Tabla de contenidos para July 2022 en Songlines

In September 2020, Ansonia Records suddenly re-emerged from the past. From 1949, when it was founded by Ralph Perez, the label was at the forefront of New York’s Latin music scene, with a roster of artists from the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Puerto Rico connecting New York’s fast-growing Latin migrant population with the music they had left behind. Even after Perez’s death in 1969, the label remained in family hands, championing Latin music into the 80s, with albums by Ismael Rivera, Celia Cruz and La Sonora Matancera in a catalogue that veered between popular boleros, merengues and more folkloric material. Yet, none of the catalogue had been available digitally until new owners stepped in recently, releasing a huge swathe of material back in 2020. “We started off with Angel Viloria,…

After the Taliban took back control of Afghanistan in August last year it was clear that Ahmad Fanoos (left), a harmonium player and popular interpreter of ghazals, was going to have to leave, owing to the renewed prohibition on performing music. This point was driven home after he received several death threats, including one written on his instrument case: ‘All your family members are busy with these dirty activities. We are warning you for the last time to leave.’ Ahmad is a popular singer who had been a judge on Afghan Star, Afghanistan’s version of Pop Idol. His son, Elham, is also a musician and has been living in the US. Elham contacted his sponsor, Lesley Rosenthal at The Juilliard School, who then spoke to Fox, who own shares in…

Karnatic singer Sushma Soma’s debut album Home is a powerful statement about what we are doing to our planet and our environment. “The destruction happens not because people are evil, but because they’re unaware of the harm they’re causing. It’s a problem that we can’t show compassion to nature and wildlife when they add so much to our experience of being human. It really bothers me.” Soma was born in Chennai, India, but grew up and lives in Singapore. She started learning music aged four, as her parents were keen that she be rooted in Karnatic culture. “They felt music was the easiest way to access the culture,” she says. But living in a multicultural Singapore, where Karnatic music sounds quite alien to many, has given her an inside-outside perspective…

THE COMPLETE PACKAGE SONGLINES CLUB explore the greatest and latest in world and folk music. Combining all our subscriptions into one, our Full Club package is the most comprehensive and cost-effective way to enjoy Songlines. ▶ 10 new print and digital issues during the year ▶ An exclusive 15-track compilation CD and track downloads wiThevery issue ▶ Unrestricted digital access to every issue of Songlines since issue #1 ▶ Access 7,500 expert album reviews in our NEW Reviews Database, with more added every month From £9.20 / a month THE DIGITAL PACKAGE SONGLINES DIGITAL CLUB ▶ 10 new digital issues during the year ▶ Unrestricted digital access to every issue of Songlines since issue #1 ▶ Access 7,500 expert album reviews in our NEW Reviews Database, with more added every month…

The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World is an exclusive 100-page definitive guide to the most important and influential jazz albums that have gone on to change and shape the course of the music from the 1920s to the present day. ▪ Print-only, premium quality, publication edited and conceived by Jazzwise’s editor-in-chief Jon Newey ▪ The first time a fully annotated top 100 jazz album countdown from 100 to No.1 has been published in book form ▪ Includes new in-depth editorial on each album from Jazzwise’s acclaimed team of writers, plus in-depth features on the making of the top three albums, a look at the albums that almost made the cut and a guide to buying the featured titles on LP and CD Order online at magsubscriptions.com/jazzwise or call…

Banjos, dulcimers, fiddles, guitar and upright bass, even spoons, jugs and washboards are the instruments of southern Appalachia, where the old-time folk ballads of the region’s early Scots-Irish immigrants have evolved into today’s more familiar bluegrass and Americana sounds. It’s the soundtrack for this pocket of the planet, where some of the world’s oldest mountains recede in misty shades of blue, though it is far from the only music to be heard here. Amid these Blue Ridge Mountains, in the artsy little metropolis of Asheville, North Carolina, music of all shades and stripes by local, national and international artists plays out on stages large and small. Nowhere in this region – or arguably the south-eastern US – is there a greater show of cultural diversity in music than at the…

The Turkish lute skipped a generation in London-based Baha Yetkin’s family. His father presented him with his first ud as a child, hoping Baha, unlike him, might walk in his grandfather’s footsteps. An elder brother who played flamenco guitar got him started, but his formal training began at a local music conservatory in Istanbul, and subsequently in classes with Oytun Uçar and Mustafa Seven. In his late teenage years he worked as an accompanist, learning his craft in some of the city ’s leading bands (notably Mustafa Keser’s). “Faruk Türünz made my first ud for me,” Yetkin tells me. “I don’t use it much because the ebony fingerboard, unfortunately, has become hard to adjust. However, it was a gift from my father, so it carries memories for me, and it…

There is a certain symmetry in the fact that 75 years after Rudolf Bing, an Austrian opera impresario who sought refuge in the UK in the 1940s, founded the Edinburgh International Festival, the event will feature a free performance from the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra, whose musicians include recent refugees alongside Ukrainian members of European orchestras. This sense of collaboration will also be present in another of the festival’s highlights, a special performance from Skye folktronica four-piece Niteworks, who have enlisted Kinnaris Quintet, Gaelic vocal trio Sian and Scots singer Beth Malcolm for what’s being billed as a celebration of ‘fellowship in the Gaelic music scene.’ The show will be called Comann, a word that literally translates as ‘Community ’ in Gaelic. As well as a packed opera, dance and theatre…

An ambitious new research project is looking to help diversify the world of English folk singing. Led by Dr Fay Hield, singer and researcher at the University of Sheffield, the Access Folk project sees a team of academics and community members working together to ask important questions of the scene. Access Folk was conceived as a way to address the fact that there has been a major decline in folk clubs with fewer people participating in the community. “People have been bemoaning the demise of folk singing for as long as I can remember,” Hield explains. “There is a question around why people don’t get involved in participating in folk singing. In order to look at this, I felt we needed to dig right down into what English folk singing…

Budapest’s new House of Music is certainly a striking building; it looks something like a flying saucer hovering among the trees, with some of the trees actually growing up through the roof. From the outside it seems like an open-air pavilion, but step inside and you’re in a transitory world, half in and half out as you can still see all the surrounding trees in the park outside through glass walls. The ceiling is a wave of golden leaves. There’s much more to the building than meets the eye. On the ground floor there’s an open air performance space (under the canopy) and two halls inside. Beneath the ground there is a large exhibition area and on the upper floor a library and music education centre. The House of Music…

‘Dan Masks brings us unique sounds produced, for example, when blowing through the leg bone of a hornbill, with a membrane made of the web some spiders weave to protect their eggs…’Read the review of Dan Masks, a unique collection of archival recordings from the Ivory Coast on p47 Free album download CLICK HERE Songlines digital subscribers can now download the Top of the World & Playlist tracks every issue. See opposite for more details…

Il Buco (Dir: Michelangelo Frammartino; Italy/France/Germany; 93 mins; New Wave; UK release: in cinemas now) Unprepossessing subject becomes distinguished cinema Here is an utterly beguiling and unique film about, of all things, extreme potholing. Assuming you are still reading, it’s set in early 1960s Italy where, in the north, what was then Europe’s tallest building was being constructed at the same time as, in the Calabrian south, a group of young speleologists were discovering Europe’s deepest cave system, the 700-metres deep Bifurto Abyss. One old farmer, the only face that the camera lingers on at any length, watches as the cavers arrive from beneath a gnarly tree on the hillside, what we imagine is the same vantage point from which he has quietly observed his livestock for decades. The young…

Last year, the current line-up of Steeleye Span, helmed by Maddy Prior and featuring a new generation including violinist Jessie May Smart and ex-Bellowheader Benji Kirkpatrick, performed the band’s debut album, Hark! The Village Wait, onstage. Back in 1969, it was Prior and Tim Hart, Terry and Gay Woods, and former Fairport leader Ashley Hutchings getting it together in the country to see if they could make it as a band. They couldn’t, and split before performing a single note of their magical debut onstage. It took 52 years for that to happen, making the 2021 live set a welcome circling by the present of the past. Which is, in part, what the folk process is about. Steeleye are not shy of celebrating their history. For the 50th anniversary in…

Yasuhiro Morinaga Japanese sound designer, music director and filmmaker WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO? Lots of Brazilian sounds – ethnographic field recordings by Indigenous people of the Amazon, as well as music by Ney Matogrosso, Mateus Aleluia and Letieres Leite. YOUR ALL-TIME FAVOURITE ALBUM? Do the Right Th ing (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack). MUSICIAN YOU MOST ADMIRE? Hide Miyakuni from Miyako Island. I cried when I heard her lullaby ‘Bangamuri’. Also, the late Ghedalia Tazartes. The way he created music was so unique and original. FAVOURITE NEW ARTISTS? KOM_I, who was lead singer of J-pop band Wednesday Campanella, but left them to explore her voice as an independent solo artist, which has been more interesting. MEMORABLE MUSICAL ENCOUNTER? Exploring one of the small islands in the Philippines, I heard amazing…

Songlines picks… Abel Selaocoe (June 17 & July 4, Midlands & South) Catch the genreblending cellist. Santrofi(pictured) (June 17 & 25, London, Wales & West) Party with the dynamic Ghanaian collective. Flamenco Festival (June 21-July 2, London) The celebration of all things flamenco returns to Sadler’s Wells. Peatbog Faeries (June 24-25, Scotland) Celtic fusion outfit perform a duo of shows in their native Scotland. Fulu Miziki Kolektiv (July 1, North) The Afro-futurists assemble in Manchester this summer. LONDON 17 JUN Acid Arab KOKO; Arooj Aftab + Nabihah Iqbal Barbican; Billy Cobham’s Spanish Contingent Ronnie Scott’s; Julia Kozakova Brunei Gallery, SOAS; Santrofi Jazz Cafe; 18 JUN Billy Cobham’s Spanish Contingent Ronnie Scott’s; Baaba Maal RFH; Samer Rashed Rich Mix; Shaan Indigo at the O2; 19 JUN Frederic Gassita & The Bantu…

TOP OF THE WORLD PLAYLIST TRACKS 01 Sonny Singh ‘Ghadar Machao’ From Chardi Kala on Sonny Singh Punchy South Asian brass, flip-flapping dhol rhythms and gnarly guitars combine with an infectious vocal refrain on this prime cut lifted from the Red Baraat trumpeter’s solo debut. See p56 02 Rebolu ‘Mi Mulata’ From Mi Herencia on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Colombian Big Apple munchers make straight for the party’s core with this vibrant Latin mix of massed vocal back-and-forths, sultry brass blasts and bouncing ghaita melodies. See p49 03 Vieux Farka Toure ‘Ndjehene Direne’ From Les Racines on World Circuit Records Iridescent Songhai blues riffs and fizzy solos tumble in shimmering bouts of eddying hypnosis, marking this wonderful Malian guitarist’s return to his roots and the music of his father. See p46…

From the start, the record label Sahel Sounds singled itself out for its contemporary presentation of music being made in the Sahel region. This was abundantly clear on their 2011 compilation Music from Saharan Cellphones, which featured songs that label founder Christopher Kirkley had collected during trips to the region. With the internet sparse in the Sahel, music would be shared from mobile to mobile via Bluetooth. After discovering this music, Kirkley began sharing ostensibly ‘viral’ Sahel hits on his blog and on cheaply-sold cassette tapes, until putting together the aforementioned compilation, which sought to remunerate the artists for their work. In 2020, the label began a similar project, but updated for the times, now that the internet is more accessible. Every month throughout the year they uploaded a new…

“Bellowhead is still something that I grieve for because I joined straight out of school when I was 18. Not only did I learn how to be a musician in that band, but how to be a human being.” Fiddle player Sam Sweeney is far from the only one still mourning the loss of the magnificent folk group that, after 12 years, five albums and scores of concerts, called it a day in 2016. During the lockdown in 2020 they got together remotely, recorded ‘New York Girls (Live From Home)’ online – and were touched by the enthusiasm of the response. Encouraged, they reunited in person for a streamed concert celebrating the tenth anniversary of their album Hedonism. “20,000 people watched,” Sweeney says. “We were shocked people still loved that…

Kings Place, London, May 18-25 2022 The Songlines Encounters Festival made its return to London’s Kings Place for a week of excellent music. Yorkston/Thorne/Ghatak kicked off proceedings, introducing many to singer Ranjana Ghatak, and top-notch vocalists were the name of the game, including Julie Fowlis with Brighde Chaimbeul & Aidan O’Rourke; Liraz; Marja Mortensson; the London African Gospel Choir and French sextet San Salvador, who finally got to perform their knock-out show originally scheduled for 2020! There were sublime instrumental showcases from Ethio-jazzer Hailu Mergia, Poland’s VOLOSI, Hungary’s legendary Muzsikas and Syrian qanun player Maya Youssef. It’s good to be back!…

Liraz yourself to dance Thursday May 19 made for an exceptional night out as I caught Liraz’s set for Songlines Encounters Festival. What I thought would be a chilled-out, casual evening catching some nice Persian tunes turned into something truly spectacular as the performance descended into a maelstrom of shimmering bodysuits, wild dancing and even a stage invasion by one young audience member – luckily Liraz herself more than welcomed the intrusion, handing over her microphone so the fan could sing a few lines, word-perfectly I might add. It was a travesty that the gig wasn’t completely packed out, but those present more than filled the space with some impressive and oft en questionable dance moves. A stellar event, thank you, and I can’t wait to see what next year’s…

Aconfluence of serendipity, musical obsession and financial naivety coincided to lead French musicians Olivier Conan and Vincent Douglas to co-found the music venue Barbès in Brooklyn in 2002. “We didn’t have any investors, it was just the old-fashioned American Dream, all on credit cards,” says Conan wryly. Located in a narrow former Chinese laundromat, the venue shortly thereafter became the epicentre of Peruvian chicha – and other global sounds – and over the course of the last two decades, evolved into a record label and, most recently, inspired a namesake festival as well. Barbès gave Conan the possibility of “a fantasy world, essentially,” he explains, “only curating the kind of stuff that I liked, that was not necessarily popular.” He named it after the African neighbourhood in Paris’ 18th arrondissement…

Sara Correia Union Chapel, London, April 28 It was impossible to tell what Sara Correia looked like when she first came onstage, as she was back-lit by dim blue lights and a single spotlight. But this was clearly going to be a special event. From out of the darkness she launched into ‘Eu Ja Nao Sei’ (I Don’t Know) with a power and passion that many singers would hold in reserve until the encore; the effect was thrilling. If great fado is a mixture of emotion and drama, then Correia proved with the first song that she is steeped in the tradition, has a remarkable voice and knows how to give the ‘blues of Portugal’ a contemporary edge. This was her London debut (rescheduled from September 2020 because of lockdown)…

With nearly 200,000 inhabitants, Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp is one of the world’s largest. Established in 1992, it quickly became home to people fleeing violence across the Great Lakes and East Africa – including thousands of musicians. For sub-Saharan African societies music is a primary language through which culture is transmitted across generations. But when you have literally minutes to flee heavily armed attackers even the most dedicated musician will leave behind ceremonial drums, bow harps, thumb pianos or flutes. A decade before Kakuma’s establishment, the Royal Drummers of Burundi took the newly created world music scene by storm with their performance at the first WOMAD. Since their global debut, Burundi, like many of the countries of the Great Lakes region, has suffered through continual political conflict, and a civil…

Les Suds á Arles July 11-17 Arles, France Week of world music wonders This summer sizzler has been running since 1996, transforming the heart of the beautiful city of Arles into a world music hub that hosts a bustle of international stars across various stages for seven fun-packed days. Several Songlines darlings are on the bill for this year’s mightily impressive 27th edition, including Oumou Sangare, Eliades Ochoa & Cuarteto Patria, Acid Arab, Justin Adams & Mauro Durante, Monsieur Doumani and LASS. www.suds-arles.com Earagail Arts Festival July 9-24 Donegal, Ireland Multidisciplinary frolics galore Donegal’s bilingual (Irish and English) arts festival takes in everything from music, theatre, visual arts, film, literature and circus across an impressive 16 days. Music will be provided be the likes of Iarla Ó Lionáird & Steve…