Songlines Magazine (March 2017, #125) by Songlines Magazine

Exclusive CD with Sir David Attenborough’s playlist

Special Issue

THE POWER OF MUSIC

Smockey TOP OF THE Moddi WORLD Baba Zula ISSUE 125 Tinariwen Emel Mathlouthi and more...

19/12/2016 12:50

From protest songs to fighting censorship

Free tracks

THE BEST NEW RELEASES

+ SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH’S PLAYLIST “These tracks remind me of the musicians who, half a century ago, shared with me their fascinating and wonderful music” 001_Cover-9_SL125-trimmed.indd 1

£5.95 ISSUE 125 MARCH 2017 www.songlines.co.uk www.facebook.com/songlines 16/01/2017 16:08

STWCD101 This compilation & © 2017 MA Music, Leisure & Travel Ltd info@songlines.co.uk, www.songlines.co.uk Executive producer Paul Geoghegan. Compiled and sequenced byJo Frost & Alexandra Petropoulos. Design by Danny Allison & 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.

WELCOME

Editor-in-chief Simon Broughton Publisher & Publishing Director Paul Geoghegan Editor Jo Frost Deputy Editor Alexandra Petropoulos Art Director Calvin McKenzie Advertisement Manager James Anderson-Hanney Marketing Manager Edward Craggs Online Content Editor James McCarthy Reviews Editor Matthew Milton News Editor Alex de Lacey Listings Editor Tatiana Rucinska World Cinema Editor John Atkinson Sub editor Emma Baker Interns Jordan Narloch & Rachel Cunniffe Cover illustration Danny Allison Contributing Editors Jane Cornwell, Mark Ellingham & Nigel Williamson Subscriptions Director Sally Boettcher Editorial Director Martin Cullingford CEO Ben Allen Chairman Mark Allen SUBSCRIPTIONS

Music – a powerful weapon

rump’s to blame. Or at least, he’s one of the reasons why we’re devoting this issue to the power of music and its ability to unite rather than divide people. It was during the incredulous,

grisly aftermath of his election win in November that we first began discussing the idea and around the same time, I visited the Oslo World Music Festival where the theme was Forbidden Songs. Their crammed programme of thought-provoking debates on the topic of music censorship convinced me that we had the makings of a special issue. Regular readers of Songlines will be all too aware that the music we cover in these pages is often far more than pure entertainment. Yes, it can make you smile, want to dance, or reduce you to tears. But there’s also a galvanising force about music that means it can be used as a powerful weapon in political and social activism – precisely why oppressive regimes tend to ban or censor it. So this issue we’re championing and celebrating those musicians who have stuck their necks out and sung out about social injustices, crimes and civil rights – whether it’s rapping against an unpopular leader like Smockey did in Burkina Faso (p22); joiking in defiance of the suppression of the Sámis’ indigenous culture (p28); exploring the role and history of protest songs (p32) or being forced by jihadists to record in exile, like Tinariwen (p76). As Smockey says: “Not everyone is lucky enough to have a microphone in front of them, so if you have the chance to talk, you have to say something important and try and change humanity.” Now there’s an important lesson for Twitter addict President Trump.

“We’re championing those musicians who have sung out about social injustices”

Jo Frost, editor

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Songlines is published by MA Music Leisure & Travel Ltd St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Rd, London, SE24 0PB, UK +44 (0)20 7738 5454 info@songlines.co.uk www.songlines.co.uk © MA Music Leisure & Travel Ltd, 2017. All rights reserved. No part of the Songlines may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior written permission of the Publishing Director. The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of the editor or Songlines Advertisements in the journal do not imply endorsement of the products or services advertised.

ISSN 1464-8113. Printed by: Pensord Press Ltd, Blackwood, NP12 2A Record trade distribution WWMD Ltd 0121 788 3112 Newstrade distribution COMAG 01895 433600

Jordan Narloch Jordan is a student at the College of St Benedict/Saint John’s University in Minnesota. He’s been studying in London, exploring his interest in music journalism while helping out at Songlines.

Robert Rigney Robert is an American writer from Berlin who writes about East Europe, the Balkans and Turkey. In addition to Berlin, he has lived in Prague and Istanbul where he interviewed Baba Zula, see p38.

Roberto Battista A musician by passion and video producer by trade, Roberto worked at BBC Radio 3 for a few years producing multimedia content. He now lives in Italy where he reports on the effects of the earthquakes on p81.

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

facebook.com/songlines

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CONTENTS

38 Baba Zula

Emel Mathlouthi

Julien Bourgeois

22 36

Simon Broughton

Can Erok

UPFRONT

FEATURES

REVIEWS

REGULARS

06 Top of the World CD 09 What’s New 14 Introducing...

22 Get Up, Stand Up!

72 M y World: Sir David

Voxtra & Ímar 16 Simon Says... 17 Letters 19 Spotlight: Aurelio Martinez 20 Songlines Music Travel

28 Forbidden Songs

44 Africa 48 Americas 52 Europe 59 Asia 61 Pacific 62 Fusion 67 Classical & Jazz 68 World Cinema 70 Live Reviews

We examine the music and artists who are shaking things up The suppression of Sámi culture

32 Shake the Chains

Folk stars highlight the history of protest song

36 Dhaka Lit Fest

Celebrating Bangladeshi music and literature

38 Baba Zula

Personifying the sounds of Istanbul for 20 years

Per Helmly

“I feel like [hip-hop] has taken the baton that folk music laid down while we got on with pretending to be country singers” Findlay Napier talks about protest music, p32 W W W . S O N G L I N E S . C O. U K

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Attenborough 75 P ostcard from Romania 76 B eginner’s Guide: Tinariwen 78 F estival Pass: Journées Musicales de Carthage, Tunisia 81 D ispatch from Italy 83 Q uickfire 85 M y Instrument: Martin Green 87 Gig Guide 94 Overseas Festivals 97 Soapbox 98 E ssential Ten: UNESCO Intangible Heritage Albums

28 F orbidden Songs: Sámi singer Sara Marielle Gaup ISSUE 125

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TOP OF THE WORLD

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01 Cassie and Maggie ‘Hangman’ 02 Voxtra ‘Ballu Santu Razzolu’ 03 Renata Rosa ‘Jurema’ 04 George Telek, David Bridie & musicians of the Gunantuna ‘Lili Ram Kavavar’ 05 Tinariwen ‘Sastanàqqàm’ 06 Eliza Carthy & The Wayward Band ‘Fade & Fall (Love Not)’ 07 Erik Aliana & Picket ‘Coeur de Pygmées’ 08 Ewan MacPherson ‘Brutus the Husky/MacColl’s’ 09 Amira Medunjanin ‘Tvojte Oči Leno Mori’ 10 Black String ‘Mask Dance’

TOP

OF THE WORLD

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TOP

OF THE WORLD

Free tracks

CD 125

THE BEST NEW RELEASES

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

+ SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH’S PLAYLIST

PLUS 5 tracks chosen by Sir David Attenborough 11 Sierra Leone Refugee Allstars ‘Akera Ka Abonsho’ 12 Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu ‘Djarimirri’ 13 Various Artists ‘Sekaten Gendhing’ 14 Bob Roberts ‘Maggie May’ 15 Martín Portillo & Marcelo Rojas ‘Pájaro Campana (The Bell Bird)’

“These tracks remind me of the musicians who, half a century ago, shared with me their fascinating and wonderful music”

STWCD101 This compilation & © 2017 MA Music, Leisure & Travel Ltd info@songlines.co.uk, www.songlines.co.uk Executive producer Paul Geoghegan. Compiled and sequenced by Jo Frost & Alexandra Petropoulos. Design by Danny Allison & 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.

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05 Tinariwen ‘Sastanàqqàm’ (3:26)

10 Black String ‘Mask Dance’ (3:20)

04 George Telek, David Bridie & musicians of the Gunantuna ‘Lili Ram Kavavar’ (3:19)

09 Amira Medunjanin ‘Tvojte Oči Leno Mori’ (4:21)

15 Martín Portillo & Marcelo Rojas ‘Pájaro Campana (The Bell Bird)’ (4:02)

14 Bob Roberts ‘Maggie May’ (2:24)

07 Erik Aliana & Picket ‘Coeur de Pygmées’ (2:56)

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01 Cassie and Maggie ‘Hangman’ (4:05)

TOP OF THE WORLD SELECTION

12 Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu ‘Djarimirri’ (4:00)

06 Eliza Carthy & The Wayward Band ‘Fade & Fall (Love Not)’ (4:23)

11 Sierra Leone Refugee Allstars ‘Akera Ka Abonsho’ (4:55) DAVID ATTENBOROUGH’S PLAYLIST

10 tracks from this issue’s best new albums + 5 bonus tracks exclusively with the March 2017 issue of Songlines

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06 Eliza Carthy & The Wayward Band ‘Fade & Fall (Love Not)’

Virtuosic fiddle playing and spirited

From Big Machine on Topic Records

vocals characterise this beautifully

One of Carthy’s bold settings of a

conceived album, centred on a theme

Broadside ballad, opening an album of big

of the willow tree. Full of Celtic sounds

choruses, big sounds and a big, 11-piece

from both sides of the Atlantic. See p48

band. A grand statement. See p52

02 Voxtra ‘Ballu Santu Razzolu’

07 Erik Aliana & Picket

A powerful collection of mostly a capella

Picket’s voice weaves in and out of

songs, representing the movement of

Aliana’s expressive lead vocal; both are

people, multicultural collaborations and

complemented by simple instrumental

the process of mixing native traditions

accompaniments played only by

with new surroundings. See p65

themselves. See p44

03 Renata Rosa ‘Jurema’

08 Ewan MacPherson

A track steeped in Pernambuco folklore,

From Fetch! on Shoogle Records

anointed with subtle harmonic twists.

A track that takes no prisoners in its

Rosa’s genius lies in her ability to create

Eastern rhythms, this opens an album of

sounds both old and new, ancestral and

many influences and instruments, superb

fresh. Enchanting. See p51

musicianship and humour. See p55

04 George Telek, David Bridie & Musicians of the Gunantuna ‘Lili Ram Kavavar’

09 Amira Medunjanin

From The Encounter of Vocal Heritage on Muziekpublique

From Encantações on Hélico

‘Coeur de Pygmées’ From Just My Soul on Buda Musique

‘Brutus the Husky/ MacColl’s’

‘Tvojte Oci Leno Mori’ From Damar on World Village

Medunjanin’s pure-of-tone, impassioned

From A Bit Na Ta on Wantok Musik

vocals lead an intimate album of poised

The epitome of a successful collaboration

and powerful content. The stated aim is to

– 26 tracks depicting the importance of

pay tribute to five decades of traditional

music in history and culture. See p61

Bosnian music. Pure class. See p57

05 Tinariwen ‘Sastanàqqàm’

10 Black String

This track rocks as hard as anything the

Firmly Korean in character despite the

Touareg band have recorded. Power is

inclusion of a Western electric guitar, this

provided by the tracks recorded in exile

album is full of dynamic rhythms and

in the US, while the Moroccan sessions

textures. One of the most exciting groups

bring added poignancy. See p46

in South Korea today. See p59

From Elwan on Wedge

06 S O N G L I N E S

02 Voxtra ‘Ballu Santu Razzolu’ (1:40)

13 Various Artists ‘Sekaten Gendhing’ (edit, 3:42)

08 Ewan MacPherson ‘Brutus the Husky/ MacColl’s’ (5:54)

From The Willow Collection on Cassie and Maggie

03 Renata Rosa ‘Jurema’ (3:54)

01 Cassie and Maggie ‘Hangman’

‘Mask Dance’ From Mask Dance on ACT

W W W . S O N G L I N E S . C O. U K

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+ SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH’S PLAYLIST 11

11 Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars ‘Akera Ka Abonsho’ From Living Like a Refugee on AntiThere’s reggae, highlife and American pop in this track from the group from Sierra Leone – one of the first countries Attenborough visited for Zoo Quest.

12 Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu ‘Djarimirri’ From Gurrumul on Skinnyfish Music

BBC/Sophie Mutevelian

“Whenever I hear such music I am transported back to prehistory... the Aboriginal people have lived in Australia for at least 40,000 years.”

13 Various Artists ‘Sekaten Gendhing’ From Gamelan from Central Java on ARC Music

Attenborough travelled through Java on his way to Komodo to film the dragons. He originally began collecting gamelan, Indian and other non-Western music on records released by French label Ocora.

14 Bob Roberts ‘Maggie May’

“ ...In the day we filmed the man from the zoo pouncing on pythons. But in the evenings I recorded music. When I returned from these trips I gave the recordings to the BBC Sound Library and they’ve been there ever since”

Turn to p72 for the full interview with David Attenborough

From Sea Songs & Shanties: Traditional English Sea Songs & Shanties from the Last Days of Sail on Saydisc Attenborough loves this song performed by Roberts with such humour. He recorded it for Song Hunter, although this version is released on Saydisc.

15 Martín Portillo & Marcelo Rojas ‘Pájaro Campana (The Bell Bird)’

From Maiteí América: Harps of Paraguay on Smithsonian Folkways

SONGLINES IS NOW ON APPLE MUSIC Songlines is one of Apple Music’s official music curators, creating bespoke playlists featuring many of the artists we cover each issue. Listen to our playlists at www.bit.ly/songlinesplaylists

“I was very taken with the music from Paraguay,” says Attenborough who appreciates the finesse of Portillo’s playing.

W W W . S O N G L I N E S . C O. U K

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I had a stroke in 2010 and canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go out anymore. Help Musicians UK arranges for someone to visit me. Your support means retired musicians like Sonny donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be alone. Donate at helpmusicians.org.uk or call 020 7239 9100 Ads Up-SL125.indd Help Make Musicians UK - Sonny FB8 P.indd 1

Backing musicians throughout their careers. Registered charity No. 228089.

18/01/2017 10:41 30/11/2015 16:56:28

WHAT’S NEW OBITUARIES Esma Redžepova (1943-2016)

Macedonia’s ‘Queen of the Gypsies’

Ludwig Olah

Esma RedŽepova, the Macedonian singer and humanitarian who proudly wore the title ‘Queen of the Gypsies’, has died aged 73. RedŽepova lived an extraordinary life; the most high-profile and eloquent spokesperson for Europe’s Roma people, a confidante of president Tito and later a cultural ambassador for the Republic of Macedonia, she released hundreds of records and performed thousands of concerts. Across the Balkans she enjoyed an iconic status. RedŽepova was born at the height of World War II in Skopje’s old town. A prodigious performer, she entered and won a school talent competition in 1957. Stevo Teodosievski, an ethnic Macedonian accordionist and bandleader, was so impressed by her performance that he approached her parents (who were initially reluctant to let their daughter sing) and asked if she could perform in his band. Aged 14 RedŽepova went on tour. She became a Yugoslav star when ‘Chaje Shukarije’ (Beautiful Girl) – an

infectious, upbeat song RedŽepova had composed – became a hit (it’s now a Balkan standard). She and Teodosievski then set in motion a musical apprenticeship that trained 48 Roma boys – many of whom would, for a time, play in Ensemble Teodosievski (only five boys were actual wards of the couple). RedŽepova popularised ‘Djelem Djelem’ as the Roma national anthem when she performed it at the first International Gypsy Congress in 1969 and her concerts were always stunning – she held the stage as only a true diva can and let her multi-octave voice wail. Teodosievski’s death in 1997 and Yugoslavia’s collapse devastated RedŽepova. She reinvented her career, recording with Balkan pop singers and folk bands while surfing the wave of Western interest in Balkan Gypsy music. When ‘Chaje Shukarije’ appeared over the opening credits of Borat, it surprised everyone – including RedŽepova, though she did eventually get paid. The albums she released over the last 15 years on various West European record labels were often patchy. But World Connection’s double CD, Queen of the Gypsies, gathering her classic Jugoton recordings is essential listening (her contributions to the Network double-CD Gypsy Queens are also of a high standard). She never disappointed in concert; her last UK performance was at London’s Royal Festival Hall in October 2009 as part of Gypsy Queens and Kings concert where she was, as always, the star of the show. Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work with Kosovo Roma refugees, she was as inspiring an individual as I’ve ever had the good fortune to meet. She will be missed. GARTH CARTWRIGHT

Great Scots! The 14th MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards took place in December at Dundee’s Caird Hall. Its celebration of the country’s musical talent featured performances from Dallahan, the Scott Wood Band and concertina player, Mohsen Amini (who also features in Ímar, see p15). Glasgow-based ensemble Breabach (three of the five-piece pictured here) were the biggest winners, picking up both Folk Band of the Year and Album of the Year for Astar, an expansive release that incorporated sounds from their travels across the globe. Other winners included Kris Drever, who was awarded Composer of the Year; Rachel Newton received the Instrumentalist of the Year award and Skerryvore, who garnered acclaim for their rip-roaring live shows won Live Act of the Year. + ONLINE www.scotstradmusicawards.com W W W . S O N G L I N E S . C O. U K

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INTRODUCING...

Voxtra

Garth Cartwright finds himself entranced by the debut release from a group of polyphonic singers brought together in Belgium

orld music ‘fusions’ are something I tend to loathe, but I have to admit that one of the finest recent releases I’ve been enjoying is a fusion album – Voxtra’s The Encounter of Vocal Heritage. Yet, I hasten to add, Voxtra are not one of those vainglorious ‘throw everything including a kora and the kitchen sink in’ bands but a bringing together of polyphonic vocal traditions. And in its subtlety and imagination, The Encounter of Vocal Heritage works beautifully. This ambitious project brings together an amalgamation of vocal traditions showcasing Albanian isopolyphony with its plangent quality, the cantu a tenore of the Sardinian countryside, beko blues singing of southern Madagascar, Finnish joik and runo singing, and the Belgian récit chanté. In truth Voxtra are not exactly a fusion group – since each tradition is still perfectly recognisable – but more a showcase of these various polyphonic styles and their similarities (and differences). Where used, the minimal instrumental backings, including kantele, glockenspiel and assorted percussion, are perfectly judged. The album is one of surprises. Firstly, that polyphonic singing – with minimal instrumental accompaniment – is so engaging. Secondly, it was made in Belgium and consists entirely of musicians based there. Voxtra’s origins began when Belgian vocalist Raphaël De Cock, who champions a traditional Walloon vocal style long ago overwhelmed by French, aimed to work with two Georgian polyphonic singers. Yet the Georgians were deported before things could get underway. Undeterred, De Cock found out that the Albanian singer Gramoz Gjini, the former lead vocalist of the famous Tirana Ensemble, was living in Belgium. Gjini had not 14 S O N G L I N E S

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performed for a decade but was happy to be invited to do so and engaged his son and uncle to accompany him. Championed by Muziekpublique – a Belgian organisation dedicated to recording and promoting vernacular music – De Cock sought out other a capella singers to collaborate with. These included Malagasy Talike Gellé, who created her first female a capella vocal trio, Ny Ajaja, in Belgium in 1995; Anu Junnonen, from Finland and a quintet of singers, Tenore de Monte de Arvu, who are heirs to the polyphonic tradition of Sardinia. Once the vocalists had been gathered, they set about finding how they might sound together. “We were put together,” says De Cock. “We sung for each other during rehearsals and tried to combine songs

from the different vocal traditions where possible. Emre Gültekin, who is a very talented sound engineer, intuitively put us at a large table with food, drinks, made us cosy, and the songs came out in a context similar to the traditional ways when such songs were sung.” Recorded in just two days, the album serves as both a sampling of different a capella vocal traditions from across Europe (and Madagascar) and an example of how these different voices share many similarities. Finally, Voxtra demonstrate what the late MP Jo Cox once observed, “we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.”

+A LBUM Voxtra’s debut album is reviewed in this issue, see p65

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Ímar

Billy Rough catches up with the latest band to come out of Glasgow’s burgeoning session scene

W W W . S O N G L I N E S . C O. U K

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Graeme MacDonald

oasting members of groups like Barrule, Cara, Mabon, Mànran, RURA, Talisk and The Lowground, Ímar are a formidable band, and their debut, Afterlight, is an enticing blend of trad and modern tunes delivered with striking musicianship, artful arrangements and sheer, absolute delight. Ahead of its release, I got the chance for a quick chat with the band. As Mohsen Amini (concertina) explains: “Ímar is a product of Glasgow’s session scene… we discovered that we all shared likemindedness in the music we enjoy. With this in mind we all thought it would be ridiculous if we didn’t start a band together!” Tom Callister (fiddle) elucidates further: “King Ímar, the band’s namesake, represents many backgrounds. Myself and bouzouki player Adam Rhodes are from the Isle of Man, Mohsen is from Glasgow, piper Ryan Murphy is from Co Cork and bodhrán genius Adam Brown is from Suffolk. We’ve all played Irish music from a young age and love it, but all have other influences too – I find bringing traditional and newly-written Manx and Scottish tunes into the mix particularly awesome!” Their debut album captures the sheer enjoyment of talented musicians collaborating on tunes they love. As Amini explains, “it’s the first taste of what’s to come from Ímar. We searched archives for tunes to find ones that fit and work with the sound we were trying to create, and wrote a few tunes ourselves. I would describe Afterlight as an album of just really good tunes.” And good tunes they certainly are,

beyond which there is also a real session vibe to the album, refreshing and with a back-to-basics atmosphere. Rhodes notes, “when we came together for the first time, none of us quite knew what to expect but we all left the rehearsal feeling like we’d hit on something special.” Love of tradition is felt throughout the album and certainly evident in the band’s camaraderie onstage. “It’s the most fun I’ve ever had playing music,” Callister says. “I love the lads and they are all ridiculous musicians!” Rhodes agrees: “we all admire each other as musicians, and this definitely spurs you on… there’s a feeling that we’re all putting in everything we have to make the sound as best as it can be.” With only a couple of live gigs already under their belts, in contrast

2017 promises to be a very exciting – and busy – year with a tour in April from the Isle of Man to the Shetland Folk Festival, plus summer festival dates including HebCelt in Stornoway, Craiceann in County Galway, Sidmouth Folk Week and Tønder in Denmark. “There’s more to come that we can’t speak about just yet, but safe to say we’re delighted with how audiences have taken to the music – and can’t wait to get out there this year and share it!” If Afterlight is anything to go by, we’ll be seeing the boys playing together for many years to come.

+A LBUM Afterlight will be reviewed in +

the next issue, out March 3 D ATES Ímar will be touring in April, visit www.imarband.com for info

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G E T U P S TA N D U P !

22 S O N G L I N E S

â&#x20AC;º ISSUE

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THE POWER OF MUSIC

Bob e c n i rs s lers first eir a e y r 40 the Wai rds in th e v o It’s ey and ese wo for n p l h t u r a M imed l to stand illiamso a l c o pr ng cal igel W llyi a rally rights. N e politic e h your s to som s amid t well of s t k spea ged artis l ground enga nt globa ent N SO e t LLI r n A r o cu l disc NY AN a S D i N c so TIO RA ILL

hen the hip-hop star from Burkina Faso, Smockey, recorded a song titled ‘Le Président, Ma Moto et Moi’ in 2014, he provided the soundtrack to an uprising that brought down a government as the Burkinabé people took to the streets to demand the removal of Blaise Compaoré, the country’s despotic ruler of 30 years. Smockey, who also formed a people’s movement called Le Balai Citoyen (The Citizen’s Broom), used sharp wit, mordant humour and a righteous political militancy to highlight the corruption of government and the daily suffering of its people in a lyric in which he imagined giving the hated president a motorcycle tour of the capital city’s slums over which he ruled so uncaringly. In the song’s tragi-comic narrative, the neglected and threadbare infrastructure of Ouagadougou means that a power cut results in the traffic lights failing and the dictator is horribly injured in the ensuing pile-up. He’s taken to the city’s hospital – self-regardingly named after himself, of course, although he uses a private clinic in Switzerland for his own healthcare needs – but the facilities are too wretched and underfunded to treat him. W W W . S O N G L I N E S . C O. U K

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On release of this song, the president’s men responded with fury by bombing Smockey’s studio, but dictatorship could not survive such savage mockery. If the objective of a protest song is to bring about change, few can ever have been more effective. It led to Smockey – real name Serge Bambara – receiving Index on Censorship’s first Music in Exile Fund Fellowship in 2016. “Serge Bambara’s overtly political music has not only made him an extremely popular figure in his own country, but also a target for entrenched interests,” Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of Index on Censorship said. “Throughout his career he has used his talents to battle corruption and demand a democratic future for Burkina Faso. Proof of the power of art and music, we are delighted to have him as the inaugural Music in Exile fellow.” “Not everyone is lucky enough to have a microphone in front of them, so if you have the chance to talk, you have to say something important and try and change humanity,” Smockey noted at the awards ceremony in London. It’s a spectacularly dramatic example of ‘singing truth to power’ for in the history of popular music, very few protest songs can ever claim to have brought down a government. Neither does anybody expect, say, Beyoncé or Jay Z (both of who appeared at Hillary Clinton’s final campaign rally) to write the killer song that is going to finish Donald Trump in the way that Smockey did for Blaise Compaoré. But their songs can nevertheless have a profound influence in effecting shifts in public opinion and signposting the way to a better world. In a backhanded way, even Trump was acknowledging popular music’s potency as an enforcer of change when he attacked Beyoncé and Jay Z and dismissively sneered that he couldn’t tell whether they were “talking or singing.” For a moment – on the eve of the poll, at least – the power of popular song had him rattled.

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BABA ZULA

Anatolian Vibes

For over 20 years, one group have personified the incredibly diverse sounds of Istanbul. Robert Rigney speaks to Baba Zula about the serious challenges facing Turkey

“

e are the sound of Istanbul,” says Murat Ertel, frontman of Turkish psychedelic, avant-garde folk-rock outfit Baba Zula, who are now celebrating 20 years of mind-bending Turkish roots music. “We are living in Istanbul, and also our music comes from this city. Twenty million people live in Istanbul, and these people bring their cultures, their music, their lifestyle. So, you can find this in our music. Istanbul is a big mixture of cultures and human beings.” Baba Zula were formed in 1996 to compose the film score for an experimental movie called Tabutta Rovasata (Somersault in a Coffin), about a compulsive car-stealing Istanbul clochard living on the shores of the Bosporus. The weird saz-based, percussion-laden music, which weaves the sounds of screeching birds into unearthly Oriental melodies, was such a hit that it launched the band’s career. In 2005 they featured in Fatih Akin’s classic Istanbul music documentary, Crossing the Bridge. In the movie the band – who have always been distinctive for their outlandish Oriental garb, replete with Ottoman-era moustaches, crazy headgear and flowing gowns, as well as their atmospheric and distortionladen polyrhythmic music – play on a boat plying the Bosporus. Baba Zula provide both the introduction and the coda to the film, which elevated the band’s reputation considerably. The Istanbul presented in Crossing the Bridge, a city bursting with music and youthful energy and poised to make its creative debut on the world stage, seems a distant dream now after the Gezi Park protests of 2013 and the failed coup of 2016 followed by intense government crackdown, not to mention a spate of deadly terrorist attacks. The city is more serious and hard-nosed now. However, Baba Zula keep on spinning their web of trancy psychedelia and Eastern grooves. Last year they released Do Not Obey (reviewed in #122), whose myriad melodies belie a harder political edge. “It’s become more tense, more dangerous,” says Ertel about the prevailing atmosphere in Istanbul. “Now you get the feeling that anything can happen. Like really serious things can happen. You can feel this. This bombing stuff, and you know, some killings in the street and attacks on women – things like this have become a daily part of our lives.” Baba Zula have a couple of songs in which Ertel intones the names of all the different peoples who live in Istanbul, most notably on the track ‘İstanbul Çocukları’, (Children of Istanbul) and, from their last album, ‘Gariplere Yer Yok’ 38 S O N G L I N E S

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(No Place for Strangers), songs that express solidarity with Istanbul’s minorities and the city’s tradition of tolerance, which Ertel describes as “one of the best sides of Istanbul.” “But this also is getting endangered,” says Ertel, “and people are pushing for getting everything apart and creating enemies between religions and races. So this is not good. They want one race, one religion, one flag. This was the motto of the Nazis in World War II. And they are acting with these mottos. So you have to be from this religion, from this flag, this race. Then you can be in trouble.” Amazingly, to my mind, Baba Zula’s paean to peace, ‘İstanbul Çocukları’, was banned by Turkish radio. “Five songs from our Duble Oryantal album were banned from Turkish state radio because of their lyrics,” says Ertel. “Because of the context of our lyrics. The instrumental songs can get through the state radio and television, but our songs with lyrics cannot.” Ertel, together with electronics and percussion maestro Levent Akman, is one of the founding members of Baba Zula – and a real Istanbulu, whose father, grandfather and greatgrandfather all hail from the city. His mother’s side of the family are so-called mübadele, Turks from Greece, who were exchanged with Greeks from Turkey at the beginning of the 20th century, and came to live in Istanbul. Ertel was born into a family of artists. His father was a graphic designer, an uncle was a writer and another uncle was a cartoonist who drew a popular strip called Abdülcanbaz. Ertel started drawing at an early age, making sculptures, compositions and singing, engaging in all of the arts at once, something, Ertel says, that ultimately laid the foundation for Baba Zula, which is not merely a musical group but a Gesamtkunstwerk featuring by turns shamanic performance, bellydance and live drawing. Music played a decisive role in Ertel’s upbringing. At home Bob Dylan and jazz were often played, and the family was close friends with Atlantic Records’ founder Ahmed Ertegün, who supplied his uncles with new releases of Western pop music. On the other hand, Ertel was influenced early on by Turkish folk music – by the Aşıks, roving troubadours or bards (shamans in a way), some of who would visit Ertel’s house and play the saz, and who became role models for Ertel. The saz – a three-to-12 stringed bouzouki-like lute – became for Ertel an instrument of supreme importance, not only because of its distinctive sound, but also because of its symbolism as an instrument of protest with shamanic roots.

Clockwise from top left: Murat Ertel, Levent Akman, Periklis Tsoukalas and Melike S¸ahin

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Africa REVIEWS Yishak Banjaw Love Songs Vol 2 Teranga Beat (46 mins)

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80s Ethiopian home recordings to make hipsters drool

Jean-Bastien Lagrange

In 1986, Yishak Banjaw sat down at home to record an album of traditional Ethiopian music, using a borrowed Casio PT keyboard, live and direct into a single tape player. What he created was a wonderful style that resembles what is now referred to as ‘chillwave’ or ‘minimal wave.’ The overall sound of this album is magnificent: the timbres of the melody take on different personalities, from dreamy and Hammond-organ-like to swirling and raspy. Layers of repeating patterns add a psychedelic flavour as they float above tinny electric drum beats. Combined with the slightly stretchy and sibilant tone lent by the transfer from cassette, the whole album is given a warm, washed-out vibe so strived for by today’s bedroom producers. Under all of these aesthetics lies a solid base of Ethiopian identity. The tracks are all strongly linked to the culture’s traditional soundworld, and the distinctive pentatonic scales and rhythms of the melodies make it difficult to mistake this music’s origin. With this re-release on the Greek/ Senegalese label Teranga Beat, Love Songs Vol 2 becomes Banjaw’s very first album outside of East Africa. It’s a real treat. Hopefully we will be able to hear the predecessor, Vol 1, soon. JIM HICKSON

TRACK TO TRY Libey Ma’aduley

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Erik Aliana & Picket Just My Soul

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A soul-bearing third album from a man of many voices

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Etnisk Musikklubb (38 mins)

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Senegalese sounds meet Scandinavian noir

Buda Musique (58 mins)

This is the fourth album by Erik Aliana, the first two having been in the Bikutsi and Makossa styles of modern Cameroonian music. His third was called Just My Land and this new recording, Just My Soul, continues his explorations of the capabilities of his magnificent voice. It’s a duet album, with all voices and instruments played by Aliana and his accomplice Francis ‘Picket’ Dschoutezo. The vocals are loosely based on the distinctive yodel sound of the Pygmy singing style of the Cameroonian rainforest. Aliana sings the

Becaye Offroad

lead and Picket weaves his voice in and out of the melodies. They accompany themselves: Aliana plays acoustic guitar and percussion, while Picket plays electric bass, sanza (a thumb piano with bamboo keys) and bamboo Pygmy flute. The instrumentation is simple but perfectly complements the expressive vocals. Aliana has an astounding voice that conjures up a myriad of different vocal effects – beautiful and attention-grabbing: in many ways Aliana is like a less gimmicky Bobby McFerrin. MARTIN SINNOCK

TRACK TO TRY Naror

Becaye is a largely self-taught guitarist who spent his childhood in Dakar, Senegal, from where he developed his unique kora-like guitar style. He is now based in Norway where he collaborates with local musicians to create some highly intriguing fusions of musical genres. Offroad is a melancholic collection of his own compositions that combine his Fulani background with his fellow musicians’ language; it is based on a project

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Africa REVIEWS originally commissioned by Global Oslo Music that was first performed live in 2013. Most striking are the ethereal vocal performances of Liv Ulvik and the arresting throat singing of Torgeir Vassvik. It’s an unusual mixture of North European and West African cultures that might not be to everyone’s taste. The songs are reflective, with an air of sadness – especially on the first song, which tells of the tragic sinking of a Senegalese passenger ferry and a Norwegian vessel. The melodies of all the songs are sombre, even those that are lullabies or Christmas songs, and Becaye’s morose voice adds to the melancholia. Beautifully played Hardanger fiddle and cello embellish the dark mood with pure earthy tones. It’s an album for long winter nights in front of a log fire. MARTIN SINNOCK

TRACK TO TRY Seynaa

Damakase Gunfan Yellem! Captain Pouch Records (33 mins)

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Where Ethiopia and Mali meet – with just a touch of US blues ‘East meets West’ is a common theme within world music fusions, but it’s rare to hear one like this: Damakase’s sound arrives from the blending of Ethiopian and Malian styles. The heart of the band is the collaboration between masenqo (one-string fiddle) player Endris Hassen and guitar and banjo player Cory Seznec (a FrancoAmerican musician who lived in Ethiopia for several years), and their chemistry shines through. The track ‘Wassorai Asho Mada’ is where the combination is smoothest and most complete. The groove is Mali blues, the beat is Ethiopian, and Hassen’s masenqo jumps between the two, exploring the realms of its West African cousins such as the soku, without ever leaving Ethiopia behind. That’s just one example of the group’s intelligent and creative use of instrumentation. They’re everywhere: in the Ethiocentric tracks, gourd lute and ngoni take the place of the traditional krar, and there’s some fun bluegrass interplay between banjo and masenqo elsewhere. Damakase have hit on a great fusion here, with Ethiopia and Mali both having their own very distinct and popular musicalities. The combination has fruit ripe for picking and the group do a good job with it. One wish for the next

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album: it would be great to hear some West African musicians involved too. JIM HICKSON

TRACK TO TRY Wassorai Asho Mada

Kadialy Kouyaté Na Kitabo KK Sound Archive (39 mins)

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London-based kora master stays just the right side of pop The scion of a long line of griots and kora (harp-lute) virtuosi from Casamance in southern Senegal, Kadialy Kouyaté is now resident in London. He appeared in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Julius Caesar in 2012 and in the recent remake of the TV series Roots, based on Alex Haley’s book. He has also recorded with Baaba Maal and served in the ranks of Afro Celt Sound System. His second solo album Na Kitabo (My Book) is steeped in Mande traditional music but has been given a contemporary pop flair. If his voice lacks the soulfulness of Baaba Maal or Youssou N’Dour, it’s still a sturdily attractive instrument on a set of songs that address such universal subjects as love, peace, respect, the importance of family and destiny. His kora ripples and thrills in all the right places, often in duet with the guitar of Gregory Sanders-Gallego (who plays with the UK-based Latin music band Wara). The intricate mesh of kora and guitar strings betrays the influence of Toumani Diabaté and Ali Farka Toure’s collaboration on In the Heart of the Moon and although the album breaks no new ground, it ploughs a familiar furrow with admirable skill and precision. NIGEL WILLIAMSON

TRACK TO TRY Kanu Foro

The KutiMangoes Made in Africa Tramp Records (46 mins)

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Danes marrying Afrobeat with Malian styles The KutiMangoes started with a simple musical goal in mind: Fela Kuti meets Charles Mingus. Such giants in their field are inevitably impossible to live up to, but this Danish five-piece certainly give it a good go. For their second album, the KutiMangoes are joined by a special

guest, Burkinabé vocalist Patrick Kabré. With this collaboration comes the addition of many more influences from Mande styles. As well as recording in the studio in Copenhagen, sessions were also captured on location in Bamako and Ouagadougou – hence the album’s title. From that process comes a riotous album. It has some really special touches: you can’t go too wrong with an electric trombone solo, as heard on the track ‘This Ship Will Sink’. Another highlight is ‘Hunting’, a piece based on Malian hunters’ music, featuring guest Diakaridja Mariko, who provides vocals and donso ngoni (hunter’s harp), it builds up a solid groove with some great interplay between sax and Rhodes. The addition of Mande music to Afrobeat works well and sets it apart from the crowd, although the jazz element of the group’s style is downplayed a little here, and only particularly evident now and then. But don’t let that stop you dancing! JIM HICKSON

TRACK TO TRY This Ship Will Sink

Seydu Sadaka (The Gift) Fol Musica (47 mins)

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Well-travelled singer threads all his experiences together Born in Sierra Leone into a family of musicians, Seydu has led a storied life. He grew up listening to the songs of his mother in both Fula and Mande languages, and from an early age was a member of the Sierra Leonean National Dance Troupe, founded by his grandfather. With the troupe, he travelled to Nigeria where he lived for a time in Fela Kuti’s commune and then fled civil war in his native country by boat to arrive as an illegal immigrant in the Canary Islands, before he was eventually given refugee status by Spain. He now spends his time between Madrid and Sierra Leone, where in 2005 he founded the Diamond Child School of Arts and Culture for underprivileged children. His third album reflects his odyssey, featuring throbbing Afropop, Mande roots, West African reggae (‘Ashe’), palm wine music and Fulani flavours. The Congolese singer Lokua Kanza adds his sweet-voiced tones to ‘Smile’ and the brilliant Saharawi singer Mariem Hassan lends her throaty Maghreb roar to ‘Desert Rose’. The result is an album full of contrasting

moods and styles but lent an impressive cohesion by Seydu’s own lovely voice and humanitarian vision. NIGEL WILLIAMSON

TRACK TO TRY Desert Rose

Gino Sitson Body & Voice Buda Musique (41 mins)

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A capella wizardry from a Cameroonian Bobby McFerrin Gino Sitson is a New York-based vocalist from the Bamileke region of Cameroon, whose family comes from a long line of ntontas (players of horns). However, this, his seventh album, is an entirely a capella solo effort: an anthology of songs recorded over the last two decades. His scat-like vocals and singing in the Medumba language are left alone, rather than accompanied by the string quartet he sometimes uses in his arrangements. Instead, he multi-tracks his own voice in diverse vocal personae. His huge range extends from deep bass hums to falsetto; at times it sounds as if he’s joined by a small backing vocal group, but the different ‘voices’ are actually Sitson, who might whistle or use body percussion, which seem to suggest the influence of Bobby McFerrin. In fact you won’t be surprised to know that in 2008, after just one listen, McFerrin invited Sitson to join him on a PBS documentary. But this is ultimately an only moderately engaging album, though Sitson has obvious skill and a fine sense of rhythm. JON LUSK

TRACK TO TRY Vocassiko

VARIOUS ARTISTS Democratic Republic of Congo: Kibali-Ituri – Bira and Hema Music Ocora Radio France (68 mins)

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A fascinating peek into the north of the former Zaire When it comes to documenting traditional music from around the world, the Ocora Radio France series stands out as one of the most extensive and well-researched labels. This recording is from the north-east corner of what was Zaire in Central Africa, a region known as Ituri that borders

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Europe REVIEWS playing provides the justified focal point of this third solo offering. A personal approach is apparent throughout these ten new compositions, as colourful and at times innovative arrangements evoke a sense of storytelling and a celebration of history. The traditional feel of the album is laced with influences from elsewhere; djembé and darbuka drums feature alongside mandolin, banjo, bodhrán and harp, while the unexpected appearance of Alex Borwick’s trombone adds a jazzy hint to the final track. The opening reel ‘Dancing on the Radio’ is wonderfully traditional, though it is not until the fourth track, ‘Christchurch Bells’, that Dillon’s much anticipated virtuosic playing arrives. His expressive melodic writing can be heard in the melancholic ‘Uisce fé Thalamh’, accompanied by Mícheál Ó Súibhleabháin on harpsichord. Hopefully the title of the closing track ‘Swan Song’ refers only to this work, and there is more to come yet from Eoin Dillon. RACHEL CUNNIFFE

TRACK TO TRY Swan Song

Dipper Malkin Tricks of the Trade Dipper Malkin (48 mins)

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The string duo reinventing the English tradition There’s a rich luxurious feel to the many beautiful instrumental tunes on this debut from John Dipper and Dave Malkin. Dipper’s instrument here is the viola d’amore, with seven bowed and seven sympathetic strings, while Malkin’s guitar has its own baroque design, and his vocal style on traditional songs such as ‘The King of Poland’ and ‘All Things are Quite Silent’ is strongly reminiscent of Chris Wood. It’s the beautifully realised tune sets such as ‘Ceri’s March/Weaver’s March’ (inspired by Chris Wood and drawn from Playford’s Dancing Master tune collection, respectively) that are the highlights. They are a mix of the duo’s originals, with pieces from friends in the US and Québec, where Dipper lived for some years. The polyphonic spree of the viola d’amore is the album’s signature tone, and is reminiscent of Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh’s hardanger d’amore (as heard in The Gloaming). Dipper’s time with the excellent Methera shows its head in the invention and subtlety at play. It puts this duo right up alongside Spiro, Leveret and Tom

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Kitching’s Interloper band as being among the most innovative English tunemakers creating contemporary chamber music from the tradition. TIM CUMMING

TRACK TO TRY Mrs Chambers/ Emmaline’s Vals

Pippa Reid-Foster Driftwood Harp Pippa Reid-Foster (45 mins)

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Classy clarsach Pippa Reid-Foster’s debut CD is a set of original compositions and arrangements for the clarsach – traditional Scottish harp. The album has an uncluttered purity befitting the instrument, and is reminiscent of Alan Stivell’s 1964 album Telenn Geltiek. Reid-Foster is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and is based in the Argyll region on Scotland’s west coast; Driftwood Harp draws upon the sights and sounds of the area, as well as on Celtic folklore. The rhythmically shifting opening track ‘The Selkie’ conjures up the mythical, half-seal, half-human creature while ‘The Mermaid Song’ is a delicate rendition of a traditional Gaelic song. Original tunes evoke scenes and landscapes. In ‘Steam Boats on Crinan/The Herring Lassies of Argyll’ Reid-Foster shows that the harp can be simultaneously haunting and jaunty, and her virtuosity creates something akin to a rhythm guitar accompaniment for her complex melodic lines. There’s plenty to please traditionalists on Driftwood Harp – such as the three jigs that make up ‘Kilmartin Glen Campsite’ – but the more ethereal quality of tracks such as ‘Elements 1’ and the six-minute finale, ‘Deirdre in Dreams’ go further in showcasing Reid-Foster’s skill as a composer as well as a performer. TONY GILLAM

TRACK TO TRY Elements 1

Ange Hardy & Lukas Drinkwater Findings Story Records (52 mins)

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Family runs through the heart of West Country duo’s debut Ange Hardy and Lukas Drinkwater have been performing as a duo since December 2015

and this album encapsulates what they have created over the past year. Many of their songs were developed during the English Folk Dance & Song Society (EFDSS) Creative Artists Bursary that the duo was awarded in 2016 alongside Steve Pledger, who contributes backing vocals here. They are joined by accordionist Archie Churchill-Moss and fiddler Ciaran Algar. The overriding sentiment of the material is tenderness. A thread of tales of young children runs through the album, and Hardy even sings to her own daughter, Amy, on the track ‘Daughter Dear Daughter’. ‘By the Tides’ speaks of the child refugees lost on the Mediterranean and the deep, dark ‘True are the Mothers’, sung by Nancy Kerr and Kathryn Roberts. Hardy and Drinkwater are thoughtful musicians and the intertwining of tradition and personal creation runs throughout. Many of the tales focus on Hardy’s home county of Somerset. Drinkwater hails from even further west, and there is much of the tough, weather-beaten West Country about their mournful sound. NATHANIEL HANDY

TRACK TO TRY The Trees They do Grow High

Irfan The Eternal Return Mandalia-Music (59 mins)

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A dark and mysterious journey to the East, from Bulgarian soil Nigh on 30 years from the coining of the term, there remains a certain oddity in styling oneself a ‘world music’ band. It seems to imply that the performance of music from any culture but one’s own is the object of attraction, whether it’s an imitation, or a sustained and concentrated effort to remake oneself in the image of a foreign musical culture. The Bulgarian band Irfan have chosen a middle way, picking instruments, rhythms and sonorities from the Levant and its hinterland, while retaining a Bulgarian accent in their compositions and manner of performance. They display a solid command of their instruments, which range from oud (lute) and ney (flute) to djembé and bodhrán percussion and draw inspiration from mystical theology, numinous natural features, and distances of time. The handling of both the instrumental and vocal parts is perfectly assured, and the building

of the arrangements well-judged, even if oddly lacking in feeling, with little in the way of variation. The pieces would make a great immersive, entrancing soundtrack to a darkly atmospheric video game, one that I suspect would be very enjoyable to play. KIM BURTON

TRACK TO TRY In the Gardens of Armida

Karuna Tuulispää KUU Records (59 mins)

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Finnish melancholy married to sharp wit and invention Esko Järvela has an enviable musical pedigree. Growing up in Kaustinen, the home of Finnish folk music, he was immersed from childhood in the world of the mighty group JPP, and played with them as well as Frigg, Tsuumi Sound System, his own Epic Male Band and now this trio, Karuna. Järvela plays nyckelharpa, violin and guitar; Teija Niku is the accordionist; and Juha Kujanpää plays piano. Karuna play with the elegance of a chamber music trio, always mindful of textures and interaction, yet they have all the wit and energy that is a part of the Finnish tradition, as well as the beautiful melancholy we’ve come to expect from it. This, Karuna’s second album, builds on the excellent reputation of their debut Hyvää Matkaa (Bon Voyage). ‘Maaliskuun Aurinko’ (March Sun) is one of those heaven-sent accordion melodies (written by Niku) that you feel must have been around forever, magically played and with the piano perfectly voiced, supremely supportive. There’s a moving tribute to Aylan, the three-year-old Syrian boy tragically drowned in the Mediterranean, the crazy ‘Ploughman’s Blues’ and the final endearing track, ‘Patikka’ (Hike). FIONA TALKINGTON

TRACK TO TRY Maaliskuun Aurinko

John McSherry The Seven Suns Compass Records (46 mins)

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Myth-inspired music-making John McSherry’s second solo outing proves to be a lyrical and lively celebration of Ireland’s rich hinterland of myth and fable, via its abundant megalithic heritage, its mysterious carved stones, imposing

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Europe REVIEWS his son Daniel incorporated synths to forge a Chick Corea-inspired fusion. The late 1990s and early 2000s gave us club-friendly hip-hop-influenced chill-out tango. In 2017, we need something a lot more innovative than this short album. CHRIS MOSS

TRACK TO TRY Perro Viejo

Lula Pena Archivo Pittoresco Crammed Discs (46 mins)

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Pared-down Pena: elusive songs from the fugitive fadista

Sean Purser

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Ewan MacPherson Fetch!

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Shoogle Records (45 mins)

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From Scotland to Scandinavia: a man of many instruments Recorded in Scotland and Norway, Fetch! features a rich mix of Celtic and UK influences; MacPherson’s latest solo album is a true pleasure. Perhaps better known for his work with Shooglenifty, Salt House and Patsy Reid, MacPherson is a talented multi-instrumentalist and producer in his own right, which this album perfectly demonstrates. Filled with the sounds of mandolins, banjos, harmoniums and even the occasional Jew’s harp, Fetch! takes us on a truly international journey. It mainly comprises self-penned instrumentals. Opener ‘Brutus the Husky’ takes no prisoners in its

dolmens and passage tombs. For the former Lúnasa founder, The Seven Suns also marks the meeting of modern science and ancient wisdom in the shared notion that ‘every leaf, atom, planet, galaxy and every cell in our body is humming its own tune.’ Certainly, in the subterranean tremors of McSherry’s uilleann pipes and airy lightness of his whistles, there’s much here to connect the past and present in tunes that sound as grounded as the legends they narrate are fanciful. There’s an ebullience to ‘Dance of the Síog’, a pacy tribute to Ireland’s other-worldly spirits given momentum by McSherry’s dancing pipes and Seán Óg Graham’s flighty guitar. ‘Sunset Land’ is a nebulous, slowmoving stream of low whistle lit up by electric guitar while ‘The Whisperer’ evocatively entwines whistle, guitar and ex-Lúnasa colleague Michael McGoldrick’s flute. Typically McSherry

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sweaty Eastern rhythms, while ‘The Silver Tongues’ brings us back to Scotland with some beautiful pipes from Fin Moore. Focus is certainly on the instruments here and that is no bad thing – although ‘As April is to Winter’ seems to cry out for some lyrics. There is a plethora of influences at play here – from the soft meditation of ‘Only the Burn is not Silent’ to the exoticism of ‘Saltus’, via some hearty Nordic and fiery Scots rhythms. And, with 13 tracks, the listener is certainly spoilt for choice. If you are looking for some superb musicianship with a healthy dose of humour, look no further. BILLY ROUGH

TRACK TO TRY Brutus the Husky

bridges the traditional and the new with ease: Graham’s electric guitar and Sean Warren’s cello spice up ‘The King of Dal Buinne’ and ‘The Cloghole’. They are nimbly rounded off by ‘Jackson’s Favourite’, a popular session reel in McSherry’s native Belfast. MICHAEL QUINN

TRACK TO TRY The Cloghole

Otros Aires Perfect Tango Galileo (33 mins)

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The electro tango crew take everything up a notch or two The fourth album from the ArgentinianSpanish electrotango outfit sees them ramping up their sound – the beats are faster, the bass is heavier, the swing is looser and

at times has an almost mambo-like groove. The vocals are crisper – and a cleaner production gives every layer of the recording its due space. There’s a sultry quality too, especially when guest Meghan Kabir sings on ‘Solo esta Noche’. But this same track finds the band drifting far away from tango which is, in principle, fine. But Perfect Tango fudges and flaps around imperfectly for good ideas. Where a dance rhythm is to the fore, as on ‘Perro Viejo’, it’s through a light reworking of the motif from ‘La Cumparsita’ or a refrain from some other classic compositions. When founder and frontman Miguel Di Genova takes on ‘I’ve Seen That Face Before (Libertango)’ – the famous Grace Jones mash-up of Piazzolla – he falls short on the delivery while the arrangement, if competent, sounds tame and tired. Electronic tango has been with us since 1975, when Astor Piazzolla and

Having released albums in 1998, 2010 and now January 2017, Portuguese singer-songwritermusician Lula Pena is by no means prolific. She also keeps a low media profile at home and is imagined to be a recluse or at least engagingly mysterious. The image gels well with her music, which is searchingly experimental. There is an underlying spirit to her music that can be labelled fado, but Pena takes the edges of her singing into less precise terrain. She composes, sings, performs and produces all 13 songs and no doubt this degree of control affords her the freedom to toy with displays of intimate, intense vocal delivery and abandon form altogether at times. She slips smoothly from the smokier side of French chanson into a quasi-Arabian warble or a softer, bossa novainfluenced susurration. Most of the time she maintains a loose bluesy rhythm no matter what her voice is doing, teasing out fragile minor chords, harmonics and choppy percussion. More a sketchbook than a complete vision, Archivo Pittoresco is unapologetically minimalist – but if you like your ideas raw and your music pared down to the wood, you’ll love it. CHRIS MOSS

TRACK TO TRY Ojos, Si Quereis Vivir

Pentangle Finale

Topic Records (2 CDs, 95 mins)

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The electrifying last live gigs Forty-one years after they first got together and 35 since they split, guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn – both now lost to us – singer Jacqui McShee, bassist Danny

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Gig Guide eventbrite.co.uk; Claudia Aurora Green Note 020 7485 9899; Jally Kebba Susso Rich Mix 020 7613 7498; 25 FEB Baluji Shrivastav Rich Mix 020 7613 7498; Sunidhi Chauhan The SSE Arena, Wembley 0844 815 0815; 26 FEB London Fiddle Convention Cecil Sharp House londonfiddleconvention.org.uk; Caravela Omnibus 020 7498 4699; 2-8 MAR Genders of Indian Music Exhibition and Concert Asia House and Royal Albert Hall amc.org.uk; 3 MAR Claudia Aurora Cafe Barcelona 020 8769 9169; Kieran Towers & Charlotte Carrivick Central Bar Foyer at RFH FREE 0844 875 0073; Nérija The Portico Gallery 020 8761 7612; 4 MAR Kassav Shepherd’s Bush Empire 0844 477 2000; Saaswathi Prabhu The Bhavan 020 7381 3086; 5 MAR Indonesian Gamelan Selamatan Central Bar Foyer at RFH FREE 0844 875 0073; 8 MAR Kristin McClement + Emma Gatrill Kings Place 020 7520 1490; 9 MAR Seth Lakeman & Wildwood Kin Cadogan Hall 020 7730 4500; Tinariwen Electric Brixton 0871 220 0260; 9-10 MAR Aakash Odedra Company Sadler’s Wells 0844 412 4300; 10 MAR Tango Band feat Adrian

Brendel, Joanna MacGregor, Martynas Levickis, Thomas Gould & Adriano Adewale Kings Place 020 7520 1490; 11 MAR Battle of Bollywood Eventim Apollo eventimapollo.com; 11-12 MAR Lula Pena Cafe OTO 020 7923 1231; 13 MAR Roberto Fonseca + Ariwo Barbican 020 7638 8891.

SOUTH 28 JAN Duotone Wychwood Folk Club, Ascott-under-Wychwood 01993 831427; 10 FEB Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain G Live, Guildford 01483 369350; 11 FEB Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain Worthing Assembly Hall 01903 206206; 12 FEB Beth Porter & The Availables Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon 01225 860100; 17 FEB Tcha Limberger Trio Turner Sims, Southampton 023 8059 5151; 19 FEB Jally Kebba Susso The Stables, Milton Keynes 01908 280800; 24-26 FEB Inter Varsity Folk Dance Festival Cambridge ivfdf2017.org.uk; 2 MAR Oysters3 Marlborough Town Hall 01672 512465; 3 MAR Oysters3 Harberton Parish Hall

wegottickets.com; 4 MAR Oysters3 The Plough, Great Torrington 01805 624624; 7 MAR She’koyokh Turner Sims, Southampton 023 8059 5151; 10 MAR Eduardo Niebla The Anvil, Basingstoke 01256 844244; Jally Kebba Susso Chapel Arts Centre, Bath 01225 461700; 11 MAR Penguin Cafe Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden 0845 548 7650.

WALES & WEST 27-29 JAN Gloucester Cajun & Zydeco Festival Gloucester Guildhall gloucesterguildhall.co.uk; 30 JAN Chatham County Line Colston Hall, Bristol 0117 922 3686; 11 FEB Spiro The Subscription Rooms, Stroud 01453 760900; 9-12 MAR Wales’ Interceltic Festival Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl cwlwmceltaidd.org

MIDLANDS 31 JAN Aurelio Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry 024 7652 4524; 3-5 FEB

Guitarists of contrasting styles

Sardinian musician Paolo Angeli’s unique guitar style draws influences from pop, folk and even improvisational free jazz. However, what makes Angeli’s performances truly intriguing is his prepared guitar. The instrument features traditional guitar strings but is modified by two additional sets of strings as well as an assortment of hammers, pedals and everyday items like binder

Nanni Angeli/Malherbe Pelser

Paolo Angeli + Derek Gripper

FolkEast Weekend: Sandlings Sessions Snape Maltings snapemaltings.co.uk; 3-11 FEB City Roots Cambridge www.bit.ly/ cambridgecityroots; 4 FEB Folk at the Riverside The Riverside Centre, Stratford St Andrew suffolkfolk.co.uk/ riverside.php; 10 FEB Claude Bourbon Palace Theatre, Redditch 01527 65203; Nancy Kerr & James Fagan Chesterfield Folk Club chesterfieldfolkclub.org; 10-12 FEB Ahbab Festival The Junction, Cambridge junction.co.uk; The Gainsborough Old Time Festival Queen Elizabeth’s High School foaotmad.org.uk; 19 FEB Celebrating 75 years of Lata Mangeshkar: Palak Muchhal & Palash Muchhal De Montfort Hall, Leicester 0116 233 3111; Wör Folk at the Froize, Woodbridge 01394 450282; 25 FEB The Anna Mudeka Band Glemsford Library, Sudbury 01787 281803; 26 FEB Sunidhi Chauhan De Montfort Hall, Leicester 0116 233 3111; 3-6 MAR Afro Cuban Fiesta New Beach Hotel, Great Yarmouth afrocubansalsafiesta.com; 8 MAR Tinariwen The Glee Club, Birmingham 0871 472 0400.

ON TOUR

clips and clothes pegs. Angeli will be joined on the tour by Songlines favourite Derek Gripper. The South African guitarist is known for combining traditional African styles with classical European techniques, transcribing West African kora music to guitar. Their UK tour is bound to set an excellent contrast between their respective guitar techniques and genres.

2 FEB mac, Birmingham 0121 446 3232; 3 FEB Pontio, Bangor 01248 382828; 5 FEB The Apex, Bury St Edmunds 01284 758000; 7 FEB Colston Hall, Bristol 0844 887 1500; 8 FEB Firth Hall, Sheffield 0333 666 3366; 9 FEB The Junction, Cambridge 01223 511511; 12 FEB Rich Mix, London 020 7613 7498; 13 FEB The Stables, Milton Keynes 01908 280800; 15 FEB Sage Gateshead 0191 443 4661; 16 FEB NCEM, York 01904 658338.

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Gig Guide

NORTH

TOURS

28 JAN Prabhat Rao & Group The Capstone, Liverpool FREE 0151 291 3949; Basco Hepworth Live, Holmfirth 07845 921527; Talisk Sage Gateshead 0191 443 4661; 2 FEB Aurelio The Hubs, Sheffield 07955 047387; 4 FEB Orchestra Baobab Howard Assembly Room, Leeds 0844 848 2727; Chalte Chalte: Pooja Angra & Karan Rana Sage Gateshead 0191 443 4661; Shabnam Khan & Co Seven Arts, Leeds 0113 244 5523; 10-11 FEB Love Folk Festival The Atkinson, Southport theatkinson.co.uk; 16 FEB Apple Yang’s Wild Wool Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead 0191 478 1810; 17-19 FEB Stage4Beverley stage4beverley.com; 24 FEB GemArts Mini Mela Caedmon Hall, Gateshead FREE gemarts.org; 25 FEB Maya Jazz The Capstone, Liverpool FREE 0151 291 3949; 3 MAR Juan Martín Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Hexham 01453 652477; 3-4 MAR Moonbeams March Weekend The Bell, Driffield moonbeamsevents.co.uk; 7 MAR Tinariwen The Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool 0871 220 0260; 8 MAR Arve Henriksen & Trio Mediaeval Howard Assembly Room, Leeds 0844 848 2727; Luke Daniels Old Fire Station, Carlisle 01228 598596; 10 MAR Roberto Fonseca Howard Assembly Room, Leeds 0844 848 2727; 12 MAR Penguin Cafe Howard Assembly Room, Leeds 0844 848 2727.

9Bach

19 JAN-5 FEB Celtic Connections Glasgow celticconnections.com; 20-28 JAN Big Burns Supper Across Dumfries bigburnssupper.com

IRELAND (REPUBLIC & NORTHERN)

25-29 JAN TradFest Temple Bar, Dublin templebartrad.com; 28 JAN Chatham County Line Whelan’s, Dublin +353 (0)1 4780766; Martin & Eliza Carthy Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny +353 (0)74 912 9186; 29 JAN-1 FEB IMBOLC International Music Festival Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, Derry imbolcfestival.com; 22-26 FEB The Gathering Traditional Festival INEC, Killarney thegathering.ie; 6-8 MAR & 11-14 MAR The Gloaming National Concert Hall, Dublin +353 (0)1 417 0000.

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10 FEB Kings Place, London 020 7520 1490; 11 FEB West End Centre, Aldershot 01252 330040; 12 FEB Bristol Folk House 0117 926 2987; 13 FEB The Prince Albert, Stroud 01453 755600.

Blazin’ Fiddles

From the Highlands and Islands 3 MAR Pitlochry Festival Theatre 01796 484626; 4 MAR Lanark Memorial Hall musicinlanark.co.uk; 5 MAR Inchberry Hall, Fochabers eventbrite.co.uk; 6 MAR Craigmonie Centre, Drumnadrochit 01456 450224; 8 MAR Lakeside, Nottingham 0115 846 7777; 9 MAR Corn Exchange, Newbury 0845 521 8218; 11 MAR The Grand, Clitheroe 01200 421599.

Celtic Fiddle Festival

Irish, Scottish and Breton fiddlers 13 FEB Kings Place, London 020 7520 1490; 15 FEB Merlin Theatre, Frome 01373 465949; 16 FEB Huntingdon Hall, Worcester 01905 611427; 17 FEB Ropetackle, Shoreham-by-Sea 01273 464440; 18 FEB Norden Farm, Maidenhead 01628 788997; 19 FEB The Apex, Bury St Edmunds 01284 758000; 20 FEB New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme 01782 717962; 21 FEB St David’s Hall, Cardiff 029 2087 8444; 22 FEB The Brindley, Runcorn 0151 907 8360; 23 FEB Sage Gateshead 0191 443 4661; 25 FEB Hailsham Pavilion 01323 841414.

Compton & Newberry

Rare dates by masters of old-time 27 JAN Seven Arts, Leeds 0113 262 6777; 28 JAN The Heeley Institute, Sheffield wegottickets.com; 29 JAN The Cross Keys, Selattyn 01691 791500; 31 JAN Helsby Bluegrass Club, Frodsham 01928 722267; 1 FEB The Atkinson, Southport 01704 533333; 2 FEB The Three Horseshoes, Towersey 01844 212322; 3 FEB Central Bar Foyer at RFH, London FREE 0844 875 0073; 4 FEB St George’s Church, New Mills 0871 220 0260; 5 FEB Victoria Hotel, Menai Bridge 01286 674631.

Connla

Quintet from Northern Ireland 11-12 FEB The Square & Compass, Worth Matravers 01929 439229; 14 FEB Canolfan Clydau, Tegryn 01505 706346; 15 FEB Cwtch, Pembroke Dock 01646 687635; 16 FEB Grand Pavilion, Porthcawl 01656 815995;

Johan Persson

SCOTLAND

Songs from new album, Anian

ON TOUR

Danza Contemporánea de Cuba Havana’s modern dance troupe

The flagship Cuban dance group make their way over to the UK for a truly unique tour. Praised for their ‘hybrid, hothouse style,’ Danza Contemporánea de Cuba draw their influences from all over the world, mixing their Cuban roots with everything from Afro-Caribbean rhythms, to modern American jazz and European ballet dance techniques. On the group’s 40th tour, they will be celebrating their 50th year as a dance company with the premieres of three new pieces from world-renowned choreographers Annabelle López Ochoa, Theo Clinkard and Cuba’s own George Céspedes. 14-15 FEB Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham 0115 989 5555; 17-18 FEB The Lowry, Salford Quays 0870 787 5780; 21-22 FEB Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon Tyne 0844 811 2121; 23 FEB Barbican, London 020 7638 8891; 28 FEB-1 MAR Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff 08700 40 2000; 3-4 MAR Theatre Royal, Plymouth 01752 230440; 7-8 MAR Brighton Dome 01273 709709; 10 MAR Eden Court, Inverness 01463 234234; 14-15 MAR Festival Theatre, Edinburgh 0131 529 6000; 17-18 MAR The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury 01227 787787.

ISSUE 125

› SONGLINES

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Pictured: Anoushka Shankar © simonyc. Full annual retail price for print only (10 issues) is £59.50; One-year subscription £49.50 UK, £68.20 EU, £71.80 ROW. Postage and packaging is included. *The digital edition doesn’t include the Top of the World CD but the tablet edition includes streamed excerpts from each track (available from #89).

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DAVID ATTENBOROUGH’S PLAYLIST

02 Voxtra ‘Ballu Santu Razzolu’ (1:40)

07 Erik Aliana & Picket ‘Coeur de Pygmées’ (2:56)

03 Renata Rosa ‘Jurema’ (3:54)

08 Ewan MacPherson ‘Brutus the Husky/ MacColl’s’ (5:54)

04 George Telek, David Bridie & musicians of the Gunantuna ‘Lili Ram Kavavar’ (3:19)

10 Black String ‘Mask Dance’ (3:20)

05 Tinariwen ‘Sastanàqqàm’ (3:26)

12 Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu ‘Djarimirri’ (4:00)

13 Various Artists ‘Sekaten Gendhing’ (edit, 3:42)

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15 Martín Portillo & Marcelo Rojas ‘Pájaro Campana (The Bell Bird)’ (4:02)

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ESSENTIAL

UNESCO INTANGIBLE HERITAGE ALBUMS

Rumba and merengue have just been added to the UNESCO Intangible Heritage list. They appear here alongside other great recordings on Simon Broughton’s recommendations from the ever-growing catalogue 01 Bengali Bauls At Big Pink (Retroworld, 2017)

The crazy, ecstatic music of the Bauls was put on the list in 2005. Never available on CD before this recent release, At Big Pink features brothers Purna and Luxman Das plus other family members, and was released on the American Buddha label in 1968. Bob Dylan ‘discovered’ the musicians when rehearsing with The Band at Big Pink in New York State.

02 Carlos do Carmo Fado É Amor (Wrasse, 2013)

Veteran singer Carlos do Carmo and Mariza were both involved in Portugal’s bid to get fado on the list in 2011. The often melancholy music has enjoyed a revival in the past 20 years. Here, do Carmo duets with Mariza and several other singers of the younger generation including Carminho, Cristina Branco, Ana Moura and Ricardo Ribeiro. Reviewed in #98.

03 Djivan Gasparyan The Soul of Armenia (Network, 2007)

The Armenian duduk and its music was awarded in 2005 and the oboe-like instrument has a truly soulful and plangent sound. This superb double digipack highlights the instrument in the hands of its acknowledged maestro Djivan Gasparyan. It includes solo playing, duduk quartet as well as pieces with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Hossein Alizadeh and Turkish guitarist Erkan Oğur. A Top of the World in #49.

04 La India Canela Merengue Típico

(Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2008) Merengue from the Dominican Republic is one of 98 S O N G L I N E S

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the new additions to the Intangible list. There’s a brilliant collection of classic merengue (1949-62) from Frémaux & Associés, but for a single artist La India Canela (The Sweet Indian, aka Lidia María Hernández López) is a superb and rare female accordion star of roots merengue. Reviewed in #54.

05 Estrella Morente Mujeres (EMI Spain, 2006)

Spanish flamenco gained its UNESCO status in 2010. While this isn’t a pure flamenco record, it shows the form developing in the 21st century as Estrella Morente pays tribute to her heroines, including early cantaores. Morente has a strong, pure voice and this album, produced by her father Enrique Morente, was a Top of the World in #40.

06 Muñequitos de Matanzas Rumba de Corazón (Bis Music, 2002)

One of the 2015 additions to the list, Cuban rumba isn’t what you’re likely to see on Strictly Come Dancing. It’s African vocal and percussion music with Yoruba roots featuring conga and batá drums. Its heartland is the port city of Matanzas on the northern coast of the island and this album was released to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the best-known rumba group.

07 Astor Piazzolla Tango: Zero Hour (Nonesuch, 1998)

Tango from Argentina and Uruguay was UNESCOrecognised in 2009. Composer and bandoneón player Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992) was the creator of new tango. Once criticised by the purists, he is now one of the greats. Recorded for American Clavé in New York with the Quinteto Tango Nuevo, this is a landmark.

08 Alim & Fargana Qasimov Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan

(Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 2007) Mugham joined the UNESCO list in 2003. It is the classical form of Azerbaijani music with poetic, often mystical, texts. Alim Qasimov is the veteran master and this excellent disc from the Aga Khan Music Initiative features an extended mugham plus lighter pieces with his daughter, Fargana, accompanied by kamancha (fiddle), tar (lute), balaban (duduk) and percussion. Reviewed in #49.

09 Rustavi Choir Georgian Voices (Nonesuch, 1989)

Georgian polyphonic singing was added to the list in 2001. There are different styles of singing across the country. The male-voiced Rustavi choir was founded in 1968 and is still the best-known ensemble. This disc includes 13 songs from all the important regions, including ‘Chakrulo’, which was sent into outer space on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977.

10 Various Artists Chopi Music from Mozambique (Music & Words, 1999)

The timbila music of the Chopi people in Mozambique was added to the UNESCO Intangible Heritage list in 2005. The timbila is a large xylophone similar to the West African balafon, the pentatonic version of which is also on the list for Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast. This compilation primarily features the late Venancio Mbanda and his brilliant family band.

+ MORE Read Simon’s Soapbox about the +

UNESCO Intangible Heritage list on p97 LET US KNOW Have any other suggestions? Get in touch, letters@songlines.co.uk

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