Editing Afro Celt Sound System (section)

==Formation==
The inspiration behind the project dates back to 1991, when Simon Emmerson, a [[Grammy Award]]-nominated British [[Record producer|producer]] and guitarist, collaborated with Afro-pop star [[Baaba Maal]]. While making an album with Maal in Senegal, Emmerson was struck by the similarity between one African melody and a traditional Irish air. Back in London, Irish musician [[Davy Spillane]] told Emmerson about a belief that nomadic Celts lived in Africa or India before they migrated to Western Europe. Whether or not the theory was true, Emmerson was intrigued by the two regions' musical affinities.

In an experiment that would prove successful, Emmerson brought two members of Baaba Maal's band together with traditional Irish musicians to see what kind of music the two groups would create. Adding a dash of modern sound, Emmerson also brought in English dance mixers for an electronic beat. "People thought I was mad when I touted the idea," Emmerson told Jim Carroll of ''[[The Irish Times]]''. "At the time, I was out of favour with the London club scene. I was broke and on income support but the success was extraordinary".<ref name="Jim Carroll">{{cite news |last=Carroll |first=Jim |title=Celts get Afro beat |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/celts-get-afro-beat-1.317903 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |date=14 July 2001 |access-date=15 February 2016}}</ref>