Showing 1 - 10 of 19
Rhythms of the Northeast
Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/02/2026
» The first Maha Morlum Festival, a showcase soft power event, was held in Maha Sarakham from Feb 13-14 and World Beat travelled to the Isan province to enjoy the two-day, one-night immersive experience promised by the event's organisers.
Blessed be the funk
Life, John Clewley, Published on 18/06/2025
» Last week, two giants of US popular music passed away. Beach Boys legend, composer/songwriter Brian Wilson, and funk pioneer Sly Stone of Sly & The Family Stone fame.
Bridging cultures
Life, John Clewley, Published on 18/06/2024
» In 2011, Iraqi musician, actor and writer Ahmed Moneka was working as an artist and actor. He studied at Baghdad's Institute of Fine Art and, according to Canada's The Globe And Mail, he was the first black TV presenter in the country. His father, also a well-known comedy actor, was the pioneer. Moneka went into the "family business".
Celebrating three decades of discovery
Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/02/2024
» World Beat celebrates 30 years on the music trail this month. The column started in Feb 1994 when Chuan Leekpai of the Democrat Party was in his first term as Prime Minister.
The vinyl comeback
Life, John Clewley, Published on 25/04/2023
» Music fans and "crate diggers" enjoyed Record Store Day (RSD) last weekend. The inaugural event was first held in the US in 2007, on the third Saturday of April and on Black Friday in November. The idea, according to USA Today, was to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store" and indie outlets banded together with the support of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores and the Alliance of Independent Media Stores.
The sound of Syria
Life, John Clewley, Published on 06/12/2022
» Taraf Syriana is an ensemble of virtuoso master musicians from diverse ethnic backgrounds who play traditional music from Syria and surrounding cultures and countries. The group plays folk music from the Balkans to Syria, and this week they will launch an eponymously titled debut album on the Lulaworld record label in Canada.
Compilation honours legacy of Jamaican giant
Life, John Clewley, Published on 13/09/2022
» A year after the death of legendary Jamaican reggae musician and producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, the good folks at Trojan Records have released the very first posthumous anthology of the influential artist's unparalleled career, King Scratch (Musical Masterpieces From The Upsetter Ark-ive).
Spellbinding collaboration proves less is more
Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/06/2022
» I once had the rare privilege to see the great bluesman and songwriter Earl King, who wrote the New Orleans Mardi Gras anthem Big Chief, perform in a small club in Tokyo. Before he took to the stage another band performed, with a well-known young blues guitarist playing fast action licks and riffs at breakneck speed. In complete contrast, when Earl King played guitar he played far fewer notes, paring down the music to its essentials. I can still remember King's playing, but I can't recall anything the young pretender played.
Longing for the homeland
Life, John Clewley, Published on 04/01/2022
» Mali emerged on international stages in the mid-1980s with singers like Salif Keita and bands like Bamako's legendary Rail Band du Buffet Hotel de la Gare (which launched the careers of both Salif Keita and the late Mory Kante). These singers are from the central region, they perform music of the Mande people and have been joined by music from other regions, notably from the southern Wassoullou region (music from megastars like Oumou Sangare) and northern and eastern Mali, the latter of which was promoted by the late guitarist/singer Ali Farka Toure.
Forging his own path
Life, John Clewley, Published on 22/06/2021
» When Ethiopian music maestro Hailu Mergia toured the US with the Ethio jazz and funk Walias Band in the early 1980s, he had no idea he would become a taxi driver in his adopted country.