellifluous melting pot of musicality even just between the two of them.

Brahim released her new album, Abbar El Hamada, this year, the new work landing two years after her well-received previous effort Soutak. That album ultimately led to her wider breakthrough that set her on the path to ultimately land in Melbourne for March's festival, giving Australians the opportunity to hear her transcendent tunes that touch on the cornerstones of her upbringing: her Western Saharn roots, the Latin rhythms of her childhood home of Cuba, and the influence of Spain, where she now dwells.

The Hot 8 Brass Band, meanwhile, march towards their Melbourne debut on the heels of their latest LP On The Spot. Veterans of the streets of New Orleans, the Hot 8 Brass Band came together more than 20 years ago, in 1995, as a merging of two predecessor outfits. Although they've been together for a score and then some, the band have only just released their fourth album, though don't let that fool you — the celebrated ensemble has collaborated with the likes of Lauryn Hill, Mos Def, The Roots and the Blind Boys of Alabama, and wields a fearsome catalogue of songs delivered with the kind of rambunctious energy and experience only honed over years of gig life in New Orleans. Plus, they do a mean version of Sexual Healing.

The broader Brunswick Music Festival program will be unveiled in late January, ahead of its return to the suburb from 5-19 March.

For more information about the event, see its website.