Showing 1 - 10 of 16
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.
Molam master passes
Life, John Clewley, Published on 15/07/2025
» World Beat journeyed to Roi Et province last week to attend the funeral of Assoc Prof Jarernchai Chonpairot, who passed away on the July 5 aged 83.
The vinyl comeback
Life, John Clewley, Published on 25/04/2023
» Music fans and "crate diggers" enjoyed Record Store Day (RSD) last weekend. The inaugural event was first held in the US in 2007, on the third Saturday of April and on Black Friday in November. The idea, according to USA Today, was to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store" and indie outlets banded together with the support of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores and the Alliance of Independent Media Stores.
House of the rising Son
Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/09/2022
» Son House is regarded as one of the greats of early blues, along with early recording stars like Charley Patton and Robert Johnson. He made 78rpm records in the 1930s but a spell in penitentiary halted his career and by the 1940s he had abandoned recording. It wasn't until 1964 that Nick Perls, Dick Waterman and Phil Spiro "rediscovered" him working at a gas station. He was completely unaware of the interest in folk blues at the time (Skip James and Bukka White were already playing crossover folk clubs).
Bangkok loses stalwart of city's music scene
Life, John Clewley, Published on 16/08/2022
» Bangkok's local Irish music scene has been in in mourning since news reached the City of Angels that resident Irish music expert Dr Mick Moloney passed away in his Greenwich Village apartment in New York on July 27. He was 77. Mick had been a part-time resident in the city for more than 20 years. Irish President Michael D. Higgins released a statement noting that "his passing is a loss to the musical heritage of Ireland, to Irish America, and to Irish music worldwide".
Gatemouth is the swingingest
Life, John Clewley, Published on 12/04/2022
» The Half Moon Pub in Putney, London, has been hosting rock'n'roll gigs since 1963, making it one of the oldest live venues in the capital. In 1980, I was studying at Garnett College (now University of Westminster) and living in Roehampton. Every Friday night, I would join a group of fellow students to check out the live music at the Half Moon.
The unremovable Scratch
Life, John Clewley, Published on 31/08/2021
» "Hello, Hello, Hello … This is a skeleton from outer space having a party."
Of khaen and men
Life, John Clewley, Published on 16/02/2021
» Thai Country Living, a short film documentary released in 2020, is a delightful sojourn into the rural life of khaen maker Suman "Chang Bour" Tapkham, his family and village in the peaceful backwaters of the Isan region.
Heart of music beats on
Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/10/2020
» British documentary filmmaker Jeremy Marre, who died aged 76 in April this year, made films for television on popular music from all corners of the planet. From his breakthrough TV film Root Rock Reggae in 1977, to his last film, a documentary on jazz great Count Basie in 2019, Marre was in a class of his own.
Sounds like Thainess
Life, John Clewley, Published on 29/09/2020
» I went to my first concerts in six months last week. The Department of Cultural Promotion held a week-long series of shows from Sept 15-20 as part of a festival that featured national artists from the Kingdom's four regions.