Tabla de contenidos para May 2025 en Songlines

Songwriter, pianist and composer Natalie Wildgoose has been around the folk scene for several years but first gained attention for her work in the duo Wanderland with Matt Robinson. Following two EPs with that project, she released her debut solo recording, the First Birdsongs EP, in 2023. She follows it up this summer with the beautiful Come Into The Garden, a six-song set recorded on various pianos across the Yorkshire Dales. Growing up in North Yorkshire, Natalie was surrounded by music and art from a young age and found creativity in the natural world, all of which can be heard in her distinctive sound. “Most of my family are artists”, she tells me. “My grandfather was a piano player and my grandmother was an amazing painter and sculptor.” Growing up…

When Robert Fico assumed office as Slovakia’s prime minister in October 2023, he installed the right-wing nationalist Martina Šimkovičová as Minister of Culture. Since then, she has led a concerted effort to command all aspects of culture (theatre, art, opera, folk music, etc.). She has sacked the directors of Slovak National Theatre and Slovak National Gallery without reason, is replacing the public broadcaster RTVS with a new state-run broadcaster, STVR, and is pushing through changes to the country’s leading provider of arts funding, the formerly independent Slovak Arts Council (FPU), giving the government greater say in where funding goes. Demonstrations and petitions for Šimkovičová’s resignation have been regular occurrences since her appointment. The country’s small but lively folk and world music scene has been especially vulnerable to these changes. Jarmila…

Sun Ra Arkestra – kitted out in silver-and-gold intergalactic finery, their brass instruments glinting and flaring in the early evening rays, the orchestra formed in the mid-50s by the late Afrofuturist Sun Ra and now led by saxophonist Marshall Allen (who, at 100 years old, is not currently touring with the group), gave us Afro-pageantry, serious musicianship and some excellent dance moves. Yemi Alade – the ‘Queen of Afrobeats’ turned in a spectacular all-singing, all-dancing show complete with giant AI visuals, Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ riff, a talking drum, some back-flipping and much bum-waggling. Trio da Kali – celebrating the release of new album Bagola, the mighty triumvirate of diva Hawa Kassy Mady Diabaté, ngoni player Mamadou Kouyaté and balafon virtuoso Lassana Diabaté showcased compositions based on the deep heritage of…

For Record Store Day this year (April 12), Tompkins Square is issuing a limited-edition book and CD combo celebrating the 1920s heyday of 78rpm shellac discs. Treasures Untold has ten tracks by today’s artists – eight of them recorded specially for this project – tackling songs from the 78s’ era. Contributors include Billy Childish (covering The Mississippi Sheiks’ ‘I Am the Devil’, Michael Hurley (Charlie Poole’s ‘Milwaukee Blues’) and Irish guitar prodigy Muireann Bradley (with Memphis Minnie’s ‘When the Levee Breaks’). Gwenifer Raymond, Eden & John’s East River String Band (augmented by American cartoonist Robert Crumb), The Downhill Strugglers and Luther Dickinson also lend a hand. The accompanying coffee table book has a dozen essays from historians and collectors discussing the obsessive world of hunting down rare 78s, plus a…

Each year Brazilian producer Pena Schmidt curates a ranking for the year’s best Brazilian album, scouring end-of-year lists by international and national media –308 lists were consulted last year – to produce the Lista das Listas (List of Lists) of Brazilian music. This is 2024’s Top 20: 1. Amaro Freitas – Y’Y (Psychic Hotline) 2. Liniker – Caju (Breu Entertainment) 3. Céu – Novela (Urban Jungle) 4. Black Pantera – PERPÉTUO (DeckDisc) 5. Boogarins – Bacuri (Boogarins/ONErpm) 6. Hermeto Pascoal – Pra Você, Ilza (Rocinante) 7. Dora Morelenbaum – Pique (Coala Records/Mr Bongo) 8. Duquesa – Taurus, Vol. 2 (Boogie Naipe) 9. Thalin, Cravinhos e VCR Slim – Maria Esmeralda (Sujoground Records) 10. Papangu – Lampião Rei (Chumbo Grosso Records) 11. DUDA BEAT – Tara e Tal (Universal Music) 12.…

Aurelio Martínez, a Honduran musician who brought the music of the Garifuna people to worldwide attention, has died aged 55 in a plane crash on March 17. He was onboard a Lanhsa Airlines flight that crashed into the sea off the coast of the Caribbean island of Roatán. The aircraft was travelling to La Ceiba and “made a sharp turn to the right of the runway and fell into the water”, a civil aviation official, Carlos Padilla, told The Guardian. Aurelio was born in La Ceiba, Honduras, into a Garifuna family – the Garifuna are descendants of enslavedWest Africans who were shipwrecked on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent before being deported to Central America, where they settled in Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. He grew up participating in traditional…

In the middle of 1995, promoter Becky Morris received a phone call asking if she could assemble a flute ensemble for an international flute festival later that year. The first name on her list was Michael McGoldrick, a flute, whistle and uilleann pipes player whom Morris had seen play when she was at school. Next came Sarah Allen, who had a classical background, but could play jazz too – Allen played accordion and flute in the eclectic folk band The Barely Works – and whom Morris knew through Allen’s group Big Jig. Rounding out the initial trio was Allen’s friend from Armagh, Brian Finnegan, a traditional Irish flute and whistle player who had stopped playing music to teach in Budapest. A phone call from Morris soon changed that. Three Nations…

On a chilly January afternoon in Barcelos, northern Portugal, Galician duo Caamaño&Ameixeiras take the stage at the town’s pottery museum as part of the SQUARE festival. Their radiant harmonies and nimble instrumentation fill the intimate space, weaving tales of cursed love and ancient rituals with a warmth that contrasts with the crisp air outside. Around them, an eclectic array of ancient and contemporary pottery figurines, both lifelike and fantastical, reflect the region’s deep ceramics traditions, where centuries-old craftsmanship continues to evolve. More than a collection of artefacts, the museum offers a window into a living tradition – much like the duo’s performance, which breathes new life into age-old melodies, ensuring they remain as vital and dynamic as ever. Caamaño&Ameixeiras are part of a new wave of Spanish artists delving into…

Songlines’ pick of the bunch… Dele Sosimi (23 APRIL The Blues Kitchen, Manchester; 3 MAY Fox and Firkin, London) The Afrobeat pioneer, who cut his teeth playing rhythm keyboard and globe-trotting with Fela Kuti in the 80s, is playing with his 12-piece band at Fox and Firkin. They are aiming to transform the venue into, as far as reasonably possible, Fela’s famous Lagos club, Afrika Shrine. He will also be entertaining fans in Manchester, performing as part of the Cubafrobeat project, a night described as “a groove train travelling between Havana, Cuba and Lagos, Nigeria.” I’ve seen the former at Jazz Cafe, and the energy was unmatchable. ERIN COBBY UPCOMING UK & IRELAND Paradise Under the Stars Immersive experience of 1950s Havana nightclub Tropicana at The Lost Estate, London, every Wed-Sun…

When we started in 1975, traditional pizzica was declining, and there were various groups all over Italy trying – like Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare from Naples and Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano – to develop an interest in the music of the working classes,” says Rossella Pinto, one of the original members of Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (CGS). “At our first concerts in 1975, people threw stones because they wanted the pop music they saw on TV, not this traditional stuff.” The driving force was writer/journalist Rina Durante, based in Salento, the ‘heel’ of Italy, who got various musicians to form a group, including Daniele Durante, Pinto’s boyfriend at the time. “I was fascinated by this music, particularly the women’s songs, and I liked singing. Rina Durante was a visionary, but not…

Seth Jordan Seth is an Australia-based music journalist and radio broadcaster, who presents The Tiki Lounge Remix podcast. He travels to Morocco with Julian Belbachir to witness some soul-stirring collaborations on p34. Magda Tejchma Based in Warsaw, Magda is a journalist for Polish radio and press, a producer of music and events, and an ethnomusicologist. She documents the music and stories of the descendants of Polish emigrants on p38. Glenn Kimpton Glenn is a freelance writer and musician making improvisational, instrumental music inspired by nature. He talks to Natalie Wildgoose about the Yorkshire Dales and her new EP on p11. Songlines was launched in 1999 and is the definitive magazine for world music – music that has its roots in all parts of the globe, from Mali to Mexico, India…

Joanna Newsom Ys (Drag City, 2006) I discovered this album when visiting my older sister in Stirling, Scotland, where she was studying at the time. Wondering around the lovely wee cobbled streets, I came across a record shop and heard this voice coming from the speakers inside. [Newsom’s] voice and melody struck me instantly. I bought the album there and have been a massive fan ever since. I’d never heard anything like it. Her lyrics, melodies and arrangements are a constant source of inspiration. The playful way with words, polyrhythmic harp lines and the idiosyncratic orchestration; it was a game changer. Her last album, Divers, is possibly her best, but it’s Ys that got me hooked. Paul Brady Welcome Here Kind Stranger (Mulligan, 1978) There actually wasn’t an awful lot…

February’s RTÉ Folk Awards saw a host of Songlines favourites honoured. Christy Moore presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Dónal Lunny, who performed. Ríoghnach Connolly was awarded Best Folk Singer while Landless were announced Best Folk Group and John Spillane’s Fíoruisce – The Legend of the Lough was picked for Best Folk Album. RÓIS’ ‘Caoine’, was recognised as Best Original Folk Track. A new publication will shed light on the hurdy-gurdy. The Secret Life of the Hurdy-Gurdy by Quentin Budworth contains research on the instrument as well as contributions from some of its most renowned players. Friends of Scottish folk musician Dick Gaughan (above) have initiated a kickstarter for the release of a seven-CD and DVD boxset retrospective of Gaughan’s prolific career. Much of his work was originally released on…

It’s 20 years since the musicians who would become the Carolina Chocolate Drops first met at the Black Banjo Gathering in North Carolina, and 15 years since they released Genuine Negro Jig, an album that brought them to the world’s attention. Despite only releasing a handful of albums, the last (Leaving Eden) arriving in 2012, their impact continues to be felt, inspiring new generations of music makers and ensuring that a hugely important area of American music history is not forgotten. This year, the Carolina Chocolate Drops are reuniting at the Biscuits & Banjos festival in North Carolina, with the original line-up of Dom Flemons, Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson set to play, alongside other members from over the years. It will be the first time they have played together…

Linha Guarapuava is a winding, difficult-to-access road, covered in the ubiquitous red mud found across Paraná. Dotted off the road are rare settlements surrounded by Araucaria forest, which is where you will find the colourful wooden house of Polan Szymanek. Polan and his older brother Michał describe the landscape in songs that are unique hybrids of Brazilian gaúcho music with lyrics in archaic Polish. They sing about the hardships the first arrivals from Poland to Brazil endured: ‘They only met forests here, there were various animals, there were great vipers.’ In that same song by Michał Szymanek, they sing that their ‘grandfathers and great-grandfathers sailed with a great company and carried the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa in a ship’. In southern Brazil, Polish is still sung, spoken and…

What’s the music scene like in Leeds? Leeds has an incredibly rich and diverse music scene, with something for everyone. From its deep-rooted folk traditions to its vibrant jazz, indie and electronic scenes, there’s always something happening. The DIY community here is particularly special: supportive, welcoming and always growing. There’s a strong communal ethos, with musicians putting on their own gigs, running folk and jazz clubs, and creating spaces for music to thrive! What’s exciting you in Leeds music-wise right now? I’d say the folk scene is really flourishing. There’s been a resurgence of traditional music alongside a wave of new songwriters bringing fresh energy to the genre. The sessions at places like Meanwood Folk Club, The Chemic [Tavern]’s Irish and old-time sessions and The Grove Folk Club are packed…

In an era where classical Arabic music is often reduced to being a tool for cultural diplomacy or a commodity for world music markets, Rust, a duo comprised of Syrian oud player Hany Manja and Lebanese vocalist Petra Hawi, are redefining heritage-making in diaspora music. By drawing on mid-20th century Arabic vocal styles and aesthetics of modern electronic production methods, Rust’s music is informed by their history of migration and displacement. With their appreciation of Arabic modal (maqam) traditions, tarab (an emotional state of ecstasy) and wasla (a suite of instrumental and vocal pieces), the duo address static notions of musical heritage. In doing so, they challenge Eurocentric narratives about Arabic music production and its dependencies on the Western gaze. Rust’s self-described genre, ‘electro-tarab’, encapsulates their approach to performance and…

Shimli, the latest album by Cynefin aka Welsh folk singer and researcher Owen Shiers, is rooted in the traditions and history of Ceredigion in west Wales. It features words written by Wales’ beirdd gwlad, folk poets, who for many years would have been the holders of oral history, but whose position in society is dying out. Owen describes their unique role: “Beirdd gwlad do not belong to any sanctioned literary profession; they are practitioners and keepers of an oral craft, passed on in hearth, workshop and stable loft. Historically, they were poets whose skill with a pen was equal to that with a plough – everyday wordsmiths whose aim was not accolade, or even the preservation of their work through publication, but simply to serve their communities through crafted verse…

Blending Persian lyrics, which speak on themes ranging from isolation to hope, with Western instrumentation and genres, 127 have reached iconic underground status in Iran. Most impressively, this has been done remotely, with the group releasing two albums, Pop Emergency and Be Rahe Khod, while living in different countries after leaving Iran. In January, they reunited for a performance at Rich Mix in Shoreditch, their first show together in 17 years. This wasn’t just a big deal for them but their fans too, with people coming from all over the Iranian diaspora to experience the music that many had never heard before live. Yahya Alkhansa confides: “I wasn’t expecting the crowd to sing every single word to every single song. It was great – I hadn’t been that happy in…

TOP OF THE WORLD TRACKS 01 Hajda Banda ‘Niepraudzivaya Kalina’ From Niepraudzivaya on Hajda Banda A playful take on a Belarusian wedding song about growing up and leaving freedom behind. Jaw harp, heavy rhythm, cimbalom (hammered dulcimer) and group vocals make it a total joy. See p61 02 Farnaz Ohadi ‘Anda Jaleo’ From Breath/Ah/Aliento on AIR Music Group/Mashregh Music Productions Ohadi sings the words of Persian poet Baba Taher Oriyan, as he pleads with fate, in the curved textures of traditional flamenco. A sublime fusion. See p64 03 Youssou N’Dour ‘Ahmadou Bamba’ From Eclairer le Monde – Light the World on Youssou N’Dour & TBIPublishing S.A. From the icon of Senegalese music. Shimmers of kora and deep percussion run through this warm homage to spiritual leader Ahmadou Bamba. See p49…

Several big hitters in the UK festival scene have announced a sabbatical this year. WOMAD are taking a year off to recharge their batteries before heading to a new venue in 2026. The four-day Cambridge Folk Festival announced their hiatus after making a £320,000 loss last year – they promise to return stronger next summer. Similarly, Africa Oyé are having a break while they work out how to cope with the extra logistics faced by the festival’s growth. But all is not lost. The UK still has a thriving festival scene, and we speak to four festivals intent on making this a summer to remember. Shindig (May 22–25) Shindig initially announced that 2024 was the end for them due to economic challenges, but they have since backpedalled, with Charlton Park,…

“Zar is a musical healing ritual of eastern Africa found notably in Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan. Our music is based on Gnawa and West African rhythms, and integrates Eastern and Arabic inputs while electrifying traditional instruments mixed with electronic beats”, says Anass Zine when summing up the raison d’être of Zar Electrik. The Marseille group’s gimbri, oud and guitar player, Zine started out as a singer and musician in Morocco nearly 20 years ago, playing festivals in Casablanca, Fes and Rabat with his band Gnawa Click. In 2010, he moved to Marseille, a gate to Europe for many from the Middle East and Africa. There, he met Arthur Péneau, who had been playing Cuban and African percussion since he was young, learning kora with Guinean musician Karamoko Bangoura, whom he had…

It’s very sad to hear of the death of the superb sarod player Ken Zuckerman from a brain tumour aged 72. He was one of the most acclaimed sarod players of his generation, especially remarkable as he was American, Jewish and only encountered Indian music at age 20 when he attended a concert in 1971 by Ali Akbar Khan – the world’s leading sarod player – while he was studying in Iowa. It’s probably safe to say that Zuckerman was the most respected non-Indian playing Indian classical music. After his encounter with Ali Akbar Khan, he enrolled at Khan’s music school in San Rafael, California. Having played acoustic and electric guitar as a teenager, he started playing sitar but switched to sarod after a year. He became one of Ali…

THURSDAY MAY 15 Hall One Chahat Mahmood Ali Qawwal Chahat Ali is a qawwali singer in his early 20s performing alongside his father in a family band from Faisalabad, Pakistan. It’s music with a message – peace, tolerance and devotion – that can transport listeners to another plane. They’re our first qawwali group at Encounters. Hall Two Nani Vazana sings Ladino Winner of the Liet International song contest for minority languages, Nani Vazana composes in Ladino, the language of the Sephardic Jews of the Iberian Peninsula, a threatened language with an estimated 60,000 speakers. FRIDAY MAY 16 Hall One Rokia Koné One of Mali’s most beloved artists, Koné is putting her gritty, soaring, griot-infused vocals to Malian guitar and a West African percussive pulse. Hall Two Olcay Bayir Kurdish Anatolian…

An innovative multicultural fusion project recently took place in Morocco, combining a core band of Australian artists with a group of young Moroccan Gnawa musicians based in Essaouira. Several years in the making, this unique collaboration was the brainchild of Australian-born multi-instrumentalist and producer Julian Belbachir. The son of a Moroccan father and an Australian mother, Belbachir was first known musically as the drummer with Aussie electro-didgeridoo (yidaki) band OKA. When the group’s Indigenous founder-frontman Stu Fergie died in early 2022, Julian began concentrating on his own music, focusing on the multistringed Malian ngoni, which he had studied on previous trips to Africa. This led to his adventurous 2022 debut album Babdoukkala (a Top of the World in SL179), in which Belbachir assembled a select group of Australian-based African musicians.…

It’s the last Sunday of the month in Brick Lane, London, and a buoyant crowd at Juju’s Bar & Stage is dancing as one, hands in the air, on hips, in partner hold. It’s winter outside, but the vibe is tropical, what with an orchestra of local Cuban musicians playing the joyously aggressive fusion music known as timba and a special guest Cuban star vocalist flown in from Europe to front them. “The Latin dance community in London has been craving live music”, says Latin Grammy-winning percussionist Hammadi Rencurrell Valdes, musical director of Orquesta Sambroso, a ten-plus outfit of London-based Cuban (and Cuban-adjacent) virtuosos newly formed to back a series of celebrated international singers in the manner, and with the repertoire, to which they’re accustomed. “Finally, we have a space…

The Songlines Top of the World compilation, featuring tracks from our favourite albums each issue, can be downloaded by visiting https://linktr.ee/songlines207 Salif Keita So Kono NØ FØRMAT! Salif Keita was supposed to have stopped recording. The singersong-writer, nicknamed the ‘African Caruso’ and the ‘Golden Voice of Mali’, had announced as much in November 2018, shortly after releasing Un Autre Blanc, his alleged swansong. But Keita, 75, continued performing his slick blend of blues, jazz and traditional Mande music, sometimes in his Bamako club Mouffou, sometimes internationally. In spring 2023, he played Japan’s Kyotophonie festival, accompanied by ngoni player Badie Tounkara and Mamadou Kone on calabash. This acoustic trio features on a few tracks here. So Kono means ‘inside the chamber’, a sentiment befitting the stripped-down arrangements and medium-fi production of…

I must be on a real fiddle kick since this column is all fiddles this month! It’s nice to be blessed with so many wonderful fiddle traditions in North America, so why not focus on an instrument that takes us to such great heights (and, as a fiddler myself, such deep lows)? Out here in the Pacific Northwest, as in most regions in the US, we have our own rich tradition of contra dancing. Derived from 17th-century British/French roots, today’s music for contra dances is a blend of Celtic influences, reaching over to Appalachian roots as well. Few folks outside the scene have heard this music, since it’s mainly just played for dances. With their new album, Flow (Countercurrent⋆⋆⋆⋆), the best young contra dance band (and just a duo!) in…

This month’s folk column takes a scenic tour from the Wales Coast Path to the Isle of Man via the Highlands of Scotland, the Yorkshire Dales and the bright lights of London. Glan (Filkin’s Drift⋆⋆⋆⋆) marks the debut from Welsh-English duo Filkin’s Drift. Inspired by their 2023 “foot-powered” tour of the Wales Coast Path (53 gigs in 58 days over a walk of 870 miles!) Glan is a harmonious and melodic trek through Welsh folk traditions, reflecting the idiosyncratic landscapes they encountered, with some English folk dances woven in for good measure. Seth Bye on fiddle and Chris Roberts on guitar are a beguiling pair. From the subtle gorgeousness of ‘Bugeilio’r Gwenith Gwyn’ to the playful ‘Touchpaper/The Gloucester Hornpipe’, Filkin’s Drift prove able custodians of traditional song and dance. Glasgow-based…

This year, every artist nominated in the Grammys’ African Performance category came from just one nation: Nigeria. That is, except for the US’ Chris Brown, who was somehow deemed eligible as an ‘African’ artist. Last year was similarly exclusionary, with all the inaugural African Performance nominees hailing from Nigeria and South Africa, nations that together constitute 23% of total nominations in the Grammys’ Global categories. After being set up in 1992, the first two decades of the Global Music category – which from 2004–2011 expanded to two categories, Traditional and Contemporary – were often won by well-established, white, US males. Mickey Hart (Grateful Dead), Béla Fleck and Ry Cooder all won twice for cross-cultural collaborations in this period. The focus otherwise tended towards international artists with strong associative ties to…