Johnny Kalsi and Hoghead, WOMAD Reading 2006

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 180, August/September 2022 as my contribution to the article 'Four Decades of WOMAD'

After years of extolling the festival’s virtues, we’d brought our mate Hoghead down for his first WOMAD at Reading in 2006. Hog is a rocker with a great love for anything guitar-based, but this was a completely different musical world for him.

That year, WOMAD staples and masters of bhangra-fusion The Dhol Foundation were a last-minute replacement for a band that couldn’t make it. While I was down the front, Hog hung back, never one for dancing. But I’d occasionally look back over to see him, mouth agape, gently shaking his head – the energy from the five huge Punjabi drums on stage clearly working their magic. After the set, the stage’s MC, the gentleman Neil Sparkes, let us slip backstage and we ended up getting a fantastic photo with TDF frontman Johnny Kalsi – with Hoghead grinning like a wally in his Motörhead t-shirt. We were all in a daze afterwards, our conversation mostly consisting of “wow!” and “corr!”. It was a magical gig.

What an honour it is to watch a mind get blown, experiencing intoxicating music that was otherwise completely new to them – and it’s something that happens all the time at WOMAD.


Photo: (l-r) the writer, the writer's dad Paul, Johnny Kalsi, Hoghead, backstage at the Village Stage, WOMAD Reading 2006.

Coronavirus Comforts: Grim Fandango

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 159, July 2020 as my contribution to the article 'Coronavirus Comforts.'

During lockdown, I’ve been replaying one of my favourite video games, Grim Fandango. It’s originally from 1998 but it was remastered to look and sound all shiny in 2015. That’s ancient in terms of video games, but as a work of art, it’s not aged a bit. It’s an adventure game set in the Mexican Land of the Dead as seen through the lens of film noir and bebop. You play as Manuel Calavera, a low-level grim reaper, as he uncovers a vast conspiracy of organised crime and corruption at every level. The visual style is equal parts Mesoamerican folk art, art deco and golden age Hollywood, and the soundtrack by Peter McConnell is a fantastic mix of huge, late Romantic orchestras, jazz of all sorts, Mexican sones, Andean music, tango, surf rock and even Karnatic violin. Along with ingenious puzzles and a sharp wit throughout, it’s basically perfect. Deservedly regarded as a classic.

British-Born Musician Finally Allowed to Stay in the UK

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 154, January/February 2020.



In Songlines issue #150, we looked at the plight of Glasgow-born, London-based Afro-jazz singer Bumi Thomas, who was denied indefinite leave to remain in the UK after discovering that she did not qualify for birthright citizenship. Instead, she was threatened with deportation to her parents’ country, Nigeria. Since then, a positive outcome: on October 23, a judge ruled that to remove Thomas from the UK would be against the public interest, saying “I am of the view that the appellant’s life is in this country where she has made a valuable contribution.” Thomas played her first concert since the decision by joining Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi at the Royal Festival Hall on November 22. Thomas’ case gained much exposure from the media and resulted in petitions and crowdfunding for legal fees due to her recognition as a musician. How many others are in the same, unfair situation who cannot benefit from such public visibility?


Photo: Bumi Thomas, by Emre Levent Malkoc.

Obituary: Chartwell Dutiro (1957-2019)

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 153, December 2019.



Chartwell Dutiro was a key figure in the repopularisation of the mbira in Zimbabwean society after decades of its proscription by Rhodesian authorities. As a member of Thomas Mapfumo’s iconic chimurenga band Blacks Unlimited, Dutiro originally played saxophone and percussion but pushed for the inclusion of the mbira, an instrument he had played since childhood. It was a revolutionary act. The sound of the mbira would become crucial to the power of chimurenga music.

After leaving the Blacks Unlimited in 1993, he moved to the UK. He gained a degree at SOAS, University of London, where his work was published as a book, Zimbabwean Mbira Music on an International Stage. He went on to teach at SOAS for some years before setting up his own dedicated school, the Mhararano Mbira Academy, and running international mbira gatherings across Europe and North America. All the while, Dutiro continued to perform and record solo and with a number of his own bands, and was featured many times in the pages of Songlines, including a profile right at the beginning in issue #2.

Dutiro died from cancer at his home in Devon on September 22. He had just learnt that he was to be awarded an honorary doctorate from Bath Spa University.


Photo: Chartwell Dutiro (right) performs with Thomas Mapfumo (left) and Blacks Unlimited in New York in 1989, by Banning Eyre.

Obituary: Ayub Ogada (1956-2019)

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 146, April 2019.



A giant of Kenyan music has passed away. Ayub Ogada died on February 1 at his home in Kisumu, after an illness. He was a master of the nyatiti, an eight-stringed lyre of the Luo people, on which he accompanied his beautiful voice. Ogada, under his birth name Job Seda, had a massive impact on the Kenyan music scene through the bands he founded, Black Savage and the African Heritage Band, whose influences are still felt in the country today. International audiences will probably be most familiar with his 1993 album En Mana Kuoyo, released on Real World Records, containing a quiet, intimate version of his most well-known song, the haunting lullaby ‘Kothbiro’. He was first noticed by Real World busking on the London Underground, but went on to perform around the world and collaborate with artists such as Peter Gabriel, Geoffrey Oryema, Afro Celt Sound System, Susheela Raman and even Gary Barlow; most recently, his work was sampled by Kanye West. In his tribute to Ogada, Gabriel said: “In the early days of WOMAD and Real World Records, many people weren’t interested to listen to music from other cultures and whenever I was trying to convince them, I would play Ayub singing ‘Kothbiro’ and invariably win them round.”


Photo: Ayub Ogada, by Andrew Catlin.

Obituary: Adel Salameh (1966-2019)

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 146, April 2019.

The Palestinian oud player Adel Salameh died on January 23. Born in Nablus and growing up in the nearby city of Tulkarm, Salameh first learnt the oud in informal, social settings, but took it to the next level by studying music at university, first in Jordan and then Iraq. After settling in Europe in 1990, he became instrumental in the promotion of the oud across the continent.

He was particularly known for his international collaborations, including the celebrated duet with Indian sarod player Krishnamurti Sridhar (released as the album The Arab Path to India on WOMAD Select in 1996), and performing with jazz, flamenco and North African musicians. He was passionate about promoting the oud to as many listeners and would-be performers as possible, teaching classes all across Europe and even organising an intensive week-long ‘oud camps’ in Switzerland. Long-time readers of Songlines will be familiar with Salameh from a Tools of the Trade feature in #5, which examined the history and construction of the oud, as well as his own close personal relationship with the instrument.


Photo: Adel Salameh, by Laure Abouaf.

The Greatest Albums You've Never Heard: Bernard Kabanda - Olugendo

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 140, August/September 2018 as my small contribution to the article 'The Greatest Albums You've Never Heard.'

Bernard Kabanda
Olugendo
WOMAD Select (1999, 55 mins)

Olugendo is simply beautiful, although it’s not simple at all. Bernard Kabanda was a master of kadongo kamu music from Uganda. That literally means ‘just a small guitar’ – and that was all he needed.

Holding his acoustic guitar in a uniquely horizontal position, he somehow managed to play a bassline, chords, melody and tap a rhythm with his elbow all at the same time, the parts interweaving with mind-bending polyrhythms that makes it difficult to believe it all comes from one man. The real mastery is that it doesn’t sound complicated; it sounds like the easiest thing in the world. On top of it all are his cheery voice and delightful whistling. Kabanda’s songs are so sincere and often dark, but they’re filled with a cheeky humour that gets you smiling along, even if your Luganda is a little rusty.

Sadly, Kabanda died soon after this record was released in 1999. He was only 40 years old. We’re very lucky that he managed to get a slice of his wonderful music recorded before then. This is a truly and utterly joyous album, and it deserves to be much more widely heard.

Songlines Gig Guide: On Tour April - May 2018

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 137, May 2018.



A Hawk and A Hacksaw
On the back of their seventh album, Forest Bathing, the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based duo start with Balkan music and explore its connections with Turkey, the Middle East and beyond. Much like their album’s title, A Hawk and a Hacksaw evoke the anti-urban, taking their audiences on a sonic walk through the fields and trees. Usual-accordionist (and former Neutral Milk Hotel drummer) Jeremy Barnes swaps the squeeze for the jangling of the Persian santur (hammered zither) while Heather Trost’s violin sweeps across telling all-acoustic instrumental stories.

Ímar
Ímar is what happens when a folk session goes really right. The band is a truly cross-Celtic collective, its five members hailing from Scotland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. They all have past pedigree, too: they have armfuls of awards between them, and the individual musicians are variously part of some of the most exciting young folk groups of the last decade – think Talisk, Mabon, Rura and more. Expect traditional Irish tunes with a Scottish twist, newly-composed Manx and Scots tunes, and any other mix designed to get you on your feet.

The Turbans
You can’t pin an identity on this gang. The Turbans are a stomping seven-piece that sound like Eastern Europe swinging the Middle East around by the arm in the middle of a raucous party. The members have their roots in Turkey, Bulgaria, Israel, Iran, Greece, Spain, Tunisia, Morocco and the UK, and their time is usually split between the streets of London and the beaches of Goa. You can bet they bring all that and more to their gigs, along with a big bunch of noise.

Toko Telo
Three highly respected musicians in their own rights join forces as a Malagasy supertrio combining Madagascar’s classic pop styles such as tsapiky and salegy with flecks of soul and jazz. The interweaving and overlapping guitars of veteran D’Gary and acclaimed jazzman Joël Rabesolo provide the context for the soaring, soulful voice of Monika Njava. The shows will no doubt also serve as a loving musical tribute to Malagasy accordion legend and original Toko Telo member Régis Gizavo, who passed away in July 2017.

Väsen
Having started their year with a sell-out show at Celtic Connections, the veteran Swedish trio are travelling all the way down from Shetland to Shoreham-by-Sea, bringing their many-stringed take on the polska to delight as they go. Nyckelharpa, twelve-string guitar and five-string viola combine with a joyful ease, drawing on deep roots and occasional excursions into classical music, jazz and American folk. 27 years of performing together has earned Väsen virtuosic skill and almost telepathic bandsmanship, and their status as Sweden’s premier guardians and innovators of instrumental music is well-founded.


Photo: A Hawk and a Hacksaw, by Louis Schalk.

Toumaranke - Takhaudi Dékau: Inside the Chicken’s Mouth

First published in fRoots issue 393, March 2016

Toumaranke
Takhaudi Dékau: Inside the Chicken’s Mouth
Self-Released (58 mins)

Percussion and voice from the Guinean ensemble, led by a Brit and recorded in Gambia. Drums, balafon and gongomah (mbira-like lamellaphone) – with occasional bridge-harp and satongé sound-alike – intertwine with polyrhythms and polyphony in this as-traditional album. Good record, if mostly unremarkable.

Maïa Barouh - Kodama

First published in fRoots double issue 379-380, January-February 2015

Maïa Barouh
Kodama
Editions Saravah (52 mins)

Often abstract electronica, with a strong Okinawan influence in the vocals from this French-Japanese artist. Some great jazz flute and elements from trip-hop, dub and more mainstream electronic genres. Sometimes a little too pretentiously far-out but an overall good album.

La Chiva Gantiva

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2014 delegate guide.



They're a Colombian band, based in Belgium with members from France and Vietnam and they sing in Spanish, French, and sometimes a mix of the two (Francpañol?). Their music is no less eclectic. La Chiva Gantiva create their music from a base of traditional Afro-Colombian rhythms but from there they take the listener on a musical voyage, with ports in Latin music, Afrobeat, jazz, funk and hip-hop. Although they've only just released their second album in February 2014, their sound feels much more mature, without it losing any of its energy or letting over-thought get in the way of the fun. La Chiva Gantiva deal in dance, so don't be surprised if staying still is impossible.

Photo: A man on a mission - Mundial La Chiva Gantiva, by Michiel Bles. Used under licence CC BY-NC 2.0.

Kareyce Fotso

First published in the WOMEX – World Music Expo 2014 delegate guide.



A bio-chemist, a comedian, a cinema expert: Kareyce Fotso is all three. But the reason we're all here is, of course, her music. Fotso takes in styles from her native Cameroon as well as from around the African continent to create her sound. Add in a healthy amount of blues and you get an often gentle music but one that is nevertheless full of power. Having studied under the wing of Cameroonian star Sally Nyolo, she has represented her country in arts events all over the world and has gone on to release two albums and collaborate with such artists as Habib Koite and Dobet Gnahore. Whether accompanying her warm, heartfelt vocals on acoustic guitar or sanza (thumb piano), or dancing, with her feet providing the percussion, Fotso's passion shines through to light up the whole stage.

Photo: 2013 MMF: Kareyce Fotso, by 大大樹音樂圖像trees music & art. Used under licence CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Various Artists - The Rough Guide to Bollywood Disco

First published in fRoots issue 377, November 2014

Various Artists
The Rough Guide to Bollywood Disco
World Music Network (2CD, 137 mins)

A fun compilation of music from Indian cinema’s tackiest era. Cheese-lovers only need apply. Tracks range from the awful and embarrassing to the fairly funky. Comes packaged with The Rough Guide to Kishore Kumar as a bonus CD, which is slightly more listenable.

Various Artists - Music From The Source

First published in fRoots issue 370, April 2014

Various Artists
Music From The Source
Riverboat Records (2CD, 146 mins)

As us old-timers at fRoots pass our 35th anniversary, those wet-behind-the-ears young whippersnapper new-kids-on-the-block Riverboat Records turn 25. To celebrate, they’ve put together this world-spanning two-disc compilation of music from their illustrious past and exciting present. Happy birthday Riverboat!