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  • LIFE

    Stories of migration and hope

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 12/09/2023

    » In 2016, the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto invited musicians, mainly immigrant musicians, to audition for a new global orchestra.

  • LIFE

    Music for the soul

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 29/08/2023

    » Highlife was one of the first popular styles to emerge in post World War II sub-Saharan Africa. It came out of Ghana's clubs and bars in the 1950s, where big swing bands, pioneered by the "King of Highlife" ET Mensah, whipped up one of West Africa's best loved urban dance genres.

  • LIFE

    And ya don't stop!

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 16/08/2023

    » On Aug 11, New York City celebrated the 50th anniversary the birth of hip-hop with exhibitions, concerts and street art across the five boroughs.

  • LIFE

    Remembering an icon

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 01/08/2023

    » On July 13, luk thung singer, actor, movie/TV producer and label owner Phanom Nopporn passed away in hospital at the age of 77. One of the giants of the "country music" genre, fans and stars of the luk thung industry attended his funeral on July 18 at Wat Bang Rak Noi Ban Sai in Nonthaburi.

  • LIFE

    Root of the matter

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 20/07/2023

    » Earlier this year, Craft Recordings released the 2CD compilation Birth Right: A Black Roots Music Compendium with the aim of introducing the astonishing variety and depth of black roots music in the US in just 40 songs. Historian Dr Ted Olson and producer Scott Billington have done a great job of presenting a wide range of styles and genres -- from trad jazz to gospel to Louisiana la-la to Gullah music to country blues to brass bands. It's a fascinating musical ride for the listener.

  • LIFE

    The beat of Soweto

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 04/07/2023

    » Simon "Mahlathini" Nkabinde, known as the "Lion Of Soweto", was not allowed to leave South Africa until the mid-1980s, when he was invited to perform at a pioneering festival of music in Angouleme, France, along with the three Mahotella Queens, the musical engine the Makgone Tsohle Band, and producer and saxophonist West Nkosi.

  • LIFE

    Top tunes this June

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 20/06/2023

    » Veteran kora master Toumani Diabaté and Kayhan Kalhor soar to the top spot on the June edition of the Transglobal World Music Chart with a new release on Real World, The Sky Is The Same Colour Everywhere. Diabaté is well-known for his cross-cultural collaborations, from his early days with Ketama, a flamenco, jazz, West Africa fusion, to later work with the London Symphony Orchestra (Korolen), while Kalhor is an award-winning Kurdish-Iranian master of the kamancheh (fiddle) and setar (lute).

  • LIFE

    Let the good times roll

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 06/06/2023

    » Last month, one of the great explorers and producers of American vernacular music, Chris Strachwitz, passed away. He was 91 years old. He was the founder and co-owner (with Tom Diamant) of Arhoolie Records which since its first release in 1960, Texas Sharecropper And Songster by Texan bluesman Mance Lipscomb, has put out an astonishing 44,000 records.

  • LIFE

    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".

  • LIFE

    The sounds of Africa

    Life, John Clewley, Published on 09/05/2023

    » The Malian singer/songwriter and guitarist Fatoumata Diawara emerged in 2011 with the EP Kanou and quickly after came her debut and breakthrough release Fatou (Nonesuch, World Circuit). Fatou, which features Diawara's self-penned songs and electric guitar playing (which she claims was a first for a Malian woman) catapulted her to international fame. She has a unique sound, created out of her Southern Malian wassollou roots and Western music she learned growing up in Paris.

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