Showing 211-220 of 305 results
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Paradise meets with molam beats
Life, John Clewley, Published on 08/12/2015
» It's been a busy year for Bangkok-based molam instrumental band Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band. The band released a debut album, 21st Century Molam, in November 2014 to great acclaim. The album garnered a number of awards, including Album of the Week on BBC Radio 6 and a Best Album Award on Gilles Peterson's radio show on the BBC. In Bangkok, the band was recently awarded Best Instrumental Album at the Khom Chat Leuk Awards.
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African ambassadors of music
Life, John Clewley, Published on 03/11/2015
» Les Ambassadeurs Internationaux, one of West Africa's most famous dance bands, reunited last year to play shows in Europe and to celebrate Stern Music's release of a wonderful compilation of their early, formative music from the band's residency at the Motel de Bamako.
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Allen Toussaint's obituary
Life, John Clewley, Published on 17/11/2015
» Last week saw the sad news that the legendary New Orleans musician, songwriter, arranger and producer Allen Toussaint had passed away, aged 77, after a concert in Madrid.
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Around the world
Life, John Clewley, Published on 29/09/2015
» This month's European Broadcast Union World Charts is topped by a reissue of an album -- La Candela Viva -- that was recorded by the legendary Colombian singer and dancer Toto La Momposina in sessions at the Real World Studios in the UK way back in 1991 and 1992. Reissue would be perhaps the wrong word really because the producers of the new release, Tambolero, have gone deep into the original sessions and then added new vocals, some from Toto's granddaughters, and instrumentation, giving the original music more texture.
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South to Louisiana – R&B on the Bayou
Life, John Clewley, Published on 15/09/2015
» Several fun-packed R'n'B compilations have sashayed their way onto the World Beat desk recently, led by a wonderful set of forgotten gems, Rhythm 'n' Bluesin' By The Bayou -- Mad Dogs, Sweet Daddies & Pretty Babies, and a superb collection of early hits by Memphis-born pianist and singer Roscoe Gordon. Both albums are on the Ace label.
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March of the brass bands
Life, John Clewley, Published on 25/08/2015
» Military marching bands brought Western music to Asia, beginning a process of cultural fusion and interaction that continues to this day. Christian religious music came along at the same time, often in the form of hymns, but I'm not sure that hymns had the same impact as the dramatic, crashing sound of brass instruments played by marching musicians.
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All eyes on the 'highlife'
Life, John Clewley, Published on 04/08/2015
» The great Ghanaian bandleader ET Mensah and his band The Tempos Band visited the Guinean capital Conakry in 1958. At that time, Mensah was probably the most famous bandleader in Africa, an icon of the "highlife" music he helped create and popularise. His arrival in Conakry created an impression on local musicians, particularly on the new African bands that were emerging in Guinea — from that time onward they added highlife to their music.
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For the love of Y/Our Music
Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/07/2015
» I went to the cinema at the weekend. This is not something I do very often these days but then the movie I went to see was being screened at Lido in Siam Square, a place I knew well during my days teaching at Chulalongkorn University. Sadly, Lido is slowly being engulfed by vendors and the new Siam Square of Hello Kitty buildings and boutique shopping facilities.
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New releases for June
Life, John Clewley, Published on 23/06/2015
» Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba continue to dominate the top spot on this month's European Broadcast union Top 10 World Music chart. The Malian, who has brought the ngoni or Malian lute, to global fame, is on a hectic summer touring schedule that sees the band play in European and US festivals. Catch him if you can but if you can't get his new album Ba Power.
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The man who put the funk into Congolese music
Life, John Clewley, Published on 07/07/2015
» Congolese music is one of the cornerstones of African popular music. This irresistible dance music is loved across the African continent, and its biggest stars, like the late great icons Franco and Tabu Ley Rochereau, were mobbed wherever they played. Musically, the genres that have emerged from the Congo region, including Congolese rumba and all the various dance style from soukous to ndambolo, have been hugely influential on the popular styles in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe and many other African countries.
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