Ayo Bamidele Acoustic Soul and Folk Session

Ayo Bamidele plays an acoustic soul and folk session at St Augustine's Centre on Saturday 21 November, with the night presented by Meansjoy. Bamidele is an East London singer-songwriter whose sound draws comparisons to Richie Havens, Bill Withers and Tracy Chapman. He plays original songs about life's loves, challenges and joys, and the set is built around his soulful vocals and a self-taught, innovative guitar style.

His songwriting pulls from two distinct eras. He started with the socially conscious lyrics of The Jam, The Clash and The Specials, and later moved towards the poeticism of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Nick Drake and Nina Simone. That shift from the political to the poetic is a good way to get a handle on what he does — it's soul and folk that sits somewhere between the two.

He's been playing live at clubs and festivals for more than 25 years, and he's recently put out two studio albums, The Master Tapes and The Recorder. Both were produced by Brendan Lynch, who's worked with Paul Weller, Ocean Colour Scene and Carleen Anderson. The session is presented by Meansjoy.

It starts at 19:00 at St Augustine's Centre, Stanford Avenue, Brighton, BN1 6EA, and tickets are £15.