Producer/guitarist/visionary/dance DJ Simon Emmerson broke through many cultural
and musical barriers when he founded a group to explore the common ground
between African and Celtic music. Collaborating on an album with Senegalese star
Baaba Maal in 1991, Emmerson was struck by the similarity between one of Maal's
tunes and a traditional Irish air and resolved to explore the parallels more
closely. After some experiments at Peter Gabriel's Realworld studios in
Wiltshire, the Afro Celt Sound System resulted, with Irish 'sean nos' singer
Iarla O Lionáird, flautist James McNally, dh...