The Senegalese Amadou Diagne and the Italo-Sudanese Amira Kheir mirrored two different aspects of Africa and its music, but the audience was touched by the same artistic drive that invoked the invaluable cultural richness of the continent. On a hypothetical road trip you would have to drive 4,000 miles to...
All posts by Marco Canepari
We caught up with Nomad Collective during the shoot of their promo video last month to talk to them about their band With a crispy album just released and an oncoming “world” tour on the horizon, Nomad Collective is a name you are going to hear again and again and,...
We met Amira Kheir one week before her performance at the cross-cultural music Festival LIFEM and she brought some musical colour to the grey of a quintessential London Autumn day. Despite everyone insisting on referring to Amira Kheir as a diva she is miles away from that archetype. She is...
Rabindranath Tagore was the most important Bengali artist of the 19th and 20th centuries. He influenced and redefined not only Bengali literature and music, but also theatre and painting. Throughout the decades that bridged the two centuries he became a cultural and political guide for his country. To celebrate the...
After the grand finale with the audience dancing to the unrestrained rhythms of the desert, then after the standing ovation I finally decided to ask Bombino’s tour manager for the set-list. “I checked on stage but couldn’t find one” I said. “I know” he answered. “Bombino doesn’t usually write a...
When the time came for Batch Gueye to choose between becoming a singer or a dancer, to carry on with the griot tradition or West African dancing he eventually decided not to choose and proceeded along both paths. Today this indecision is paying off. An accomplished artist he can go...
Gypsy Hill have taken about four years to publish their first LP, but that’s because they like to do things right and properly! And if you were present at Our Routes launch party in one of Dalston’s most vibrant venues you’d understand why. Gypsy Hill are a rising phenomenon of...
More than sure hits, BalkanBeats nights are smash hits. They lure dozen of Balkan rhythms enthusiasts and they never do no wrong. You already know, when you buy your ticket, that you are going to dance all night long, until the daybreak. And if you add to this with such...
Who said that the best brass bands in the world are Balkans? Perhaps someone who had never enjoyed a live performance by the Bollywood Brass Band: one of the most thrilling and enthralling horn ensembles. Their recent gig at the Southbank Centre was no exception: after two hours of funky...
Despite what the announcer said introducing the concert, Samarpanam is not “a tribute”. Samarpanam is a cut above: it is an enlivened representation of a centuries-old tradition which goes side by side with an act of dedication and devotion to one of the most glorious figures of Indian music: Lalgudi...
