Songlines Magazine (Nov/Dec 2013, #96)

2 FREE CDS + CERYS MATTHEWS + TAMIKREST + VÍCTOR JARA + MALAWI MOUSE BOYS

Gipsy Kings

DISCOVER A WORLD OF MUSIC

REVIEWS

¡Viva Bamboleo!

20 million records and counting...

+

ANTONIO FORCIONE Sketching Africa LATIN PSYCHEDELIA Cumbia and chicha from Colombia to Camden Town ÇIĞDEM ASLAN Reviving rebetika

ISSUE 96 NOV/DEC 2013 www.songlines.co.uk www.facebook.com/songlines

Welcome

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Editor-in-chief Simon Broughton Publisher Paul Geoghegan Editor Jo Frost Assistant Editor Alexandra Petropoulos Art Director Jenni Doggett Advertisement Manager James Anderson-Hanney Subs & Online 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 Contributing Editors Jane Cornwell, Mark Ellingham & Nigel Williamson Interns Alex De Lacey & Daisy Hardman Cover photo Will Wilkinson Printing Polestar Colchester Ltd, Severalls Industrial Estate, Colchester, Essex CO4 4HT. Record trade distribution Worldwide Magazine Distributors, 0121 788 3112. UK newsstand & overseas newstrade distribution COMAG Specialist Division, 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, 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 Ltd. Published by Songlines Publishing Ltd, PO Box 54209, London, W14 0WU. ISSN 1464-8113 © 2013 Songlines Publishing Ltd Songlines logo trade mark, registered under No. 2427714. Directors Simon Broughton, John Brown, Mark Ellingham, Paul Geoghegan, Lyn Hughes & Chris Pollard

W

hen you listen to music from around the world, or open up an issue of Songlines, you realise the incredible richness that there is. But when you travel the world, the airports you pass through usually play tribute to other significant people in a nation’s culture. Airports are usually simply geographical – like Heathrow and Schipol – or named after politicians – JFK (New York), Charles de Gaulle (Paris) and Léopold Senghor (Dakar).

Not many are named after cultural figures, let alone musicians.

I can think of WA Mozart (Salzburg), Frédéric Chopin (Warsaw), John Lennon (Liverpool) and Louis Armstrong (New Orleans).

Any airports named after ‘world’ musicians? Indeed, AC Jobim, the father of bossa nova in Rio, and the airport on São Vicente, Cape Verde was recently renamed after Cesaria Evora. Airports aren’t usually named after living people, although it has been done. But how about these for starters: Miriam Makeba airport in Johannesburg, Ali Farka Touré in Bamako or Timbuktu and Ravi Shankar in Varanasi?

A reminder about two Songlines concerts coming up.

November 12 is our first gig at the Albert Hall, in the intimate Elgar Room, featuring guitarist Antonio Forcione (see p56) and Songlines Music Awards nominee Katy Carr – last seen with Songlines staff on scary rides at WOMAD. And December 13 is the Songlines Music Awards winners’ concert at the Barbican.

As I hope you’ll notice, Songlines has had a revamp. As a result of your readership surveys, we’ve gone for clearer, more readable print, freshened up the layouts and got some new features too. We look forward to hearing your feedback.

...clearer, more readable print, freshened up the layouts and some new features too

Simon Broughton, editor-in-chief PS If you like Songlines in its elegant new form, spread the word with a gift subscription – see the insert between p34-35

contributors this issue include

RUSS SLATER Russ is editor of the Sounds and Colours website and edited the book and CD Sounds and Colours Colombia, to be followed by Sounds and Colours Brazil in late 2013.

NORMAN MILLER An award-winning writer and photographer, Norman’s passion for ‘world’ everything began during a childhood spent in Hong Kong, Australia, Brazil and South Africa.

ANDY MORGAN Andy is a writer based in Bristol, UK. He worked in music for 30 years before starting to write full-time. His first book, Music, Culture and Conflict in Mali was published in May.

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contents

58 Tamikrest

Upfront

features

Regulars

Reviews

06 Top of the World CD 08 My World interview

32 Gipsy Kings 38 Maria Tănase 44 Latin Psychedelia 52 Çiğdem Aslan 56 Antonio Forcione 58 Tamikrest

64 Beginner’s Guide to

74 Africa 76 Americas 82 Europe 89 Asia 91 Middle East 92 Fusion 97 DVDs 99 Books 100 World Cinema 102 Live Reviews

Adrian Edmondson 11 Bonus CD Brazil Sampler 13 What’s New 21 Letters 23 Soapbox 24 Introducing... The Bombay Royale & Malawi Mouse Boys 27 Spotlight on Capercaillie 29 Quick Fire: Leyla McCalla, Manu Dibango & Anoushka Shankar 31 Songlines Music Travel

Win

Víctor Jara 66 Festival Pass: Pasifika 68 Postcard from Kerala 70 Sain Advertorial 105 Gig Guide 111 Subscribe 112 Songlines Digital 113 The Essential Ten 114 Cerys Matthews

44 Latin Psychedelia

1 free pair of tickets to see Gipsy Kings 37 2 free Çiğdem Aslan CDs 53 2 free Tamikrest CDs 63 free set of Sain albums 70 3 free Sounds Like London books 99 3 free Nobody’s Daughter Haewon DVDs 100

COMPETITIONS Send entries, marked clearly with the competition name, your name, address, email and telephone number to the address on p3 or email: comps@songlines.co.uk. Winners will be chosen at random. Only one entry per household. No cash alternatives. If you would prefer not to be sent details of other Songlines products and services, or products from other carefully selected companies, please state clearly on your entry. Closing date Dec 13 2013 (unless otherwise stated)

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

18/09/2013 11:05

16

01 Tamikrest ‘Imanin bas Zihoun’ (3:26) 02 Leyla McCalla ‘Rose Marie’ (2:59) 03 Gipsy Kings ‘Habla Contingo’ (3:15) 04 Sidi Touré ‘Ay Hôra’ (5:50) 05 Mulatu Astatke ‘Azmari’ (5:01) 06 Çiğdem Aslan ‘To Dervisaki’ (4:55) 07 Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin ‘Silbury Hill’ (4:29) 08 Africando ‘Deni Sabali’ (4:16) 09 Ry Cooder & Corridos Famosos ‘Do Re Mi’ (4:06) 10 Kayhan Kalhor & Erdal Erzincan ‘Improvisation II’ (3:35)

Free tracks

THE BEST NEW RELEASES

+ ADRIAN

EDMONDSON’S PLAYLIST

top

of the world

TOP

CDISSUE 96 96

OF THE WORLD

PLUS 5 tracks chosen by Adrian Edmondson 11 The Dubliners ‘Raglan Road’ (4:18) 12 Billy Bragg, Wilco & Natalie Merchant ‘Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key’ (4:09) 13 Rachel Unthank & Winterset ‘Blue’s Gaen Oot O’the Fashion’ (4:34) 14 The Bothy Band ‘The Kesh Jig’ (4:35) 15 Ella Edmondson ‘Breathe’ (5:07) BONUS TRACK 16 Calan ‘Y Gwydr Glas’ (4:44)

Featuring Ry Cooder, Gipsy Kings, Africando, Leyla McCalla, Mulatu Astatke, The Dubliners, Billy Bragg, Tamikrest, Sidi Touré and more...

Exclusively with the November/December 2013 issue of Songlines. STWCD72.

This compilation & © 2013 Songlines Publishing Ltd

SLTOTWCD-96-onbody.indd 1

16/09/2013 16:46

STWCD72 This compilation & © 2013 Songlines Publishing Ltd. Email: info@songlines.co.uk, www.songlines.co.uk Executive producer Paul Geoghegan. Compiled and sequenced by Alexandra Petropoulos and Alex de Lacey. Design by Jenni Doggett. 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.

Jonah (Sain Records) & © 2011 Sain Records. Courtesy of Sain Records

16 Calan ‘Y Gwydr Glas’ (4:44) BONUS TRACK Kula Kulluk Yakışır Mı (ECM Records) & © 2013 ECM Records GmbH. Courtesy of ECM Records

Sketches of Ethiopia ( Jazz Village) & © 2013 Jazz Village/Harmonia Mundi. Courtesy of Harmonia Mundi

05 Mulatu Astatke ‘Azmari’ (5:01)

10 Kayhan Kalhor & Erdal Erzincan ‘Improvisation II’ (3:35)

Live in San Francisco (Nonesuch Records) 2013 Perro Verde Records & © 2013 Nonesuch Records.

Courtesy of Nonesuch Records

Hold Your Horses (Monsoon Music) & © 2008 Monsoon Music. Courtesy of Monsoon Music

15 Ella Edmondson ‘Breathe’ (5:07)

Afterhours (Compass Records) & © 2008 Compass Records. Courtesy of Compass Records

14 The Bothy Band ‘The Kesh Jig’ (4:35)

top of the world plaYlist tracks Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions (Nonesuch Records) & © 2012 Nonesuch Records Inc. Courtesy of Nonesuch Records

TOP OF THE WORLD SELECTION

Mortissa (Asphalt Tango Records) & © 2013 Asphalt Tango Records GmbH. Courtesy of Asphalt Tango Records

06 Çiğdem Aslan ‘To Dervisaki’ (4:55)

The Dubliners 50 Years (IML) & © 2012 Baycourt Ltd. Courtesy of IML

11 The Dubliners & Luke Kelly ‘Raglan Road’ (4:18)

ADRIAN EDMONDSON’S PLAYLIST

10 tracks from this issue’s best new albums + 6 bonus tracks Exclusively with the Nov/Dec 2013 issue of Songlines

From Mortissa on Asphalt Tango Records

SLTOTWCD-96V3-sleeve.indd 1

Chatma (Glitterbeat Records) & © 2013 Glitterbeat Records. Courtesy of Glitterbeat Records

01 Tamikrest ‘Imanin bas Zihoun’ (3:26)

12 Billy Bragg, Wilco & Natalie Merchant ‘Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key’ (4:09)

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07 Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin ‘Silbury Hill’ (4:29)

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02 Leyla McCalla ‘Rose Marie’ (2:59)

06 s o n g l i n e s

06 Çiğdem Aslan ‘To Dervisaki’ Vari-Colored Songs (Dixie Frog Records) & © 2013 Dixie Frog Records. Courtesy of Dixie Frog Records

10

05

Mynd (Dragonfly Roots) 2013 Dragonfly Roots & © 2013 Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin.

Courtesy of Dragonfly Roots

13 Rachel Unthank & the Winterset ‘Blue’s Gaen Oot O’the Fashion’ (4:34)

09

04

08 Africando ‘Deni Sabali’ (4:16)

08

03

03 Gipsy Kings ‘Habla Contingo’ (3:15)

07

Savor Flamenco (Knitting Factory Records) & © 2013 La Rhumba. Under exclusive licence to Knitting Factory Records. Courtesy of Knitting Factory Records

The Bairns (RabbleRouser Music/ EMI Records Ltd) & © 2007 RabbleRouser Music/EMI Records Ltd. Courtesy of RabbleRouser

02

Viva Africando (Sterns Music) 2013 Sterns Africa & © 2013 Sterns Music. Courtesy of Sterns Music

From Chatma on Glitterbeat Records

04 Sidi Touré ‘Ay Hôra’ (5:50)

01 Tamikrest ‘Imanin bas Zihoun’

09 Ry Cooder & Corridos Famosos ‘Do Re Mi’ (4:06)

06

Alafia (Thrill Jockey) 2013 Thrill Jockey & © 2013 Sidi Touré. Courtesy of Thrill Jockey

01

The Touareg rockers branch out on their

The solo debut from the Kurdish singer

fantastic third album, bringing elements

revives the classic rebetika music of 1930s

of dub, funk and psych-guitar to their

Greece and Anatolia and all of its diverse

trademark desert blues. See p74

influences. See p82

02 Leyla McCalla ‘Rose Marie’

07 Phillip Henry & Hannah Martin ‘Silbury Hill’

From Vari-Colored Songs on Dixie Frog Records

The multi-instrumentalist who has toured

From Mynd on Dragonfly Roots

with the Carolina Chocolate Drops offers

The second release from the Devon-based

up an exquisite exploration of New

folk duo explores the links between

Orleans’ Caribbean heritage for her solo

contemporary Britain and its illustrious

debut album. See p79

past. See p87

03 Gipsy Kings ‘Habla Contingo’

08 Africando ‘Deni Sabali’

Celebrating 25 years since their

The seminal group return with an album

breakthrough, their ninth studio album

of solid New York salsa, underpinned

offers a masterclass in flamenco-pop,

with Latin percussion and a varied

showing they won’t be giving up their

selection of African voices for another

throne anytime soon. See p85

triumphant release. See p92

04 Sidi Touré ‘Ay Hôra’

09 Ry Cooder & Corridos Famosos ‘Do Re Mi’

From Savor Flamenco on Knitting Factory Records

From Alafia on Thrill Jockey

From Viva Africando on Sterns Music

On his third release in as many years,

From Live in San Francisco on Nonesuch Records

guitarist Touré exhibits his unique take on

The American guitarist and roots music

Songhai blues, for songs shadowed by the

ambassador teams up with accordionist

current turbulence in Mali, but brightened

Flaco Jiménez and La Banda Juvenil for a

by resilience of the human spirit. See p75

live extravaganza. See p76

05 Mulatu Astatke ‘Azmari’

10 Kayhan Kalhor & Erdal Erzincan ‘Improvisation II’

From Sketches of Ethiopia on Jazz Village

The father of Ethio-jazz creates an

From Kula Kulluk Yakışır Mı on ECM Records

incredibly rich musical tapestry on his

The combination of Iranian kamancheh

latest masterpiece, combining jazz and

and Turkish bağlama makes for a

world music with his own unique and

sublime improvisatory work from these

innovative style. See p95

two virtuosos. See p91

+ Adrian edmondson’s playlist

11

11 The Dubliners ‘Raglan Road’ From The Dubliners 50 Years on IML

“I just love it. It has proper lyrics – a fantastic poem by Patrick Kavanagh. ‘I had loved not as I should a creature made of clay.’ It always makes me cry.”

12

12 Billy Bragg, Wilco & Natalie Merchant ‘Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key’

From Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions on Nonesuch Records “It’s just a cracking song. I play it all the time. When you pick up a guitar, there’s always something you like to play first.”

13

13 Rachel Unthank

& The Winterset ‘Blues Gaen Oot O’the Fashion’

From The Bairns on RabbleRouser Music/EMI Records Ltd “I’m openly in love with them – not even secretly. I would like to be in an Unthanks sandwich!”

14

14 The Bothy Band ‘The Kesh Jig’ From After Hours on Compass Records

“ There’s something in the music of the Unthanks – it connects with the heart rather than the head. It feels ancient, like it’s part of your DNA. Something you’ve forgotten that’s just been reawakened” Turn over for the full interview with Adrian Edmondson

“What Dónal Lunny was doing with the Bothy Band was shaking up Irish folk music as much as punks did with rock music. It’s a very different style... This is a fantastic live recording.”

15

15 Ella Edmondson ‘Breathe’ From Hold Your Horses on Monsoon Music

bonus track from Sain

16

16 Calan ‘Can Y Dyn Doeth’ From Jonah on Sain Records

“This was the first proper song that

This young quintet brings a

Ella wrote. It’s a song that means a lot

contemporary and lively approach to

to us as a family – it sort of symbolises

traditional Welsh music, with their

her journey into becoming a singer-

sparkling melodies and foot-tapping

songwriter. It’s also a belting song.”

tunes. See p70

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Gipsy Kings

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Gipsy Kings

Gypsy Life The French band celebrate 25 years as world music’s biggest act, but music is more to them than fame and fortune – it’s rooted in their family traditions W o r d s

N i g e l

W i l l i a m s o n

T

he city of Nîmes lies baking in the September sun.

All over this spectacular region of southern France with its Roman ruins, gorges, picturesque villages and endless vineyards, they are preparing for le vendange (the grape harvest), which will produce such fine regional wines as Côtes du Rhône, Costières de Nîmes, Côtes du Roussillon and Sable de Camargue.

The Gipsy Kings are in town to prepare for their own vendange, the release of a new album, Savor Flamenco, and an accompanying tour that will mark the 25th anniversary of their international breakthrough with ‘Bamboleo’. Since that record charted all over the world in 1988, the Kings have reaped a rich harvest as their glorious, trademark rumba gitana has seen them rise from illiterate and poverty-stricken origins to become international ambassadors for Gypsy culture.

Over the last 25 years they’ve sold an estimated 20 million records to become world music’s biggest-selling act, outscoring the success of Buena Vista Social Club, Youssou N’Dour, Fela Kuti or any other world music artist. Yet although we’ve reviewed their records regularly, this is the first time Songlines has devoted a major feature to the Gipsy Kings.

It’s a surprising oversight, for in many ways the Gipsy Kings represent all the best aspects of world music. Their sound is deeply rooted with a profound sense of place, community and cultural tradition. It’s a music that has brought them pop success all over the world and yet the group remains inextricably rooted in the tight-knit social world of the Gypsies. Despite modernising elements introduced by the different producers they have worked with over the years, the essence of their music has departed little from its authentic origins around the Gypsy campfires of Catalonia, from where their families fled the Spanish Civil War in 1936, and in the Mediterranean regions of southern France where they have lived in exile.

Nîmes, and its nearby sister Arles, are the gateways to the domain where the Gypsies roam and the Gipsy Kings

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m a r i a tĂ n a s e

Oana Cătălina Chițu is intent on reviving interest in Maria Tănase

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m a r i a tĂ n a s e

Romania’s Forgotten Diva This year marks the centenary of the birth of Romania’s celebrated singer Maria Tănase.

Philip Sweeney talks to Oana Cătălina Chițu about her homage to the legendary singer p h o t o s E r i k a B o r b E l y h a N s en

I

f Bucharest is celebrating the centenary of the birth of its greatest popular singer of the modern era – the Romanian Edith Piaf – it’s not obvious. Paris fields a succession of Piaf tribute shows even in non-centenary years, but Bucharest, the one-time Paris of the East, contains, on a lightning souvenir recce, one pavement dealer with a battered Maria Tănase LP, and lots of indifferent shrugs in response to Tănase’s name. Out in the artists’ section of Bellu Cemetery, among the film directors and opera stars, Tănase’s ornate granite grave is unadorned with flowers. The chic cafés of the 30s where Tănase sang and socialised with her poet and writer friends – the Continental, Casa Capsa, the Cina – still exist, but are either flashily refurbished or dowdily unatmospheric. Scenes of the diva’s triumphs such as the neon bedecked Constantin Tănase theatre or the 60s brutalist Dalles concert hall bear no sign of her presence. The Tănase legend is evidently not the subject of acute public enthusiasm.

I’m off up country to meet a lady who is trying to remedy this. Not single-handedly: there have been other recent Tănase recordings, some eminent – the Balanescu Quartet and Nigel Kennedy among them – but the torch is currently in the possession of the Berlin domiciled singer Oana Cătălina Chițu. Track one of Chițu’s album Divine is the perfect accompaniment for my trip. ‘Trenule Masina Mica’ (Train, Little Train), begins with a lurching accordion figure supported by plunking

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Ta m i k r e s t

Music is the Struggle T

amikrest are releasing a new album, so we talk. I find that strange. Years of online piracy have put the recorded music industry on a life support machine. Touring rather than releasing albums is now the economic priority for most hardworking bands. And yet, the release of a new album is still considered to be the starting gun for all the rest: the gigs, the interviews, the whole showbiz marathon. A new album is supposed to embody, more than anything else, a band’s current artistic and philosophical intent – their ‘state of the union’ message to both their fan base and the yet-to-be-seduced world.

In the case of Tamikrest, the core faithful are the Touareg youth of southern Sahara: the men and women from northern Mali and southern Algeria whose lives were loaded up into the tombola of history on January 17 2012 and spun mercilessly, turbulently round. On that day the MNLA, (Mouvement National pour la Libération de l’Azawad), Mali’s Touareg nationalist revolutionary movement, attacked an army post in the town of Menaka in the far north-east

THE MALIAN BAND Tamikrest talk to Andy morgan about TOUAREG POLITICS AND THE ROLE OF WOMEN

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of the country and launched the bloodiest uprising in a 50-year-long history of revolt against the central government in Bamako. What followed – victory, defeat, betrayal, Islamist takeover, loss of face, exile, ethnic war, negotiation, compromise – amounts to the most turbulent 18 months that Tamikrest’s young home audience have ever known. So, on the face of it, this new album has its work cut out. Intriguingly, the release is called Chatma, which means ‘sisters’ in Tamashek, the Touareg language.

When we talk, we usually talk for hours. In the case of Ousmane Ag Mossa, Tamikrest’s shy and soft-spoken front man, talking for hours comes easy. The man is your archetypal ‘furrowed brow’: a troubled, questing intellect with a huge appetite for the tangles of discourse and debate. As such, he stands apart from most Touareg men I’ve met; generally speaking (too generally perhaps), most of them tend to avoid letting abstractions trouble their fatalistic equilibrium. Not Ousmane. He once told me that when he was growing up he dreamed of becoming un avocat for his people, which I took to mean ‘advocate’ rather than ‘lawyer.’ But the Touareg don’t have advocates, or even lawyers, so he became a musician instead. In effect, it amounts to the same thing.

Ousmane Ag Mossa in the Algerian desert. Photo by Peter Weber

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beginner’s guide

Víctor Jara

Even 40 years after his death, Víctor Jara’s songs continue to inspire idealism across Latin America.

Chris Moss recalls Chile’s pre-eminent protest singer

O

n appearances alone, it’s difficult to connect the Chile of today with the country that witnessed the flowering of the committed folk song of Víctor Jara.

Santiago is slick and stridently capitalist.

Chile is the most stable, arguably most democratic country of its still troubled continent. Pinochet is dead but missed by many. A key member of the musically gifted generation that rebooted indigenous and Creole popular music to create so-called nueva canción, Jara would have felt ill at ease in this modern version of his beloved patria.

He sang for, and often with, slum-dwellers and factory workers, the landless and the

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dispossessed, women and children. His mild-mannered delivery belied his deep and abiding belief in social justice. His poncho and his love of mestizo culture would be an affront to all those Chileans who pride themselves on their Starbucks outlets and their European lifestyles. Chile today is, in many ways, a country bereft. Those who miss Jara also miss an age of hope and promise that died with him 40 years ago.

Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez was born on September 28 1932 on a plantation near Lonquén, inside the metropolis of Santiago.

His parents, Manuel and Amanda, were farm workers and Jara and his siblings helped

out, collecting firewood and feeding the pigs.

Amanda, a mestiza with Mapuche ancestry, sold herbal remedies, played guitar and sang folk songs. Manuel was illiterate, a drinker and prone to violence.

After Manuel died, the family moved to Santiago. The young Jara started guitar lessons with a neighbour, who noticed that the boy was an unusually talented songwriter.

Jara’s mother died when he was just 15 years old. He sought help from a priest, who encouraged him to enter a seminary in the town of San Bernardo, near Santiago. He enjoyed the sacred music and singing, but was not cut out for the priesthood. In 1952 he left and ten days later was drafted into the Chilean army, where he rose to the rank of sergeant first class and was regarded as potential officer material.

But Jara returned to Santiago after his discharge, working as a hospital porter, and experienced a series of events that steered him towards an artistic vocation. First, he successfully auditioned for the choir at the University of Chile and appeared on stage

sarawak

Chile today is, in many ways, a country bereft.

Those who miss Jara also miss an age of hope and promise that died with him 40 years ago in Carl Orff ’s Carmina Burana. He joined a mime group and acted in several plays, one of which was Maxim Gorky’s The Lower Depths, a masterpiece of socialist realism that portrays the suffering of a group of poor, homeless Russians living in a shelter.

In the late 50s Jara met two women who came to play significant roles in his life. One was Joan Turner, a British-born dancer and dance teacher married to a Chilean ballet star. After her marriage broke up, Turner and Jara became close. They married in 1965 and raised a daughter, Amanda, along with Turner’s daughter from her previous marriage, Manuela. The other was Chilean folksinger Violeta Parra, who Jara met at Santiago’s Café São Paulo in 1957. More than any other Chilean artist, Parra led the way in forging a modern version of Chilean folk music that became known as nueva canción.

Parra believed roots music should be integral to everyday life and established music-oriented community centres called peñas. While keeping up his theatrical pursuits, Jara joined a group called Cuncumén and began exploring Chile’s folk songbook.

Music began to occupy more and more of his time. He left Cuncumén in 1962 and began writing his own songs. At first these were autobiographical, but as he began to perform in the peñas his subject matter became more wide-ranging. Jara released his first album, Víctor Jara (Geografía) in 1966. Songs about rural workers such as ‘El Arado’ (The Plough) and ‘El Carretero’ (The Cart Driver) became part of his core repertoire. Another early song, the jovial ‘La Beata’, about a pious woman who has the hots for her priest and confessor, was banned from the radio and record shops.

The controversy made Jara very cool indeed.

After visits to Cuba and the Soviet Union, Jara joined the Communist Party and allied himself with the leader of the socialist Unidad Popular party, Salvador Allende.

Using nueva canción as his main mode of expression, Jara began to call for a fair deal for the poor and justice for the masses.

With the 1969 release ‘Preguntas por Puerto Montt’ (Questions about Puerto Montt), Jara attacked Edmundo Pérez Zujovic, a government official who had ordered police

to massacre squatters in the town of Puerto Montt. He composed ‘Venceremos’ (We Shall Triumph) for the Unidad Popular, and joined in the celebrations when Allende was elected president in November 1970. Jara and Joan led a grass-roots cultural renaissance, organising events in support of the new government. He set verses by Pablo Neruda to music and performed at a ceremony honouring the poet after he won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1972. Throughout, he continued with his teaching job at Chile’s Technical University.

On September 11 1973, Chilean troops under the command of General Augusto Pinochet staged a coup. Jara was seized and taken to the Estadio Chile, a large sports stadium. He was detained for four days and denied food and sleep. He was tortured: his hands were broken by soldiers who mocked the guitarist, saying he could keep on strumming with his broken bones. On September 15 Jara was taken to a deserted area and shot. His body was transferred to the city morgue in Santiago, where Joan was allowed to retrieve it and bury it on the condition that she didn’t publicise the event.

Jara’s legacy is deep, enduring and diverse.

American folk singers such as Simon & Garfunkel and Phil Ochs and Latin American singers like Cuba’s Silvio Rodríguez and Argentinian folk-rock star León Gieco owe an obvious debt to him. In 1973, the Soviet scientist Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh named a newly found asteroid Víctor Jara and in 2003 the stadium where Jara spent his last days was renamed the Estadio Víctor Jara.

Jara’s murder was truly evil and yet typical of Latin America’s right-wing governments, but not only Chile feels his loss. A song, ‘Víctor Jara’, co-written with poet Adrian Mitchell, was included on Arlo Guthrie’s 1976 album Amigo. The last verse reminds us: ‘Now the generals rule Chile and the British have their thanks for they rule with Hawker Hunters and they rule with Chieftain tanks; but his hands were gentle; his hands were strong.’

+ VIDEO Watch Bruce Springsteen’s recent

Best albums Víctor Jara (Geografía/RCA, 1966) Jara’s debut is a collection of simple but powerful folk songs, featuring performances by Quilapayún and Ángel Parra, son of Violeta, on charango.

La Población (Odeon, 1972) This is a gritty collection of field recordings and protest songs that pays homage to the slum-dwellers. Isabel Parra, daughter of Violeta, shares the vocals on the opening track, ‘Lo Único que Tengo’.

La Población was re-released in 2003 with five extra tracks, including the sublime ‘Te Recuerdo Amanda’.

Best Live Album En Vivo en el Aula Magna de la Universidad de Valparaíso (WEA International, 2003) Recorded in 1970, this album features Jara performing to an audience of engaged, hopeful students at the peak of his talents.

Best Compilation Antologia Musical (WEA International, 2003) This excellent double album comprises 45 tracks that provide a good sampling of Jara’s career and his many moods, including humour. It includes ‘Preguntas por Puerto Montt’ and victory anthems from the time of the Allende election.

Best Avoided Just about all the Víctor Jara tribute albums – stick to his own work before venturing into all the countless homages.

If You Like Víctor Jara, Then Try…

Violeta Parra

Antología (Warner, 1999)

Parra is the seminal musician and ethnomusicologist usually heard via others’ versions of ‘Gracias a la Vida’. This collection is rough and ready (the songs here were recorded between 1955 and 1966) and doesn’t contain all her standards, but still provides a superb introduction to Parra’s work.

tribute to Víctor Jara on the 40th anniversary of Jara’s death on our YouTube channel

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African music is at the root of many styles, so it’s no surprise that there’s a wealth of collaborations. Here are ten landmark albums that are inspirational meetings of musical minds

the essential

W o r d s S i m o n B r o u g h t o n , J o F r o s t, A l e x a n d r a P e t r o p o u lo s

african collaborations 01 Paul Simon Graceland (Warner, 1986) After finding a tape of South African mbaqanga, Simon was inspired to team up with African artists for one of the most important ‘world music’ recordings by any Western artist. Graceland introduced the world to Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Joseph Shabalala, with its hits like ‘Call Me Al’ and ‘Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes’, and paved the way for world music artists. More than that, it’s just a great album. AP

02 Ali Farka Touré with Ry Cooder Talking Timbuktu (World Circuit, 1994) Unfortunately it often takes a well-known Western musician to bring attention to African artists. But this, featuring Californian guitarist Ry Cooder and Malian desert bluesman Ali Farka Touré, was a splendid meeting of minds and fingers on equal terms that brought Ali to an international audience. SB

03 Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal Chamber Music (No Format, 2009) The delicate sound of the kora seems to float like beautiful filigree above the Frenchman’s deeply resonant cello-playing. This unostentatious album, with its simple black and white cover, gradually inveigled itself until became (and still is) a firm favourite on the Songlines’ stereo. Music to soothe the mind. JF

04 Songhai Songhai (Hannibal, 1988) Featuring nuevoflamenco group Ketama, kora player Toumani Diabaté and bass

player Danny Thompson, this was one of the great collaborations of the 80s world music boom. The concept works, the music fizzes and the musicianship is magnificent.

There was a Songhai 2 in 1994 that brought in Bassekou Kouyaté on ngoni and Keletigui Diabaté on balafon. SB

05 Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara Soul Science (Wayward, 2007) What might have been a one-off experiment – a British blues guitarist with a love of West African music meets Gambian, one-string ritti player – has become a very successful partnership, now known as JuJu. They were signed to Real World, won a Songlines Music Award in 2010 and are firm festival favourites, touring extensively. SB

06 Ellika & Solo Tretakt Takissaba (Proper Records, 2002) These days kora albums featuring another nonAfrican instrument seem to be all the rage.

But when Solo Cissokho from Senegal teamed up with Swedish violinist Ellika Frisell over ten years ago, it really made an impact. Add in the fact that Solo is a griot, who sings alongside Ellika’s polskas, and the result is a joyful, special album. JF

07 Kronos Quartet Pieces of Africa (Nonesuch, 1992) With Pieces of Africa the Kronos Quartet introduced African composers to a classical audience. They commissioned eight composers from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Uganda, Nubia, Ghana, Gambia and Morocco – most of them also sing or perform in their pieces. The most exuberant string quartet album ever. SB

08 Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex Moa Anbessa (Terp, 2006) While many Ethiopiques collaborations have sprung up in the last five years, Dutch punk band The Ex got in early, inviting flamboyant saxophonist Getatchew Mekuria (who’d never been out of Ethiopia before) to their 25th anniversary party in 2004. It’s an unlikely mix, but the Ethio-punk combination is both frenzied and sublime. SB

09 Béla Fleck Throw Down Your Heart: Tales from the Acoustic Planet Vol 3 (Rounder, 2009) It was a serendipitous first hearing of Oumou Sangaré that led world-renowned banjo player Fleck to Africa in search of the roots of his instrument. The result featured many of Africa’s most famed musicians: Vusi Mahlasela, Baaba Maal, Toumani Diabaté and lots more. The accompanying film won numerous awards and Fleck’s love affair with African music continues, as he has recently toured with Oumou and Bassekou. JF

10 DRC Music Kinshasa One Two (Warp Records, 2011) Damon Albarn is no stranger to collaboration and has long been a champion for African music. For this release he gathered ten producers and shipped them off to the heart of the DRC to work with over 50 of Kinshasa’s local musicians. The album is an eclectic mix of hip-hop, funk, electronic and traditional music, and laudable as proceeds went to support Oxfam’s work in the DRC. AP

+ Let us know What are your thoughts?

Who did we miss? Write or email and let us know, letters@songlines.co.uk

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cerys matthews The singer, BBC 6Music DJ and Songlines columnist is gearing up for WOMEX, which comes to her old stomping ground, Cardiff

I

t’s perfect timing for WOMEX to be coming to the UK this year – a year when some of the most exciting music being made comes under the world music banner.

When I first started presenting my show on BBC 6Music, my pigeonhole for new album promos would be primarily full of indie rock. Fast-forward five years of programming a weekly radio show featuring the likes of Tamikrest, Lucas Santtana, Mulatu Astatke, Ahmad Jamal, Sierra Maestra, Fatoumata Diawara, Fanfare Ciocărlia, Gordie MacKeeman and His Rhythm Boys and more, and now I find my pigeonhole and the human-sized Santa bag of goodies that it overspills into is chock-a-block full of the best music being made – that hardto-define music which happens not to be Anglo-Saxon nor Anglo-American rock or pop.

I have always loved music no matter its genre, age or origins, as long as it’s the good stuff. As Duke Ellington is quoted to have said ‘there are only two types of music. Good music and the other kind.’ Of course, what really makes this argument interesting is the subjective nature of music; what’s bad to me might be perfectly fine for you and so on. So recommending music is an imperfect science from the get go, especially to us music lovers and discerning readers of Songlines. But that doesn’t make it any less fun, and since WOMEX and so many of these exciting artists from around the globe are descending on the town where I was born, all to play my local pub (well, not quite the local pub, but very close by), then I thought I’d give you a sneak peek at who I’m looking forward to see perform, as well as give you some tips for the top things to do when in the ‘Diff.

Named ‘Bosnia’s Billie Holiday,’ Amira Medunjanin is an interpreter of sevdah songs, some of which she learnt from her mother. It’s neither jazz nor blues, however, but more like flamenco, singing an age-old tradition that draws on love, life, loss and longing to give spiritual comfort.

The Ghanaian bandleader, guitarist, arranger and composer Ebo Taylor will bring highlife, the genre he has led for decades, to Cardiff. This man is a legend.

Fiona Hunter, you’ll know her from fronting Malinky for almost ten years, is a total natural and has spent years studying the songs of the Scottish travellers. If Dolly Parton had been born in Glasgow she might sound a little like Fiona.

Then there’s the ghazal singer Tauseef Akhtar and Cardiff-based poet and singer Gwyneth Glyn. Take one song ‘Moliannwn’ (Let’s Rejoice). It was borrowed a century ago

from an American tune. It became a Welsh song about the coming of spring and all the freedoms that fair weather entails, and it’s usually sung by ruddy-cheeked primary school children. Aha, but in 2013 you will hear Indian fiddle, tabla, harmonium and the sweet sound of Akhtar singing an altogether more Eastern version along with Glyn in the opening concert at the Millennium Centre on October 23. It is not a mash-up but five minutes of beautiful music connecting the poetic traditions of both countries. Be sure to join me and many other great performers that night. We’ll go counting goats together.

I have always loved music no matter its genre, age or origins, as long as it’s the good stuff

NEXT ISSUE Best of 2013 A round-up of our favourite albums of the year Omar Souleyman Syria’s wedding singer rocks out First Nations The new wave from Canada and the US On Sale December 6

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And some tips for the best things to do and eat while you’re visiting Cardiff Brains SA There is a brewery right behind the train station. You may smell the hops or yeast if the breeze blows in the right direction to get you in the mood. Try the local brew Brains SA known to the locals as ‘skull attack.’

Cockles and seaweed Visit the fish market, bang in the centre of town, and buy yourself some cockles and laver bread. Non-meat eaters could try local cheeses also sourced from the market.

Sunday hymn singing in Welsh On Sunday morning, banish your hangovers with the lulling sounds of harmonies as sung in these parts for thousands of years. Visit Tabernacle Baptist Chapel, which I frequented as a child, and practice your Welsh hymn singing so you’re all on form for the opening ceremony.

Welsh folk session The session, Cwpwrdd Nansi, is where upcoming local folksters play together live.

Food The Vegetarian Food Studio (on the Penarth Road) is the best vegan and vegetarian food in the whole of South Wales. South Asian cuisine is a speciality.

+ RA DIO Cerys’ BBC 6Music show is on Sundays 10-am-2pm +O NLINE www.cerysmatthews.co.uk +G OING WEST? Heading to Cardiff for WOMEX 13? Be sure to stop by the Songlines stand (#33) and say hello!

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