Fatoumata Diawara is gearing up for the release of her new album London Ko on May 12 releasing the first single titled “Massa Den” on April 24 featuring French rock singer-songwriter and guitar player -M- (Matthieu Chedid). The album, titled after a neologism coined by Diawara (uniting London with Bamako) representing…

Eliades Ochoa, the founding member of Buena Vista Social Club, has released the first single “Se Soltó Un León” from his upcoming album Guajiro, featuring collaborations with Rubén Blades, Joan as Police Woman, and Charlie Musselwhite. The track features fiery horn arrangements and is a classic Puerto Rican plena, showcasing…

In this show, we travel through the sounds of fado, desert blues, afro-Cuban jazz, afro-Cuban, afrobeat, Arabic reggae, and reggae! We kick off the show with the melancholic voice of Mariza, from Portugal, in “Quem me Dera”, a song was written for her by the Angolan singer-songwriter Matias Damásio. We…

With Visions of Sound 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! TweetSharePin0 Shares

Out Of Africa – An in-depth trip throughout world music and global beats from an African perspective!! In this show, we travel through the sounds of desert blues, African blues, jazz, afro jazz, and afro-beat! We kick off the show with a collaboration between Ballaké Cissoko & Camille. In this…

It always feels like a privilege exploring London’s EFG London Jazz Festival hosted by Serious Music. And this year they celebrate their 30th birthday, planning to unravel us with a sizzle and a bang. Held across over 60 venues, you can expect to be submerged in almost ten days of…

A world of music, arts and dance awaits at the world’s festival this year. Charlton Park will once again be visited by artists and performers from round the globe, for an extra special celebration in honour of the festival’s 40th birthday. Six stages will host over 150 acts across the…

In this show, we travel from Africa’s kora, desert blues from the Sahara desert, the beautiful strings from Cape Verde Islands, through jazz from gipsy influence and finish with a dub in a world music perspective. Music is the glue that connects humanity as ONE! (Aired on August 11 on…

The joy and of harmony and collaboration… for her new single ‘Ambè’, Fatoumata Diawara brought together an exceptional all-star all-female group of musicians of African origin or descent for a one-off, non-commercial song available only on YouTube and social media.   The tun was composed during the first lockdown when…

‘Mamadou Kanda Keita’ is extracted of the “very special” collaborative album Korolen by Malian kora master Toumani Diabate and renowned London-based symphony orchestra LSO.   “Commissioned as a special project by the Barbican Centre in London and produced by World Circuit, these recordings feature Diabaté and his group of eminent Malian…

Rendez-vous with Lucas Keen for an appointment to meet the little boat shaped lute played across the West African Sahel since the time of Mansa Musa.   Hear the story of the djeli n’goni, get the job description for a griot, and learn where this iconic instrument which is the…

Shakespeare said it all with ‘If music be the food of love, play on’.  Music is the blood that runs through the veins of our very best human experiences. Celebration. Expression. Dance. Evolution. Art. Intimacy. Communication. Due to COVID-19 restrictions we have no longer been able to congregate for performance…

There are some performers that we have the pleasure of seeing on stage who bewitch, beguile and bewilder with their exuberance, their talent and their sheer ability to put on a show. Fatoumata Diawara is one such artist. Born in Ivory Coast to Malian parents and now living in France,…

It was another triumphant weekend at Walthamstow Garden Party. Sunbathing in glorious weather and indulging in radiant notes played by brilliant musicians, we enjoyed every minute of it. From its debut, basking in Saturday’s early afternoon heat with London African Gospel Choir and their rendition of Paul Simon’s Graceland, until Sunday…

Let’s bring our clocks and calendar pages forward, just enough to reach the 20th of June, where, at the Royal Albert Hall, Jubilee will celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Aga Khan cultural and civic commitment with an inspiring night of music. The show, produced by Serious, together with the…

A one-off performance for a one-off event. It doesn’t happen too often that we get to enjoy a Fatoumata Diawara gig in London, but on the rare occasions when the Malian musician visits the British capital, her shows are always hard-to-forget experiences. That’s how it went on the 26th of…

The concept behind the AfroCubism collaboration is to celebrate and unite some of Mali and Cuba’s hottest musicians and to explore their shared spirit of Afro-Cuban soul. In the Sixties, socialist Mali politics had close links to those of the new communist Cuban government, creating strong ties between the two…

[chimpy_form forms=”5″] They invited their fans singing “come see us play”. So we did it and enjoyed every single minute of it. Sidestepper brought their Afro-Colombian groove to WOMAD Festival and it was simply “chevere!” [justified_image_grid ng_gallery=261]   A few minutes later, we witnessed the brilliant 30-year reunion of Songhai – kora king Toumani…

Although the story behind how Aliou Touré, Garba Touré, Oumar Touré and Nathaneal Dembélé became Songhoy Blues is not all roses — they were forced to fled to the capital Bamako after northern Mali was occupied by jihadists — their music is everything but sorrowful. A sold-out Roundhouse could not…

In the dark and dingy environment of Islington’s Electrowerkz Mali’s ngoni master Bassekou Kouyaté and his family band Ngoni Ba took to the stage to dazzle the audience with their dexterity and musical traditions. For the uninitiated, the Ngoni is the African precursor of the banjo and guitar dating back…