Showing 301 - 308 of 308
New angle on Angola
Life, John Clewley, Published on 03/04/2012
» They say that war is hell and for Angola the four decades of civil strife the Angolan people went through from the 1960s was horrific. After fighting for independence from Portugal, a civil war broke out and the various sides in the protracted conflict virtually destroyed the country. And yet while the fighting was going on, musicians were still playing and recording brilliant music.
Musical styles meet in Malaysia
Life, John Clewley, Published on 17/04/2012
» The Penang World Music Festival returned recently after a three-year break and World Beat was there from March 30 to April 1 to enjoy the reconstituted three-day music festival.
Cool Colombian compilation
Life, John Clewley, Published on 01/05/2012
» Colombia has produced some memorable music and musicians over the past hundred years; it is certainly one of Latin music's powerhouses. Blessed with a unique geography _ Atlantic coast, savannah, Andean mountains and the lush Pacific coast _ and a mixed population of native Indians, Spanish, Africans and Caribbean immigrants, the country has a vast array of different musical styles from bambuco on the Atlantic coast to the savannah-based harp music llanera to the Afro-Colombian sounds of champeta and currulao from the Pacific coast to salsa and all kinds of Spanish-language pop.
Musicians for president?
Life, John Clewley, Published on 17/01/2012
» One of Africa's most well-known musicians, Youssou N'Dour, announced recently that he would run in Senegal's presidential elections next month. N'Dour was one of the first African musicians to ride the "world music" boom that started in the mid-1980s and his first international release, Immigres (Earthworks, UK), remains one of the standout albums of that period.
Lost souls
Life, John Clewley, Published on 31/01/2012
» Two giants of popular music in the US, bandleader, drummer, disc jockey and talent scout Johnny Otis and singer Etta James, passed away recently, Otis at 90 and James in her eighties. Both were colossal figures in the development of r'n'b and soul music and both crossed over to international fame and, late though it came for James, success.
Reviving a legend
Life, John Clewley, Published on 21/02/2012
» It's been a hectic year for local DJ and Zundrangma Records label owner Maft Sai. He's been on successful overseas tours to Europe and Japan with his partner DJ Chris Menist and the pair has put together two excellent internationally released compilations of Thai luk thung music, The Sound of Siam (Soundway, UK) and Thai? Dai! (Finders Keepers, UK). Never still for a moment, the duo's popular "Bangkok Paradise" night returns this month with a one-off concert by the legendary Wong Dontri Molam Theppabutr band to celebrate the event's third anniversary.
Molam Theppabutr Band &Okinawan show
Life, John Clewley, Published on 06/03/2012
» The last week of February was truly memorable for music fans in Bangkok with not one but two great gigs: the Wong Dontri Molam Theppabutr (Theppabutr Molam Band) gig at Sonic Ekamai on Sat and Kanako Horiuchi's set of Okinawan songs at Kinjo Restaurant on Wed.
Get the party going
Life, John Clewley, Published on 03/01/2012
» In 1987, I bought a Charley label reissue called Soul Mine, a double vinyl LP that featured some of the hits of the New Orleans-born R'n'B and soul singer Lee Dorsey. I was interested in the album because I'd read in John Broven's wonderful book, Walking to New Orleans: The Story of New Orleans Rhythm & Blues (Flyright, UK/Blues Unlimited, USA, 1974), that Dorsey recorded many of his best tracks not only with my favourite New Orleans funk band, The Meters, but also with producer and piano virtuoso Alan Toussaint.