|| a new series of music that transcends genre ||

Between The Lines is a new series showcasing music that explores the boundaries between genres.

Taking place in London bastion of progressive music and experimentalism Corsica Studios, the first series will take place over 2 nights in May – featuring live performances from artists whose influences range from West African Wassalou music to Irish poetry, with common musical threads tying the whole programme together.

THURSDAY 16 MAY
Sarathy Korwar x Danalogue
Fehdah
Pouya Ehsaei x Yelfris Valdes Music

FRIDAY 17 MAY
Davy Kehoe
Maria Somerville
Fran & Flora

Plus more surprises to be revealed...

In a new musical era where both artists and audiences alike create and engage with music that transcends genre, Between The Lines brings together artists that collectively push those boundaries under one roof.

Early Bird tickets on sale now: https://www.seetickets.com/tour/between-the-lines

SARATHY x DANALOGUE

Tabla player and percussionist Sarathy Korwar (Ninja Tune / Leaf Label) & electronic musician Dan Leavers AKA Danalogue (The Comet is Coming / Soccer96) join forces in a cosmos journey powered by improvisation and electronic skulduggery, in advance of of Sarathy’s new album "More Arriving" – out on the Leaf Label in June. Brought together by a mutual love of the offbeat, psychedelic and analogue, they promise an evening of interplay and experimentation.

FEHDAH

An eclectic songwriter who draws on her love of Wassoulou music, forging an entirely new take on electro-soul. Following the success of her debut EP, "Like No Other", she has since delved deeper in the direction of the title track of this EP, producing a pioneering sound that she describes as "Sahelian-Electrosoul". Her latest single, "Saharakungoh", is a vocally rich, heavily syncopated and lyrically vulnerable love song – with more singles to come in 2019. A new and cohesive moulding of contemporary electronic and traditional instrumentation which is aligned with today's paradigm of the 21st century Afrofuturist.

POUYA EHSAEI x YELFRIS VALDES

Pouya Ehsaei is an Iranian artist residing in London. He has been involved in different projects and collaborations with performers, dancers, and musicians. He experiments with sound, words, video and computer graphics in order to create a piece that keeps the meaning and sensations open for the audience. He has a PhD in Music and an MA in Music Technology from University of York, and is part of the Cuban/Iranian band Ariwo as well as leading the Parasang series of collaborations between himself and an array of eclectic musicians in Redon.

At Between the Lines he’ll perform with London based Cuban trumpet player Yelfris Valdes Music – one of the most in demand in the London music scene since he arrived in 2014, collaborating with artists like Yussef Dayes, Kamaal Williams, Moses Boyd, and Nubya Garcia, to grime legend KANO and Quantic Music, and heavyweights like Chucho Valdés, Billy Harper, Charlie Hunter, Yannick Noa, Sugaray Rayford and Joao Donato just to name a few.

DAVY KEHOE

Davy Kehoe is an Irish producer from Dublin associated with the mysterious Wah Wah Wino label and collective. He is best known for the enigmatic but exhilarating vision of electronic music that fills his debut album "Short Passing Game", released in 2017. Kehoe will bring a live band to Between The Lines to perform his unique mixture of motorik rhythms and fourth world aesthetics, following the release of his second record "The Pilot".

MARIA SOMERVILLE

Maria Somerville draws on folk forms alongside post-punk, traditional Irish motifs, starry eyed pop and hypnotic drones to create wholly original music that is borne of her roots in Connemara, Western Ireland. Her lauded debut album "All My People" channels the wilderness of the Irish landscape through dense, ethereal soundscapes, bare boned percussion and a heady electronic undertow, interspersed with ghostly vocals that are ever present and all encompassing, like crystalline glints of sunshine peeking through dark stormy clouds.

FRAN & FLORA

Described as ‘London’s best kept secret’ and ‘fiercely passionate’, (Max Reinhardt, BBC Radio 3 Late Junction), string duo Fran & Flora is one of the most innovative emerging ensembles in the UK. Violinist Flora Curzon and folk/experimental cellist Francesca Ter-Berg captivate their audiences with exquisite, soulful tunes from across Eastern Europe which they have learnt from many great masters of the Klezmer and Roma traditions. Delicately navigating the question of authenticity the duo have spent years developing a sound which is simultaneously reverent to the traditions they have been studying and deeply personal – resulting in the their critically acclaimed debut album Unfurl in February 2019.

Podcast: Rhythm Passport Presents… #17

The first Rhythm Passport Presents of the year is finally out and to start 2023 in style, we seized the opportunity, space and time given us by RTM.FM to do a quick review of 2022 through some of the most interesting albums released in its 365 days We travelled back…

Artists: Anadol , Asake , Bandua , Batida , Combo Chimbita , Dowdelin , Etran de L'Air , Ezra Collective , Horace Andy , Ibibio Sound Machine , iLe , Julmud , Kobo Town , Kokoroko , Kutiman , Lucrecia Dalt , Maga Bo , Meridian Brothers , Nancy Mounir , Nu Genea , Obongjayar , Otoboke Beaver , Oumou Sangare , Rokia Kone , Sarathy Korwar , Souad Massi , The Brother Moves On , The Maghreban , Wau Wau Collective , Wesli

Podcast: Rhythm Passport Presents… #16

For this episode of Rhythm Passport Presents, we tried to compress, squeeze and cram 12 months’ worth of notes, rhythms and sounds from all over the world in roughly 120 minutes. Of course, we had to leave our far too many quality tunes. Still, we tried hard and did our…

Artists: Anadol , Bad Bunny , Bandua , Biga*Ranx , Branko , Burna Boy , Che Sudaka , Dowdelin , El Khat , Ezra Collective , Fanfara Station , Gonora Sounds , Hagan , K.o.g. , Kaleema , Kobo Town , Kottarashky , L\'entourloop , La Fanfarria del Capitan , La Perla , Les Freres Jackfruit , Lova Lova , Maga Bo , Meral Polat Trio , Rasha Nahas , Residente , Rhabdomantic Orchestra , Sarathy Korwar , Sidi Wacho , Soothsayers , TOROZEBU , Yama Warashi

Event Preview: Love Supreme Jazz Festival (Glynde Place, Lewes; Friday 1st July to Sunday 3rd July 2022)


Mud, music and melodies. Festival season is almost upon us again. Here at Rhythm Passport HQ we’ve been digging through the line-ups, and the Love Supreme program has some gems. Held close to Brighton at the beginning of July, expect treats for world music and jazz lovers. With big names…

Artists: Emma-Jean Thackray , Erykah Badu , Ezra Collective , Gregory Porter , Harold Lopez-Nussa , Ife Ogunjobi , Nubya Garcia , Sarathy Korwar , Sister Sledge , Sons Of Kemet , Yessai Karapetian

Gallery: Plugged @ Walthamstow Trades Hall (London; Thursday 5th May 2022)

Despite being huge advocates of and using written words and sounds on a daily basis, we are also big fans of images and their expressive power. That’s why we can’t help but feature and share with you some photo memories of the recent Plugged event that went on stage at…

Artists: Addictive Tv , Moormur , Orchestra of Samples , Parasang , Pouya Ehsaei

Interview: Sarathy Korwar – A “Modern English-Indian” Artist (December 2019)

Albums like More Arriving are windows into the present. Their perspective on the here and now is so spot on and accurate that they sound like the best portrayal of the days we currently live in. After having listened to them, you feel the compulsion to delve further into their…

Artists: Sarathy Korwar

Album Review: Sarathy Korwar – More Arriving [The Leaf Label; July 2019]

On the list of the worst conversation starters, “Where are you from?” would be right up there. Reducing the person to a Lonely Planet cardboard cut-out is one thing, but when the question is prompted by your accent, complexion or general foreignness, it becomes a euphemism for, “You stick out…

Artists: Sarathy Korwar

London Gig Guide (September 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: Abdul And The Gang , Altın Gün , Anthony Joseph , Benjamin Zephaniah , Criolo , Dj Firmeza , Dj Lilocox , Dj Lycox , Kel Assouf , Orchestra Baobab , Sarathy Korwar , Shabaka Hutchings , Shingai , The Heliocentrics , Valia Calda

London Gig Guide (May 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: Altın Gün , Baildsa , Balothizer , Coops , Dabda , Danalogue , Dengue Dengue Dengue , Eva Lazarus , Fliptrix , George , History Of Colour , Kevin Haynes , La Dame Blanche , Lankum , Liniker E Os Caramelows , Namlo , Omar Sosa , Omar Souleyman , Onoe Caponoe , Pitch 92 , Pouya Ehsaei , Sarah Tandy , Sarathy Kowar , Tantz , The Budos Band , The Great Malarkey , Wara , Yelfris Valdés , Yeseo , Yilian Cañizares

Interview: Yelfris Valdés – The World of Yelfris Valdés (February 2018)

When it comes to Yelfris Valdés and his countless music projects, you can be sure of two things: their quality and ability to surprise you. No matter whether they are more Latin, Afro-Cuban, electronic, traditional, jazz-oriented, or just fundamentally expressing their author – like the upcoming debut EP titled The…

Artists: Yelfris Valdés

Event Review: Manana//Cuba – A Night of Afro-Cuban Collaborations @ Barbican (London, 26th May 2017)

That euphoric swelling an artist feels when they connect with their audience is what rumba musicians describe as ‘Manana’. The purity of this Cuban chemistry was the motivation behind the 2016 Manana//Cuba Festival in Santiago de Cuba, the Manana record label, and subsequently this month’s Barbican gig. Three friends are…

Artists: Ariwo , Dj Tennis , Obbatuké , Plaid , Soundspecies , Yelfris Valdés

Review: AfroCubism Revisited @ Islington Assembly Hall (London, 23rd April 2017)

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…

Artists: Afrocubism , Bassekou Kouyate , Hammadi Valdés , Piki Bosh , Seckou Keita , Yelfris Valdés