Fatoumata Diawara

The music collective rolled into town with performances from Bassekou Kouyate, Jupiter Bokondji and Damon Albarn, among many others, who kept the crowd going all night

Andy Morgan: When music was banned in Mali, the organisers of Glastonbury festival swung into action and invited the country's top acts over. Here's what to look out for

Group calling themselves Voices United for Mali, featuring Amadou and Mariam, Oumou Sangaré, Bassekou Kouyaté, Vieux Farka Touré, Toumani Diabaté and many others, release song called Peace in response to country's troubles

Music is central to Mali's identity – and yet the conflict there has led to it being widely banned. Here, African and western artists pick their favourite tracks from this most musical of nations

Caspar Llewellyn Smith: For his first record in more than a decade, Bobby Womack teamed up with Damon Albarn and producer Richard Russell to make an album that amounted to a career resurrection

The Africa Express tour, featuring over 80 musicians including Damon Albarn and Baaba Maal, finished its epic tour of the UK by train with a gig at Granary Square in King's Cross in London. Among the special guests on the night was Sir Paul McCartney, who joined the collective to play two old Wings songs – and you can see footage here in this exclusive film