Showing 1 - 10 of 45
Exile songs resurface
Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/09/2025
» From the early 1970s to the 80s, Mogadishu boasted one of the Horn of Africa's liveliest night scenes with groups from this "Golden Era" like Dur Dur Band entertaining at clubs and hotels across the city. A coup in 1991 and subsequent civil war put a stop to the music and musicians had to go underground or migrate. Those who went by the latter route took their music and culture across the Somali diaspora (one of Africa's largest).
Live gem resurfaces
Life, John Clewley, Published on 11/03/2025
» Cameroonian musician, composer and songwriter Manu Dibango passed away in 2020 at the age of 86. His career and life were extraordinary. He was one of the most celebrated African musicians alongside Miriam Makeba, Hugh Masekela, Fela Kuti, Frnaco and Youssou N'Dour. He was known as the most sampled of all African musicians.
Carrying the torch forward
Life, John Clewley, Published on 04/02/2025
» Rizwan-Meuzzam Qawwali Group is a Pakistani Qawwali ensemble led by brothers Rizwan and Muazzam Ali Khan. The duo performs with their seven-member party, who provide harmonium, percussion and handclaps. The singing brothers are nephews of the late great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who popularised the Islamic Sufi genre worldwide before his untimely death at 48 in 1997.
Flamenco fusion
Life, John Clewley, Published on 03/12/2024
» Flamenco is one of the musical delights of southern Spain. It developed out of folk traditions of the Gitano subculture of Andalusia and features dramatic guitar, singing and dancing, often supported by some kind of percussion, especially handclaps and castanets.
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.
A master of Irish music
Life, John Clewley, Published on 08/10/2024
» The late Prof Mick Moloney, a well-known Bangkok resident who passed away in 2022, left behind a huge musical and academic legacy. He was recognised as a master of Irish music and one of the foremost experts on Irish-American music.
The King of Qawwali returns
Life, John Clewley, Published on 10/09/2024
» The great Pakistani qawwali singer, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, dubbed the "Shahenshah-e-Qawwali" (the King of the Kings of Qawwali) died in 1997 at the young age of 48. He was right at the peak of his powers.
Genre-bending greats
Life, John Clewley, Published on 16/07/2024
» Swamp Dogg (real name Jerry Williams Jr) is a well-known black American singer, songwriter, producer and Williams Jr's alter ego. A few years back, I wrote about Blame It On The Dogg: The Swamp Dogg Anthology 1968-1978, which features some of his hit R&B songs (put out under his real name and alter ego), such as She's A Heartbreaker by Gene Pitney and Stop Knocking by Ruth Brown.
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".
Musical dissent
Life, John Clewley, Published on 26/03/2024
» Award-winning singer Kiran Ahluwalia was nearly lost to music fans 20 years ago. The Indian-born Canadian musician had completed an MBA and was all set to move forward with a career in finance, but she had misgivings about working with leveraged buyouts and her heart was not in it.