Showing 1 - 10 of 65
African voodoo vibes are resurrected on Antoine Dougbe Et L'Orchestre Poly-Rythmo
Life, John Clewley, Published on 14/03/2026
» Benin is little known for its influence on African popular music. It is better known as the home of vodun, an ancient religion native to West Africa and the root of the syncretic religion voodoo found in Haiti and New Orleans.
Jewish classic revisited
Life, John Clewley, Published on 25/10/2025
» Good news fans of klezmer music. The groundbreaking, award-winning klezmer outfit The Klezmatics have reissued their classic album Rhythm + Jews: Revisited (Piranha, Germany), which was recorded in 1990 and released in 1991. The reissue is part of the band's 40th anniversary celebrations.
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).
The lion roars on
Life, John Clewley, Published on 29/07/2025
» Musician and bandleader Thomas Mapfumo is 80 years old this month. The man, often dubbed the "Lion of Zimbabwe", is still hugely popular in his home country, despite having gone into exile and resettling in Oregon in 2000.
Timbuktu calling
Life, John Clewley, Published on 20/05/2025
» Mali and West Africa dominate the Transglobal World Music Chart for May 2025, with the "desert blues" rockers Songhoy Blues leading the way in top spot with their new album Héritage.
The jazzman of Bangkok
Life, John Clewley, Published on 22/04/2025
» The Bamboo Bar at the famous Oriental Hotel was set up in 1953 during a period when the hotel had several owners, including pioneering photographer and social activist Germaine Krull, and the art collector and silk king Jim Thompson. It quickly became one of the Bangkok's top nightclubs, known for its live jazz sessions.
The sounds of Kinshasa
Life, John Clewley, Published on 18/02/2025
» Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is one of Africa's centres for music. With a population estimated at 17 million, the city is a melting pot of ethnicities and cultures.
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.
Remembering the 'King of the Talking Song'
Life, John Clewley, Published on 13/08/2024
» National Artist and luk thung icon Phloen Phromdaen passed away on Aug 3, aged 85. He was one of the titans of the luk thung world, garnering the nickname Raja Phleng Phut (King of the Talking Song) for the spoken passages in the middle of his songs.