Showing 1 - 10 of 39
Travel notes
Life, John Clewley, Published on 23/05/2023
» Cambodia, like many Southeast Asian countries, enjoyed a golden era of popular music during the 1950s and 1960s, when Phnom Penh, known as the "Pearl of the Orient" became an important cultural centre, a breading ground for the meeting of Western rock and pop and Cambodian music. Author Dee Peyok in her fascinating new book Away From Beloved Lover: A Musical Journey Through Cambodia (Granta, UK, 2023) notes that "the music of East and West merged across Southeast Asia to the most fascinating mélange of instruments, attitudes and expressionism".
Seen and heard
Life, John Clewley, Published on 11/10/2022
» It has been nearly 30 years since Dr Grace Nono released her first album on a new label, Tao Music, which she set up with her late partner, producer and guitarist Bob Aves. With her musical collaborator, she set about searching for her musical identity.
Country comes to the city
Life, John Clewley, Published on 31/01/2023
» The All-Thidsa Molam Band was in Bangkok this past weekend to perform at the Thailand International Jazz Conference. World Beat caught up with band last Friday when they played two sets at Isan Spicy BBQ, a rooftop bar at the Jim Thompson Art Center.
The world beat goes on
Life, John Clewley, Published on 04/01/2023
» This year the entertainment business returned to some form of normality after the hard slog of lockdowns and lack of customers. It was good to see music lovers back at festivals and clubs. And the best festive season present of all was the performance of Ethiopian legend Hailu Mergia and his trio at Studio Lam on Dec 21.
Adventure in new lands
Life, John Clewley, Published on 26/04/2022
» British-Sudanese writer Jamal Mahjoub's latest novel The Fugitives is a delightful tale of a fictional Sudanese dance band, the Kamanga Kings, and how the son of one of the founders, an English teacher called Rushdy, reforms the band and goes on a raucous road trip to play their music in the US.
Mambo madness
Life, John Clewley, Published on 02/08/2022
» Latin music has been circling the globe for more than a century, creating dance crazes and inspiring local forms of music. From tango to reggaeton, with stops for mambo, rumba, son and salsa, bolero, Latin jazz and more, the Latin music juggernaut just keeps rolling on.
Songs of hope
Life, John Clewley, Published on 07/06/2022
» The award-winning Canadian-Czech singer and composer Lenka Lichtenberg was going through her mother's effects in 2016 in Prague when she made a startling discovery. She found two small notebooks that belonged to her artist grandmother, Anna Hana Friesova (1901-1987). Inside each notebook, small enough to fit into a back pocket, were poems written while she was imprisoned in the Terazin (Theresienstadt) concentration camp during WWII.
The sounds of the jungle
Life, John Clewley, Published on 10/05/2022
» The acclaimed traditional music ensemble Fong Naam was founded in 1981 by American Bruce Gaston and "Teacher" Boonyong Khetkong. Even after the death of some of the original masters, all of whom were national artists, the band remains Thailand's most well-known musical group internationally.
Tracing the roots of The Big Easy's groove
Life, John Clewley, Published on 23/11/2021
» In March 1947, pianist and singer Cecil Grant heard Roy Brown sing Good Rockin' Tonight during a break at a small club in New Orleans. He was so taken with the song, he called the owners of De Luxe Records and had Brown sing the song over the phone. Brown was quickly signed with the label and recorded the song at J&M Studio with producer Cosimo Matassa.
Old classics revived with high-tech edge
Life, John Clewley, Published on 02/02/2021
» The Penguin Encyclopedia Of Popular Music released in 1991, edited by Donald Clarke, has more than 3,000 entries on rock, rock'n'roll, folk, soul, R&B, gospel, country and swing, and a whole host of lesser-known genres. Musicians, songwriters and producers are all in this tome.