Showing 21 - 27 of 27
Keeping a culture alive
Life, John Clewley, Published on 25/06/2019
» How do you make folk music relevant in these postmodern times? Traditional music is under threat everywhere you look, as are minority languages, arts and crafts and the habitat and environment that helped create them.
Revolutionary's road
Life, John Clewley, Published on 02/04/2019
» Poet, novelist, piano player. And that was before Gil Scott-Heron had reached 20. He wrote and recorded his best known song, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, in 1971, and from then on produced a unique and polemical body of prose, poetry and music that led him to be dubbed the "Father of Political Rap", the originator of "nu soul" and many more titles. He preferred being called a "bluesologist".
Creating a buzz
Life, John Clewley, Published on 19/02/2019
» Some years ago, I reviewed Colin McPhee's marvellous book, A House In Bali, about life and gamelan music (traditional Balinese music -- mainly percussive and driven by metallophones or gongs) in Bali during the 1930s. Published in 1947, the book details how a young man, after hearing some rare gamelan music on old records, journeys to Bali in 1929 to seek the music that will change his life. It is an enchanting book, well worth reading.
Joy to the world of music
Life, John Clewley, Published on 25/12/2018
» It's been a busy year for "World Music" fans. There have been some fabulous new releases from artists across the globe, and compilations of music that might easily have gone unnoticed. But while we are celebrating new music and golden hits from the past, some musical giants have left us for the great stage in the sky.
Great Little Otis
Life, John Clewley, Published on 02/10/2018
» Otis Rush, the legendary blues guitarist, singer and bandleader, died last week, following a long illness. He was 84 years old. Not as well-known as Chicago blues legends like Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and Howling Wolf, he was, nonetheless, a major player in the development of the Chicago "West Side Sound" and his unique, guitar style influenced rock musicians like Mike Bloomfield, Duane Allman, Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton.
Her soul is immortal
Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/08/2018
» Singer, composer, social activist and "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin died last week. She was 76 years old. I was spinning vinyl last week at a DJ night when the news filtered through. I didn't have any of her music with me but nonetheless let everyone know that one of the greats had gone; cue to clubbers quickly searching on their smart phones for news on the First Lady of Soul.
Rediscovering an African legend
Life, John Clewley, Published on 16/01/2018
» In recent years, several master photographers, whose work captured the post-independence rise of popular music, have emerged from West Africa. The first was Seydou Keita, who was born in Bamako, the capital of Mali, and died in Paris in 2001. He set up a studio in Bamako in 1948 and took portraits there until 1963. His trademark hand-painted backdrops (modern roads with skyscrapers, kitchens with mod cons) and props (scooters, suits) provided the setting for Malians to show that they were modern.