Musicians of a former time may have headed off to the crossroads in the hope of making a deal with the devil to supercharge their musical offerings but these days the crossroads must be mighty empty as everyone is in Africa. Owiny Sigoma is the result of five Londoners meeting Luo musicians in Nairobi and coming out with some heavy beats.
The Roots make a welcome return to London for their first headline show in 2 years. On the cusp of celebrating 25 years of shape shifting Hip Hop creativity that has delivered to a devoted global community nine eclectic albums driven by bold musical concepts, unique collaborations, and profound lyrical themes that one critic defined as “cold eyed Hip Hop existentialism”, Philadelphia’s favourite politically motivated hip hop/funk/jazz collective will be taking the stage at London’s most iconic entertainment venue, the HMV Hammersmith Apollo. Continue reading The Roots in London on 19 August, 2011
The label that calls itself Year Zero certainly had a bit of a year zero concept when they thought up the musical compilation of a six set history of New York’s musical melting pot; so let’s investigate how high they got on with the first edition covering 1945-59.
Notes:Abigail Washburn and The Village (USA), Afrocubism (Mali/Cuba), Alejandro Toledo and The Magic Tombolinos (UK), Alpha Blondy (Cote D’Ivoire), Aurelio (Honduras), Axel Krygier (Argentina), Baaba Maal (Senegal), Bajah and the Dry-Eye Crew (Sierra Leone), Ballake Sissoko & Vincent Segal (France/Mali), Bellowhead (UK), Bomba Estéreo (Colombia), Booker T Jones (USA), Brassroots (UK), The Boxettes (UK), CW Stoneking (Australia), Danyel Waro (Reunion Island), Dhol Foundation (UK), Dhols of Jaipur (India), Donso (Mali/France), Dub Colossus (Ethiopia/UK), Easy Star All-Stars (USA), Ebo Taylor (Ghana), Gogol Bordello (USA), The Gotipuas, young dancers and acrobats from Orissa (India), Hassan Erraji’s MoRoccan Rollers (Morocco/UK), I Am Kloot (UK), Jamie Smith’s Mabon (Wales), Khaira Arby (Mali), Lau (UK), Le Trio Joubran (Palestine), Mahala Rai Banda (Romania), Majorstuen (Norway), Mungo’s Hi-fi (UK), Nathalie Natiembe (Reunion Island), The Nextmen & MC Wrec (UK), Nidi D’Arac (Italy), Nomfusi & The Lucky Charms (South Africa), Pacific Curls (New Zealand), Penguin Café (UK), Rodrigo y Gabriela (Mexico), Samuel Yirga (Ethiopia), Shunsuke Kimura & Etsuro Ono (Japan), Submotion Orchestra (UK), Susheela Raman (UK), Taraf de Haidouks (Romania), 9Bach (Wales)
Young Tuaregdesert blues rockers Tamikrest follow up their critically acclaimed debut album Adagh with Toumastin.
Music always is a borderline experience. Especially when not only stylistically boundaries are shifting, but the centres of musical creativity are moving.
As part of Southbank Centre’s Festival of Britain 60th anniversary celebrations with MasterCard, the GREAT BRITISH JAZZ mini-series of four concerts is a celebration of some key moments in the evolution of jazz in the UK and the musical movers and shakers that have defined British jazz over the past six decades, since the Festival of Britain in 1951.
Notes:The Freedom Principle: 50 Years of British Impro. Part of Great British Jazz: Six Decades of Tributes, Stories and Impro at Southbank Centre- 19-26 July 2011
Notes:The GREAT BRITISH JAZZ mini-series of four concerts is a celebration of some key moments in the evolution of jazz in the UK and the musical movers and shakers that have defined British jazz over the past six decades, since the Festival of Britain in 1951.
Notes:Abstract. Tribute to Joe Harriot. The GREAT BRITISH JAZZ mini-series of four concerts is a celebration of some key moments in the evolution of jazz in the UK and the musical movers and shakers that have defined British jazz over the past six decades, since the Festival of Britain in 1951.
This year’s programme is packed with docs about musicians and subjects ranging from Hole drummer Patty Schemel, to A Tribe Called Quest, to Genesis P-Orridge, to a record shop in Newcastle Upon Tyne, to Roma gypsies and Slovakians, to 2 men who shout a lot at each other (not so much music as a cult phenomenon), to Queen, to Justin Bieber, to Miriam Makeba, to Michael Nyman, to Siddheswari Devi to more
On Sunday, 19 June, Celebrating Sanctuary London, the annual free festival which launches Refugee Week (20-26 June 2011), returns to the South Bank with a profusion of new talent, including the dazzling Krar Collective from Ethiopia, one-man folk orchestra Rory McLeod, young virtuoso vena player Hari Sivenesan, the glittering harp collaboration “Home is Where The Harp Is” and nu-skool Roma singer Kerieva
It’s good to have something to dance to on a Friday, and Kraak & Smaak’s latest album Electric Hustle is certainly a good album to dance to and so much more!
Subtitled 24 wedding songs from the golden age of Rhythm & Blues and Rock’n'Roll it is exactly what it say on the tin and is the proverbial two fingers to the current wedding day excess.
The anticipation for the first news of the Big Chill line-up has been building up as the weather has been warming up. After last year, who could they get?
The opening track of this album ‘Pictures Of The Sea’ would have been a far better descriptive title for this Balearic beauty of an album so don’t let that put you off cuddling up to Alex And The Grizzly.
