One of the most exciting names on the UK music scene is also one of its most indefinable and difficult to pigeonhole. That’s because the musical ‘dirty’ dozen Nubiyan Twist (in honour of its front woman) dislikes definitions, labels or borders. The band, originally from Leeds, London, Oxford and Dublin...
Tag Archives: Afrobeat
How does one successfully blend the sounds and instruments of several cultures in order to produce something new? It’s a question that has puzzled many great musicians from Gilberto Gil to the Rolling Stones. What we do know is that it includes putting together a great band and the art...
Indulgent, complex, studied and immediate. Sons of Kemet’s criminally conceptual rhythms belie the overriding catchiness of a sound that dishes out hooks a plenty. Ominous lighting introduced the band who kicked things of with Tom Skinner and, newly cropped, Seb Rochford battering syncopated West African rhythms. This was tribal jazz...
Bustin’ Loose are becoming solid characters on the London music scene. As a rule, their events are indeed crackin’ parties where funky vibes flow for hours and hours. That’s why you can’t miss the next appointment organised by the collective of promoters and DJs! Next Friday, Hackney Wick venue Stour Space will host eight...
Sons of Kemet are bringing jazz to another level broadening its horizons even further. The London-based quartet, which started to play together in 2011, represents a step-forward for the genre. They indeed decided not simply to add some New Orleans dixie-fragrance, the “post” prefix and unpredictability to their double-drums, sax and tuba...
Focus Organisation Africa are no strangers to hosting some of the finest names within the afro roots London scene. Having recently invited soukous legend Kanda Bongo Man to grace London’s Rich Mix, as well as Diabel Cissokho, Focus welcome Reggae Roots and African Music to Lewisham’s Fox and Firkin. Sengalese songwriter,...
![Album Review: Fela Ransome Kuti and His Koola Lobitos – Highlife Jazz and Afro-Soul (1963-1969) [Knitting Factory Records, 8th April 2016]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/fela_1_b82b016f-3a39-4e47-9861-0dea82cd5baa_grande-335x335.jpg)
To sum up these three albums in a few words, would be to say that Highlife, Jazz and Afro-Soul is a journey to discover the origins of afrobeat and the Fela Kuti myth. In fact, there was a time when the Black President was ‘simply’ a music student at the Royal Trinity College of...
As part of a mammoth effort to bring the tropical vibes, Global Rhythms risked much by taking over Brixton all day and night. The marathon event kicked off with Global Rhythms hosting POP Brixton with a selection of cocktail bars, tasty treats and al fresco dancing. Unfortunately, the rain kept...
With its West Africa exhibition in its final days, a sold out British Library welcomed London’s Afrobeat aficionados in a toast to Ghana Beats: an effervescent night of music, culture and food. Following last October’s well-received Felabration!, an expectant congregation braved a chilly February night to be plunged into the...