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  • News & article

    The beat goes on

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 19/12/2023

    » Molam continues to evolve with time. Musicians, especially from Isan, are experimenting with new musical combinations, creating new hybrids and sounds.

  • News & article

    Lift up your voice

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 10/10/2023

    » South Africa has a long tradition of harmony singing, stretching back to Soloman Linda's famous 1933 song Mbube, which created a genre of its own to isicathamiya folk singing that led to one of the country's most potent popular genres, mbaqanga and on to gospel choirs.

  • News & article

    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.

  • News & article

    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.

  • News & article

    New grooves for your perusal

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 09/11/2021

    » The legendary Peruvian singer-songwriter Susana Baca tops the November Transglobal World Music Chart with her new album, Palabras Urgentes (Real World), which was released last month. The album celebrates the 50th anniversary of an amazing career, which has encompassed ethnomusicology, researching folklore and teaching, a long career as a singer, and a stint as Minister of Culture.

  • News & article

    A smoother blue from North Mississippi Allstars

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 13/04/2021

    » In 2014, I wrote a review about the unique sound of blues rockers North Mississippi Allstars (NMA), whose music is rooted in the "fife and drum" culture of North Mississippi. Unlike in the Mississippi delta, which has a distinctive brand of guitar-driven blues, North Mississippi African-American hill country musicians use fifes (a small shrill flute used in 19th-century military bands), fiddles, banjos, tambourines, snare drums and a huge bass drum to create their local sound.

  • News & article

    Sugarcane workers' blues

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 15/08/2017

    » On a recent trip to the UK, World Beat enjoyed a stopover in Manchester to check out interesting vinyl and scope new releases. Additionally, in Pwllheli, North Wales, where some of my family resides, I was also able to go crate-digging in the five charity shops in the town, which is about the size of Buriram. A short drive down the coast to Portmadog to Cobb Records was also part of the musical itinerary. Here are a few of the highlights.

  • News & article

    The roots of Chicha – Peru's jungle beat

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 19/09/2017

    » Ever since Paul Simon used the Peruvian orchestral tune El Condor Pasa in his song of the same name, the image of Andean music is one of locals playing panpipes, dressed in traditional costumes. Think also of soprano Yma Sumac and her exotica music from the 1950s.

  • News & article

    Compilation honours legacy of Jamaican giant

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 13/09/2022

    » A year after the death of legendary Jamaican reggae musician and producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, the good folks at Trojan Records have released the very first posthumous anthology of the influential artist's unparalleled career, King Scratch (Musical Masterpieces From The Upsetter Ark-ive).

  • News & article

    A modern-day bard

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 07/12/2021

    » John Cooper Clarke, Britain's "punk poet" has had an interesting life. Now 72, the "Bard Of Salford" recalls the highs (and there were a lot) and lows in a rambling, funny autobiography, I Wanna Be Yours (Picador), which was published in 2020.

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