University of Gnawa meets Weather Report….

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Paul Brad

Martin Meissonnier has a serious track record as producer having worked with, amongst others, Don Cherry, Khaled, Manu Dibango, Amina, King Sunny Ade, PapaWemba, Fela Anikulapo Kuti and Seun Kuti. In a recent communication he turned me onto the album ‘University Of Gnawa’ which he’d just done with Aziz Sahmaoui, formerly the powerful voice of Orchestre De Barbes and it left me hungry to experience this band  live.

There a series of illuminating shorts on Youtube describing the process behind the making of this album and it showcases the excellent musicians involved, all of whom, apart from Aziz, hail from Senegal – guitarist Hervé Samb, Alioune Wade – long-standing bass player for Ismaël Lo, and Cheikh Diallo – keyboards and kora.  I’ve chosen this clip as the charismatic Aziz played with the late Joe Zawinul – “Working with Joe was a steep learning curve. With him I honed my listening skills, speed and endurance” – and it features them recording their interpretation of Zawinul’s ‘Black market’ – a track all Weather Report fans will be well familiar with.

Check out the album: University Of Gnawa (General Pattern)

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Tribute To Gil Scott Heron (RIP)

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Paul Brad
A few months ago, Kam Bhogal presented a pilot online radio show for seeksmusic.com.  It went down well so the good people there have given him a monthly show.  Checked out the show this morning… it’s a tribute to the late, great poet/musician, Gil Scott Heron (RIP) and it’s both both discerning and deep.
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A night of new music inspired by survival playing on and questioning catastrophe, the planet and information through the daily experiences of the players since the 3.11 tsunami.

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Paul Brad
A night of new music inspired by survival playing on and questioning catastrophe, the planet and information through the daily experiences of the players since the 3.11 tsunami.

The Lappetites play at Cafe Oto on THURSDAY 16 June 2011 Doors: 8pm

OK people,  TRIPTYCH Festival is about to launch in London,  presenting the work of Eliane Radigue  

My ECP neighbour Kaffe Matthews tells us:  “I’ve known Eliane since 1999 and we first collaborated when she gave the work Elemental II to the Lappetites  to play in Paris 2002.   We’ll be playing this on Tuesday June 14th at Christ Church, Spitalfields. Also, To make the most of the Lappetites  being in town,  (we live in Finland, Japan and London) we’ll also  play ‘Tokohu – wall, silence,’  and  ‘ Where are the Wild Ones’ at Café OTO on Wed June 16th,  8.00p.”

The Lappetites, is an international collective of artists who create their work through online communication and occasional one place collision somewhere else in the world. For their café Oto debut, Akama and Matthews will present:

‘Tokohu – wall, silence‘ a specially made work, with contribution from AGF and Radigue, that plays on and questions catastrophe, the planet, information and survival through the daily experiences of the players since the 3.11 tsunami.

‘Where are the wild ones?‘ performed in 4 channels by KM follows the dangerous route Atlantic Salmon take from Greenland up the river Tyne to their spawning ground in Kielder Water, Northumberland. All music made from recordings taken in the River Tyne, England Jan, Feb 2010. Where are the wild ones? was A RIVERS commission by AV Festival 10 and the Environment Agency, curated by Rebecca Shatwell, premiered on March 14th 2010 at The Sage, UK.

 ‘fold from 0’ –  Ryoko Akama performs ‘fold from 0’ with the memory of her own experience since 3.11. She is a Japanese artist who currently lives in Japan. She works with multiple media – acoustic/digital music, installation, performance, videos.

Tickets: £6 advance / £7 on the door

Also worth checking:  Kaffe’s  Sonic Beds have been installed at Rich Mix and Watermans to play Eliane’s works : Sonic Bed_London at Watermans playing “Transamorem – Transmortem”  & Sonic Bed_Scotland at Rich Mix playing “Omnht”  (1st SB_Scotland appearance in England.)

Info: http://www.kaffematthews.net
http://annetteworks.com
http://www.musicforbodies.net

http://akamaryoko.wordpress.com/

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Puerto Rico’s Calle 13 roll into Hackney and appear at the Empire 8th July… Viva La Perla!

Posted on June 10, 2011 by Paul Brad

Nice video of Puerto Ricto Rico’s finest dedicating a song to the notorious San Juan “favela” – La Perla. lovely to see Ruben Blades in the mix…. brings back memories of the Straight No Chaser exhibition in San Juan that Pablo Rodriguez hosted and practicing xing yi quan early in the morning on the roof of the hotel overlooking La Perla.

Here’s the URL for another Calle 13 vid… funny! (Thanx Kerstan)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h4HbhH7okU&feature=player_embedded

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Just started working on this…. What it’s gonna be I’m not quite sure… First up Owiny Sigoma at Cafe Oto!

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Paul Brad

Popped down to Dalston’s Cafe Oto last Monday for the Brownswood session for Owiny Sigoma. The Sold Out session, spilled out onto the pavement and it was clear that Gilles Peterson’s backing and enthusiasm for the project has ensured a predominently young crowd that was well attuned to what was about to take place. A short warm up set imbued with shades of Terry Callier and featuring a nice tribute to Bill Withers from singer songwriter, Michael Kiwanuka was rapturously received. By the time Owiny Sigoma took to the floor Cafe Oto was as steamy as Nairobi dancehall on a Friday night. Fresh from playing Paris and three other gigs, the band was cooking. The loose limbed, hypnotic rhythms took a hold and the rapport between the two Kenyan master musicians and their young London brethren was most compelling. The Owiny Sigoma band set conjured up memories of the classic B&W South Africa sessions (Airto, Madala Kunene, Pops Mohammed, Mabi Thobejane etc) which were similarly workshoped and built on jams. However, on this night Jesse Hackett’s keyboards lifted the ancient into the future bubbling within the trance inducing sound of the nyatiti and Tom Skinner’s trap drums meshed with the traditional drums. We even got a touch of slide (lager bottle!) guitar and a hirsute Damon Albarn rocking a little Moog.  As the set culminated Cafe Oto was bouncing. It was an excellent taster for the album (and the vinyl!).

Check their next London shows in July:

Tuesday, 12 July – Blaze Festival, The Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS, UK Freestage performance ahead of Congotronics versus Rockers show http://www.barbican.org.uk/blaze/

Saturday, 16 July – Shoreditch Festival, London N1, UK http://www.shoreditchfestival.org.uk/

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