Full marks to the Barbican for this one. An outstanding weekend of live Brazilian and African music, in a great venue (with a shoutout to The Shard for excellent work in a supporting role) with too many highlights to mention. Well, almost too many: seeing the legend that is Jorge Ben up close and personal for the first time is not something I’ll be forgetting any time soon.

The weekend’s line-up was incredible all round, and the various Afro-Brazilian collaborations had a good vibe about them –  especially São Paulo rapper Criolo‘s hookup with Ethiopian jazz legend Mulatu Astatke, which I understand was a pretty spontaneous happening.

The only thing I didn’t love, to be honest, was the ABC trust’s mock-up favela ‘shack’ at their stall inside the venue, but then again they do so many awesome things that it’s easy to let that one slide.

So if Back2Black comes around again next year (and I suspect it will), you are strongly urged to get yourself involved. If only to find out how they go about topping that line-up.