Hermeto Pascoal - WOMEX 24 Artist Award

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2024 delegate guide.



It’s easy to list Hermeto Pascoal’s accolades and impressive statistics – two Latin Grammys; multiple honorary doctorates (including one from Julliard); more than 10,000 compositions to his name; featured on many hundreds of albums – but his real achievement is that he has crafted an absolutely unique sound, a deeply personal style that continues to resonate around the world, and which has given him the status of living legend in his native Brazil.

Pascoal has a dislike for labels of any kind, and indeed, he doesn’t fit into any neat categories. He is a multi-instrumentalist, creating his art across keys, saxophones, flutes, accordion, guitar, drums, and more. If pushed, he’d settle for referring to his style as ‘universal music’. We might begin our description with jazz: Pascoal’s music is informed by all manner of jazz, from big band to bop, from hard funk fusion to the free. And it was jazz that first brought him to international recognition, especially his collaboration with Miles Davis on the 1971 album Live/Evil. From that basis in jazz, he takes off to different worlds. The avant-garde has always been an important reference in his work, allowing him to expand outwards in all directions, but he also looks inwards. He looks to his roots as a Brazilian, bringing in forro, bossa nova and Afro-Brazilian styles; and to his place in the world as a human being and a part of the wider ecosystem, working with natural materials and spaces, and experimenting with the connections between music and the Earth.

Pascoal’s approach paints a picture of a man so thoroughly immersed in music that it flows through and around him; he hears music in the world that few else can, and harnesses it, to bring it to the attention of us mere mortals. His music is not necessarily always easy to listen to, but it is always fulfilling, both intellectually and spiritually. Add in his iconic hirsute look, his famously eccentric persona and his playful self-mythologising, and it’s all led Brazilians to embrace him with many nicknames, chief among them O Bruxo – The Wizard.

In a country and culture so large and steeped in musical heritage as Brazil, it takes someone very special to be able to rise above the crowd with a distinctive, individual sound. It is for his extraordinary and uncompromising artistic vision as a musician and composer; for the breathtaking quality and sheer quantity of his recorded and live output over a 74-year career; and for influencing and inspiring generations of world-jazz explorers in Brazil and the world over, that we are delighted that Hermeto Pascoal is the WOMEX 24 Artist Award recipient.


Photo: Hermeto Pascoal and his band The Mothership, by Gabriel Quintão.

In Place of War - WOMEX 24 Professional Excellence Award

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2024 delegate guide.



As arts professionals, how can we make real differences for those affected by the many harmful facets of war? That has been the mission of In Place of War (IPOW) ever since in 2004, when it began as a research project at the University of Manchester. Things have grown since then.

IPOW specialises in ‘artivism’, using music, theatre and visual art to help people not only during times of war, but after war, once much of the immediate international attention has dissipated, as well as communities affected by political violence, oppression and gang violence. And their reach is genuinely impressive, touching individuals and communities across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, from Kampala to Medellín, Hebron to Yangon. So far, their work has spanned thirty countries, creating a collaborative network of 130 ‘change-maker’ creative organisations along the way.

By working across five ‘pillars’ – space, engage, learn, support, create – IPOW make sure that their projects are people-first. They don’t dictate the terms of the art that people ‘should’ be making, but foster the creativity that emerges organically from the communities it serves. This anti-paternalistic approach ensures that they facilitate rather than dictate, allowing local voices to shape the narrative. It is important, then, that this knowledge is sustained and recycled – IPOW and their network share the knowledge and experience that they have gained through their work, so that it can be replicated on an even wider scale.

The achievements speak for themselves: community arts spaces are built, professional equipment and training is supplied, albums are released to critical acclaim, art in all forms flourishes where war has ravaged. And the ambitious plans continue to expand outward: in the coming years, IPOW aims to uniting scientific knowledge, indigenous heritage and artistic creativity to engage and inspire around issues of climate justice, and to turn their focus to the UK, helping disadvantaged young artists at grassroots, institutional and policy levels.

For using art to make lasting differences to people and communities affected by war all across the world; for giving arts professionals a roadmap for collaborative community engagement; and for achieving such wide-ranging results in just twenty years, we are delighted to announce In Place of War as the recipient of the WOMEX 24 Award for Professional Excellence.

Etran de l’Aïr - 100% Sahara Guitar

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 202, November 2024.

Etran de l’Aïr
100% Sahara Guitar
Sahel Sounds (41 mins)

Etran de l’Aïr’s job is to make people move, playing at the weddings of the working class Tuareg folk of Agadez, Niger. And they know what they’re doing, because they’ve been doing it for almost 30 years. Now on their third album, they’ve moved their magic to the recording studio for the first time. Their first two albums were made in their Saharan family compound; this one was born in Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles. But their sound is unmistakable – the shrill, scratchy and distorted guitars that echo with the traditional strains of tehardent lutes; the piercing, gunshot snares that keep the groove raucous; the circling, spiralling, twirling, never-ending pentatonic melodies; the Tamashek lyrics of love, courage and strength in community: this is Tuareg party rock through-and-through, evolved with as many guitar overdubs as they could fit in to weave a rich tapestry. This one may have been made in the US, but it’s exactly 100% Saharan.

África Negra - Antologia, Vol. 2

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 202, November 2024.

África Negra
Antologia, Vol. 2
Bongo Joe Records (78 mins)

Bongo Joe Records and crate-digger DJ Tom B seem to be on a mission to bring wider attention to the vintage music of São Tomé and Príncipe. This is their fifth such album, and their second compilation from the group África Negra. While Vol. 1 of this Antologia focussed on the band’s greatest hits, Vol. 2 delves into the miscellany and brings unreleased and more obscure recordings to the fore. As such, there is a bit of a range of recording quality throughout the compilation, but no such range in the quality of the music within.

The core of the group’s sound is the intricate, interlocking melodies on multiple electric guitars, which knit together with superb acrobatic basslines and provide a bouncy backdrop for some glorious harmonies. It’s a sound based on puxa, a mix of local rhythms with a big dose of Congolese rumba, and África Negra have been playing their own take on the style – which fans call mama djumba – since the 1970s (albeit with a 12-year hiatus in the middle). This is another lovely compilation of sunny São Toméan songs, with África Negra proving that puxa must surely rank among the continent's canon of guitar music alongside soukous, highlife, jit and all the rest.

Thokozile Collective - Thokozile Collective

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 202, November 2024.

Thokozile Collective
Thokozile Collective
Thokozile Collective (47 mins)

Bournemouth-based six-piece Thokozile Collective play instrumental jazz-funk with an African bent. Their debut album – seven covers and two originals – mostly looks towards Southern Africa, with occasional hints to West Africa and Latin America. The album starts in an upbeat, breezy fashion, with a cover of Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens’ mbaqanga hit ‘Thokozile’ (hence the name), followed by a piece based on the sungura style from Zimbabwe. After these first two, the funk arrives. It’s all lightly cheesy and pretty inoffensive, but accomplished. The standout performance comes from saxophonist Terry Quinney, whose solos are always a delight, floating bluesy bop lines over and through the African styles with an intelligence that unites each of the band’s influences. The group aren’t entirely tight, and some of the most funk-forward tracks perhaps lack a bit of imagination, but it’s an easy listen and a fun, enjoyable album on the whole.