African Beat

Since their explosive performance at Nelson Mandela's inauguration, the Soweto String Quartet have been thrilling audiences worldwide with their rich and textured sound - a sound which has its origins in the rich African treasure house of melody and performance. Sometimes contemporary, sometimes traditional, they veer gleefully between township jazz, straight-up classical music and all sorts of genre-fusion delights. Playing 18th-century musical instruments, they succeed in fashioning a sound that is as old as it is new and as exuberant as it is complex. Go along and see for yourself when they play The Olympia Theatre, Dublin next Wednesday night.