Showing 1 - 10 of 11
Passing of a giant
Life, John Clewley, Published on 11/10/2025
» Sad news reached the World Beat desk this week that Prof Dr Terry E. Miller of Kent State University in the US passed away on Oct 1. He was 80 years old.
Punta rock still rolls
Life, John Clewley, Published on 06/05/2025
» In 1987, a compilation of Central American Garifuna music, or punta rock, was recorded in Andy Palacio's Sunrise Recording Studio and released to great acclaim. It featured the unique sound created by Garifuna communities, mainly in Belize and Honduras. Palacio was the big star of punta rock, a popular style in the Caribbean and Central America.
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.
World's in a spin
Life, John Clewley, Published on 23/04/2024
» Record Store Day has been part of the music scene for 20 years now, held twice a year in April and "Black Friday" in November. The day-long event is held to celebrate independent record stores around the globe, bringing together musicians, producers, media, DJs and retailers to enjoy new and reissued vinyl gems.
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.
Nora dance gets Unesco nod
Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/12/2021
» Nora, a traditional folk dance-drama from southern Thailand, was awarded intangible cultural heritage status by Unesco last week. The distinctive dance form joins khon and Thai traditional massage on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The unremovable Scratch
Life, John Clewley, Published on 31/08/2021
» "Hello, Hello, Hello … This is a skeleton from outer space having a party."
Tracing the roots of zouk
Life, John Clewley, Published on 08/12/2020
» In 1983, Kassav', a band from the Antilles in the Caribbean, released Zouk La Se Sel Medikamen Non Ni (Zouk Is The Only Medicine We Have). It became the first Antillean record to sell 100,000 copies. Kassav' went on to top the French pop charts with a string of gold albums, drew bigger crowds at their concerts than Prince and put Antillean music firmly on the international musical map.
Heart of music beats on
Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/10/2020
» British documentary filmmaker Jeremy Marre, who died aged 76 in April this year, made films for television on popular music from all corners of the planet. From his breakthrough TV film Root Rock Reggae in 1977, to his last film, a documentary on jazz great Count Basie in 2019, Marre was in a class of his own.
Goodbye reggae legend
Life, John Clewley, Published on 15/09/2020
» Toots Hibbert, the soulful leader of the legendary ska/reggae band Toots and the Maytals, died last week in Kingston, Jamaica, at the age of 77 from complications related to the Covid-19 pandemic. His death, following the recent release of Got To Be Tough, his first studio album for 10 years, shocked the global music community.