Showing 1 - 10 of 12
The beat goes on
Life, John Clewley, Published on 19/12/2023
» Molam continues to evolve with time. Musicians, especially from Isan, are experimenting with new musical combinations, creating new hybrids and sounds.
Lift up your voice
Life, John Clewley, Published on 10/10/2023
» South Africa has a long tradition of harmony singing, stretching back to Soloman Linda's famous 1933 song Mbube, which created a genre of its own to isicathamiya folk singing that led to one of the country's most potent popular genres, mbaqanga and on to gospel choirs.
Latin soul with a Thai twist
Life, John Clewley, Published on 29/03/2022
» Amaru Tribe, a Latin band based in Melbourne, Australia, released their second studio album, Between Two Worlds, on March 18. The band visited Thailand in 2019 for a mini-tour, which culminated in a full band concert at Studio Lam, for which they jammed with phin and khaen players from Toom Turn Molam Band.
Time to do the soukous
Life, John Clewley, Published on 12/10/2021
» Congolese rumba, sometimes called rumba Lingala or rumba Congolais, is likely to join khon, a Thai masked dance drama, khaen music of Laos, chapei dang veng of Cambodia, Cuban son and Dominican bachata on Unesco's Intangible Cultural Heritage list. In August this year, the two countries from the Congo Basin, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of the Congo (ROC), announced a joint bid to add Congolese rumba to the list.
Honouring a pioneer
Life, John Clewley, Published on 04/08/2020
» Sonia Pottinger was a trailblazing pioneer in Jamaica's male-dominated music industry as she played an important role in the development of popular music in the Caribbean island. She was the first female record producer in Jamaica and her pinnacle came during the 1960s, beginning with the ska era after which she made a transition to rocksteady and finally reggae.
End on a high
Life, John Clewley, Published on 24/12/2019
» The entertainment business is in full swing as we come to the end of 2019 with lots of concerts and end-of-year parties not only in Bangkok but also around the country. Word Beat has been out and about to join in the fun. Here are some recent highlights.
Mourning three legends
Life, John Clewley, Published on 13/08/2019
» Three legends died recently, each one of whom made important and distinctive contributions to their own musical cultures -- molam producer and impresario Theppabutr Satirodchompu, South African musician and bandleader Johnny Clegg, and New Orleans songwriter, pianist and bandleader Art Neville.
The day the music died
Life, John Clewley, Published on 09/07/2019
» The legendary leader of the famous and influential Petch Phin Thong Band, Noppadon Duangporn, died last week at the age of 77. He was well known across the country, not just as the founder of one of Isan's biggest bands but also as a comedian, radio DJ and movie actor.
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".
Twenty-five years of musical magic
Life, John Clewley, Published on 19/03/2019
» This year is the 25th anniversary of the World Beat column. It began all the way back in February 1994. That's right, in the last century. We survived the millennium and have forged ahead into the 21st century.