What

The Urban Fusion 2 project followed up the first Urban Fusion project that brought local musicians together who wanted to get involved in a music project. The end result was a CD fusing together the diverse talents of a sample of artists.

Urban Fusion 2 wanted to go a step further and provided musicians from the Harehills and Burmantofts areas of Leeds with the unique opportunity to work with professionals from the industry.

Who

The project targeted diverse communities from the area who ordinarily would not have much contact with each other. The aim was to create a fusion of musical styles through the integration of the musicians' traditions and to develop the musicians' key technical skills.

Alan Payne live at the HiFi Club (Photo © Paul Harness)

Interested musicians from those areas were invited to meet the professionals at drop-in-sessions. Experienced musicians started to collaborate with less experienced artists and worked with them in individual workshops to achieve their personal objectives and create new sounds.

The result was the Urban Fusion 2 CD, revealing all the flair, ability and feeling that exists in the Leeds urban music scene.

Where

Urban Fusion 2 also presented a live showcase in the HiFi Club featuring DJX, bongos and congas player Alan Payne, J. Bravo, Norty, CAUSnFX and The Red Eye Funktion.

The project formed part of arts@leeds - Leeds City Council's initiative aimed at broadening access to creative opportunities.

Since the project has ended the musicians involved have had opportunities to play on the radio and perform live at a variety of venues.