Round up: despite a wobbly moment with the weather on Friday morning, the festival was flawless in every other way. Some great bands, clearly enjoying playing to audiences free to dance and enjoy the non-auditorium experience, strutted the various stages. My favourites were probably Alpha Blondy (I didn’t even know I liked his music that much before), Baaba Maal of course and Faiz Ali Faiz among the bigger names. The dynamo Nomfusi was a refreshing blast of energy and the reflexive Samuel Yirga caught my attention among the newer names.
It was great to see the festival so well organised. Almost no litter at all thanks to enterprising children getting money back on empty plastic glasses, the beautiful arboretum to wander through, great indian food and some damn fine coffee made it a real pleasure to be there. Continue reading WOMAD 2011
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)
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
If you’ve not got a sweet tooth for JazZstePpa just yet, watch out as the ‘Big Swing Sound’ takes on the credit criss with this new release, it’s a wise investment.
This is a debut vinyl EP of “rock edges and quick edits, Japanese progressive epicness and a heavy dose of Fela Kuti inspired eternal groove. East African guitar practise hotwired to Zappa-like subversions” – YEAH!
Eclectic former PiL bass man Jah Wobble teams up with wife Zi Lan Liao to produce his best post-Invaders of the Heart album yet, a dubby yang to the yin of Damon Albarn’s Journey to the West Chinese opera
The first recording of the ongoing collaboration between the legendary drummer and the innovative Cuban group is a testament to the success of fusion music.
