"Coming together with a bunch of good people for a good reason and having
fun while doing something good. That's what it's all about."
So says Neneh Cherry, the musician and celebrity chef who is the special guest of Mayday Mayhem,
a one-off charity event in aid of Ryico, which helps support and empower young people in Rwanda.
The Swedish-born singer was approached by the organisers to join the line-up, which also includes Hackney folk-rockers Tofu Love Frogs, Brighton's own ska-punks Los Albertos, The Amigos, Bust The Box, and a performance by Boutique Theatre, with the Liberator DJs playing in the front bar.
Having started out playing with The Slits and Rip, Rig And Panic, Neneh made her name at the end of the 1980s with the hits Buffalo Stance, Manchild, and debut album Raw Like Sushi.
She has just finished her second album with the band Cirkus and is now working on her long-awaited fourth solo album, due in February 2009.
"It's amazing. A million light years later and
I'm finally working on it," she joked. "I'm really excited. It feels like the right time."
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Neneh hasn't been putting her feet up in the gap since Man, her last solo album in 1996.
As well as Cirkus, she has worked with a variety
of other artists, including Peter Gabriel, on his Millennium Dome album OVO, Damon Albarn's Gorillaz, trip-hopper Tricky and Youssou N'Dour on a follow-up to their 1994 hit duet Seven Seconds.
"It's part of my journey and about learning
from other people," says Neneh. "Music
is something you make together with other people. You Ôplay' music. I think in certain areas
of the industry, that is forgotten. Even when I'm making my solo material it is collaborative."
Followers of her BBC Two cookery show, Dish
It Up, know Neneh can also wield a mean skillet
in the company of old friend Andrea Oliver.
"I have always cooked," says Neneh. "Andrea and I started talking about doing a cook book together and somehow managed to blag a TV show.
"We are now working on the book, which we hope to put out next year. We had so much fun on the show. We are just waiting for some more air-time."
Starts 8pm, tickets £12. Call 01273 673311.
This charity event is being supported by the Concorde 2, who are providing the venue for free, and Blanch House, in Atlingworth Street, which is putting up Neneh for two nights for the show.
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