THREE TOP LIVE BANDS THIS THURSDAY….

Thursday 25th Feb 8pm

Butterworth Hall, Warwick University Arts Centre

Tickets: £20 (£18)

Oumou Sangare (Mali)

Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo de Cotonou (Benin)

Kalahari Surfers (South Africa).

The sixth African Soul Rebels tour brings together some of the continent’s most spectacular performers.

The Orchestre Poly-Rhythmo de Cotonou was one of the greatest African bands of the 70s. Based in Benin, they mixed funk and Afrobeat with the bewitching rhythms of their native Voudoun tradition. While the musicians scattered over the intervening years, their sensational return concert at the Barbican last September showed that the power, energy and all-round funkiness of the 11-piece band is undimmed.

“ tremendous show…outrageously tight, yet mentally loosening funk…they are fully potent, late-blooming stars” The Independent

The Kalahari Surfers formed in South Africa in 1982 and their energising mixture of rhythm and outspoken social commentary promptly resulted in the banning of their first three albums under the apartheid regime. Having been influenced by Robert Wyatt and Henry Cow, the Surfers’ prime mover Warrick Sony relocated to London. Projects with Brendan Jury and Massive Attack followed, and a longer term collaboration with rebel dub poet Tebogo Shumba, who appears tonight.

Oumou Sangare’s outstanding CD releases on World Circuit – including the latest Seya (Joy) – have gained her a great reputation over the years, but her live shows are even better, driven by her majestic presence and spellbinding voice. A huge force for women’s rights and economic development in her native Mali, Oumou and her super-tight band bring an irrepressible energy and joie de vivre to their performances.

“If Oumou Sangare were from Milwaukee instead of Mali, she’d be bigger that Whitney ever was” Time Out

News: Oumou Sangaré‘s album ‘Seya’ was nominated for a Grammy. The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards were held on January 31st 2010 in Los Angeles

‘GLOBAL LOCAL’ SHOWCASE AT CARGO SHOREDITCH.

Thursday, 25 February 2010 at 19:00

with THE WORM, AJ HOLMES AND THE HACKNEY EMPIRE, NHASITAFARA!!

This is a celebration of the freshest UK Afro sounds, at Cargo, Rivington St, London EC2A 3AY.

ENTRY IS FREE BEFORE 9PM, £8 AFTER, £5 ADVANCE.

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/67823

FACEBOOK HERE- PLEASE INVITE YOUR FRIENDS….

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/event.php?eid=273119443158&ref=ts

9pm NHASITAFARA ‘mbira dub soundclash’ - Nhasitafara are a big band with a huge sound, playing truly ‘world’ music. They mix traditional mbira sounds from Zimbabwe with the heavy sounds of afro-beat and reggae. “Papa” Linos Magaya Wengara fronts this fifteen piece band with a passion, spirit and skill rooted in Zimbabwean and Shona tradition.

10 pm THE WORM ‘afro-reggae-garage’ – Mixing the fatness of 21st century production with the sweet riffs of West Africa, virtuoso 4-piece The Worm bring a fresh, original, infectious sound that will make you want to move! Having Recently released their second CD Writhing and Wriggling, The Worm has wriggled on stages at Glastonbury, Secret Garden Party, Bestival and many more and is looking forward to a German tour in March and a busy festival summer!

11pm AJ HOLMES AND THE HACKNEY EMPIRE AJ HOLMES and The HACKNEY EMPIRE – ‘the new electric hi-life’ - AJ Holmes and the Hackney Empire are currently resident band at monthly London Tropical party Secousse (started by Radioclit in 2007) and have recently played with artists such as David Byrne at the ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, London, Radioclit, Afrikan Boy, ORCHESTRE POLY RHYTHMO DE COTONOU and Abdul Tee Jay. They bring their distinctive blend of Kwaito, Kuduro, Coupe Decale, Funana, Afro Grime, Afro Indie, Tropical Dance, Old school Palm Wine, Jive, Arabesk, Turkish pop, Afro pop, Rumba, Soukus, Kavacha, Tradimodern, High Life.. They are currently recording their debut album, produced by Radioclit.

12am KMT party mashup – original London grafter KMT brings his trademark mix of afro, reggae and all things nice

In honour of the 100th Birthday of the legendary Gypsy guitarist, Django Reinhardt, a new generation of gypsy jazz musicians will be appearing at the Quecumbar in London (www.quecumbar.co.uk) between the 17th and 25th of January 2010 for the International Gypsy Swing Guitar Festival.

French artists include:

David Reinhardt Ensemble (Django’s  grandson):

Adrien Moignard:

Les Doigts de L’Homme:

Ritary Gaguenetti:

Sebastien Giniaux:

and the Parisian chanson quartet Fleur de Paris:

Besides these there will also be the following amazing artists:

from Holland - Stochelo Rosenberg:

Wattie Rosenberg:

Sani Van Mullem:

Paulus Schäfer:

Noah Schäfer:

Lollo Meier:

and Feigeli Prisor:

From Belgium - Tcha Limberger & Vivi Limberger:

From Hungary - Vilmos Csikos:

From Germany - the Kussi Weiss Quintet:

From Spain and Argentina - Biel Ballester Trio:

From the UK - Andy Aitchison and George Trebar:

From Poland - Ducato Piotrowski:

Le Quecumbar is situated at 42-44 Battersea High Street, London, Sw1 3HX - info@quecumbar.co.uk

David Reinhardt will also be performing a free concert at the Institut Francais in Bistrot Couture (London SW7 2DT, South Kensington Tube) on the 15th of January at 6.30pm.

Meanwhile in Glasgow, The Celtic Connections Festival will be playing host to more French-based acts such as the excellent electric oud driven band Speed Caravan and the fantastic songstress Angelique Kidjou.  Full details below:

Jacky and Patrick Molard - Friday 29th January 2010, 8.00pm - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall : Strathclyde Suite / booking : contact@innacor.com

Kaloome - Thursday 21st January 2010, 7.30pm - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall : Main Auditorium

Krystle Warren - Wednesday 20th January 2010, 7.30pm - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall : Main Auditorium / booking : david@serious.org.uk

Le Vent du Nord - Thursday 28th January 2010, 8.00pm - Glasgow Royal Concert Hall : Strathclyde Suite / booking : info@papave.com

Speed Caravan - Thursday 21st January 2010, 10.00pm - Old Fruitmark / booking : rab@sasa.demon.co.uk

Sylvain Hamon, Xavier Boderiou, Alexis Meunier, Herve Le Floch - Sunday 17th January 2010, 1.00pm - The National Piping Centre

Angélique Kidjo - Friday 22nd January 2010, 9.00pm - Old Fruitmarket / booking : clembunel@me.com

More info on http://www.celticconnections.com/

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

Courtney Pine
tours
Transition in Tradition
his acclaimed homage to the first great saxophone star, Sidney Bechet

with support from Cuban violin virtuoso
Omar Puente

Courtney Pine’s 12th studio album, Transition in Tradition, not only pays tribute to the first great saxophone star, Sidney Bechet, but also marks several new forays into sound for the ground breaking Jazz Warrior.  The music was composed and evolved through a series of shows in the UK during 2007 before Courtney brought his band into the studio to document and capture the energy, support and encouragement that only a live audience can give.

World-renowned Cuban violin virtuoso, Omar Puente released his debut album, From There to Here, on Courtney’s Destin-E World Records to critical acclaim in October 2009; on this tour, as well as performing with Courtney, Omar’s own band opens the show.

Pine serves up a Creole gumbo of Caribbean, Latin and African flavours with the nuanced power to restore the most jaded jazz palate… the Jazz Warrior succeeds in broadening our minds as well as our ears
BBC Music Magazine on Transition in Tradition

An impressive solo debut, ambitious in scope and featuring some great playing from a star studded line up
thejazzmann.com on From There to Here

Thursday 4 February: Assembly Theatre, Leamington Spa
Box Office: 01926 523 001

Friday 5 February: Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal
Box Office: 01539 725 133

Saturday 6 February: Theatre Royal, Winchester
Box Office: 01962 840 440

Tuesday 16 February: Opera House, Buxton
Box Office: 0845 127 2190

Thursday 18 February: Corn Exchange, Brighton
Box Office: 01273 709 709

Friday 19 February: Alban Arena, St Albans
Box Office: 01727 844 488

Saturday 20 February: Taliesin Arts Centre, Swansea
Box Office: 01792 602 060

Sunday 21 February: Wyeside Arts Centre, Powys
Box Office: 01982 552 555

Monday 22 February: The Globe, Cardiff
Box Office: 029 2045 2151

Thursday 25 February: Guild Hall, Gloucester
Box Office: 01452 503 050

Friday 26 February: Chapel Arts Centre, Bath
Box Office: 01225 463 362

Saturday 27 February: Plough Arts Centre, Great Torrington
Box Office: 01805 624 624

Wednesday 3 March: Town Hall, Birmingham
Box Office: 0121 780 3333

Friday 5 March: Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells
Box Office: 01892 678 678

Saturday 6 March: Union Chapel, London
Box Office: 020 7226 1686

Thursday 11 March: Pacific Arts, The Wirral
Box Office: 0151 666 0000

Friday 12 March: Picture Dome, Holmfirth
Box Office: 01484 689 759

Saturday 13 March: Assembly Rooms, Ludlow
Box Office: 01584 878141

More details via: www.courtney-pine.com, www.myspace.com/omarpuentefiffe

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

- Various Artists - iASO Records 2007 (iASCD3)

“… 14 tracks of hip-swinging heaven …” - Glyn Phillips (worldmusic.co.uk)

Having recently reviewed the latest excellent release from iASO Records (Puerto Plata’s “Casita de Campo”) I was eager to delve deeper into the output of this relatively new label who have a particular specialisation in music from the Dominican Republic.

The name of the CD, “Bachata Roja” (Red Bachata), is an allusion to Juan Luis Guerra’s 1991 multi-million selling album “Bachata Rosa” (Pink Bachata), but is a world away from Guerra’s saccharine (albeit much-loved) recording, which shares little in common with real bachata music.  If Guerra’s is a frothy cocktail of love bubbles, then this exciting compilation of old 45s and LP tracks from 1962-1990 is 100% sugar cane alcohol - raw, but very potent.

Bachata music is a genre particular to the Dominican Republic.   Originally performed primarily on guitars and voices, it is a music of “el pueblo”, the mass of poor, rural dominicanos, and (like so many iconic latin american styles) was shunned for years by the middle and upper classes and those with power over radio, television and the best recording studios and concert venues, especially during the 1970s & 80s.

Its roots lie in the 1950s when country folk listened to home-made music played on guitars and sung at gatherings in the backyard with food, drink and dancing.  ‘Bachata’ actually means an informal party and didn’t come to refer to the music until the 70s, by which time it was usually meant pejoratively. This original “musica de guitarra” was made up of the popular country music of the wider latin caribbean:  sones, guajiras and guarachas from Cuba, musica jíbara from Puerto Rico, rancheros from Mexico and the Cuban-born but pan-latin sound of bolero were all to be heard rolling out over the fields.

But during the 70s mass migration from the countryside, led to the introduction of the music into the working class life of the cities.  The bolero remained the most popular rhythmic format (although acoustic guitar merengues were always played alongside) but the lyrics began to change to reflect the new surroundings and the break-up of traditional life.

The bachateros spoke of bars and brothels, heavy drinking, fights, loose women, tough men and those staples, love and loss.  The ‘cabaret’ of the album’s subtitle refers to the dominican use of the word as a brothel.  In particular bitterness and disappointment were not shunned but rather cradled, nurtured and worn as a badge of pride.  Pain is good because it lets you know you’re still alive…  The language became rougher, less sweet and more street, a distinctive sabor dominicano arose: amargue (bitter).  Later still, lyrics became more racy with much dominican slang and double-entendres.  It was a music that spoke directly to those at the hard edge of life.

This ground-breaking album aims to uncover the hidden world of early bachata.  It charts its rise from a more generalised rural acoustic music (similar in overall feel to that played throughout much of latin america) right through it’s urbanisation, the fall from respectability, through to its emergence as the pre-eminent and quintessentially dominican form of expression.  The album stops deliberately in 1990 as the new era of electric guitar bachata was beginning to take shape.

Although it was released in 2007 (to critical acclaim in the USA) it has taken longer to start to permeate out into the wider world beyond.  “Bachata Roja” would already be important if only because it offers an excellently curated retrospective of a hidden era of dominican music and life.  Even more important is that this music was virtually unknown outside older dominican afficionados, was in danger of being written out of the history books by people who didn’t approve of its lyrics and lifestyle, and was virtually impossible to obtain outside of vinyl collections in the Dominican Republic.  Now that the popularity of bachata music is at an all-time high - not just in its birthplace, and in the latin barrios of New York - but in other latin american countries and is being danced all over Europe and other parts of the globe by non-latinos (on the back of the phenomenal worldwide salsa boom of the last 15 years), this compilation should be required listening.

Full marks go to the young New York producer, Benjamin de Menil of iASO Records and to his co-producer (and Dominican guitar legend) Edilio Paredes for producing this essential album.   14 tracks  of hip-swinging heaven accompanied by a 16-page booklet in both Spanish and English.

What’s even more impressive is the quantity and - more importantly - the quality of the support material on iASO’s website (www.iasorecords.com).  For people like me who really like to know about not just the music itself but the background and context as well, then the plethora of well-researched, in-depth, clearly written essays on all aspects of dominican music to be found on it are a joy to discover and read.  Props definitely going out to David C Wayne, their main contributor (and the album’s co-producer), and others.  It’s worth the effort trying to navigate around the site to find out just what’s hidden in there.

Final word: a number of the ‘old-time’ artists who were responsible for shaping the history of bachata music are still alive and playing right now (in particular Edilio Paredes) and it’s to be hoped that plans are imminent to introduce these Bachata Roja Legends to an audience outside of DR and North America . . .  maybe I shouldn’t say the words, but I’ll whisper them instead: ” Buena Vista Soc…”  (you get the idea).

Highly Recommended

Glyn Phillips for WorldMusic.co.uk

(PS check out our review of Puerto Plata’s “Casita de Campo” too!)

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

SpokFrevo Orquestra are an amazing 18-piece big band from the city of Recife in the North-East of Brazil.  They take their name from the city’s very own 100-year old musical genre: frevo.

Frevo is a style of music played at Carnival in the state of Pernambuco and is absolutely packed to the gunwales with high energy, driving rhythms and sheer, unalloyed happiness!  The engine house of frevo is without doubt the snare drum buzzing and clicking away at the forefront of a train filled with florid, pumping brass at every window.  It has its own dance as well involving acrobatic leaps and, bizarrely, tiny multi-coloured umbrellas.

In the towering cocktail of upfront, upbeat, uplifting Brazilian music styles, frevo is right up there on top (complete with party umbrella).  It has to be experienced to be believed and this band, SpokFrevo, are probably the best way to unleash the total musical alegria and rhythmic ecstasy that is frevo.

Someone once described the SpokFrevo Orquestra being as if Duke Ellington fell into the carnival at Recife.  That definitely sums up the mix of carnavalesque abandonment with the beautiful arrangements of their MD, Inaldo Cavalcante de Albuquerque, aka Spok,  However, as tight, as smooth, as sophisticated, as undeniably accomplished as this young band is, the description in no way prepares you for the shockwaves of acoustic energy that roll over you and sweep you away on a tidal wave of joy.

I’m sitting here at my computer listening to the music as I write, yet I just cannot sit still at all!  I defy anyone to listen to a track such as “Passo de Anjo” and not smile until their face hurts!

The band has been going since 1996 and has changed names, and even purpose, a few times before finally settling on SpokFrevo Orquestra in 2003.  Since then they have strived to take traditional frevo and treat it with more refined harmonies and modern arrangements and use the freedom of jazz improvisation to give rein to their magnificent musicians.  As Spok says:

“Frevo is a unique rhythm, different from all others, cheerful and with a special magic: the one to transmit happiness”.

Their first album “Passo de Anjo” was independently released in 2004 to critical acclaim heralding a new era in the history of frevo.  The next year their concert at the the TIM Festival was honoured as one of the best 10 concerts in Rio de Janeiro during 2005.  Since then they have performed on various occasions with major stars such as Elba Ramalho and Gal Costa and continued to bring the house down each time.  More recently they were featured at Womex 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, the world’s biggest World Music Trade Fair and Conference, in front of the cream of the movers and shakers (literally!) of the industry.

This landmark album has now been re-masterized, digipacked and re-launched (Biscoito Fino Records) and is available to a wider audience than before.  Only this year it was awarded the Prêmio da Música Brasileria 2009 as the Best Group and Best Instrumental CD of the year.  High Praise indeed.  I’m still waiting for some more information regarding the release and distribution of this CD but hope to inform you as soon as possible.

The album comprises 11 tracks mixing new compositions such as “Ela Me Disse” (by Luciano Oliveira) and “Passo de Anjo” by Spok and João Lyra alongside old frevo classics re-recorded with jazzy arrangements such as the song “Nino, O Pernambuquinho”, a work originally created by Maestro Duda in 1972, “Ponta de Lança” by Clovis Pereira and Hermeto Paschoal’s “Nas Quebradas”.  The album also includes the tracks “Mexe com Tudo” (Pixinguinha’s classic from the 40s) and “Lágrima de Folião” by Levino Ferreira, as well as “Frevo Sanfonado” by the late great accordionist Sivuca and Glorinha Gadelha.

The line up of the live Orquestra has various rows of trumpets, trombones and saxophones back by a rhythm section of guitar, bass and kit drums, and finally a surdo-player (the huge drums usually associated with samba and samba reggae) and a pandeirista (a pandeiro is a heavy tambourine with rhythms played on a taut, highpitched head and with dry sounding jingles).

Since SpokeFrevo count having President Sarkozy of France amongst their admirers (having played for him before) we can only hope that they manage to make it across not just the Atlantic Ocean, but across the Channel to come to the UK as well sometime soon.  You’ll probably see me in the front row if they do.  Highly recommended.

Glyn Phillips for WorldMusic.co.uk

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

24^th November Lou Rhodes + support John Smith : Glee Club 7.30pm

With Beloved One, she took a step back from the electronic intricacies of Lamb and embraced a folk music aesthetic that provided an intimate, unvarnished forum for her voice. It was an album she desperately needed to make, and in the summer of 2006, it was nominated for the UK’s prestigious Mercury Music Prize. Her story continues to unfold on the appropriately titled Bloom, an album that illuminates her creative growth and further examines the fine line between darkness and wonder…..  “John Smith continually swoons audiences with his own strain of nu-folk. It is only a matter of time before he is enormous.” - NME

26^th November Music Room with

The Misers, A Boy Named Crow, Deborah Hodgson: Hare & Hounds 7.30pm £3 on door

Another great Music Room session, The Misers consist of singer/songwriter Neil Ivison and Hammond/Rhodes player Adam Barry. The duo will be performing songs taken from their debut album, Amplified Life Stories. They specialise in the truth. Songs about friends, drinking, brushes with the law, love, broken relationships, fights, jobs. Real songs about rural life and country people played in a simple, stripped down direct and honest way.

A Boy Named Crow are a lyrical indie folk act from Birmingham with a penchant for melody, madness, blag poetry, cello, piano, fine artwork, loops…. a bit of love, life and loss. With influences as diverse as Bob Dylan, Haruki Murakami, Francis Bacon, T.S Eliot, Sibelius, Mercury Rev and Birmingham.

Deborah Hodgson has an emotive voice with a strong emphasis on melody. Her song writing cleaves to the honest confessional values of Laurel Canyon spiced with a little of the mystic energy of the Wales of her birth. As a vocalist there are few styles of music that she cannot bring under the spell of her unique, emotive voice

29^th November

Thea Gilmore + support Rod Clement: Glee Club 7.30pm

A special night of seasonal songs and surprises. And no turkeys. Thea Gilmore presents her very own take on winter and Christmas in a special acoustic evening. Internationally acclaimed, hailed as a favourite by artistes including Bruce Springsteen and Martha Wainwright, and described by the Independent as “the best wordsmith of her generation” Thea Gilmore is back in town with a festive show that bears her own highly individual stamp.

30^th November Chris Difford: Kitchen Garden Café: 7.30pm

First of two intimate nights with Chris at Kitchen Garden Cafe, a venue Chris raved about on Jonathon Ross’s show after his last sold out appearence here. On his own he’s never bored …… The double Ivor Novello Award winning Chris Difford takes to the road again for a unique evening, and a new landmark in his solo career - a one man show. Chris will be performing new versions of solo favorites such as Cowboys Are My Weakness and Lamas Fayre, plus a host of songs from his critically acclaimed album “The Last Temptation of Chris” including Fat As A Fiddle, Battersea Boys and On My Own I’m Never Bored - and of course some new takes on some rare Squeeze classics

Also coming in

December

1st Chris Difford: Kitchen Garden Café: 7.30pm

2^nd Catherine Feeny + support Chris Pureka : Hare & Hounds : 7.30pm

7^th The Unthanks + support Jonny Kearney and Lucy Farrell: Wulfrun Hall 7pm

9^th Seth Lakeman, Wulfrun Hall Doors 7pm

11^th Banco De Gaia + support Dr Trippy + DJ Sam Redmore : Hare & Hounds 8.30pm

13^th Phantom Limb + supports BigBang & Emily Breeze: The Yardbird 7.30pm

And coming in January - Holly Williams

and in February - Francis Dunnery

Venue details

Hare & Hounds, 106 High Street, Kings Heath Birmingham B14 7JZ.
0121 444 2081 Tickets from http://www.wegottickets.com http://www.seetickets.com & at Polar Bear, York Road, Kings Heath 0121 441 5202 & Swordfish (City Centre)

Wulfrun Hall, North Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1RQ Box Office 0870 320 7000 http://www.wolvescivic.co.uk

Glee Club, Hurst Street, Birmingham B5 4td ……. 0871 472 0400. http://www.glee.co.uk/

Kitchen Garden Café, 17 York Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham B14 7SA 0121  443 4725 Tickets from venue or http://www.wegottickets.com http://www.seetickets.com

The Yardbird, Paradise Place, Birmingham,  B3 3HJ

(0121) 212 2524 Tickets from http://www.wegottickets.com http://www.seetickets.com

For World Unlimited or Graham Radley: -

http://www.facebook.com/graham.radley

http://www.worldunlimited.freeuk.com

http://www.myspace.com/worldunlimited

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

(iASO Records; iASCD004 ; 2009)

“…classic love songs and lilting dance numbers…”

When thinking of the Caribbean nation of the Dominican Republic (situated between Haiti and Cuba on one side and Puerto Rico on the other) merengue and bachata are usually the first musics to come to mind.

However in this new (2009) recording, 86 year old sonero and guitarist, José Cobles (aka ‘Puerto Plata’) helps us to fill in the picture of the ‘lost years’ of the Trujillo dictatorship (1930-1961) when musicians were seen as potentially subversive to the reign of this most paranoid and brutal of latin american dictators.

During his iron-grip rule ‘El Jefe’ Trujillo controlled the music industry to such an extent that only government-approved bands were allowed to perform on the radio or at prestigious venues.  For 30 years, whilst nearby Cuba poured out thousands of songs all over the globe often spawning international hits, the vast majority of Dominican musicians had no recourse but to play in underground clubs and in small gatherings.  Consequently recordings from a whole generation of dominicans are exceedingly rare.

Congratulations go to iASO Records for trying to rectify this by getting Puerto Plata (one of the last few Dominican soneros to survive from that era) back into the recording studio with some excellent musicians before it’s all too late.  This is his second album - his debut one was “Mujer de Cabaret” recorded when he was a mere 84!

The new album, “Casita de Campo” (’little house in the country’), contains 11 tracks showcasing the musical genres popular in the city of Santiago of that era: 6 boleros, 2 guarachas, a guajira, a merengue and a bolero-son, with the tempo picking up more in the second half of the album.

At first hearing the overall feel is reminiscent of Cuba’s Ñico Saquito (World Circuit WCD035 “Goodbye Mr Cat”) or the Cuban-born, Puerto Rico-resident, Guillermo Portabales (World Circuit WCD023 “El Carretero”). However, there is the unmistakable sabor of la republica dominicana permeating the album - such as the use of the güira (a metal scraper with a very ‘dry’ sound) and is particularly evident in the requinto-playing of Edilio Paredes and the contemporary bachatero Pablo Rosario - whose joyful staccato style of plucking immediately lifts each song he’s on as he takes the whole band along with him.

In fact it is this subtly modern feel to the recording that helps to elevate this from an historical footnote to a forgotten era into an album that is highly enjoyable in its own right. Puerto Plata’s voice lacks the occasionally overly nasal tones of some Cubans and instead has a light, but smoky timbre (with a subtle tremolo).

The CD also comes with a 16 page booklet in English and Spanish.  Lyrics and translations of songs can by accessed by iASO’s website (www.iasorecords.com).

My only  criticism is that we could have done without yet another recording of “Guantanamera” - surely the most overplayed song in the Spanish language - I’d have much preferred another old-style merengue, bachata, or guaracha.

However, full marks go to iASO Records for bringing this music out of the shadows of Trujillo’s legacy and onto the playlists of the 21st century.  If this is a taste of things to come from iASO, then book me a place at the table!

(Glyn Phillips for WorldMusic.co.uk)

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

Latin American singer, Sofia Buchuk will be presenting her concert: “Homenaje a Chile: Canto Libre” on Saturday 21 Nov 09 at the St Ethelburga’s  Centre for Reconciliation and Peace in London as part of the Human Cost of War Festival.

The Cuzco-born singer will be performing songs from both the Chilean ‘old guard’ (Violeta Parra and Victor Jara) and the Nueva Cancion Chilena (new chilean song movement) as well as utilising rhythms from Mexico, Chile, Peru & Cuba, supplied from musicians such as Diego Laverde (Colombian Harp), Jhonny Rodriguez (Charango & Panpipes), Venezuelan Cheguevara (Percussion) and poetry from Chilean Maria Eugenia Bravo.

Sofia usually sings songs from the entire continent, from the Andes to the coast and from Mexico to Argentina. She also plays pre-columbian instruments such as pan-flutes and seeds from the rain forest.

As a background to the concert there will be an exhibition of quilts from Chile and from Northern Ireland with workshops available also (18th - 21st Nov).

Contact:

St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace

78 Bishopsgate

London, EC2N 4AG

United Kingdom

www.stethelburgas.org

Contact Phone: 020 7496 1614

Email: helen@stethelburgas.org

Please book in advance - restricted space.  Enjoy the concert, poetry, music, historical photos and Chilean arpilleras exhibition.

www.sofiabuchuk.co.uk

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite

Well, we have all safely returned from Womex 2009 in Copenhagen Denmark. We have made some great new contacts, met up with many old friends and seen some great new live acts which we shall be reporting on over the coming weeks and months.

We would love to thank our Danish hosts and all the media team at Piranha (especially Bryony for her patience  &  smiles), for doing their best to help us all survive the long days & nights!.

It is hard to say which were the best top acts due to the diversity of music.  We were particularly impressed with the new younger talent on show at the off-WOMEX studio2, especially three Brazilian artists, “Mariana Da Cruz” a singer currently residing in Switzerland, “Cacau Brasil”, and “Alexandre Lima & Mahnimal”.

“Victor Deme” from Burkina Faso was excellent, as was “Parno Graszt” from Hungary; “Deolinda” from Portugal has a smile in her eyes and a voice to match; “Kenge Kenge” from Kenya, “Kouyate-Neerman” (France & Mali), “Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole” from the USA, “Yilila” from Australia and finally “Gilzene and the Blue Light Mento Band” from Jamaica are all worthy of special mention, plus a whole different range of artists who we hope to cover over the coming months.

Start Slide Show with PicLens Lite