To end 2020 we make a Rendez-vous with three generations of afrobeat and celebrate a Nigerian musical dynasty. As Fela is honoured with a Black Plaque at his old music conservatoire Trinity Laban in Greenwich, we consider how the musical idiom he created remains more popular than ever. Track list: 1....
Tag Archives: Nigeria
2020 marks 60 years since independence for 17 African countries. For his latest Rendez-Vous à Bobo, Rhythm Passport’s Lucas Keen revisits 1960 sometimes known as ‘The Year of Africa’ to explore the euphoria and cultural renaissance of the epoch that followed via music from Nigeria, Congo, Burkina Faso and Mali....
There are only a bunch of musicians who can claim to embody the history and evolution of a music style. Bukky Leo is part of this restricted club. His career and possibly life are indeed manifestations of afrobeat. So much so that, if you’d like to approach the quintessential Nigerian...
![Album Review: Tony Allen & Hugh Masekela – Rejoice [World Circuit Records; March 2020]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/allen-masekela-rejoice-335x335.jpg)
With the very recent passing of Tony Allen, this set of recordings has special significance. He and South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela had been planning on making a record together for years and in 2010 this finally was about to become a reality. Producer Nick Gold got the two titans...
Tributes and homages to artists who recently passed away often sound trivial or trite if done by someone who wasn’t directly connected with them. That’s why we always repeat the mantra that we prefer to let the music do the talking and ask fellow musicians, who grew up and/or shared...
I will always remember Oghene Kologbo saying “Fela is the afro, Tony is the beat”. Last Thursday, on International Day of Jazz, the beat left us. But let us not forget, master never die! Looking back at Tony Allen‘s career is not possible in a one-hour podcast, we’d need 10...
At times, we ask the Rhythm Passport family some cruel tasks. For example, to musically retrace their 2010s and pick only five albums among the hundreds (or thousands) they have listened, loved and/or felt particularly important considering the world music world. Click on the names below and you will meet...
Every month, we bring you a collection of the best world music-related videos. That’s our way to give value to too often overlooked, rich and diverse artistic expressions. Listen with your eyes! Watch the full playlist:
For one day, for the third year in a row, Focus Africa will dress Shoreditch in African colours. On the last Saturday of the month, from 7pm to 5am, Rich Mix will indeed revel in sounds and dances coming from all over the African continent, next to hosting food, crafts...
We are pretty excited to welcome back Rhythm Passport On Air, our monthly podcast series in collaboration with SOAS Radio, endeavouring to update you on the world music world. The first episode of the revamped program boasts an interview with Songhoy Blues bandleader, which took place a few days before...