Bringing forward influences from the American folk and blues revival of the 1940s, Get on Board (2022) by Ry Cooder and Taj Mahal is a joint love affair with the music of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee, an album in particular, Get on Board (1952). As Taj Mahal reminisced, “If we wanted...
Tag Archives: roots
You might have “met” her and listened to her voice thanks to her collaborations with nothing less than Prince Fatty (“Deep Sleep“) Omar, Mungos Hi-Fi, The Last Poets or opening for and supporting the likes of Chaka Kahn, Chic & Nile Rodgers, Sister Sledge, Incognito and Aswad Now (tomorrow to be...
After the winter break, our Festival Files are once again fully operational and will guide you to discover some the best music festivals happening throughout the year. The first episode of 2020 is dedicated to a festival that, since 1994, is lightning up the long January nights in Glasgow, Celtic Connections....
It’s been said that many a blues legend has sold their soul to the devil. So, bring a black cat bone and your guitar to the crossroads at Euston Hall for May’s Red Rooster Festival. There will be blues, Americana, gypsy, and rock ‘n’ roll mixed with hints of calypso...
Since its inaugural weekend in 2016, Bluedot has become known as a festival of discovery. Set within the grounds of Jodrell Bank Observatory—the iconic Lovell telescope providing a formidable backdrop—the festival’s program of live music, scientific talks and workshops has inspired attendees of all ages. Outer space, the natural environment,...
There’s arguably no need for introducing an artist like Natty… The London-based singer/songwriter, with Afro-American and Italian roots and an unconditional love for reggae, has reached the 10th year of his career and will celebrate the anniversary with an upcoming special release. Instead, what we would like to present and...
The Hempolics’ debut album Kiss Cuddle & Torture Volume 1 is a fun and inventive debut record packed with zesty numbers from start to finish. Perhaps what makes The Hempolics so distinctive is their refusal to fully commit wholeheartedly to one genre – to describe them simply as a reggae...
There are few musicians who deserve the title of music legends more than Toots Hibbert. Toots and the Maytals have indeed defined and developed the concept of Jamaican music in the 20th century and accompanied it in the 21st. That’s why their next London gig, happening tomorrow at Barbican is...
Even if summer and London are two words not working too well together, except perhaps as an oxymoron, there’s an event that, since 2014 brings the sun shining over the East End. Maybe that’s only figuratively, but Walthamstow Garden Party is one of the best ways to celebrate the sunny season...
Reggae was born as an attempt at offering a mass of people tired of pretending to be a rational, liberal, colonial society, a new direction for feeling and human relations and it provided the cement for a new socios (partnership.) Inna de Yard (inside of the yard,) made of reggae...