Highlight of the 2016 edition of the London International Arts Festival (LIAF), and one of the most popular and expressive MCs of the UK music scene, Soom T recently brought her urban sound, provocative lyrics, resolute character and Indian background to London’s Rich Mix, for an incendiary gig. We had...
Interview
Articles
When it comes to world music labels, you usually think about regional realities with a local or niche following. That’s not the case of Glitterbeat Records. The German project’s growth is in front of everyone’s eyes. From Mali and Tamikrest, back in 2012, they’ve widened their vision to South America...
With six albums and a nomination for the Mercury Prize on her resumé, Susheela Raman, British-Indian musician, raised between Australia and London, has been captivating audiences around the world with her mesmerising voice and powerful performances since 2001. Ahead of her performance on 1st February at the Roundhouse in London,...
Perched high in Garifuna music’s history is Aurelio Martinez, a songbird of vibrant, metisse, colours. Garifuna music, being that of the Garifuna, a people descending from the meeting of Arawak and African slaves brought to the New World in revolting times, and who spread across Latin America and the Caribbean,...
In between Winter Jazzfest sets, I hurried through the slush and powder of New York City winter, in order to meet Imany in her cobblestone street meatpacking district hotel. It was a great walk, on which I listened to several her songs. I had never been to the district for...
Songs mean the world. It’s especially the case when a singer, Calypso Rose, is the very first woman to perform the music of a particular commercial genre: calypso. With every one of her answers to my questions, Calypso Rose sang her songs to me during our interview, as if to...
There is no doubt that Brazil has not had the best period in recent years. Scandals, corruption, social unrest and a troubled transition to a new (unelected) President have weakened its health. However, there are some events to cheer people up: the Rio Summer Olympic Games, Zika virus no longer...
“How can such small instruments possibly play so loud?” That’s what a member of the audience asked to BKO Quintet after their Huddersfield gig a few days ago. However, when the ‘small’ instruments are an amplified djeli n’goni and a donso n’goni, played by the educated fingertips of Abdoulaye Koné...
Earlier in September, the UK’s electrifying Bollywood Brass Band released their latest album, Carnatic Connections, which is an exciting collaboration with violinist Jyotsna Srikanth, that ventures away from Northern Bollywood and downwards into South Indian film music. A couple of weeks ago, I spoke on the phone with the band’s...
In a year where world politics has seen neighbouring countries close their curtains and shut their doors, music is an increasingly important platform for cross-cultural celebration. Gaye Su Akyol is an artist originating from the Black Sea Coast, who unwittingly seems to be achieving just that. Through fusing her own...
