Showing 1 - 10 of 80
A Mediterranean union
Life, John Clewley, Published on 08/11/2025
» In 1993, multi-instrumentalists Fain Sanchez Duenas and Vincent Molino from Spain formed Radio Tarifa with singer/songwriter Benjamin Escoriza and released Rumba Argelina, an album that blended Flamenco, Arab-Andalusian, Arabic, Moorish and Mahgrebi music with that from the Renaissance, Mediterranean and even the Caribbean.
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.
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.
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.
Remembering the King of Zydeco
Life, John Clewley, Published on 01/07/2025
» Music fans celebrated the 100th anniversary of the birth of the King of Zydeco, Clifton Chenier, late last month. Chenier (June 25, 1925 -- December 12, 1987) was a pioneering musician from Opelousas, Southwest Louisiana who helped create zydeco music, a genre sung in French creole (his first language) that came out of the Creole traditions of the region, spliced with blues, R&B and Cajun music.
Revisiting a golden age
Life, John Clewley, Published on 04/06/2025
» Arabic popular music produced several divas in the 20th century, with each blessed with a powerful distinctive voice. Some of them included the "Egyptian Immortal" Oum Kalthoum, who dominated Arabic radio with her expressive voice; "Algerian Rose" Warda; Farouz, "The Star of Lebanon"; and "Syrian Mystic" Asmahan, whose life was tragically cut short at just 32.
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.
A farewell to legends
Life, John Clewley, Published on 08/04/2025
» Veteran singer and much-loved National Artist Pongsri Woranuch, often referred to as the first "Queen of Luk Thung", died on Sunday at the age of 85.
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.