Big Beat

It's the first visit to Ireland of possibly the greatest percussion group in the world. The Master Drummers of Africa (right) brings together 13 of the continent's leading hand drummers for a virtuosic display of the sheer rhythmic variety found there, drawing on sources as venerable, numerous and central to community life as tribal rituals, and as modern as Africa's contemporary carnival rhythms. The group's members have also worked with some of Africa's leading musicians, including Manu Dibango and the Caribbean's late reggae master, Bob Marley, and Herbie Hancock and Elvin Jones from the world of jazz. They will be in Vicar Street next Friday.