Songlines Magazine July 2013 (#93)

Etran Finatawa

azerbaijani mugham

Tribal trance from Niger’s nomads

discover a world of music

Top 25

A guide to the music of the Fire Country

July 2013 Mick Jagger’s Playlist ● top 25 Mali albums ● Etran Finatawa ● Guide to Mugham from Azerbaijan ● Beginner’s Guide to irakere ● Nynke

£4.95 Issue 93 JuLY 2013 www.songlines.co.uk www.facebook.com/songlines

SONGLINES DISCOVER A WORLD OF MUSIC

2 free cds including mick jagger’s playlist

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Top 25 Mali Albums Our countdown of the best albums from Africa’s musical powerhouse.

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Nynke

38

The unique and stylish singer who introduced the world to Frisian fado talks about her new release.

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Guide to Mugham from Azerbaijan

Everything you need to know about the artists and history of this fiery Azerbaijani classical music.

46

Etran Finatawa

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Lead singer Alhous talks about the troubled Sahel region and the band’s new album, recorded in the desert.

27 www.songlines.co.uk www.songlines.co.uk

Songlines 3

UPFRONT

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7 Welcome 9 Top of the World CD 10 M y World: Mick Jagger 12 N ews 18 G rooves: China Forbes, Samba Touré, Owiny Sigoma Band

19 Homegrown: Yaaba Funk 21 Cerys Matthews 22 Songlines Music Travel 23 G lobe-Rocker: Femi Kuti 24 Letters

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REGULARS

50 Beginner’s Guide to Irakere 52 Festival Profile: Afrikafestival Hertme 55 P ostcard from Warsaw 57 Sounding Out Rotterdam 63 Subscribe +GET A FREE CD 93 Gig Guide 96 You Should Have Been There...

98 Backpage from Marseille

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JuLY2013 COMPETITIONS

14 Win Playground Party tickets 23 W in a Femi Kuti CD 49 Win an Etran Finatawa CD 89 Win Marabi Nights book

REVIEWS

76 83

72 The Americas

Europe

Middle East

66

80 Asia

86

Fusion

Africa

85

89

Australasia & Pacific

Books

90

World Cinema

49 www.songlines.co.uk

83 Songlines 5

UPFRONT

Welcome

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Songlines Publishing Ltd PO Box 54209, London, w14 0wu, uk www.songlines.co.uk General Enquiries +44 (0)20 7371 2777 info@songlines.co.uk Subscriptions +44 (0)20 7371 2777 subs@songlines.co.uk Advertising +44 (0)20 7371 2834 james@songlines.co.uk Fax +44 (0)20 7371 2220 Reviews We only review full-length world music

albums (not singles or EPs) with UK distribution.

Please send a copy marked ‘FOR REVIEW’ to the address above.

Next issue on sale July 19 2013

See p63 to subscribe or www.songlines.co.uk/subs

THE TEAM

Editor-in-chief Simon Broughton Publisher Paul Geoghegan Editor Matthew Milton Editor-at-large Jo Frost Assistant Editor Alexandra Petropoulos Art Director Jenni Doggett Advertisement Manager James Anderson-Hanney Subscriptions Manager and Online Content Manager Edward Craggs Podcast Producer Nasim Masoud Reviews Editor Matthew Milton News Editor Nathaniel Handy Listings Tatiana Rucinska listings@songlines.co.uk World Cinema Editor Ed Stocker ed@edstocker.com Production Consultant Dermot Jones Financial Controller Iwona Perucka Commercial Consultant Chris Walsh Editorial Director Lyn Hughes Contributing Editors Jane Cornwell, Mark Ellingham, Sue Steward & Nigel Williamson Intern Luke Shekerali Cover Luc Gnago Mick Jagger Photo Steven Klein

In solidarity with Mali, we have chosen 25 seminal albums of Malian music

e’ve probably reviewed an album from Mali in every issue of Songlines since we began. As any regular reader will know, it’s Africa’s musical powerhouse. With the coup and the Islamist incursion in the north last year, the situation rapidly deteriorated. French troops have dispelled the Islamists, but the situation remains unstable and there are thousands of refugees. In solidarity, festivals like Glastonbury and Hay are featuring Malian artists, Oxfam have produced a video (Mali in Crisis: The Power of Music, see our YouTube channel) and we have chosen 25 seminal albums to celebrate from the last four decades of Malian music.

But how do you rate the solo kora of Toumani Diabaté alongside the desert blues of Tinariwen, the soulful pop of Amadou & Mariam and the big-band danceability of the Rail Band in order to come up with a real pop countdown? Impossible, of course. However, we feel we’ve done pretty well. Songlines have used every latest development in cutting-edge algorhythmic software to painstakingly assess and score each disc from every angle: innovation, durability in desert winds, impact inside and outside of Mali, most-pirated, trendiest guest indie-rock collaborator etc. Easy. Job done. Now turn to p27 to read all about it.

I’m just back from Warsaw and the Nowa Tradycja (New Tradition) competition – something like the BBC Folk Awards – run by Polish Radio. Most of the bands we’ve written about have been winners in the competition, including the Warsaw Village Band, Čači Vorba, Sutari and Vołosi (who played this week at the Songlines Encounters Festival).

This year’s winners, Cicha & Spółka, were, I’m pleased to say, also my favourites. Karolina Cicha is a charismatic singer (and multi-instrumentalist) and her trio of musicians play a wide range of instruments from some of the surrounding cultures. Very impressive.

There was also a great tribute (pictured below) to the wonderful Władysław TrebuniaTutka, the great gorale (highland) musician from the Tatras who died last year. He’s one of the figures who kept Polish gorale music vibrant over the last half century. It’s one of the most distinctive sounds in Europe with its angular melodies and swirling dances, and one that the Poles are very proud of. But I was also there to see the revival of interest in traditional music from other parts of the country, which is a growing phenomenon.

Songlines Encounters runs till Saturday June 8 and there’s great music to be heard, so be sure to stop by London’s Kings Place and say hello. Songlines will also be at Glastonbury by the West Holts Stage – and as we’ve got Mick Jagger’s playlist, you never know, he might just pop over to sign copies of the issue…

COMPETITIONS Send entries, marked clearly with the competition name, your name, address, email and telephone number to the address above or email to comps@songlines.co.uk. Winners will be chosen at random. Only one entry per household. No cash alternatives. Please note, 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.

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Printing Polestar Colchester Ltd, Severalls Industrial Estate, Colchester, Essex CO4 4HT. Record trade distribution Worldwide Magazine Distributors. Tel: 0121 788 3112 UK newsstand & overseas newstrade distribution COMAG Specialist Division.

Tel: 01895 433800 All rights are reserved. Reproduction in any manner, in whole or in part, is strictly forbidden without the prior written consent of the publishers. No responsibility for incorrect information can be accepted. The views expressed in the articles are those of the author, and not necessarily of the publisher.

While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of statements in Songlines, we cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions or for matters arising from clerical or printer’s errors, or for advertisers not completing their contracts. Songlines is also available in audio format from the Talking Newspaper Association, tel: 01435 866102, www.tnauk.org.uk Songlines USPS 4638 is published Jan/Feb, March, April/May, June, July, Aug/Sept, Oct, Nov/Dec by Songlines Publishing Limited.

Published by Songlines Publishing Ltd, PO Box 54209, London, W14 0WU. ISSN 1464-8113 © 2009 Songlines Publishing Ltd Songlines logo trade mark, registered under No. 2427714. Directors: Simon Broughton, Mark Ellingham, Paul Geoghegan, Lyn Hughes and Chris Pollard

SONGLINES DIGITAL Songlines Digital subscribers now have free access to the iPad and Android Tablet editions. For more details see p63 www.songlines.co.uk

Songlines 7

UPFRONT

93

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

1

The Hot 8 Brass Band ‘Wolf Burger’

2

Nynke ‘Dûns Fan de Siedden’

3

Femi Kuti ‘Nothing to Show for It’

4

5

From Tombstone on Tru Thoughts The acclaimed New Orleans band celebrate the lives of lost friends with some funky Louisiana brass. See p75

From Alter on Crammed Discs Recent childbirth and a love of language inspires this eclectic exploration into Frisian fado-pop. See p78

From No Place for My Dream on Wrasse Records Yet more infectious rhythms crafted by Fela Kuti’s heir to the Afro-beat throne. See p67

From Knock Knock Get Up on Mark of the Leopard The American duo offer a refreshing rebuttal to the indie-folk epidemic. See p72

Riverboat Records The Touaregs go back to basics with melodies arranged under a canopy of stars in Niger. See p66

David Wax Museum Etran Finatawa ‘Harder Before it ‘Is Ler Is Salan’ From The Sahara Sessions on Gets Easier’

86 2 4 1 7

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3 Turn over to see what’s on Mick Jagger’s playlist

Los Desterrados ‘Aguila Guila’

From Dos Amantes on Enkalador Records Resurrected ancient Ladino music is brought back to life for a modern audience with a wide repertoire of genres from ‘the exiles’. See p77

7

Samba Touré ‘Al Barka’

From Albala on Glitterbeat Records The Malian guitarist laments his country’s troubles in this sombre yet confident album, confirmation that this Songhai bluesman’s time has finally come. See p68

8

Solas ‘High, Wide and Handsome’

9

Owiny Sigoma Band ‘Norbat Okelo’

10

From Shamrock City on THL Records Solas’ masterpiece – a musicial insight into the history of Irish immigrants to Butte, Montana, the ‘Shamrock City.’ See p79

From Power Punch!!! on Brownswood Recordings Kenyan Luo tradition meets London’s club scene, and propels OSB to the top of the Afro-roots scene. See p87

From The Living Room Sessions Part 2 on East Meets West Music The sitar maestro dazzles listeners with the second part of what he humbly described as ‘fooling around.’ See p81

New to Songlines? Subscribe now and get a

Ravi Shankar ‘Raga Singhi Bhairavi’

album for free!

We’re giving away a choice of Femi Kuti, The Hot 8 Brass Band or Etran Finatawa’s new albums (to new subscribers only).

See the flyer inside your covermount CD for details, visit www.songlines.co.uk/cd93 or call +44 (0)20 7371 2777. www.songlines.co.uk

Songlines 9

† Fusionland

6

UPFRONT

My World mick jagger In a world exclusive interview, Chris Jagger talks to his brother, Rolling Stones frontman Mick, about his favourite music from around the world

Also on your CD: five tracks chosen by Mick Jagger

11

Clifton Chenier ‘I’m a Hog for You’

From the album Out West on Arhoolie Records, www.arhoolie.com “Clifton was a great influence on me.

We first listened to him around 1965 when we went to the States. I love the way he just grabs a blues number and adapts it to his style.”

12

Salif Keita ‘M’Bemba’

From the album M’Bemba on Decca Records “The haunting voice and title-track from that album are still great to listen to today. He is rightly rated as the top man in his field.”

13

T Visvanathan and T Ranganathan ‘Sandehamunu’

From the album Anthology of Indian Classical Music: A Tribute to Alain Daniélou on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings “I particularly like the simple flute, and the south Indian style is particularly evocative from Visvanathan and those that followed in his footsteps.”

14

Farafina ‘Dounounia’

From the album Faso Denou on Real World Records “I came across them because of Charlie Hart who is a friend of my brother and knew all about them.

They came to play on a track called ‘Continental Drift’ on the Steel Wheels record.”

15

Fela Kuti and Ginger Baker ‘Let’s Start’

From the album Fela Kuti and the Africa 70 with Ginger Baker Live! on Knitting Factory Records “As far as I know Ginger was one of the first to get into these rhythms and travel to Africa to actually sit there and play them… Fela always had great orchestration and an amazing horn section, as he played horn himself.”

10 Songlines

W

ay back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and pop bands had names like The Honeycombs, I was working at the Hampstead Theatre Club in North London after I left school and sometimes staying at my brother’s spacious apartment near Regent’s Park. He was mostly away in the US zigzagging across country, playing on the bill with people like George Jones and staying in Howard Johnson Motels. When he did return he brought with him stacks of records from New York, which contained the largest diaspora of people from across the world, and consequently stocked records in stores for them (in those far-off days when people bought LPs in stores). Much of Mick’s stash remained unopened for months or even years as it piled up. There were records of choirs from the Balkans, mariachi bands, veena players from South India, the Persian oud, Oum Kalthoum from Egypt and a host of field recordings of blues from across the US, including Louisiana’s Clifton Chenier.

“Clifton was a great influence on me,” Mick says of the zydeco accordionist. “We first listened to him around 1965 when we went to the States and picked up his records on the Arhoolie label.” The track Mick has selected for the playlist is ‘I’m a Hog for You.’ “This is a shuffle with the washboard picking up the triplets and it moves along in the

classic Chenier style that he really put on the map. We first met up with the band in Los Angeles, I think, and I love the way he just grabs a blues number and adapts it to his style. Now his son is out on the road playing the same accordion and it’s all in the great Louisiana tradition.”

There was plenty to listen to in his evergrowing collection. We would get rather stoned to some of the records and have a good laugh in our ignorance. Others left us wondering at their exotic sounds. Some we played frequently, intrigued as to how such different sounds came from diverse people across the globe. Years later this would be called ‘world music,’ but back then it was merely exotic sounds.

There wasn’t much African music, apart from North Africa, but that hasn’t stopped Mick from picking up on the various sounds coming out of West Africa. One voice that caught his attention was Mali’s Salif Keita. “He’s a lyrical singer from West Africa, which is where the blues came from.” Of the album M’Bemba he says, “the haunting voice and title-track from that album, which dates back to 2005, is still great to listen to today, in my view. He has a wonderful use of acoustic instruments and is rightly rated as the top man in his field.”

Mick was also drawn to the funky sounds of Afro-beat legend Fela Kuti, from Nigeria.

He mentions Cream’s drummer Ginger Baker, who famously set up a recording studio in Nigeria and played with many Afro-beat musicians. “As far as I know Ginger was one of the first to get into these rhythms and travel to Africa to actually sit there and play them,” Mick says. “He might have been influenced by Phil Seamen, the jazz drummer who pre-dated him, but Ginger went to play with Fela Kuti, which must have been a daunting journey in more ways than one. But then he always did want to push things that much further than most drummers who came from England.

Fela always had great orchestration and an amazing horn section, as he played horn himself and liked to use two baritones, which is unusual.”

We also explored the sounds of India, July 2013

UPFRONT

Steven Klein

“I particularly like the simple flute – the closest instrument to the human voice, they say...”

with their long, flowing ragas and soon afterwards I travelled there to see and hear such musicians and even study some singing. Among Mick’s record collection were some Indian field recordings by Alain Daniélou. “I first had some of the records Alain put out in the 60s. He was a great pioneer, travelling across the subcontinent recording classical Indian music. I particularly like the simple flute – the closest instrument to the human voice, they say – and the South Indian style is particularly evocative from T Visvanathan and those that followed in his footsteps.”

The track featured on his playlist is ‘Sandehamunu’ from the album Anthology of Indian Classical Music: A Tribute to Alain Daniélou (which is scheduled to www.songlines.co.uk

be re-released on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings later this year).

The music of a people is the best international language and is able to bring communities together, even if the actual words are unknown. The only mystery is why this has all taken so long. But thanks to festivals like WOMAD and magazines like Songlines things have moved along.

After all, it took most people about 25 years to cotton on to James Brown. I have been fortunate in working with musicians such as the fiddle player Robin McKidd and multiinstrumentalist Charlie Hart, who have turned me on to a wide variety of sounds.

Together we have made our own music, sometimes borrowing from these genres, but trying to keep the original flavour and

inspiration too. Farafina, from Burkina Faso, provide the last track on Mick’s playlist. “I came across them because of Charlie Hart,” Mick explains. “They came to play on a track called ‘Continental Drift’ on the Steel Wheels record,” a song which also features the wailing shawms of the Master Musicians of Jajouka from Morocco. “Farafina have done really well now and deserve the praise of those who catch their shows.”

DATE The Rolling Stones will headline this year’s Glastonbury Festival VIDEO Watch a video of Mick Jagger playing with the Master Musicians of Jajouka on our YouTube channel PODCAST Hear a bonus track from Mick Jagger’s playlist on this issue’s podcast Songlines 11

GUIDE TO

MUGHAM

from azerbaijan Mugham, the classical music of Azerbaijan, is only just coming to the attention of an international audience, though the scene back home is alive and strong. Simon Broughton examines the history of the tradition, uncovers its best performers and explores mugham’s future p h oto s S i m o n B r o u g h to n U n l e s s s tat e d

°Mugham°

�

Baku’s old town and mugham’s international star Alim Qasimov

Opening & Alim Qasimov: Sebastian Schutyser/Aga Khan Music Initiative

T

here are certain types of music that have a transcendental power to reach out and transport you – like Spanish flamenco, Pakistani qawwali and Azeri mugham. The first two are well-known, but mugham from Azerbaijan has been slower to find an international audience – mostly for political reasons.

For many years, Azerbaijan was marginalised within the Soviet Union and it’s only since independence in 1991 that the music has been able to find its international place. In 2003 UNESCO recognised mugham as one of the musical styles on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Mugham does have an international star in the person of singer Alim Qasimov, who has been performing for years at festivals around the world, appearing with Jeff Buckley at L’Olympia in Paris and playing with the Kronos Quartet. “When I start singing I forget about any reality,” he says. “I reach another place of divine emotions and go into a higher world.”

When you listen to his incantatory performances – these days usually in partnership with his daughter Fargana – you realise the power of this music.

I saw them this March in Baku and before that I caught their late-night performance in the Siam Tent at WOMAD in 2010. It’s unlikely that many at the latter concert understood the lyrics or the meaning of the words, but they could feel its transformative effect. That is the power of mugham. A lot of its

poetry has that ambiguous Sufi quality that blurs earthly and divine love.

One of Qasimov’s favourite lyrics refers to the ritual washing before prayers: ‘my tears are my ablutions, my prayer is my mugham.’

One of the great instrumentalists of the genre, tar player Ramiz Guliyev, says that mugham is like the complex, interwoven threads of a carpet. When you listen to it, it’s clear that mugham is the product of a culture with rules and traditions to be followed, but there’s plenty of room for personal expression as well. There is no authoritative book on mugham in English, so this Songlines Guide has been put together from many years of listening to mugham and a visit to the International Mugham Festival in Baku, where I spoke to Azeri expert Sanubar Baghirova and French specialist Jean During.

Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are the three Transcaucasian countries south of the Caucasus Mountains where Europe meets the Middle East. The former two are Christian while Azerbaijan is predominantly Muslim. Its name is thought to come from the Persian azar-paygan, meaning ‘the fire country.’ Just a few kilometres from Baku is Yanar Dağ (Fire Mountain), where the hillside is permanently ablaze with blue and yellow gas flames. Before the arrival of Islam, Azerbaijan was famous as a centre of Zoroastrianism, with its fire temples, in which fires »

www.songlines.co.uk Songlines 39

° E tr an

finatawa °

desert stars

Andy Morgan speaks to Etran Finatawa’s singer Alhous about the sandstorm of war in the Sahel region and the band’s return to the desert with their latest album

Colin Bass

p h oto s A n d y M o r g a n U nless stated

C

lack! Clack-a-clack! Clack! Nice one bro! Oh yeah? Looks like pure jam to me. Ha ha! You’re just jealous! OK, alright. So, now what do I do? Pitch? Or roll and break ’em up? Mmmm, let’s see… pitch it, I reckon. Aim for Yabou’s boule. You sure about that? Yeah, he’s holding the point. Go for it. OK. Clackety-clack! Clack! Yay! Cool throw bro.

Done like a champion! How’s your boy Youssouf, by the way? Oh, getting along fine, thanks for asking.

Here, on a nondescript acre of ground by a busy intersection in downtown Niamey, the Sahel is at peace with itself. Alhousseini Mohammed Anivolla, guitarist and singer with Etran Finatawa, is pitching his fourth boule in an attempt to dislodge his opponent’s blockade around the jack. Alhous – that’s what his mates call him – is a cool hand at pétanque. In fact, he’s A-team material; a regular club champion. That’s no surprise. He’s down here most days, especially during that evening sweet-spot when the heat fades and the air becomes all tender and milky. The pétanque club is a place to hang loose, play a game, shoot the breeze and forget about politics, war and all that crap.

All the men who roll up here to play prefer to leave their problems at the front gate. They might be politicians, local government officials, security advisors, rebels, ex-rebels, shopkeepers, businessmen, soldiers or smugglers.

They might be Touareg, Arab, Fulani, Hausa, Djerma or Toubou. Nobody really cares. Here they’re just men plain and simple, dressed in string vests and loose baggy bazin trousers, out to relax and enjoy one of the few popular pastimes left behind by the French colonisers when they left Niger in 1960.

Even that infamous desert fox Colonel Alhaji Ag Gamou – a Touareg soldier loyal to the Malian state and the scourge of secessionist Touareg rebels in northern Mali – used to come here regularly after he was exiled from his homeland last year. But the game was always pétanque, not politics.

46 Songlines

This dusty pitch, bordered by a few leafy trees, floats free from the petty politics of home, nation and region. The question, here, is whether to pitch or roll, not whether to rebel or stay loyal.

After Alhous and his mates wrap up their umpteenth game, we ride back home on his motorbike, through the diesel and dust of Niamey, a thousand precarious livelihoods lining the wide thoroughfare, faces toughened by the daily grind. Life here was hard enough already before neighbouring Mali disintegrated into civil war and ethnic strife over a year ago. The knock-ons are palpable. Malians fester in refugee camps between Niamey and the border.

Young kids are turning themselves into human bombs in Gao, just six hours away up the great Niger River. The few whiteys who have opted to stay behind drive around in Niamey tractors, eyes front, doors locked, even though, in truth, Niamey has crime statistics that Chicago would die for. A couple of young French guys were snatched by jihadis-cum-gangsters from a sleazy city-centre bar called Le Toulousain two years ago. Both were killed in a botched rescue attempt by Nigerien police and French Special Forces. That was two years ago, but the fug of paranoia wafts around the place like the odour of bad sweat.

Like all Touareg musicians, Alhous is asking himself some fundamental questions about his desert home and how best to face up to the pathogens of poverty, crime, extremism and fear that have infected it. After all, thanks to the global success of Etran Finatawa, the band he helped to create almost a decade ago, Alhous is now in that select group of Touareg artists who ‘hold a global mic,’ so to speak.

“I heard that things were beginning to brew in Mali,” he tells me, “but I didn’t expect a crisis like this. It’s a nightmare for me, a surprise that was completely outside my imagination.” Alhous’ roots are in the Adagh, the region in northeastern Mali that’s been at the epicentre of the rebellion and Islamist » July 2013

° E t r a n

AU f i n a t °aL w a °

lhous is now in that A select group of Touareg artists who ‘hold a global mic,’ so to speak

www.songlines.co.uk

Songlines 47

FE STIVA L

f

P R O FILE

FESTIVAL PROFILE

afrikafestival hertme

Patrick Extercate

Stan Rijven finds out how the Dutch village of Hertme manages to create such a beautiful and intimate setting for some of Africa’s best acts

W

ell-known for its soccer team and local beer, the region of Twente in the eastern Netherlands is also famous for another reason. At least among African musicians and music fans, that is. Because of its adventurous line-up and intimate ambience, the Afrikafestival Hertme offers a dreamcome-true experience. After 25 years it is an anomaly in today’s festival world, with low entrance fees, a pastoral setting and a relaxed attitude. “We just have one stage. There’s no security, no backstage and we run everything with local volunteers,” says director Rob Lokin.

Hertme is a tiny village surrounded by lush green woods and flowering fields, and hiding amidst its cafés and church is an open-air

Jupiter & Okwess International at Afrikafestival Hertme in 2012

52 Songlines

July 2013

“In Afrikafestival Hertme the stage and audience are one”

Erosto consecte feu Juaugait, consequisl del exercin cincing eummodo commy nos ero dolor ad

www.songlines.co.uk

drummers from Burundi have played next to amplified acts such as Papa Wemba, Bonga, Tinariwen, Ebo Taylor and Mahmoud Ahmed. Several artists, such as Bassekou Kouyaté, made their Dutch debut at the festival.

The whole thing depends on one man: physician Rob Lokin. He was infected by African music while working as a doctor in Cameroon. “In 1977 I attended a concert by Prince Nico Mbarga at a venue in Buea,” he explains. “I got hooked and bought myself all kinds of African records.”

For a quarter of a century Afrikafestival Hertme has been hidden in the backwoods of the Netherlands, yet it has hosted unbelievable line-ups thanks to Lokin and his wife Emmy. Their love for music and their independent approach (there is no government money involved in the running of the festival) makes it a unique event.

Members of local scouting groups and brass bands run the parking and catering facilities. As a doctor by day, impresario by night, Lokin has had the luxury of designing his own festival. “When back in Holland I often went to Amsterdam, Brussels or Paris to check out bands. Music magazines and radio stations also kept me informed.”

During their holidays, Lokin and his wife visited other festivals: “At Musique Métisses in France we discovered lots of artists from Cape Verde and Madagascar; at the Festival in the Desert in Mali we met Oumou Sangaré and Tinariwen.”

Lokin’s eclectic musical tastes perfectly matched the experimental approach needed to hold a festival like this in a rural area. “When we started, most people in Twente were unaware of the current musical developments in Africa,” Lokin remembers. “It started in 1989 with percussion groups from West Africa. But programming contemporary African music was more difficult. Musicians had to come from ‘the bush’ otherwise people didn’t like it. They expected drums and djembés.” Still, Lokin tuned his audience into electric sounds with ubongo music from the Tanzanian artist Remmy Ongala, Afro-beat from Sean and Femi Kuti and Ethiopian grooves from Mahmoud Ahmed. Just like his father, Femi Kuti wasn’t easy to work with. “His management demanded special safety fencing around the stage, which is a no go for me. In Afrikafestival Hertme the stage and audience are one. I refused and his manager finally accepted. But walking several hundred metres in the rain was too much for Femi. So I had to bring him cars to travel to the stage.”

Over the last 25 years, the Lokin family

Rob Lokin

theatre, which staged passion plays for the local Catholic community in the 50s. In a wooden cabin – now used for artist catering during the festival – black and white pictures on the wall tell the story of this religious past, showing Biblical scenes of dressed-up villagers against the background of archaeological ruins. Those times are gone but the ruins remain the backdrop for another passion. In the 80s Hertme’s open-air theatre was revived and transformed into a site for African music.

Ever since, a mix of traditional groups and electric bands has drawn a daily crowd of 4,000 people over one weekend in summer.

Masked Dogon dancers from Mali, xylophone ensembles from Tanzania and

have offered musicians boarding in their home. “Remmy Ongala and his band stayed at our place. Maybe that is why he delivered such an amazing performance, from 8pm to 1am. Probably also the bottle of whisky, and other stuff, helped him through the night. Afterwards we cooked him a grand meal in our garden.” One musician was delighted to catch up on some family history while at his house. “When running through my record collection Baba Sissoko started to point out his uncles and grandfathers on the record sleeves.”

Having patients at his doctor’s practice in the daytime, Lokin needed patience at night to build his festival. “For years there was no internet, so all communication went by letters, phone and fax. On the weekends we sometimes travelled to Paris just to sign an artist or pay a fee in advance to make sure they would come.” Other times, the local organisation committee had to get involved.

“Once we had two cars sent to Brussels to fetch a band because of an airstrike.”

There are campsites nearby and transport connections to local towns. For the 25th jubilee, Lokin has made special plans. “It is not a totally surprising programme, but a ‘best of’ edition on purpose. We are welcoming back Bassekou Kouyaté, Bonga, the Drummers of Burundi and Oliver Mtukudzi. Salif Keita, Tony Allen and Richard Bona will perform here for the first time, as they were highly influential in the development of African popular music.”

To sum up, he points out that “people don’t have to hurry at our festival”. In Hertme, it’s as informal as it would be in Africa. “There is just one stage so between sets, there’s time enough to stroll around and meet the musicians.”

DATE The 25th edition of the Afrikafestival Hertme will be July 6-7 2013 ONLINE www.afrikafestivalhertme.nl Songlines 53

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+ e Vusi Mahlasela Say Africa An album of ringing guitar and a smooth voice from the South African singer.

Reviewed in #85

u Angélique Kidjo Spirit Rising: Live from Guest Street The singer from Benin invites guests for her first live album.

Reviewed in #85

rGal Costa

Recanto Costa teams up with Caetano Veloso for a contemporary take on Brazilian music.

Reviewed in #85

i Madredeus

Essencia Melancholic melodies and folk-tinged fado from the reformed Portuguese group.

Reviewed in #86

t Pink Martini A Retrospective A compilation of the 12-piece miniorchestra’s greatest hits over 17 years.

Reviewed in #81

o Skatalites Walk With Me The remaining members stay true to the skank-driven formula of the 60s.

Reviewed in #86

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#92 June 2013

Manu Chao, Songlines Music Awards Winners, Festival Guide 2013, Peret, Beginner’s Guide to Abida Parveen...

Top of the World #92 CD feat Eugene Hütz’s playlist

1

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#91 April/May 2013

Rokia Traoré, The Nile Project, Ballaké Sissoko, Songlines Music Awards Nominees, Rainforest World Music Festival...

Top of the World #91 CD feat Jocelyn Pook’s playlist

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#90 March 2013

Goran Bregović, Remembering Ravi Shankar, Music and Food, Enzo Avitabile, Oysterband...

Top of the World #90 CD feat Joe Boyd’s playlist

1

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#89 Jan/Feb 2013

Bassekou Kouyaté, Best Albums of 2012, Sacred Harp, English Folk, Lo’Jo, Fanfare Ciocărlia...

Top of the World #89 CD feat Charles Hazlewood’s playlist

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#88 Nov/Dec 2012

Bellowhead, Mali in crisis, Geomungo Factory, Lau, Africa Express, Oscar D’León...

Top of the World #88 CD feat the Adjaye brothers’ playlist + Welsh Sampler CD

Songlines 63