Songlines Magazine (June 2015, #108) by Songlines Magazine

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+44 (0)20 7501 6683 Editor-in-chief Simon Broughton Publisher Paul Geoghegan Editor Jo Frost Deputy Editor Alexandra Petropoulos Art Director Calvin McKenzie Content & Marketing Executive, News Editor Edward Craggs Advertisement Manager James Anderson-Hanney Reviews Editor Matthew Milton Listings Editor Tatiana Rucinska listings@songlines.co.uk World Cinema Editor Yoram Allon Cover Photo Ivan Otis

A vote against campaign songs

week after this issue comes out Britain goes to vote. We’ve been over-bombarded with election frenzy in the media and Songlines isn’t going to speculate on the outcome of the most intensely fought campaign in years. World music is hardly an electoral issue either, but it did get me thinking about campaign songs. Thankfully, these aren’t a feature of British elections, although the Greens came up with a spoof boy-band featuring the leaders of the rival parties and UKIP (the UK Independence Party) bizarrely produced a calypso! Released in the autumn, it was written by former Radio 1 DJ Mike Read, but after widespread condemnation was hastily withdrawn. ‘Our leaders committed a cardinal sin/ Open the borders let them all come in,’ went some of the lyrics, which party leader Nigel Farage claimed were “just a bit of fun.” It was hardly a memorable calypso, but it did make me think of the best song I know about a British election. ‘General Election’ was written by Lord Beginner after the 1950 election about waiting for the results to go up in lights at Piccadilly Circus: ‘For Attlee supporters roar/And for Churchill who won the war.’ The result, in the end, was a narrow labour majority, although I hasten to add that I don’t personally remember that election. But Beginner and Lord Kitchener, both great Calypsonians, came over from Trinidad on the Empire Windrush and wrote some fine calypsos commenting on British life in the 50s. It’s a wry outsiders view. ‘General Election’ wasn’t a campaign song, of course, but simply observation – and is all the better for it. But fellow Calypsonian Mighty Sparrow did write a song, ‘Barack the Magnificent’, for Obama’s first election campaign in 2008. In fact, Smithsonian Folkways released a whole album called Presidential Campaign Songs 1789-1996, performed by Oscar Brand. It includes ‘Follow Washington’, ‘Roosevelt the Cry’ and ‘Buckle Down with Nixon’. If nothing else, it proves that campaign songs don’t have any longevity. Somehow, George Bush Senior, co-opted Woody Guthrie’s ‘This Land is Your Land’ for his election in 1989, which suggests we shouldn’t believe anything politicians say. The best music, on the other hand, is a real reflection of the human soul and that’s what makes it universal. Simon Broughton, editor-in-chief

Contributing Editors Jane Cornwell, Mark Ellingham & Nigel Williamson Subscriptions Director Sally Boettcher

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE INCLUDE

Publishing Director Sian Harrington Managing Director Jon Benson CEO Ben Allen Chairman Mark Allen Published by MA Business & Leisure Ltd

© MA Business & Leisure Ltd, 2015. All rights reserved. ISSN 1464-8113. MA Business & Leisure Ltd is part of the Mark Allen Group www.markallengroup.com Printing Pensord Press Ltd Record trade distribution WWMD Ltd 0121 788 3112 Newstrade distribution COMAG 01895 433600 The paper used within this publication has been sourced from Chain-of-Custody certified manufacturers, operating within international environmental standards, to ensure sustainable sourcing of the raw materials, sustainable production and to minimise our carbon footprint.

JENNY ADLINGTON Jenny is a music consultant who has played a key role in developing artists such as the BVSC, Amadou & Mariam and Manu Chao. In this issue she takes us on a trip through the music of Colombia (p42).

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ALEX DE LACEY Alex is a musicologist and avid lover of South American and West African music. Following an internship with Songlines, he has become a regular contributor. Read his guide to 2015’s best festivals on p49.

MARC FOURNIER Travelling the world through sounds and airwaves, Marc is a DJ and broadcaster based on the west coast of Canada. This issue he speaks to the eccentric Inuk singer and cover star Tanya Tagaq (p32).

Songlines was launched in 1999 and is the definitive magazine for world music – music that has its roots in all parts of the globe, from Mali to Mexico, India to Iraq. Whether this music is defined as traditional, contemporary, folk or fusion, Songlines is the only magazine to truly represent and embrace it. However, Songlines is not just about music, but about how the music fits into the landscape: it’s about politics, history and identity. Delivered in both print and digital formats, Songlines, through its extensive articles and reviews, is your essential and independent guide to a world of music and culture, whether you are starting on your journey of discovery or are already a seasoned fan.

@SonglinesMag

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CONTENTS

27 Khōn from Thailand

UPFRONT

FEATURES

REGULARS

REVIEWS

06 Top of the World CD 08 My World interview

30 Songlines Music

60 Beginner’s Guide:

66 68 74 85 86 91 92 94

11 16 21 23 24 27 29

Alex Kapranos What’s New & Obits Who’s Touring Letters Soapbox Introducing... Afriquoi & Vula Viel Spotlight on Khōn Quickfire: Banning Eyre, Jayme Stone & Olivia Chaney

WIN

Awards 2015: The Winners 32 Tanya Tagaq 38 Abderrahmane Sissako’s Timbuktu 42 The music of Colombia 44 Shikor Bangladesh All Stars & Lokkhi Terra 49 Festivals Guide 2015

63 97 102 108 110

Boubacar Traoré Postcard from Fes, Morocco Gig Guide Subscribe Dispatch from: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Essential Ten: Colombian albums

Africa Americas Europe Middle East Fusion Books World Cinema Live Reviews

Songlines Music Awards 2015 compilation album 30 Tanya Tagaq’s award-winning Animism album 36 A pair of five-day tickets to Larmer Tree Festival 53 Polish Cinema Classics Vol III DVD box set 93

COMPETITIONS Send entries, marked clearly with the competition name, your name, address, email and telephone number to the address on p3 or email: comps@songlines.co.uk. Winners will be chosen at random. Only one entry per household. No cash alternatives. If you would prefer not to be sent details of other Songlines products and services, or products from other carefully selected companies, please state clearly on your entry. Closing date June 26 2015 (unless otherwise stated)

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top of the world

01 Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni ba ‘Musow Fanga’ 02 Gisela João ‘Madrugada Sem Sono’ 03 Lau ‘First Homecoming’ 04 Serenata Guayanesa ‘Golpe y Estribillo’ 05 Niyaz ‘Sabza Ba Naz’ 06 Monsieur Doumani ‘Sikoses’ 07 Le Vent du Nord ‘Confédération’ 08 Alireza Ghorbani ‘Deldar’ 09 Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project ‘Bury Boula for Me’ 10 Spiro ‘And All Through the Winter He Hid Himself Away’

Free tracks

THE BEST NEW RELEASES

FRANZ FERDINAND’S ALEX KAPRANOS’ PLAYLIST

top

of the world

TOP

OF THE WORLD

ISSUE 108 PLUS 5 tracks chosen by Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos 11 Los Corraleros de Majagual ‘Cumbia Campesina’ 12 Ioannis Chalkia ‘To Minore Tou Teke’ 13 Shawnee Indians ‘Shawnee Stomp Dance’ 14 Markos Vamvakaris ‘Mother I’ve Been Stabbed (Mana Me Mahairosane)’ 15 The Ogyatanaa Show Band ‘Disco Africa’

On your free CD – the editor’s selection of the top ten new releases reviewed in this issue

Featuring Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni ba, Lau, Markos Vamvakaris, Spiro, Le Vent du Nord, Monsieur Doumani, Jayme Stone and more... SLTOTWCD-108-onbody.indd 1

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STWCD84 This compilation & © 2015 MA Business & Leisure Ltd info@songlines.co.uk, www.songlines.co.uk Executive producer Paul Geoghegan. Compiled and sequenced by Jo Frost and Alexandra Petropoulos. Design by Calvin McKenzie. Mastering by Good Imprint. CD pressing by Software Logistics Ltd. The producers of this CD have paid the composers and publishers for the use of their music.

05 Niyaz ‘Sabza Ba Naz’ (5:06)

14 Markos Vamvakaris ‘Mother I’ve Been Stabbed (Mana Me Mahairosane)’ (3:21)

SLTOTWCD-108-sleeve.indd 1

01 Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni ba ‘Musow Fanga’ (4:18)

TOP OF THE WORLD SELECTION

07 Le Vent du Nord ‘Confédération’ (3:48)

12 Ioannis Chalkias ‘To Minore Tou Teke’ (4:08)

06 Monsieur Doumani ‘Sikoses’ (4:12)

11 Los Corraleros de Majagual ‘Cumbia Campesina’ (2:59) ALEX KAPRANOS’ PLAYLIST

10 tracks from this issue’s best new albums + 5 bonus tracks exclusively with the June 2015 issue of Songlines

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From Sikoses on Monsieur Doumani

Monsieur Doumani have returned in

For his fourth album, the ngoni master

good form with their second album

takes the integration of African tribal

featuring both traditional Cypriot

rhythms and Western rock’n’roll a step

folk songs and new compositions; an

further with guest collaborators. See p66

ambitious and rewarding project. See p81

02 Gisela João

07 Le Vent du Nord

From Gisela João on Edições Valentim de Carvalho

From Têtu on Borealis Records

‘Madrugada Sem Sono’

‘Confédération’

On her debut album, rising fado star

The Québécois quartet return with

Gisela João manages to create an

another set of flying reels and hearty

emotional vertigo in both the most

call-and-response singing; the French-

dramatic, despairing love songs and the

Canadian province couldn’t ask for a

looser folkloric songs. See p77

better music ambassadors. See p72

03 Lau ‘First Homecoming’

08 Alireza Ghorbani

The Scottish trio’s latest release has

Singer Alireza Ghorbani and his musical

added even more colours to their already

collaborator and kamancheh player

expansive palette for an album of lush,

Saman Samini delve into poetry from the

flowing textures that evolve naturally

20th and 21st centuries for an excellent

through experimentation. See p74

album of Iranian classical music. See p85

04 Serenata Guayanesa ‘Golpe y Estribillo’

09 Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project

Formed in 1971, Serenata Guayanesa have

From Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project on Borealis Records

gathered some of their best-loved songs of

The Canadian banjoist celebrates the life of

the past few decades – guileless and happy

Lomax with an extensive line-up of friends,

music that acted as a balm for Venezuela’s

including Drew Gonsalves and Margaret

long-suffering citizens. See p69

Glaspy who sing on this track. See p71

05 Niyaz ‘Sabza Ba Naz’

10 Spiro

From The Bell That Never Rang on Reveal Records

From ¡Canta con Venezuela! on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Iranian-born singer Azam Ali and her

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06 Monsieur Doumani ‘Sikoses’

From Ba Power on Glitterbeat

From The Fourth Light on Six Degrees

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08 Alireza Ghorbani ‘Deldar’ (5:14)

03 Lau ‘First Homecoming’ (4:39)

09 Jayme Stone’s Lomax Project ‘Bury Boula for Me’ (3:39)

01 Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni ba ‘Musow Fanga’

04 Serenata Guayanesa ‘Golpe y Estribillo’ (5:53)

‘Deldar’

From Éperdument... Chants d’Amour Persans on Accords Croisés

‘Bury Boula for Me’

‘And All Through the Winter He Hid Himself Away’

co-writer and husband Loga R Torkian

From Welcome Joy and Welcome Sorrow on Real World

master their fusion of traditional Arabic

Delving into the poetry by Keats, TS Eliot

instrumentation and electronica on their

and Ted Hughes, the Bristol quartet’s

strongly feminist album. See p87

latest release is their best yet. See p82

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+ Alex Kapranos’ playlist 11

11 Los Corraleros de Majagual ‘Cumbia Campesina’

From Cumbias y Gaitas Famosas de Colombia Vol 1 on Discos Fuentes “Some of the contemporary [cumbia] is alright but there seems to be a lot more character in some of the older stuff and this is just a great song.”

12 Ioannis Chalkias ‘To Minore Tou Teke’

From Rebetika, Smyrneika & Dimotika Vol 2 on FM Records “This is a really wonderful piece of music because it’s a one-off performance. It’s got this really spectral sense of suspense to it that builds up and up until there’s a great

Andy Knowles

climax at the end.”

13 Shawnee Indians ‘Shawnee Stomp Dance’

“ My father’s Greek and so I grew up with two sorts of music – the music any other family who has grown up in Glasgow listened to, like the Beatles, and this Greek music that came from my father’s heritage”

From Spiritual Songs and Dances of the Native Americans on Grammercy Records

“I can imagine [this] being in a club and working really well. It just shows that humans have been searching for that kick you get from dance music for a long time.”

14 Markos Vamvakaris ‘Mother I’ve Been Stabbed’

Turn over for the full interview with Alex Kapranos

From If it is God’s Will: The Very Best on FM Records

“A lot of [rebetika] songs were about smoking hash, smuggling heroin, the treachery of some pimp’s prostitute to him

NEXT ISSUE – Joss Stone’s Playlist

or quite often and in the case of this song, about some kind of brutal death.”

15 The Ogyatanaa Show Band ‘Disco Africa’

Soul singer-songwriter Joss Stone chooses her five favourite world music tracks to be featured on our covermount CD of the July 2015 issue (#109), on sale June 12.

From Ghana Soundz Vol 2 on Soundway Records

“It was actually Paul, our drummer, who of African music... It’s got its own peculiar sound but it’s amazing dance music.”

Shervin Lainez

first played me this. He really loves a lot

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Now Available...

Order any of these recommended releases today, delivered worldwide with free P&P for all UK orders.

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ET Mensah & The Tempos King of Highlife Anthology

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www.songlinescdshop.co.uk or call +44 (0)1689 888 888 *Prices listed are for UK orders. Additional postage costs are applicable for overseas orders, please see www.songlinescdshop.co.uk for details issue 98

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What’s new Views, news and events from around the world

Fela Kuti pictured in Detroit, 1986

Pimp my pop song Jay-Z may have recently caused a wave with the high-profile launch of streaming service Tidal, but the Brooklyn rapper is the latest artist to become embroiled in a legal dispute over sampling. The iconic melody line from ‘Big Pimpin’’ was originally the croon of Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez on ‘Khosara Khosora’ (1960), composed by Baligh Hamdi. The use of the sample was green-lit by EMI Arabia, however in 2007 Hamdi’s estate issued a lawsuit claiming the major label never had the rights to sub-licence the track. The eight-year long legal battle will now go to trial in October. Who else has sampled world music? Jason Derulo ‘Talk Dirty’ samples Balkan Beat Box’s ‘Hermetico’ Michael Jackson ‘Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’’ samples Manu Dibango’s ‘Soul Makossa’ MIA ‘Jimmy’ samples Parvati Khan’s ‘Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy Aaja’ Nas & Damian Marley ‘Patience’ samples Amadou & Mariam’s ‘Sabali’ The Roots ‘I Will Not Apologize’ samples Fela Kuti’s ‘Mr Grammarticalogylisationalism is the Boss’ Black Eyed Peas ‘Don’t Phunk With My Heart’ samples Asha Bhosle’s ‘Aye Naujawan Hai Sab Kuchch Yahan’

• •

Henrietta Bulter

•

Touareg Time Throughout June the Royal Geographical Society will host an exhibition recounting the history of Touareg culture in Algeria, Libya, Niger and Mali from the 19th century to the present day. Through stunning photography, traditional poetry, debate and music, visitors will be given the opportunity to immerse themselves in the lives and history of these embattled yet incredibly resilient nomadic people. Currently embroiled amid

the turmoil of North Africa, the Touareg have overcome famine and political upheaval and are at risk of being overshadowed by insular conflict. The exhibition, curated by photographer Henrietta Butler, will include her own photos as well as others by some renowned Saharan photographers and artists. Robin Hanbury-Tenison, cofounder of Survival International commented: “this event will thoroughly illuminate and explain

the Touareg’s intriguing, vibrant culture – contradictory but sincere and powerful. A timely, important show, and to my knowledge the first major exhibition on the Touareg in the UK.” There will be music from Toumast, Moussa Ag Keyna and singer Aminatou Goumar, who play at the Troubadour Café on June 4. +D ATES The exhibition will show from June 2-20 +O NLINE www.tuaregtime.co.uk

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INTRODUCING...

Afriquoi

Alexandra Petropoulos speaks to the London-based group mixing up African grooves with electro sounds

he Brixton café is buzzing and I’m surrounded by the members of Afriquoi – the atmosphere is alight with laughter. It’s obvious that percussionist Andre Marmot, Zambian kora player Jally Kebba Susso, Congolese guitarist Fiston Lusambo, singer Andre Espeut, and production pro Nico Bentley love working together. Each of them have their own projects and bands, but it’s obvious that their Afro-dance project is a labour of love. The project started four years ago as the brainchild of Marmot and Bentley. “We really wanted to put together a fusion of African music and UK dance music,” Marmot explains. “Nico and I had worked together on a different project, which we used to call Afroreggae garage. That was a fun festival thing, but we wanted to make music that was more serious, more African, but also had more of a UK edge on it.”

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So they started by inviting both Jally Kebba and Lusambo to the initial recording sessions. It’s clear that both Jally Kebba and Lusambo prefer to experiment with the traditions from which they’ve sprung. Jally Kebba, who comes from a griot family in Zambia, tells me that he had two choices when he first moved to the UK: to go the traditional route, or to branch off into something new. “I feel like I need to open different doors. [The traditional] door was already open; I could use it any time I wanted to.” Similarly Lusambo, who was a famous rumba guitarist back home, refuses to be pigeon-holed. “If you say ‘please play reggae,’ I will not listen to you because I like to play music that hasn’t got a name. That’s why I like Afriquoi. At the moment we are playing music people enjoy, but it’s not one thing.” Jally Kebba continues, “this project is a journey between two things. Africa is there, Europe is there, so it’s the meeting in the middle, trying to open completely new areas.” This new area of exploration draws on the traditional music of Africa and mixes it with UK electronic

beats. It’s club music for those with more discerning tastes, and it has been winning them fans at every show. “When we’re onstage it’s like an unstoppable energy force and you know that everyone is going to like it,” Espeut says. “And it’s a really nice feeling to know before you go onstage that you’re going to get that kind of response.” This inclusive, 21st-century musical ethos is reflected in their name, as Marmot explains. “I’ve been lucky enough to make loads of trips to Africa and one thing I noticed is in the French West African countries people would often say ‘quoi’ after a sentence, a bit like the way English people might say ‘innit.’ So that’s a very African thing, and for years I started thinking of Africa as Afriquoi. That was my pet name for the whole continent. But then when this project came to be it made sense to call it that. It’s also basically saying it’s Afro, but so what? It’s African-esque but not defined to any one country or style. So it’s Afro what?”

+ DATE Afriquoi will perform as part of Songlines Encounters Festival at London’s Kings Place on June 5

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Vula Viel

Matthew Wright talks to a new outfit using Ghanaian Dagaare xylophone music as their inspiration

he 24-part harmony is not just about maths; that order of notes is essential for the recently dead to pass on to the ancestor world,” says percussionist Bex Burch, who leads her band Vula Viel (Good is Good) from the gyil (Ghanaian xylophone), in a repertoire of Dagaare ceremonial music. “Dagaare funerals aren’t about consolation: it’s an opportunity to confront difficult truths and explore your grief. The harshness of mourners’ judgements often sparks a renewal.” Burch, originally from Yorkshire, and a classical percussionist by training, learned the traditions as an apprentice to a master gyil-maker from the Dagaare people of northern Ghana. The highly organised harmonic structures, unique to Dagaare culture, are combined with the bell rhythm, found in many other African musical cultures, to create a highly distinctive sound. “Dagaare people really know these songs,” she says. “Musicians serve the community.”

Vula Viel’s music is mesmerisingly danceable and, by Western standards, completely un-funereal. Burch’s gyil – made from sacred lliga wood with gourd resonators – is central. She begins most pieces, staking out the Bell pattern rhythm. “There are only ever two chords,” she says, “and the mother note has to come in a particular place. Other than that, the order of changes is up to me.” And the gyil’s pealing notes have a maternal mixture of the tender and admonitory. The band’s creation came in a creative epiphany. “In December 2012 I made myself believe I’d won £1 million, and think about what I would do next. The answer was, form a band to play this music.” The line-up consists of drummers Dave de Rose and Simon Roth, keys player Dan Nicholls and saxophonist George Crowley, with occasional appearances by vibes players Jim Hart and Steve Burke. They mostly work in jazz and experimental

music, experience that gives Vula Viel its technical confidence and dexterity. Vula Viel has an album due for release later this year. Burch has begun writing new, more loosely organised material, though it’s been daunting. “A few months ago I was afraid of writing anything that didn’t adhere to strict Dagaare principles,” she says. “I had to be brave, and stop hiding behind other musicians. It was an important step.” As well as the Dagaare music, Vula Viel has included Steve Reich’s Sextet in their Purcell Room programme. It’s a seminal piece for Burch, which opened the world of Ghanaian rhythm. Yet the shadow of Reich does not appear to intimidate her. “Dagaare music is more complex than the music of the Ewe People, where Steve Reich went in eastern Ghana,” she notes. “I could sit down next to any of the single Ewe parts and in some way understand what was going on. With Dagaare music, all those separate parts are in one player, and you have to really know it.”

+ DATE Vula Viel perform at the +

Purcell Room in London on June 11 ALBUM Good is Good will be released later this year

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Ta n ya Ta g a q

A Polar Storm

Canada’s most famous Inuit throat singer, Tanya Tagaq, has been stunning audiences since first collaborating with Björk. Marc Fournier witnesses the unforgettable live experience and finds out about her revolutionary ideals

couple of hours before her appearance onstage closing the festivities at the Talking Stick Festival in Vancouver and I am sitting with Tanya Tagaq, a big chunk of seared tuna between us. “You cannot write this piece if you don’t see the show,” Tagaq says. The show is sold out and has been for a while. The event was scheduled in September and then, a month later, Tagaq won the prestigious Polaris Prize (the Canadian equivalent to the Mercury Prize) for her album Animism (reviewed in #105) and if there were any tickets left, they were gone the next morning. “Even if you have to sit on a chair by the side of the stage, you have to see it. Otherwise you can’t write about it.’’ Tanya Tagaq is a force of nature. A small, soft-spoken woman with caring eyes. But I wouldn’t mess around with her. She could transform any moment. When she is onstage, for example. “It’s an involuntary thing. It cannot be controlled. It’s a chemical reaction to sound. I can release my body completely. It is true peace.’’ So what happens onstage? I ask. “I watched one of my performances on video once and I had a hard time understanding what I was seeing. Because what I feel inside is completely different, it’s very nuanced with nice colours and soft paths. And outside, it’s like a monster! No wonder I scare some people. I almost scared myself!” While she first came to many people’s attention in the early 2000s when she toured

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and recorded with Björk, she is now in full possession of her creative process. Born north of the Arctic Circle in a town called Ikaluktutiak (Cambridge Bay), Nunavut, Tagaq is arguably the most famous Canadian Inuk (the singular form of Inuit) artist. Traditionally, the Inuit were hunters and gatherers who moved seasonally from one camp to another and Tagaq herself followed a nomadic artistic path. She first began to practice throat singing at 15, after she left her community to study in the Northwest Territories. She later studied visual arts in the eastern maritime province of Nova Scotia and while there developed her own solo form of Inuit throat singing. Inuit throat singing is not what you would call accessible music. But anybody who has seen Inuit throat singers perform will remember that moment forever. This friendly competition – called katajjaq – involving two women who sing duets in an entertaining contest to see who can outlast the other, has a hypnotising power. Imagine two women facing each other, usually in a standing position, and holding each other’s arms. Sometimes they will do some kind of dance movements while singing (eg balancing from right to left). One singer leads by setting a short rhythmic pattern, which she repeats leaving brief silent intervals between each repetition. The other singer fills in the gap with another rhythmic pattern. The sounds used include voiced sounds as well as unvoiced ones, both

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Ta n ya Ta g a q

Shelagh Howard issue 108

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â&#x20AC;ş songlines

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BENGALI ROOTS

The Language Simon Broughton talks to the musicians of Shikor Bangladesh All Stars and Kishon Khan from UK-based group Lokkhi Terra about the art of mixing up their myriad musical styles

eep in the earthy music of the Shikor Bangladesh All Stars, there’s a curious sound. How to describe it? Imagine the sound of a monkey burping after swallowing a jumping frog... Blagger-blagger-bop, blaggerbop. The instrument is the khomok and it’s a tension drum with a string that’s simultaneously pulled and rhythmically plucked. It’s a talking drum meets an elastic band and used a lot by Bangladesh’s mystic Baul musicians. Of course, it’s the vocals of Baby Akhtar, dressed in a swathe of yellow, and Rob Fakir, with his peacock-headed lute, that are centre-stage and the drive of the dhol drum that gives the music its rhythmic punch. But watching them rehearse in Dhaka, it’s the khomok that adds the special spice that makes the music distinctive. Shikor Bangladesh All Stars will be making their UK debut at Songlines Encounters Festival in June, where they’ll also collaborate with the UK-based band Lokkhi Terra. They will also play WOMAD in July. “We wanted to make a band that says ‘Welcome to Bangladesh’ musically,” says Lokkhi Terra’s pianist Kishon Khan, who has pulled the group together. “It’s not regional in flavour, but features repertoire that is heard all over the country. The folk tradition is still popular and widely-known here.” Kishon has called on Dhaka-based dhol player Nazrul Islam to lead this group of top traditional players. “He’s my guru for all this stuff,” Kishon continues, “and he’s one of Bangladesh’s busiest musicians. If you go to Brick Lane [in London’s East End], you’ll find half the pirated tapes feature Nazrul on dhol.”

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Shikor means ‘roots’ in Bengali and the All Stars include vocalist Rob Fakir, representing the mystic Baul tradition (see Postcard in #106), folk singer Baby Akhtar, who is married to Nazrul, and from the next generation, Labik Kamal Gaurob, who sings and plays the khomok under his left arm. The other essential instrument for Bengali folk music is the bamboo flute, played by Jalal Ahmed, which weaves like the country’s many rivers through the traditional melodies of Bangladesh. Shikor apparently stole the show at Dhaka’s Sufi Sutra Festival in January. The traditional music of Bangladesh is little known in the West. It’s overshadowed, of course, by that of India with its own diverse folk traditions, plus Bollywood and classical, which are also hugely popular in Bangladesh. The Bengali population and language is shared between Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India with the Baul and fakir music, in particular, being common to both. But while the Indians are largely ignorant and uninterested in their folk music, the Bangladeshis love theirs – performed either by traditional acoustic bands like Shikor or in souped-up versions by commercial singers. “In a place where there’s so much illiteracy, literature is taken very seriously,” explains Kishon as we inch through Dhaka’s traffic-choked streets. “You can ask any tuk tuk driver and he will be able to recite poetry and sing songs. It shows how important this music still is.” Nazrul, Baby and their six children live in Badda, “the poor, rich part of town” where I’m invited into their two-room apartment to hear the raw heart of

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BENGALI ROOTS

of Mixing

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Overseas Festivals FES FESTIVAL OF SACRED MUSIC

LA GRANDE RENCONTRE

May 7-10 2015 Music and dance in Montreal Home: Montreal, Canada. Vibe: Canadian springtime festivities celebrating all things trad. Why Should I Go? There’s never a dull moment at La Grande Rencontre. With over 60 events stretched out across the long weekend, you could find yourself perfecting your Louisiana two-step by day and lapping up some fantastic music by night. Acts to Catch: Genticorum, Barrule, De Temps Antan, Annie Lou and Alexis Chartrand & Yann Falquet. Top Tip-Off: Ensure that you’re ‘poutine’ some time aside to try some Québécois specialities. A wood-fired bagel and a pint of Molson will put you in good stead. www.espacetrad.org

AFRICA FESTIVAL

May 22-30 2015 Sacred music of the world Home: Fes, Morocco. Vibe: Beautiful music in and around Fes’ historic medina. Why Should I Go? To participate in this special edition’s focus on the African heritage of Fes. Entitled ‘Fes Mirror of Africa’; this year’s programme celebrates the music of Morocco’s surrounding countries and states. Acts To Catch: Ballaké Sissoko, Julie Fowlis, Hussain Al Jasmi, A Filetta, Fatoumata Diawara & Roberto Fonseca, Masks of the Moon and Malick Sow. Top Tip-Off: The morning forum sessions cover topics from linguistic pluralism in Africa to geo-strategies in education and health development. Join in the discussion! www.fesfestival.com

June 4-7 2015 A taste of Africa in the heart of Bavaria Home: Würzberg, Germany. Vibe: Europe’s oldest festival focusing exclusively on African and Caribbean culture and music. Why Should I Go? Now in its 27th year, the festival has played host to over 6,000 artists from 56 countries across Africa and the Caribbean; it truly is the place to be to experience all things African. Acts to Catch: Habib Koité & Bamada, Oum, Shishan & The Afro Nambian Tales, Driss El Maloumi and Adjiri Odametey. Top Tip-Off: Move over strawberries and cream, a Würzburger Hofbräu and a slab of Leberkäse are the best pairing since Torvill and Dean. www.africafestival.org

DRUGA GODBA

June 11-14 2015 A castle made of music Home: Poznań, Poland. Vibe: The best of Polish music alongside world greats in the grounds of a castle. Why Should I Go? Poznań’s Zamek Culture Centre hold 2,000 events a year and this is up with the best of them. Beautiful surroundings, beautiful people and a lineup that perfectly straddles local traditions and sounds from all corners of the globe. Acts to Catch: Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita, Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni ba, Čači Vorba, Lautari and Cedric Watson. Top Tip-Off: Visit the old town in Poznań for a plethora of historical monuments, churches and other stunning architecture. www.ethnoport.pl

May 28-30 2015 Slovenia’s alternative music feast Home: Ljubljana, Slovenia. Vibe: The ultimate city tour in one of Eastern Europe’s best-kept secrets. Why Should I Go? To fully immerse yourself in everything the Slovene capital has to offer – great acts from around the world and awe-inspiring scenery. Acts to Catch: tUnE-yArDs, Hindi Zahra, Noura Mint Seymali, Aziza Brahim, Batida, Silvia Pérez Cruz and Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino. Top Tip-Off: Central Slovenia has one of the world’s most diverse landscapes. Be sure to visit the spectacular Škocjan Caves during your stay. The glacial Logar valley is something to behold, too. www.drugagodba.si

ETHNO PORT

ESSAOUIRA GNAWA & WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL

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Radek Zawadzki

May 14-17 2015 Essaouira festival comes of age Home: Essaouira, Morocco. Vibe: The home of Saharan spiritual blues. Why Should I Go? The 18th edition of this festival holds plenty of promise; intimate beach performances, maâlem’s chants and laments soaring through the public squares, and outstanding exhibitions in the Bastion at Bab Marrakech. Acts to Catch: The line-up for this year includes Aziz Sahmaoui, Hindi Zahra, Mehdi Nasosuli, Tony Allen, and Les Ambassadeurs sprinkled among the countless Gnawa masters. Top Tip-Off: Essaouira’s walled medina has been a UNESCO world heritage site since 2001. Witness this delicately preserved area, full of labyrinthine streets and discoveries at every corner. www.festival-gnaoua.net

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FØRDE TRADITIONAL AND WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL

July 1-5 2015 Spruce up your summer! Home: Førde, Norway. Vibe: A small town haven in the Norwegian mountains. Why Should I Go? This year’s focus is ‘World ConneXions’, and there are some fantastic cross-cultural projects being showcased here. The ‘String ConneXions’ sees four virtuoso violinists from different countries meeting and playing together for the first time. Acts to Catch: Natacha Atlas, Nomadic Voices, Julie Fowlis, Unni Løvlid, Gro Marie Svidal and Totó La Momposina. Top Tip-Off: There’s Nor-way you can visit Førde without taking a hike up Hafstadfjellet Mountain. The view from the summit is outstanding. www.fordefestival.no

SOMMELO MUSIC FESTIVAL

July 1-5 2015 Finnish festival reaches double digits Home: Kainuu, Finland and the Viena Karelia, Russia. Vibe: All things Finnish spread across picturesque villages and woodlands. Why Should I Go? Unparalleled in its presentation of Finnish traditional music, Sommelo is now in its tenth year. From the 45-member strong Sibelius Academy Folk Big Band, to runo song, Sommelo has it all. Acts to Catch: Last year’s festival saw performances from Värttinä, Markku Lepistö and Ruthie Dornfield. Expect a similar array of home-grown artists and acts from further afield. Top Tip-Off: Pop over the border and visit some of the breathtaking villages on Viena Karelian’s Russian side. Be sure to bring your Russian visa! www.sommelo.net/en

AFRIKAFESTIVAL HERTME

July 4-5 2015 An Afro-Dutch bonanza Home: Hertme, the Netherlands. Vibe: An intimate festival on the German border, showcasing African music, dance and cuisine. Why Should I Go? This wonderful boutique festival is set in an ornate open theatre in the woods, is 100% volunteer run, and plays host to an incredible African food market. That is an outstanding feat when you consider the village of Hertme only has 200 inhabitants! Acts to Catch: Kassé Mady Diabaté, Abavuki, Mbongwana Star, Neuza and Sékouba Bambino. Top Tip-Off: Nearby Boeklo is the home of the Grolsch brewery. Bottoms up! www.afrikafestivalhertme.nl

LES SUDS À ARLES

July 13-19 2015 Arles be back (for its 20th year)… Home: Arles, France. Vibe: A week-long celebration of the world’s music in the South of France. Why Should I Go? Each day is masterly curated; La Nuit des Fleuves on July 14, for example, marks the 20th anniversary of this wonderful festival, featuring musicians from Mississippi and the Rhône. Acts to Catch: Taraf de Haidouks, Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club, Rocío Márquez, Batida and Gaspar Claus. Top Tip-Off: The Camargue Nature Park is a must-visit during your stay. www.suds-arles.com

FMM SINES

July 17-25 2015 Let’s go to the beach… Home: Sines, Portugal. Vibe: A beach-break in southern Portugal with a stellar roster of artists. Why Should I Go? It’s not just a pretty face; with extensive covering of transcontinental encounters, the festival’s diverse programme stretches across three stages, and includes a 7,000 capacity medieval fortress. Acts to Catch: Ibibio Sound Machine, Songhoy Blues, Orlando Julius & The Heliocentrics, Chancha Vìa Circuito and Toumani & Sidiki Diabaté. Top Tip-Off: This fishermen’s town is the best plaice to grab a catch of the day. www.fmm.com.pt

TIMITAR FESTIVAL

July 29-August 1 2015 A commemoration of all things Berber Home: Agadir, Morocco. Vibe: Moroccan musical spice on the North African coastline. Why Should I Go? No other festival allows you to experience the Berber traditions of southern Morocco so intimately. Both contemporary and traditional Amazigh artists converge in Agadir for a weekend long celebration. Acts to Catch: This year’s announcements are incoming. Last year’s cast included Ahidouss Tirssaline, Bajofondo, Saâd Lamjarred and Cheb Douzi. Top Tip-Off: With 300 sunny days a year, it’s almost guaranteed to be a beautiful weekend. Make sure you pack your sun cream and shades! www.festivaltimitar.ma

GUČA TRUMPET FESTIVAL

August 3-9 2015 All that brass! Home: Guča, Serbia. Vibe: There is a real community feel; people come from far and wide to witness this crazy brass fest. Why Should I Go? To witness first-hand one of the quirkiest and endearing living traditions in Europe. Acts to Catch: A whole host of incredible Balkan brass groups will perform, whittled down from thousands of initial entrants. Top Tip-Off: Central Serbia is home to Djerdap National Park. The walks and climbs here are simply stunning, if the trumpets get a bit too much for you, and you need a break. www.gucafestival.rs

RAINFOREST WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL

August 7-9 2015 Tropical vibrations Home: Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia. Vibe: An island refuge full of life, nature, energy and fabulous music as part of the Sarawak Cultural Village. Why Should I Go? This festival’s draw has got to be its surroundings. Set in one of the most diverse rainforest ecosystems in the world, Sarawak’s charms are limitless. Acts to Catch: Driss El Maloumi, Lindigo, Son De Madera, Korrontzi, Le Blanc Bros Cajun Band, Kapela Maliszów and Alaverdi. Top Tip-Off: Any visit to Borneo wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre; it offers a rare opportunity to see orangutans in their natural habitat. www.rwmf.net

FESTIVAL INTERCELTIQUE DE LORIENT

August 7-16 2015 Voulez-vous dansez avec moi? Home: Lorient, France. Vibe: More than 700,000 visitors descend on Lorient for ten days of all things Celtic. Why Should I Go? To immerse yourself in the music of the Isle of Man and Cornwall. The 45th edition of Lorient’s annual affair looks to the British Isles for inspiration, and the Breton-tinged music of Cornwall makes a return to its spiritual home. Acts to Catch: Expect artists from Galicia, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Brittany, alongside this year’s focus principalities. Top Tip-Off: A Breton moules marinières is an absolute must for any seafood lover. www.festival-interceltique.com

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Africa REVIEWS

John Bosch

TOP

OF THE WORLD

Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni ba Ba Power

TRACK 1

Glitterbeat (43 mins)

★★★★★

Afro-banjo innovator rocks out but stays trad Over the last few years, Bassekou Kouyaté has revolutionised the gutbucket sound of the ancient West African banjo known as the ngoni, adding electric pickups, distortion and effects pedals to its funky, snapping strings. Yet despite such innovations, his first two albums, Segu Blue and I Speak Fula, were still essentially traditional African records, albeit of an impressively adventurous stripe. His third album, 2013’s Jama Ko rocked harder with a full-throttle roar, a conscious intensification driven by a new, younger band that included two of his sons. Ba Power takes the integration of African tribal rhythms and Western rock’n’roll a step further. In part, that’s down to a number of non-African collaborators, including Dave Smith, drummer with Robert Plant’s Sensational Space

Shifters, lead guitarist Chris Brokaw and producer Chris Eckman. Their presence lends an undoubted rock’n’roll swagger; although thankfully they manage to augment Bassekou’s Afro-rock vision rather than adulterate it. Opener ‘Siran Fen’ establishes the template, as Bassekou’s amplified ngoni duels with the lead guitar over a propulsive rhythm and call-and-response vocals led by the intense, keening voice of Bassekou’s wife, Ami Sacko. ‘Aye Sira Bla’ ventures into Afro-prog territory with the assistance of trumpet and keyboards by Jon Hassell. ‘Fama Magni’ is a traditional African melody, featuring haunting single-string fiddle and dramatic rock guitars, while on the pulsating ‘Waati’, Bassekou’s ngoni spills shards of distorted notes over a razor-sharp riff that builds to a hypnotic climax. A landmark album. NIGEL WILLIAMSON

TRACK TO TRY Waati

GET THIS ALBUM FREE Readers can get Ba Power when subscribing or renewing with Direct Debit. See CD flyer

Khaira Arby Gossip Clermont Music (55 mins)

★★★★★

Guitar-heavy Malian rock with no patience for tittle-tattle This is veteran Malian singer Khaira Arby’s first album in five years, recorded in 2010 and 2012 in various parts of New York state. All of the songs are rooted in tradition, but have been arranged or adapted by Khaira and her band. Electric guitars are dominant, layered up by Dramane Touré and Oumar Konaté. Most of the

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songs revolve around intricate riff constructions, cycling around Mahalmadane Abbanassane’s drums. This is the core of most of the tracks, but there’s a three-song cluster in the middle of the album that features an expanded line-up, with the horn section of the Ethiopian-sounding Debo Band from Boston, as well as Hammond organist Professor Louie. Khaira’s vocals ride high in the mix, but perhaps not as far as they should. She handles her own backing vocals on most of the cuts, building mass alongside the guitarists. The frequent solos are always concise, bathed in a phased distortion, but still somewhat well-behaved. This is a sturdy recording, but the power

and excitement of the onstage Khaira Arby hasn’t been particularly wellharnessed in the studio. MARTIN LONGLEY

TRACK TO TRY Oumou Sall

Johann Berby Metisse Maloya AIO Artists (54 mins)

★★★★★

Maloya master from La Réunion The island of La Réunion is a French territory located in the Indian Ocean, lying to the east of Madagascar, just a couple of hundred kilometres from Mauritius. The indigenous music of

the island is known as maloya; Johann Berby is a well-known and welltravelled professional bass guitarist and vocalist in the style. Apart from playing many recording sessions, he also worked for five years as bassist in the Trilok Gurtu Band. He now performs solo and his first album reveals that he has a very broad spectrum of musical influences: this is music inevitably rooted in his homelands, but with a strong jazz and classical flavour. His personal influences are Malagasy, Mozambican and Indian and in his music there is consequently no single particular style that dominates. Instrumentally, it’s violin and cello that take the lead on most of the songs. There are also some moments of pop and rock that make use of a fuzz-tone electric guitar; and one West Africaninfluenced track that’s a particular highlight, featuring Baba Sissoko playing ngoni. Johann Berby sings in French and Réunion Creole and has an enjoyable and confident voice. He’s clearly an accomplished bass guitarist and the ensemble playing here is deft and highly imaginative. MARTIN SINNOCK

TRACK TO TRY Liberassyon

Manuel Diogo Music of Angola ARC Music (50 mins)

★★★★★

Bubbly Afro-pop gospel Manuel Diogo mixes traditional and contemporary Angolan gospel music: he blends recognisable gospel sounds – from the harmonies of African choirs to modern R&Binspired crooning – with Angolan dance music such as semba and rebita, as well as with folk styles and a liberal dose of reggae here and there. The overall feel of the album is happy and light-hearted. It is very cheesy, but often endearingly so, with Casio synthesizer sounds and drum machines aplenty. As you’d expect of a gospel album, matters of God are at the forefront of most tracks. The album has a bit of a wobble just before the end – a couple of unoriginal and uninspired international-gospel tracks with some dubious tunings – before the last track of the set gets back on form and back to Angola with a bright and soukous-like jive. The liner notes are a little vague on whether Diogo is leading a group here or whether it’s more of a one-man-band operation, but the music he creates is

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Africa reviews as unpretentious as you can get. This is unashamedly sunny music from a man who knows what he likes singing about. Jim Hickson

TRACK TO TRY A Chamada Vai Haver

Cesaria Evora Greatest Hits Lusafrica (78 mins)

HHHHH

A pretty good introduction to the late ‘Sodade’ singer It’s debatable whether Cape Verde’s most successful and revered singer actually had any ‘hits’ as such, and while this is, surprisingly perhaps, the first anthology to be released since her death in December 2011, it is but the latest in a fairly long line over the course of a late-flowering career. Still, for those lucky few yet to be beguiled by the languid drift of Evora’s voice, it does offer a fairly comprehensive look at her numerous Lusafrica albums. And for completists, there’s the mandatory scattering of relative rarities, kicking off with a somewhat upbeat incarnation of her signature ‘Sodade’, which lacks the gravitas of her original (and, arguably, of Carmen Souza’s sublime cover for that matter). Also from the early 90s is a compelling remix of ‘Angola’, driven by syncopated handclaps. An agogô bell and cuica-charged ‘Carnaval de São Vicente’ originally saw the light of day in Cape Verde only and there’s also an early version of what would become her duet with Ismaël Lô, ‘Africa Nossa’. In common with so many Lusafrica records, the production is often too slick, but Evora’s torn-and-frayed melodies almost always triumph over all. Brendon Griffin

TRACK TO TRY Sodade

Kuku Ballads & Blasphemy: The Religious Gospel of Adebola Kuku Buda Musique (43 mins)

HHHHH

Soulful singer-songwriter tackles some big themes Nigerian singersongwriter Kuku has an interesting heritage. Born Adebola Kuku in the US and raised in Lagos, he now resides in France. His influences are intriguing, but at

the same time they result in a record that often seems to lack coherence. There’s a brilliant Afro-funk opener, ‘Wáya’, which features the inimitable, legendary drummer Tony Allen. But it is followed up by a clunky Americana number named ‘Evil Doers’; this disjunction is emblematic of the album as a whole. Kuku certainly has a powerful voice, and it reaches highs on ‘Owó’ and the stunning ‘Is it All a Game?’, which has a wonderfully catchy hook and some nifty guitar work, creating the perfect vibe. But the confused ‘La Dernière Fois’ and overly sentimental album closer ‘If There is a Heaven’ upset the flow of the album. The lyrical content often poses challenges to stereotypical conventional religious practice, but his messages are somewhat lost as the momentum is continually disrupted, and this is a shame. There are plenty of quality tracks, however, making this an album well worth a listen. Kuku is definitely one to watch. His voice has an exuberant tone, which truly excels on most of this release. Alex de Lacey

TRACK TO TRY Wáya

VARIOUS ARTISTS Highlife on the Move: Selected Nigerian & Ghanaian Recordings from London & Lagos 1954-66

dance bands of the period swapped musicians: Nigerians, Ghanaians and West Indians all made the most of opportunities to record in London, and to perform at the popular West African music venues in the bohemian Soho of the 50s. Musicians of the London jazz scene such as Chris Barber and Humphrey Lyttelton introduced African and Caribbean players and repertoire into British jazz. Some of the names will be familiar, but the recordings are tantalisingly rare. Three tracks from young jazz student Fela Kuti are among the first recordings that he made. Other familiar names featured include Ginger Johnson, Eddie Lamptey, Cab Kaye (Quaye) and Bobby Benson. However there is a wealth of lesser-known, but equally enjoyable, artists on this historically significant release. Martin Sinnock

TRACK TO TRY Son of Africa by Kwamalah Quaye Sextetto Africana

Zomba Prison Project: I Have No Everything Here Six Degrees (31 mins)

HHHHH

Close-to-the-edge music from singers in a bad place In 2013, producer Ian Brennan clandestinely documented the music found inside Zomba’s maximum

security institution in Malawi. Some of the recordings are fragments, brief and bluntly sung, but the first few tracks are longer and more coherent. They include one standout feature, in the form of Stefano Nyerenda’s deep voice, accompanied by low bass, with handclaps and ghostly female voices. Then there’s the rickety roll of Ben Masekese and officer Ines Kaunde’s song ‘I See the Whole World Dying of AIDS’. Despite its subject matter and bleak title, it sounds paradoxically uplifting, using just voice, guitar and shaker. It’s the males who are allowed to form bands, while the women are mostly only permitted to sing unaccompanied, apart from the use of basic bucket-drums. It might have been preferable to have heard more than 31 minutes of these recordings, allowing for a greater spread and an increased depth, particularly as the set has been distilled down from six hours of material. Nevertheless, these 20 pieces are a fine selection, even if many of them are faded out prematurely. The opening run of songs is the most substantial part, in terms of both length and content; as we hit the second half, each scrapbook snippet flashes past at a minute or less, creating the feeling that time is most emphatically running out. Martin Longley

TRACK TO TRY I See the Whole World Dying of AIDS

Soundway Records (2 CDs, 112 mins)

HHHHH

When a newly confident West Africa hit swinging London This double-CD set captures the ‘colonial’influenced dance music of Anglophone West Africa, from shortly before and after Ghanaian and Nigerian independence (which the two nations gained in 1957 and 1960 respectively). These were very much the glory days of swing and jazzinfluenced highlife music, in which the typical orchestration was horn-led, in contrast to the guitar-led bands of the late 60s onwards. Many of the songs on this collection also reflect the great influence of calypsos and Latin mambos from across the Caribbean. Plenty of these recordings were made in London and this facilitated the interchange between musicians of West African and West Indian origin. Compiler Markus Coester goes into fascinating detail explaining in his liner notes how the various

Singer Ali Ganda, who features on Highlife on the Move

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*Use your Songlines Digital login for free access within the app. Songlines Digital doesn’t include the Top of the World CD but the Tablet edition includes streamed excerpts from each track (available I S S U E 9 9from › S O#89) N G LOctober I N E S 95 102 Songlines 2010 102-Subs-DigiPage_SL108.indd 102

22/04/2015 14:08

MaY-JUNE 2015

Gig Guide

Songlines picks... Taraf de Haidouks (Manchester, May 15) Romania’s most famous musical export celebrate 25 years on the scene. Alchemy (Glasgow, May 21-24) The celebration of Indian music moves up north for its first Scottish edition. Julie Fowlis (pictured) (London, May 22) The Scottish Gaelic singer performs at an intimate candle-lit concert at Shakespeare’s Globe. Souad Massi + Le Trio Joubran (London, May 31) The Algerian singer will be supported by the trio of oud-playing brothers. Markos the Patriarch of Rebetiko (London, June 11) A multi-media tribute to Vamvakaris, one of Greece’s most important lyricists. Read more on p8. See p16 for tour highlights and p50 for more UK festival dates

London 1 May Ben Audu Canada Water Culture Space 020 8692 4446; 2 May Namvula Canada Water Culture Space 020 8692 4446; 4 May Duotone Servant Jazz Quarters wegottickets.com; Eliane Elias + Ed Motta Barbican 020 7638 8891; Dros y Ffin (Beyond the Marches) Cecil Sharp House 020 7485 2206; 5 May Lucas Santtana Purcell Room 0844 875 0073; 5-23 May Titanium: Rojas & Rodríguez Peacock Theatre

0844 412 4322; 9 May & 12-13 Jun Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 Ronnie Scott’s 020 7439 0747; 10 May Hamsa Rich Mix 020 7613 7498; 14 & 28 May, 11 & 25 Jun Uxbridge Folk Club Hillingdon tinyurl.com/ uxfolk; 15-17 May FestivalAsia Tobacco Dock festivalasia.co.uk; 15-25 May Alchemy Southbank Centre southbankcentre.co.uk; 18 May Chico Chica The Crazy Coqs 020 7734 4888; Flavia Coelho Rich Mix 020 7613 7498; 19 May Tanya Tagaq Village Underground songkick.com; Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino

Rich Mix 020 7613 7498; Olivia Chaney Kings Place 020 7520 1490; 21 May Boubacar Traoré Rich Mix 020 7613 7498; Amira Kheir The Forge 020 7383 7808; 22 May Julie Fowlis Shakespeare’s Globe 020 7401 9919; 23 May Oques Grasses + Gypsy Butter The Forge 020 7383 7808; 27 May Pablo Dominguez & Group Sands Films, Rotherhithe eventbrite.co.uk; 28 May Gaâda Diwane de Béchar Rich Mix 020 7613 7498; Songhoy Blues Village Underground 0871 220 0260; 29 May Gryphon Union Chapel 020 7226 1686;

The Yoruba Women Choir + Femi Sofela The Tabernacle 020 7221 9700; 30 May Lapa in London: Celebrating Brazilian Culture The Forge FREE forgevenue.org; Fatoumata Diawara & Roberto Fonseca Barbican 020 7638 8891; 31 May Souad Massi + Le Trio Joubran Barbican 020 7638 8891; Bassekou Kouyaté & Ngoni ba Scala 0871 220 0260; 2 Jun Mbongwana Star Cafe OTO 020 7923 1231; 3 Jun Yasmine Hamdan Scala 08444 771 000; 4-6 Jun Songlines Encounters Festival Kings Place kingsplace.co.uk;

www.songlines.co.uk/gigs All information correct at time of going to press. Email listings for print and online consideration to listings@songlines.co.uk issue 108

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› songlines

22/04/2015 13:59

Kings Place, London, June 4-6 2015

Mário Pires

Celebrating its fifth year Songlines Encounters Festival features musicians from Portugal, Cyprus, Iran, the UK and Bangladesh. There are UK premieres, first-time collaborations and lots of supremely inspirational music. There will also be film screenings, talks and free foyer performances. The festival is co-curated by Songlines magazine and Ikon Arts Management. This year Songlines Encounters goes on tour, see below.

Fado singer Gisela João

THURSDAY JUNE 4, HALL 1, 8:00PM

FRIDAY JUNE 5, HALL 1, 7:30PM

SATURDAY JUNE 6 HALL 2, 2:00PM

Monsieur Doumani

Duncan Chisholm

She’Koyokh: Kids Concert

The trio (right) play original and traditional Cypriot music with humour and panache. This show launches their album Sikoses, a Top of the World review in this issue, p81.

With the success of his Strathglass Trilogy, Chisholm is one of the UK’s great fiddlers. Traditional and contemporary music from Chisholm’s home in the Scottish Highlands.

Join Britain’s best klezmer band She’Koyokh for a participatory concert for children, introducing music from Eastern Europe with stories, singing and dancing!

Gisela João

Mahsa & Marjan Vahdat

The new fado singer (above) that Portugal is raving about. Her debut (reviewed on p77) was an album of the year in Portugal. Expect traditional fado at its best in this UK premiere. Marianne Lystrup

These sisters (pictured left) are like no other singing duo you’ve heard. Their voices interweave so beautifully, you’d never guess they’re forbidden to sing publicly back home in Iran. They will also do a special Songlines Encounters collaboration with Duncan Chisholm. FRIDAY JUNE 5, HALL 2, 9:30PM

Afriquoi OM

TICKETS FR

£9.50 W ON SALE NO

The Shikor Bangladesh All Stars feature seven of the best traditional musicians from Bangladesh, including folk singer Baby Akhtar, dhol drummer Nazrul Islam and maestro of Baul music Rob Fakir. In part two of this concert, the All Stars join together with the Anglo-Bangladeshi group Lokkhi Terra. This UK premiere will bring the roots of Bangladesh together with Latin dance rhythms. Read more about both bands in this issue’s feature on p44.

Manchester, Bury St Edmunds and Southampton.

Mahsa & Marjan Vahdat also appear at the Salisbury Festival and in York, Nottingham and Norwich.

Monsieur Doumani also appear at Wychwood Festival, and in Swansea, Cardigan, Bury, Morecambe and Wakefield. songlines.co.uk/encounters

Eleni Papadopoulou

A great electro-African dance band with live vocals, kora, guitar and percussion with electronics drawing on house, dubstep and hip-hop. Read more about them on p24.

SATURDAY JUNE 6 HALL 1, 7:30PM

Shikor Bangladesh All Stars & Lokkhi Terra

Gisela João also appears in

For tickets www.kingsplace.co.uk/sef2015 +44 (0)20 7520 1490 † Songlines Subscriber Offers 10% off Festival pass* 25% discount on single tickets

When booking tickets, subscribers can use the discount code printed on this issue’s carrier sheet (the sheet of paper on the front of the magazine). Already recycled it? Call Edward at Songlines on +44 (0)20 2724 7215 or email subs@songlines.co.uk Terms and Conditions: *Limited to 10 passes. Ticket covers all evening events. Deadline for booking, June 3. Only available over the phone. †Limited to 30 tickets and excluding Online Savers. Available online, by phone and in person.

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essential

Colombian Albums

From cumbia to vallenato, Colombia is one of South America’s musical powerhouses. Russ Slater selects some of the country’s hottest releases, old and new

01 Bomba Estéreo Blow Up (Nacional, 2009)

The electronic music scene in Colombia’s capital and largest city, Bogotá, simmered throughout the 00s to the sounds of Sidestepper and releases by Aterciopelados’ Entrecasa label, but literally ‘blew up’ when Bomba Estéreo released this debut album at the end of the decade. International audiences lapped up the sound of singer Li Saumet’s passionate, punky delivery, with the group’s mix of tropical grooves and 90s dance beats.

02 Choc Quib Town Oro (Wrasse Records, 2010)

With ‘Somos Pacifico’ this hip-hop trio created a modern anthem that everyone from the Pacific coast of Colombia, an area that has long been marginalised, could get behind. Aside ‘El Bombo,’ with its catchy-as-hell flute and percussion intro, the track propelled Oro into becoming a smash, both in Colombia and around the world, and forced many people to take the music of the mainly Afro-Colombian Pacific coast seriously. Reviewed in #68.

03 Fruko & Joe Arroyo Rebelión Tropical: The Very Best Of (Nascente, 2010)

Joe Arroyo was a huge name not only in Colombia, but across the Spanish-speaking world, and perhaps that’s due to his panLatin sound, with influences of soca, zouk and merengue alongside those from Colombia. Many of his biggest hits are included here, alongside his early work with producer Fruko, an artist who should be revered worldwide too, as highlighted by his production work that spans half of this twodisc set. Reviewed in #76. 110 s o n g l i n e s

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04 Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto Un Fuego de Sangre Pura (Smithsonian Folkways, 2009)

Playing gaita-led cumbia, Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto are a musical institution known for their traditional interpretations of Colombian music. Though they have been active since the 1940s – they have a revolving cast of members – this was the group’s first international release and showcases the astonishing purity of their sound.

05 Totó La Momposina La Candela Viva (Real World Records, 1993)

This is the album that announced Totó La Momposina as a name on the world music scene, starting a journey that has seen the singer – now in her 70s – begin a second chapter in her career as an international ambassador for cumbia. It’s still a great starting point to discover La Momposina’s music.

06 Ondatrópica Ondatrópica (Soundway Records, 2012)

Led by British producer Quantic and Colombia’s Mario Galeano this project paid homage to Colombia’s tropical music of yore, while also adding some modern touches. Recorded with producer Fruko, the result is a blistering double album of cumbias, porros and descargas with doses of Afro-Pacific rhythms, dub and reggae. A Top of the World in #86.

07 Sexteto Tabalá El Sexteto Tabalá (Ocora Radio France, 1998)

This is undoubtedly the album that introduced the music of the runaway slave colony Palenque to the world stage. Sexteto Tabalá, led by enigmatic bandleader Rafael Cassiani, mixed

Afro-Colombian rhythms like bullerengue, cumbia and funeral rituals with Cuban son and scintillating percussion.

08 Carlos Vives Clásicos de la Provincia (Polygram, 1994)

Vallenato had fallen out of favour in the 90s. Vives changed that, first by impersonating vallenato legend Rafael Escalona in a hit soap opera, and then by releasing this groundbreaking album, reinventing the vallenato songbook with touches of rock and pop. Following its success Colombians all over dared to pick up the accordion once more.

09 Various Artists Cumbia Cumbia 1 & 2 (World Circuit, 2012)

Discos Fuentes is known as the home of cumbia and on this compilation of their highlights, it’s easy to see why. From the orchestral cumbias of the 60s, onto the brass-filled grooves of the 70s and the smaller 80s combos the label stuck with the style through thick and thin. This collects the best of these recordings, offering a concise history of cumbia. Reviewed in #83.

10 Various Artists Pacifico Colombiano: Music Adventures in Afro-Colombia (Otrabanda, 2011)

The full spectrum of Colombia’s Pacific Coast is represented on this gem that highlights the region’s strong African identity. Calland-response vocals, deep percussion and marimba enhance the music of Grupo Socavón and Markitos, and Choc Quib Town’s fusion of música pacifica with hip-hop shows contemporary variations. Reviewed in #57.

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