Between the Notes Festival is London’s tribute to Bengali arts. It is a three-day event that showcases North East Indian and Bangladesh traditions through its music, movement, word, colour and shape. It set off on the right foot with bands Lokkhi Terra and Newanderthal charming the first night’s audience with their individual interpretations of regional music.

Bengal is one of India’s richest cultural treasure troves, but it is also a port of embarkation from where musicians and artists have set sail, spreading North East Indian culture around the world. The aim of Between the Noteswas to display Bengali traditions to the London audience, highlighting the creative flair of the region and mixing up its traditional artistic forms with cultural elements ranging from Latin America to the Horn of Africa. The mission of hosts Rich Mix was to conjugate centuries-old traditions with new artistic directions through a dynamic approach. On the first night of the event Ansuman Biswas’ introductory words summed it up so: “although the bands playing tonight are rooted in the Bengali tradition, their music points towards the world.”

Ansuman is undoubtedly one of the epitome of Between the Notes’ soul. He is an eclectic artist born in Kolkata who, having moved to London dedicated his life to promoting Bengali arts. Indeed he is a brilliant reflection of his native land, an expression of the many masks that it can wear. He opened the event on stage with Newanderthal, his most recent musical project that is a captivating potion of exotic musical influences. The ensemble played a charming musical elixir obtained by mixing scented ingredients from India, the UK, Ethiopia, Brazil and Guinea, distant languages like Amharic and Bangla, adding distinctive instruments such as the sarod, kora and a handcrafted mbira.

Then, after the evocative set played by Newanderthal, the night energetically took wing with Lokkhi Terra’s forceful show. The band led the audience on a different musical journey. This time the itinerary, after having taken off from Bangladesh, headed towards Cuba where Kishon Khan, bandleader and keyboard player, spent his formative years. It was on that Caribbean island that he infused his Bangladeshi folk roots with Latin rhythms and a West African character.
The band upped the tempo, exhorted the audience to dance and inflamed them with their unpredictable but smooth groove. This show was an emphatic start for Between the Notes and was arguably the best prologue the Festival could have had.

Event Preview: Arsenal of Sounds #7 w/ Lokkhi Terra & Bajabaah @ Woolwich Works (London; Friday, 7th April 2023)

And after having touched the UK, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, now it’s the turn of South Asia. The April appointment with Arsenal of Sounds, our “first Friday of the month” series supported by Arts Council England and going on stage at Woolwich Works, brings us to Bangladesh and…

Artists: Bajabaah , Lokkhi Terra

Podcast: Radio Mukambo’s Top 30 Albums of 2020 (#30 to #16)

2020 has been a really tough year for musicians, artists and creatives, but we’ve still been treated to a lot of good music. This week Radio Mukambo offers you the latter part of the 30 best albums of 2020 (30 to 16), including afrobeat, Afro-Latin, ethiojazz, maloya, wassoulou music, global…

Artists: Anthony B , Baja Frequencia , Bamba Wassoulou Groove , Black Flower , Dubblestandart , Ethioda , Frankosun and the Family , Joey Le Soldat , Kosmo Sound , L\'entourloop , Lindigo , Lokkhi Terra , Mamani Keita , Max le Daron , MYSTICALLY , Nihiloxica , Nkumba System , Nuri , Paolo Baldini DubFiles , Sacerdote , Scratch Bandits Crew , Skarra Mucci , The Gaslamp Killer

Podcast: Radio Mukambo #477 – Groove Gone Irie

We don’t always play reggae on Radio Mukambo, but the truth is we really dig reggae and dub, so this week it’s going to be only reggae music! Starting somewhere between Martinique, Congo and France with our cd of the week, Iration by the female duo Mystically bringing soulful reggae…

Artists: Andre Sampaio , Clinton Fearon , Dawtas of Aya , Dhazed , Dub Colossus , Dubblestandart , Eddy & the Ethiopians , Kosmo Sound , Lokkhi Terra , Lucas Kastrup , MYSTICALLY , Okwei Odili , Paolo Baldini DubFiles , Pura Vida , Vibrações , Victor Rice

Album Review: Lokkhi Terra – Cubangla [Funkiwala Records; June 2020]

Mother Africa’s children do her proud once more in spreading her spirit across what is a rather large diaspora, considering she spent rather a long time beside humanity’s cradle. And just at the moment where it needs some cajoling to get up and stop feeling sorry for itself, in steps…

Artists: Lokkhi Terra

London Gig Guide (November 2019)

At times, we are the first to lose track of how many exciting music events happen in London each month, so we have decided to offer you some sort of “public musical service”, meant for all the locals and passers-by, with the aim of suggesting where to listen to some…

Artists: Actress , Amon Tobin , Bukky Leo , Dele Sosimi , Diezmo , Domenico Lancellotti , Dwight Trible , Fanfare Ciocarlia , Femi Elias , Gaijin Blues , Gary Bartz , Ivocore , Lokkhi Terra , Luke Vibert , Maisha , Marcos Aganju , Nina Miranda , Nubiyan Twist , Ólafur Arnalds , Pedrolito , Snarky Puppy , Taraf De Impex , The Scorpios , Tinariwen , Toby Kaar

Album Review: Lokkhi Terra meets Dele Sosimi – Cubafrobeat [Funkiwala Records; June 2018]

The holy trinity of pleasure, music that serves mind, body and soul. Cubafrobeat simultaneously feeds them all. The new Lokkhi Terra and Dele Sosimi collaboration show off jazzy solos to power your intellect, but never detract from the chance to lose yourself to dance. Brought together by pianist Kishon Khan,…

Artists: Dele Sosimi , Lokkhi Terra