Showing 121 - 130 of 308
Jungle music
Life, John Clewley, Published on 08/10/2019
» In 2017, I wrote about the wonderfully infectious dance music of Amazonian Peru, known as "chicha" (also Peruvian cumbia). Chicha is a funky version of cumbia, a style of music that mixes African roots and folkloric traditions found in Colombia and Panama. The collection I reviewed at the time, Roots Of Chicha, is an essential addition to any music collection.
Lovely Latin flavours at Flamenco
Life, John Clewley, Published on 27/08/2019
» World Beat was out and about this past weekend to sample some locally made Latin music at Flamenco, a bar/entertainment venue in The EmQuartier on Sukhumvit Road. Flamenco is a fairly new venue, according to senior entertainment manager Anton Schutte. The bar is linked with another entertainment space, Escape Bangkok, found in the same building.
It's a transglobal affair
Life, John Clewley, Published on 10/09/2019
» The summer festival season in Europe, North America and Japan draws to a close this month as bands rest up from touring and take a break before the end-of-year festive season. Those bands that have put out summer releases hope that their albums reach the various charts and get decent airplay; others, meanwhile, have waited for the end of the season to release their new music, so we have a mixture of hot releases from the summer and new ones just released.
Mourning three legends
Life, John Clewley, Published on 13/08/2019
» Three legends died recently, each one of whom made important and distinctive contributions to their own musical cultures -- molam producer and impresario Theppabutr Satirodchompu, South African musician and bandleader Johnny Clegg, and New Orleans songwriter, pianist and bandleader Art Neville.
The day the music died
Life, John Clewley, Published on 09/07/2019
» The legendary leader of the famous and influential Petch Phin Thong Band, Noppadon Duangporn, died last week at the age of 77. He was well known across the country, not just as the founder of one of Isan's biggest bands but also as a comedian, radio DJ and movie actor.
A global meeting for music buffs
Life, John Clewley, Published on 30/07/2019
» The 45th International Council for Traditional Music (ICTM) was held at Chulalongkorn University earlier this month. The premier global meeting for ethnomusicologists was held in Southeast Asia for the first time in its history. As the secretary-general of the ICTM Prof Ursuka Hemetek said: "This is a special occasion for us to be in Southeast Asia for the first time."
Keeping a culture alive
Life, John Clewley, Published on 25/06/2019
» How do you make folk music relevant in these postmodern times? Traditional music is under threat everywhere you look, as are minority languages, arts and crafts and the habitat and environment that helped create them.
A colourful hybrid
Life, John Clewley, Published on 28/05/2019
» It was the barefoot diva Cesaria Evora who put the Cape Verde Islands on the musical map, with her breakout albums and international tours in the 1990s. She sang a melancholic and intimate style called morna, a hybrid music fused from Portuguese fado music and local traditional styles.
The doctor is out
Life, John Clewley, Published on 11/06/2019
» Dr John, the High Priest of New Orleans' hoodoo, the Night Tripper and one of the heirs to Professor Longhair's legacy, died last week at the age of 77. He was widely regarded as one of the Crescent City's most accomplished musicians -- a master bandleader, songwriter, guitarist, voodoo showman and pianist. He was comfortable moving between blues, jazz, funk, boogie-woogie and anything else he fancied, and he was known as a keeper of New Orleans' piano traditions.
Suphanburi Soul
Life, John Clewley, Published on 30/04/2019
» It's been a while since Bangkok-based Zudrangma Records has released any new compilations. Last week, the label put out two compilations that will be of great interest to fans of Thai (Central Plains) traditional music and molam from Isan.