Tag Archive | world music
Birds without wings
Last Friday’s World on 3 with Charlie Gillett was one of the best music shows I’ve listened to in a long while. As his studio guest, Charlie welcomed Yasmin Levy, whose music is a fusion of Flamenco and the Judeo-Spanish Ladino style. As well as performing songs from her forthcoming album, Yasmin also discussed her […]
Oumou Sangere: On the Waterfront
Saw Oumou Sangare put on an electrifying show at On the Waterfront last night – a short series of free concerts in the spectacular setting of the Pier Head plaza. In the one-hour set, Sangare performed songs from her recent album, Seya (Joy) with a stripped-down band consisting of drums, djembe, kora, flute, ngoni, electric […]
Out of the Desert
Three albums that I’ve been enjoying in recent weeks originate from or are inspired by the desert lands of north Africa. Joachim Kuhn: Out of the Desert This review from Allaboutjazz: Boundary busting and inventive though it was, Kalimba – the first album by German pianist Joachim Kuhn, Moroccan vocalist and guembri player Majid Bekkas, […]
WOMAD: Rokia Traore, Youssou N’Dour and Ethiopiques
Reading the reviews and listening to Radio 3′s coverage, it seems to have been a great year at WOMAD. For me, the outstanding performances were from Oumou Sangare (who I later saw perform in Liverpool at On the Waterfront), Ethiopiques, Youssou N’Dour and Rokia Traore. Rokia Traore The Independent said of the festival’s first night: […]
Natacha Atlas and the Mazeeka Ensemble
Another excellent show in the Arabic Weekender from Natacha Atlas, whose background includes an Egyptian/Palestinian father and a British mother who converted to Islam, the singer herself brought up in a Moroccan suburb of Brussels and speaking five languages. Tonight she was at the Liverpool Philharmonic with her Mazeeka Ensemble, performing songs from her latest […]
The Clerks: Qudduson
Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord That David played, and it pleased the Lord But you don’t really care for music, do you? It goes like this The fourth, the fifth The minor fall, the major lift The baffled king composing Hallelujah… I arrived at St George’s Hall Concert Room for this event […]
Siwan
I’ve just discovered this truly wonderful album – a gorgeous blend of Gharnati music from the Spanish Al-Andalus period (730-1492), Scandinavian improvised jazz and European baroque music. Siwan, the title of keyboardist and composer Jon Balke’s latest album for ECM, is derived from a written language known as Aljamiado, which used Arabic script to transcribe […]
Farewell Cachaito
I was saddened to hear of the death of yet another member of the Buena Vista Social Club – Orlando ‘Cachaito’ Lopez. After the first BVSC album itself, I have found his solo album, Cachaito, the most enjoyable of the BVSC family of releases – and the most inventive and innovative. He was born into […]
Best music in 2008
It’s appropriate to begin with some live music highlights, because, for me, this has been a year of exceptional live music. The outstanding event of the year had to be Leonard Cohen at Manchester MEN. But Wayne Shorter and his quartet playing with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic at the Phil in January. I wish a […]
