Showing 1 - 4 of 4
A deep dive into music history
Life, John Clewley, Published on 07/01/2025
» In 1965, Joe Boyd was stage manager at the Newport Folk Festival when Bob Dylan plugged in and went electric, shocking the conservative folk world. And having navigated that seismic shock, he went on to produce Pink Floyd, Nick Drake and Fairport Convention in the 1960s and 1970s.
Echoes of Persia
Life, John Clewley, Published on 22/10/2024
» The santur is an ancient stringed instrument, a dulcimer, with 72 strings that can be dated to 500 BC. Assyrian and Babylonian stone carvings show the instrument back in 669 BC. The instrument spread widely in the Middle East and later further afield where it morphed into the hammered dulcimer, the qanun, cimbalom, Indian santoor and even the Thai classical instrument, the kim.
Blurring the boundaries
Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/07/2020
» The summer festival season has been cancelled as have many major sporting events. Under the current Covid-19 measures, some events like the Notting Hill Carnival in London, which is usually held at the end of August each year, have gone online. Sound systems and steel bands will still perform live but revellers will only be able to enjoy them online.
Three is the magic number
Life, John Clewley, Published on 30/01/2018
» This week World Beat considers three stringed instruments from Africa: the valiha from Madagascar, kora from West Africa and oud from North Africa (which may have originated in what was Persia). All these instruments are plucked and 10 years ago, a bright spark in the music business thought it would be a good idea to bring together three master pluckers of these three instruments to see what music they might create. The result was the 3MA project release back in 2008.