Rhythm Passport Magazine October 2017

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www.rhythmpassport.com

9 - 12 Nov

Darbar Festival 2017

A celebration of classical Indian dance and music

Dance curated by Akram Khan

Sadler’s Wells Theatre sadlerswells.com 020 7863 8000 Angel

Dear Rhythm Passport holder. .

Rhythm Passport Magazine FREE | #2 | October 2017 Founder: Kia Coates Editor-in-Chief: Marco Canepari Advertising & Sales Director: Teto Parvanov Operation Manager: April Coffey Art Direction Swifty | swifty.co.uk Graphic Designers: Pete ‘Piwi’ White Sub-Editor: Lee J. Moran Contributors & Writers: Adolf Alzuphar Jane Cocklin Paola Laforgia Rebecca Mastrorocco Seb Pitman Griselda Sanderson Stefania Vulpi Wayne Wright Photographers: Emma Marshall Cover Photographer: Youri Lenquette Gallery Photographer: Ila Brughal

www.rhythmpassport.com Get in touch: info@rhythmpassport.com Advertise with us: advertise@rhythmpassport.com

Bring some dancy vibes to your October. The second issue of Rhythm Passport magazine rhythmically opens and closes with some sparkling African vibes. From Orchestra Baobab’s Afro-Cuban soul to Ibibio Sound Machine’s afrobeat passing through Tash LC’s soukous playlist and Afro-Brazilian band Nomade Orquestra’s new album review, have a read to the best live and recorded sounds you can enjoy this month. Keep on listening to good music, see you around London in November for Rhythm Passport #3 and don’t forget to visit www.rhythmpassport.com, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on our socials.

Interv ORCHESTieRwA:BpA. O6B,7A&8 B

COMPETITION: P. 4

Event Previews (our picks): p. 10 Event Previews: p. 12 & 13

Your Ticket To..

P. 14

GET YOUR PASSPORT STAMPED HERE!

: POSp. 18TER & 19

Album Reviews: p. 22 & 23

Interview: p. 16& gogo penguin 17 Album of the Month: p.2 1 Event

29 &30 Interviesowu:np.d28ma, chine ibibio

Reviews: Gallery : p. 25

p. 26 & 27

Event List gs: p. 31, 32, 33 &in34

rhythmpassport.com

We at have made the big step and gone fully printed. We will keep you company all around London and beyond. Look for us outside tube and train stations, cultural centres, music venues, shops, universities and Cafes.

We care about music and we will bring the world to your speakers.

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RHYTHM PASSPONORT COMPETITI

Rhythm Passport are giving away lots of free tickets & CDS!

otoköl CD: Afriknänd tPrhe Grid - Beyo o-Jazz) (Afr

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CD: La MambanegMaralamaña Ca - El llegüeso, Say sulsa) (Latin

Ticket: Hac Entering is @ O2 Forumkney Colliery Ban More details free and easy! on our website: (16 th NovKeemntish Town d http://bit.ly/RP17OctComp ber)

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Ticket: Amathdou & Mariam @ Troxy (4 November)

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INTERVIEW

Orchestra Baobab Senégalese group Orchestra Baobab is a legend in its own lifetime, influencing generations of musicians and entertaining countless Afro-Cuban music lovers.

Despite ups and downs in the group’s forty-five year history these dynamic musicians have continued to produce groundbreaking new music. Their latest album, Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng commemorates one of the band’s founder members and vocalists who died in 2016. His son Alpha now sings in the band, which is led by his old bandmate Balla Sidibe from Casamance.

On the eve of their latest European tour Rhythm Passport was granted an interview with Orchestra Baobab to piece together some of the events that contribute to the longevity of this West African musical institution.

definitely inspired us. But we also had the idea of wanting to create a few things that were different from that for a more or less authentic musical identity that was specific to us as a group”.

Yes, it’s easy to see how your musical identities such as the North Senégalese Wolof culture were important to the story of your success. And from the start the group also included musicians from as far afield as Mali, Togo and Morocco - quite multi-cultural! How did that affect the music?

“Our cultures have been combined by the musical inspiration of each musician’s talent in their particular role; everyone brought not just their playing, but also cultural influences that come from their own ethnicity”.

Orchestra Baobab formed in 1970 when some musicians were lured from The Star Band to work at Club Baobab in the capital Dakar. We began by asking And what was life like as a musician in the group about the musical environment the 1970s? in Senégal at that time.

“It was difficult to be a musician at that What were the primary musical time. There were some people who were influences when you first started out? there just for the sake of pleasure. We “Cuban music had influenced us a lot never had any social security or medical because it was all around at the time – cover. The life of musicians began to on the radio, at the club associations, improve gradually, but for that it was, and weddings, baptisms and so on. You still is, necessary to fight”. couldn’t escape from listening to it! That

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Photo credits: Youri Lenquette

Despite this instability, the rise of the group was meteoric, with over twenty albums released up to the mid 1980s. But then Mbalax was born.

Made fashionable by Youssou N’Dour (himself a former singer in The Star Band), this new musical style dislocated the group. Were you upset by what had happened or jealous of Youssou N’Dour’s domination of a new style that you were not a part of?

“We were not jealous but surprised by the meteoric rise [of Mbalax] that all Senegal welcomed. At that time he himself [Youssou n’Dour] knows that we started playing this music without his name, but the name of the Mbalax and his influence were very strong”.

Gradually each member left to make his own way in a new cultural environment. Orchestra Baobab disbanded in 1987. But that is not the end of the story. Can you tell us what happened next?

“Youssou himself helped [he produced and guested on the album] and

participated with Nick with the reconstitution of the group in the year 2000, and the CD Specialist in All Styles came out in 2002 on Nick’s label World Circuit. The return of Orchestra Baobab with Nick Gold is a proud moment of the group”.

That definitive album seemed to make a statement reinforcing the group’s original idea – to play music that everyone could identify with.

“Yes, we had always wanted to reinforce our musical concept for the whole world.

Thanks to the richness of our cultural heritage, our ethnic groups’ multicultural events help us inspire more.

As we said, “chacun y met son grain” [each person added his own grain].

And, to go back to Youssou, he has been appreciated not only in the European circuit but all over the world. Mr Barack Obama visited Senégal during his tenure, and at the reception Youssou was present. The US president immediately paid all his attention to him, saying to his

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Lenquette

Since that rocky period in the 1980s, Orchestra Baobab re-established itself within the West African popular music scene, producing albums of new songs as well as unreleased material from the 1970s. Things have improved for the band in various ways. The members tell us: “Luckily Baobab has had the support of the first lady for these last three years”.

The ‘First Lady Foundation’ was set up by the wife of the president of Senégal Mrs. Marème Sall and is “driven by a simple ambition: to improve the daily life of the most disadvantaged” of her compatriots.

So coming to the present and your latest album, can you tell us a bit about the group as it is today?

“Well, we still have four original members in the group including vocalist Balla Sidibe: Charles Antoine Ndiaye, the bassist [also from Casamance]; Cissokho Issa [saxophone] and Mamadou Mountaga Koite [drums] are both from Malian Mandinka families of griots”.

There is a new sound too, with the introduction of kora player Abdouleye Cissoko from Casamance. Trombonist Wilfried Zinzou joins the saxes and young guitarist Rene Sowatche both are from Benin. On ‘Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng’ there are also guest appearances from Baifal singer Cheikh Lo, and Thione Seck, who left Orchestra Baobab in 1979. With reference to this new album, is it different recording nowadays?

“For the artist, the process of recording in the studio has not changed much over the years, but each time it is the process at the beginning of a project that changes. This is because it necessitates endless research and repetition, to make and to re-make. A new album is in

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Photo credits: Youri

wife, “Here is the star Senégalese singer; Youssou N’Dour is strong!”

progress because after the last recording sessions we had kept some titles over, and will add others for the next CD. It will be revealed as soon as we begin to work on the ideas. Let’s avoid revealing the ingredients that will go into Orchestra Baobab’s pot for fear of losing the flavour - the public will then appreciate the surprise”!

And finally, can you give us some tips on some of Senégal’s rising stars? It’s always good to get news ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’, as we say!

“We have several young Senégalese artists who have begun to emerge.

From the family of our missing colleagues two of their children are upand-coming - Momo Dieng and Pape Malick Dieng. We also have Wally Seck, whose father Thione Seck sings on the track ‘Sey’ on our latest album in Tribute to Ndiouga Dieng”.

And so we come full circle. There is something deeply satisfying about hearing how new and older generations of musicians interact and influence one another from the past to the present, and if this continues perhaps Orchestra Baobab will carry on making their own brand of Global Afro-fusion for several decades more. Let’s hope so! And if you want to hear the group when they drop into the UK you can catch them at Koko, Camden on Monday 30th October – see you there!

Griselda Sanderson

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Produced by

EVENT PREVIEWS OUR PICKS Marcelo D2 @ Jazz Café

(London, 25th October 2017)

A Brazilian institution, that’s how Marcelo D2 can legitimately be considered. The MC from Rio de Janeiro has spent the last 20 years of his career creating and developing his own unique blend bringing together the flavourful and mellow samba rhythms with realistic storytelling of Rio’s everyday life. His London fans will have a rare opportunity to enjoy his sound on the 25th of October. Marcelo will visit the Jazz Café in Camden, presenting his latest project called SambaDrive and adding to the samba-hip-hop mix, tropicalia atmospheres, jazzy arrangements and jamming attitude. Marco Canepari

Ibeyi @ Shoreditch Town Hall (London, 19 October 2017) th

seducing In little more than two years Ibeyi won everyone over with their successful electro-Afro-Cuban sound and breezy approach. They released a also they self-titled debut album and just published the second one (Ash), others) among n Washingto collaborated with remarkable musicians (Kamasi and even featured in Beyoncè’s “Lemonade”.

Their upcoming London gig at the Shoreditch Town Hall is going to be one of the hottest events of this October’s event calendar in the UK capital and no doubt you’ll experience a honeyed and sleek show, combining R&B, hip hop, Yoruba tradition, French-touch and Cuban character.

Marco Canepari

Jacob Banks @ Village Underground (London, 30

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October 2017)

Spiritual and anthemic, Jacob Banks is a Nigerian born, British-bred songwriter who mixes gospel, soul and R&B with an unforgettable voice. Growing up in Birmingham, he treasured singing but never intended to actively engage with the music industry. He cites his career happening by chance whilst writing music to satisfy his own infatuation for recording as he self-released his first album. After being discovered, he has now supported Emeli Sandé and Alicia Keys becoming a recognised name. Earlier this year he released his third EP The Boy Who Cried Freedom with Interscope Records.

Banks will be playing at Village Underground on 30th October showcasing his newest material. Mixing an agedsounding voice with a youthful message from his own consciousness, Banks is relatable and down to earth.

Enjoy the purity of his writing with simply beautiful and soulful pop songs. Jane Cocklin

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EVENT PREVIEWS Tru-Thoughts Recordings 18th Birthday Party @ Roundhouse (London, 21 October st

2017)

The last decade has seen a shift in the role of record labels in the music industry. More artists are choosing to sign with independent labels to maintain creative collaborative control.

Tru-Thoughts are a UK indie label based in Brighton, created in 1999. Praised by Gilles Peterson, they have a strong reputation for their breadth of artists, ranging from soul and funk, American brass bands, underground hip hop and club dance music acts. The record label will be celebrating their 18th birthday at the Roundhouse on 21st October. This is an all-day event and features headlines sets from their longest standing partners: New Orleans’ Hot 8 Brass Band, Suffolk soul songstress Alice Russell, Battersea’s hip-hop king Rodney P aka ‘da riddim killa’ as well as a DJ set from the much-loved Quantic.

The night will also feature reveals from their newest signings. This is an opportunity to celebrate both the diversity and talent coming through London’s underground scene with a strong global influence. Jane Cocklin

Capossela @ O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire Vinicio (London, 30 October 2017) th

through folk The affinity of Vinicio Capossela’s authorship with unique storytelling combines music goes without saying. Recalling Italian musica popolare, his songwriting original sonnets, ballads, and rhetorical tales with playful shows.

25 years with The 30th of October will see Capossela celebrate a career spanning ns narrates the the double album Canzoni della Cupa. This collection of compositio region in everyday realisations of both peasants and castellans of the Alta Irpinia recital work voicing Southern Italy - where Capossela spent the last 30 years. It is a folk the demons’ shadows hiding along the ‘cupa’, the district in Irpinia where the sun hardly shines. Accompanied by his traditional set of folk instruments along with ethnic and bluesy jumbles, Capossela offers an unmissable opportunity to celebrate Italian folk music’s delightful roots for those who love it already, and those who are about to. Rebecca Mastrorocco

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EVENT PREVIEWS London Jazz Festival (London, 10 to 19 November 2017) th

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There’s been a London music festival going on since the 1970s which constantly delights its audience, presenting jazz in every form and shape and appealing to every music lover, listener and simply culturally curious soul. The festival we are talking about is the renowned London Jazz Festival, which, in just a few weeks’ time, is going to allure the British capital once again, thanks to its vibrant and heterogeneous jazz music calendar.

The 25th edition of the festival starts on Friday the 10th of November and runs until the 19th, where you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy some of the most stimulating acts enriching the jazz music scene in Europe and beyond. Artists such as Cameroon’s Manu Dibango, Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés, South Africa’s Abdullah Ibrahim with Hugh Masekela, Snarky Puppy’s Bill Laurance, Paolo Conte, and Portuguese singer Carminho, just to name a few, will fascinate listeners in venues all around the city with their celebrated styles.

There will be gigs and workshops music activities aimed at children, plus talks, making London jazzier than ever thanks to LJF 2017. Marco Canepari

Rush & LCC at Barbican Dasha (London, 18 October 2017) th

The Russian-born electronic musician and all-around artist and experimentalist Dasha Rush is bringing her widely acclaimed audiovisual project Antarctic Takt to the UK for the first time. Premiered at Berlin Atonal festival back in 2014, Antarctic Takt is an audio/video performance created in collaboration with visual artist Stanislav Glaszov, that sends the audience into an imaginative and immersive journey in the uninhabited lands of Antarctica through ambient soundscapes and 3D scenes.

The event, produced by the Barbican in association with Clon (Estela Oliva’s new project), will also see an opening performance by female duo LCC, debuting Bastet, another audio-visual work, made in collaboration with filmmaker Pedro Maia, also exploring music and natural landscapes.

Paola Laforgia

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PLAYLIST

YOUR TICKET TO... Soukous The Congolese music scene began to really ‘shake’ back in the 1950’s, when Caribbean rhythms and in particular Cuban rumba disembarked on the Central African shores of the Atlantic Ocean and caught the attention and favours of local musicians.

Soukous (a term derived from the French secousse or ‘to shake’) came to life in those years, blending together the rich local folk repertoire with the appealing Caribbean beats. In the following decades, the style grew up exponentially. It ramped up its tempo and, being “born to be danced to”, spread its popularity all over the African Continent and Europe.

Since its formation in the early ‘70s, Orchestra Baobab has been one of the most original interpreters of soukous. The Senegalese band adapted the Central African music to their Casamance heritage and even added some North African scents to it.

Since Orchestra Baobab will bring their so-called Senegalese rumba to London on the 30th of October, we asked TASH LC, one of their biggest fans and of London’s most interesting and danceable DJs to retrace the history of soukous, and introduce us to the style through 15 tracks.

1. Kanda Bongo Man - Monie 2. Bibi Den’s Tshibayi - The Best Ambiance 3. Lutchiana Mobulu 100% City Train (El Serrucho) 4. Wenge Musica Maison Mère - Kalayi Boeing 5. Aurlus Mbele - Betty 6. Lea Lignanzi - Dédé Priscilla Scan the QR Code 7. Bell’a Njoh - Mambo Penya Or visit th e link to lis ten 8. Mbilia Bel - Lisanga Bambnda http://bit.l y/RP17Oc tPL 9. Franco - Mamou 10. Rail Band with Mory Kante Wale Numa Lombaliya 11. Zaïko Langa Langa - Sandra Lina 12. Théo Blaise Kounkou - Radio Bala Bala 13. Tabu Ley Rochereu - Kasala 14. Nikola Zakaria & Khiama Boys Mwari Variko 15. Orchestra Baobab - Papa Ndiaye

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Tash LC

THE GUARDIAN

part of the Spirit of Brazil series, supported by BTG Pactual

ELIANE ELIAS SAMBA BRAZIL

Cadogan Hall, Tuesday 14 November

TA K S I M T R I O +DORANTES

CADOGAN HALL, MONDAY 13 NOVEMBER

Dorantes has created a whole new language of flamenco piano - joined by Taksim Trio, the great Turkish group who play Ottoman instruments.

Chucho Valdés & Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Barbican, Saturday 11 November (matinee)

ZA K I R H U S SA I N CROSSCURRENTS WITH DAVE HOLLAND AND CHRIS POTTER Barbican Saturday 11 November

efglondonjazzfestival.org.uk Title Sponsor:

In association with

INTERVIEW

Nick Blenagcukina Gogo P

Blending Jazz and Electronica RP: How did the sound of Gogo Penguin develop?

NB: Well the band first got together to try out some ideas and just to write some music. There wasn’t really even an intention to go out and perform live at that stage. That was with a different bass player and the music ended up becoming The band spent the summer in the the debut album Fanfares. Shortly after it studio recording their fourth album was released it was clear that a different that will be released in early 2018. We approach was needed. I was invited to reached the band’s bassist Nick Blacka join the band along with Joe Reiser our to learn more about their unique sound, live sound engineer who also records and the new jazz scene and the special co-produces the albums and we wrote performance they have planned for their v2.0 together. After the success of v2.0 we upcoming London show on the 11th of started touring a lot which really brought October at Barbican Centre. the live performances together. The sound of GoGo Penguin is really just the Rhythm Passport: What was the first sound of the three of us together and the thing that drew you into music? combination of our different influences.

Nick Blacka: Well for the three of us as Electronica, jazz and classical being the individuals each story is slightly different most heavily referenced I guess. but I think the one experience that we all share is that music gripped us unlike anything else in life and we were all compelled to pursue that thing no matter what the outcome. For me personally it was hearing my older brother’s friend’s band performing at school and for whatever reason I was drawn to the sound of the bass guitar. I knew immediately that I had to get one and see where I could take it.

When talking about some the best music projects in the contemporary scene one cannot fail to mention Gogo Penguin, the Manchester based trio that brings jazz and electronica together in highly rhythmical, climatic compositions and truly compelling live shows.

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Photo credits: Emily Dennison

Photo credits: Emily Dennison

RP: How do you relate with the Manchester and UK music scene.

Can you describe it in a few words? Is there any up-and-coming artist/band we have a listen to?

NB: Manchester is simply a great city to live in for music. Not just guitar bands but electronica, folk, hip hop whatever, it’s a really creative place to be and we love it. There are so many good acts in Manchester that we’re friends with or know about. They’re not specifically related to what we do but check out Honeyfeet or any project that their singer Ríoghnach Connolly is involved in. She’s a force of nature. We also like Everything Everything but they’re already very well established. They rehearse just downstairs in the same building as us in Manchester.

RP: In October you’ll perform your own reinterpretation of 1982 documentary Koyaanisqatsi’s soundtrack. How did this opportunity come up?

NB: It came about because a new centre for art, cinema and theatre was opening in Manchester a couple of years ago, a place called ‘Home”. At the time they were commissioning various Manchester acts to write and perform a unique live score to a silent movie. We were

asked if we were interested in doing something for it. At first we picked an old silent Japanese film but we couldn’t find who owned the rights to the film and therefore couldn’t get permission to use it. Rob had always fancied doing a different take on Koyaanisqatsi and mentioned it not really thinking we’d get permission to do it. Anyway they asked and we got permission so we wrote our own live score to be performed for two nights in Manchester. That was supposed to be the end of it but as we’d written the music and put so much work into the project we decided we should try and do a few more performances of it if the opportunity arose.

RP: In the past few months you have focused on the recording of your new album and we’re looking forward to hearing it. Can you tell us something about it?

NB: Yeah, all the music has been recorded and is finished. We’re still working on finer details such as mixes, titles and the track order at the moment.

It’s difficult to tell you too much about it at this stage but we’re all very happy with how the music has come out and we’re looking forward to sharing it with you early next year.

Stefania Vulpi

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IssuE #2 OCTOBER '17

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Nomade Orquestra - EntreMundos (Far Out Recordings)

Made up of ten performers residing in Sao Paulo, this is evidence that Brazil has the ability to be at the centre of the world. Constructing soundscapes from a wide range of influences from Afro-Brazilian, Ethio-jazz, Funk, street brass, Middle Eastern and Oriental styles, this gives substance to the term ‘world music’.

EntreMundos is their second album released on 23rd June with Far Out Recordings, the UK label pioneering Brazilian music. The group originally started as a foursome and grew organically as they enrolled their comrades and musical friends from their local Sao Paulo suburbs.

In its whole, this instrumental album creates a multi-dimensional image of a constantly changing galaxy, where each song reveals a different perspective.

The LP is packed with drama and unexpected turns using adrenaline and excitement to catapult you through their world.

For such a large orchestra, it’s impressive that each member conjures their own image and influences the soundscape, adding their own context to the whole creation. This feels like an equal combination of talented minds, with no one voice dominating the sound.

9/10

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Jane Cocklin

P YTH M ASS

POR

Like a dream, the album passes so quickly the details are vague, but all you know is you loved every second.

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“Rinoceronte Blues” is their most instantly accessible song on the album but far from predictable. Spookily ascending into an explosion of brass and metal, the introductory cosmic big bang gives birth to a catchy engagement between bass and harmonica blues. Each player filling the gaps of their celestial bandmates, the stellar sounds ground you onto one of their many arresting and vivid planets. The horns take lead of the exploration into a ska-fuelled knees-up.

psychedelic rock reminiscent of the Doors and then plunges headfirst into a compulsive Afro-Brazilian percussion solo, embracing the carnival spirit.

This newest landscape in their sonic universe reveals beckoning oriental crying melodies on vocals mirrored by the horns, turning the corner into a new territory.

RH

Nomade Orquestra unravel the nomadic spirit threading our bones together and turbulently take us to into previously undiscovered dimensions.

With the musical depth of each song opening up new vistas, we are swung into their innermost sacred space. The band give no choice but to push reality aside and cosy up to their deliciously mangled psychotropic haze.

AOFLBUM THE MONTH

M R E VIEW

“Felag Mengu” is their fifth track.

Starting out with 1960’s style jazzy

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ALBUM REVIEWS

Susso - Keira (Soundway Records)

RH

POR

Susso is the Afro-electronic project of bassist/ producer Huw Bennett, fusing his lilting, loping, rhythmic textures with field recordings collected during his travels along the River Gambia. It’s a task requiring a fine balance of moods, tones and atmospheres to prevent the material being overwhelmed - for there’s a timeless, dusty quality to these griot tribal recordings.

“Ansuma” displays the kora with magical harp-like flourishes dancing over a bass line propelling forward - percussion snaps along to keep the vibe fresh and upbeat. On “Alagi” there’s a hint of jazzy, Balearic goodness as bass and percussion underpin sun-kissed guitar.

Closer “Sun Kunda” creates a perfect mood with a melancholic keyboard pattern. Keira takes a few listens to hook you in, but you’re rewarded P YTH M ASS with a meditative, hypnotic, uplifting experience. Bennett has crafted a beguiling, deep and mesmerising album, which perfectly executes the marriage of traditional sounds and textures with understated BU rhythms. Wayne Wright M IEW

REV

Da Kali & Kronos Quartet - Ladilikan Trio (World Circuit Records)

For over 40 years Kronos Quartet have trodden a most eclectic path, both in terms of their output and their collaborations. Their latest with Trio Da Kali (Fodé Lassana Diabaté, Mamadou Kouyaté and singer Hawa ‘Kassé Mady’ Diabate) stays true to that claim with the album’s first single, the very funky “Eh Ya Ye”, being a

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9/10

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Seb Pitman

RHY

case in point.

Kronos Quartet really demonstrate their versatility, embracing a music which dates back hundreds of years. They seem equally adroit in support of TDK’s sound as they are in the realm of the many classical pieces they’ve written for them. In “Tita”, there are moments when this feels like a cinematic score. At other times, as with “God Shall Wipe All The Tears Away”, we are transported to the age of slavery, while “Lila Bambo” really showcases the virtuoso talent of Diabaté.

Diabaté summed it up when he said “this is going to be the best collaboration of my life”. There’s a very good chance that he was right.

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8/10

ALBUMWS REVIE

Ya Tosiba - Love Party (Asphalt Tango)

RH

POR

Think of two places culturally and geographically distant like Finland and Azerbaijan and let their flavours blend.

Mix together, shake well and there you have Ya Tosiba, the Berlin based duo that merges the raw electronic sounds of Finnish skwee pioneer Mesak with the cryptic hypnotic voice of Norwegian-Azerbaijani singer Zuzu Zakaria. Love Party - released on 9th of June

by Asphalt Tango - is their first full-length album and it’s an unexpected blend of sounds, cultural influences and stories of everyday life in the streets of Azerbaijan’s capital Baku. Their sound is new, yet familiar – a contemporary interpretation of eastern musical tradition. “Keçi”, the opening track, immediately drags us in to a state of trance, the eastern legacy emerging in tracks like “Qurban Gelir” and “Love Party” where raw synths deputise P violins, setars and lutes with melodies reminiscent of traditional Persian YTH M ASS and Arabic music. Ya Tosiba is indeed unique, Their music is an inimitable blend of great ingredients with Zuzu Zakaria’s unique voice, Mesak’s finest production and a load of willingness to experiment with both.

BU M R E VIEW Stefania Vulpi

T

AL

7.5/10

Bordello - Seekers and Finders Gogol (Cooking Vinyl)

TH M

8/10

EW

AL

PA S S P O

RT

Rebecca Mastrorocco

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The Gogol Bordello family has returned with Seekers and Finders, a well-balanced and joyful combination of tunes. Frontman Eugene Hütz and comrades have ridden an uplifting wave of community via every song. Recorded in the States and released

by Cooking Vinyl, this album can recharge your energies. For the Gogol Bordello fans out there, you will definitely hear the good old Gogol Bordello spirit, as “Break into Your Higher Self ” and ‘Saboteur Blues’ are a reminder of. The album’s mid-trio of “Seekers and Finders”, “Familia Bonfireball” and “Clearvoyance”, capture the sense of conscious selfdiscovery that everyone struggles to pursue. An album’s coda has to sum up the message, before the music comes to an end. “Still That Way” does so, resonating as an easy-going prayer to not focus on the contemplation of either the past’s brighter colours or future’s darkening days, but to simply feel our present in the one shared community we already belong to.

B U M RE VI

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A HACKNEY EMPIRE CO-COMMISSION AND CO-PRODUCTION WITH OPERA PHILADELPHIA AND THE APOLLO THEATER HARLEM

E U R O P E A N

P R E M I E R E

MUSIC DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN WORDS MARC BAMUTHI JOSEPH STAGE DIRECTOR + CHOREOGRAPHER BILL T. JONES

READER OFFER £15 Best available seats (use promo code ‘rhythm’)

STUDENT OFFER

Limited number of £5 tickets available per performance (NUS card is required)

Available to book in person, online & over the phone. Booking fees £1 online, £1.25 over the phone SUPPORTED BY

HACKNEYEMPIRE.CO.UK 020 8985 2424

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14 - 21 OCT

EVENT REVIEW BoomTown Fair @ Matterley Estate, Winchester (10th to 13th August 2017)

Indeed, iconic bands were most certainly on the menu for the weekend - we managed to see The Specials the next day, again at the e Lion’s Den (with a short but intens stopover at reggae-metal fusionists Skindred on the way!) Much like Toots & the Maytals, The Specials drew a huge crowd of excited revellers, who enjoyed classics like On one side of the festival lies the “Ghost Town” and “A Message To more hardcore world of Downtown You Rudy”.

Boomtown, bringing you drum n’ Boomtown plans to return to , bass, garage, jungle, ska and more Matterley Estate for the 16th-19th from the immersive Chinatown and August 2018 for Chapter 10: The Bang Hai sets. On the top of the hill, , Machine Cannot Be Stopped, and the green pastures of Whistler’s Green , you can be sure it will sell out again the sets of Old Town and Trench Town s to the sheer level of work that thank with , ience exper offer a more rootsy goes into creating this immersive plenty of folk, world and reggae. to festival. I most certainly will be back ible The music began with a colourful take in another selection of incred opening ceremony at the Lion’s international artists, and to Den - 20,000 people gathered to see what else the next Toots hear legendary reggae group chapter holds... ble verita a rm & the Maytals perfo April Coffey us glorio tely absolu in ‘greatest hits’ set, weather. Next we travelled to the Old Mines stage to catch an energetic set from 47Soul, whose a distinctive Shamstep sound drew great crowd of dancing revellers.

Then it was back to Trenchtown to see hip hop royalty Cypress Hill, who provided an epic climax to Friday, as the immense crowd sang along to classics like “Insane in the Membrane”, and enjoyed fireworks erupting from the stage.

rley Boomtown Fair returned to Matte Estate in Winchester from the 10th 13th August for the much-anticipated l.

Chapter 9: Behind the Mask festiva A crowd of 60,000 excited punters arrived to a surprisingly sunny of weekend after days of rain; to one the most imaginative festival sets that exists in the world right now.

Photo credits: Scott

Salt

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iv a l : n r a C e v o 7) L 1 ’ s 0 o 2 t s u M o v im ie nltW a r m U p ug A h t 5 a 2 ( iv n r é Ca af C s t r A F @ CL

GALLERY

Photo credits: Ila Brughal

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INTERVIEW

Eno Williams

Ibibio Sound Machin

e

The Uplifting Side of Music Last time we met Ibibio Sound Machine it was a little more than a year ago. They were “still” one of the most interesting bands enriching the London music scene.

12 months or so later, we find them as a “global music phenomenon”, with an exciting new album, new label and ongoing world tour.

In the last 12 months, our second album came out [titled Uyai and published in March] and we moved from Soundway to Merge Records. We were pretty much done with the second album more than a year ago, when we still were with Soundway. So, I can’t say that the move from one label to the other really changed our sound. We are very, very thankful We will meet them again in London with Soundway because they picked our on the 23rd of October, when they’ll first record and put it out. We will always energise Scala with their upbeat be grateful for what they’ve done and highlife, afrobeat and funky sound. But how much they have helped us along before that, we reached Eno Williams, the way. At the same time, we are also frontwoman of the band, to understand grateful to Merge, because they came what’s happened in the last year and across and helped us take the next step. where Ibibio Sound Machine are Moving to Merge was the beginning of a heading to. new chapter in the Ibibio Sound Machine “In some way, we have taken our place experience. in the London scene [she laughs]. No, We wondered if the band is following a I mean, that’s what we do: our music is very energetic and we bring together path considering their growth.

“We never thought about an overall path African lyrics with electronic sounds, synths, highlife and afrobeat... That’s what or route to follow, but I can say there’s a path in Ibibio’s lyrics, what we speak keeps the vibe and energy in. We just about in our songs and how we use the keep those elements and feelings going language from the South Eastern part of and that’s what people really like about Nigeria to narrate stories. That’s the main the band.

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Photo credit: Emma Marshall

tapestry of our compositions. Then we mix all that with highlife, funk, electronic and a more modern Western sound, that’s to give something different to our listeners.

Our sound has always been pretty much experimental and people are usually quite intrigued by that. So we are constantly looking forward to finding something new, something that has never really been done before”.

something: lyrics, melodies, grooves… different things. Doing that, it allowed everyone to get into the creative process.

We put everything in the pot, just like cooking. We put all the ingredients down and then we found out what was working.

Being everyone together made things easy: it was an organic process. We got together in the room, worked together and explored each other’s ideas”.

Uyai, the band’s latest album is six months old… Enough time time to have a quick look back, retrace its story and think over it a bit.

“We started thinking about Uyai when we were on the road touring our first album. Sometimes during sound checks or being on the road, we start singing or playing new harmonies. So we always come up with new ideas and then just put them away and pile them up. So, when we decided to spend some time together in the studio, everyone came up with

Six months after the release of their second album and already thinking about the third one, what is influencing Ibibio Sound Machine’s creativity?

“In today’s creative process we are digging deeper in the West African sound. We are listening a lot to William Onyeabor and Victor Uwaifo. We still listen to Talking Heads and punk as well…so we listen to a lot of different stuff. I suppose that’s because England’s influences are quite diverse. Then we got - now I’m talking about myself - African music and what I

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listened to when I was a child, which was everything from Angelique Kidjo to Miriam Makeba, from James Brown and Aretha Franklin to Witney Houston. All those big voices and performers. Then, we also got highlife from Ghana and more percussive Cuban and Brazilian sounds. Finally, we also got a lot of electronic influences. That’s because we want to keep the electronic sound in our music”.

As Eno revealed to us, London can also be considered as one of the band’s main influences…

“To be honest there’s so much going on in London. Since London is such a cosmopolitan place, there’s so much culture and there’s music everywhere you turn your head. For example, I’m really looking forward to the LCD Soundsystem gig coming up in a few days. It’s always nice to check out new sounds and what’s happening because London is really full of that”.

Undoubtedly, another meaningful influence in Ibibio Sound Machine’s music is Nigeria. The country where Eno grew up and where her roots are.

“To bring my Nigerian roots in my music was more an experimentation for people to be accepting and open to it. It is something that makes me very happy, because it has always been a case of sharing the stuff I’ve been growing up with as a child and it’s like ‘ok, this is what formed my cultural background’.

Since the language is quite musical, it helps me to keep the authenticity of the stories I tell, I decided to keep on with the culture as well”.

When thinking about Ibibio’s songs, it is impossible not to take into consideration their lyrics. Written by

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Eno using the Ibibio language, they show how music can be instrumental to let people open their eyes, think about and answer to what’s happening in the world.

“We’re all human beings and when things happen we all get affected. We get sad or happy about what happens in the world and we react to it in one way or another. An example is a song I wrote for our last album and titled ‘Give Me a Reason’. That came out of the story that happened in Nigeria a few years ago about the Chibok girls kidnapping. We were like in the process of writing new songs and I read about that story and I realised that since it was happening in another part of the world, people didn’t really feel affected by it. But in that case, it was happening at home, where I went to school. I once went to school in Nigeria and I was a girl just like those girls. But I felt like that would have never happened when I went to school. So how come things changed so much? Why girls today don’t have the right to receive an education? Why can’t people be free to be what they want to be? So I was more frustrated than angry. I was questioning why these things were happening. That’s how ‘Give Me a Reason’ came about”. …and what are Ibibio Sound Machine going to say on the Scala stage on the 23rd of October?

“Let’s dance! That’s always our mantra.

Everybody come down and let’s have a bit of a boogie together. Ibibio’s music is uplifting and makes you move. We are the first ones who never get tired of dancing: we have a need of doing it, constantly keeping our music alive”.

Marco Canepari

EVENT LISTINGS

WHAT’s on in OCTOBER

THURSDAY, 5TH OCTOBER AT 7PM

Enzo Avitabile

DINGWALLS; CAMDEN TOWN ITALIAN, MEDITERRANEAN, FOLK

THURSDAY, 5TH OCTOBER AT 9.30PM

Jally Kebba Susso

ROYAL ALBERT HALL; SOUTH KENSINGTON GRIOT, KORA PLAYER, WEST AFRICAN, GAMBIAN

SATURDAY, 7TH OCTOBER 7.30PM

Nubiyan Twist ROYAL ALBERT HALL; SOUTH KENSINGTON BRAZILIAN, HIP-HOP, SPOKEN WORD, AFRO-BRAZILIAN

SATURDAY, 7TH OCTOBER 9PM

Baraka MAGIC GARDEN; BATTERSEA FUSION, REGGAE, WEST AFRICAN, IRISH

MONDAY, 9TH SEPTEMBER AT 7.30PM

47Soul: 'Balfron Promise’ Album Launch VILLAGE UNDERGROUND; SHOREDITCH MIDDLE EASTERN, ELECTRO-DABKÉ, SHAMSTEP

WEDNESDAY, 11TH OCTOBER AT 7.30PM

Koyaanisqatsi: Live Score by GoGo Penguin BARBICAN CENTRE; BARBICAN AMBIENT, SOUNDTRACK, ALT-JAZZ, ELECTRONICA

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WHAT’s on in OCTOBER SATURDAY, 14TH OCTOBER AT 7PM

Benjamin Zephaniah & The Revolutionary Minds with Amy True THE JAZZ CAFÉ; CAMDEN SPOKEN WORDS, HIP-HOP, DUB

SATURDAY, 14TH OCTOBER AT 8PM

Shiraz with Anoushka Shankar BARBICAN CENTRE; BARBICAN INDIAN, SITAR PLAYER, LIVE SOUNDTRACK

SATURDAY, 14TH OCTOBER AT 9PM

South London All Skas / George Works Sacha Dieu / Shed Dweller MAGIC GARDEN; BATTERSEA SKA, REGGAE, DUB

TUESDAY, 17TH OCTOBER AT 8.30PM

Eliane Correa & En El Aire Project PIZZA EXPRESS JAZZ CLUB; SOHO CUBAN, AFRO-CUBAN, LATIN JAZZ

WEDNESDAY, 18TH OCTOBER AT 7.30PM

DASHA RUSH WITH LCC MILTON COURT CONCERT HALL; BARBICAN ELECTRONICA, EXPERIMENTAL, AUDIO VISUAL

THURSDAY, 19TH OCTOBER AT 8PM

Ibeyi SHOREDITCH TOWN HALL, SHOREDITCH AFRO-CUBAN, ELECTRONICA, HIP-HOP, R&B

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EVENT LISTINGS

WHAT’s on in OCTOBER

THURSDAY, 19TH OCTOBER AT 8.30PM

Osvaldo Chacón y su Timba PIZZA EXPRESS JAZZ CLUB; SOHO CUBAN, AFRO-CUBAN, LATIN JAZZ, TIMBA

FRIDAY, 20TH OCTOBER AT 7PM

Black Star - Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) & Talib Kweli TROXY; LIMEHOUSE HIP-HOP, RAP

FRIDAY, 20TH OCTOBER AT 10PM

Kishon Khan presents:CubAfrobeat feat. Dele Sosimi PIZZA EXPRESS JAZZ CLUB; SOHO LATIN, WEST AFRICAN, AFRO-CUBAN, AFROBEAT

FRIDAY, 20TH OCTOBER AT 10.30PM

Night Thing with

Owiny Sigoma Soundsystem & Banana Hill THE JAZZ CAFÉ; CAMDEN TOWN AFRO-ELECTRO, AFRO-DANCE

SATURDAY, 21ST OCTOBER AT 2PM th

Tru Thoughts 18 BDay

with Quantic, Hot 8 Brass Band, Alice Russell…

ROUNDHOUSE; CHALK FARM FESTIVAL

MONDAY, 23TH OCTOBER AT 7PM

Ibibio Sound Machine

KINGS CROSS; CAMDEN WEST AFRICAN, AFRO-FUNK, AFRO-ELECTRO, HIGHLIFE

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WHAT’s on in OCTOBER WEDNESDAY, 25TH OCTOBER AT 7PM

Marcelo D2 & SambaDrive THE JAZZ CAFÉ; CAMDEN BRAZILIAN, HIP-HOP, SAMBA, JAZZ

THURSDAY, 26TH OCTOBER AT 7PM

Kojey Radical VILLAGE UNDERGROUND, SHOREDITCH HIP-HOP, RAP, SPOKEN WORDS

SATURDAY, 28TH OCTOBER AT 7PM

Akala: Vision Tour O2 SHEPERDS BUSH EMPIRE; SHEPERDS BUSH HIP-HOP, SPOKEN WORDS

MONDAY, 30TH OCTOBER AT 7PM

Orchestra Baobab

KOKO; CAMDEN TOWN SENEGALESE, WEST AFRICAN, SOUKOUS, AFRO-CUBAN

MONDAY, 30TH OCTOBER AT 7PM

VINICIO CAPOSSELA O2 SHEPERDS BUSH EMPIRE; SHEPERDS BUSH ITALIAN, SINGER/SONGWRITER, FOLK, COUNTRY

TUESDAY, 31ST OCTOBER AT 7PM

Jacob Banks: Into the Wild Tour

SHOREDITCH TOWN HALL, SHOREDITCH SOUL, R&B, SINGER/SONGWRITER

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The Saze Project The Joys and Sorrows of Southern Albanian Song

ON TOUR Wed 1 Nov \ Cardiff \ RWCMD \ www.rwcmd.ac.uk \ 029 2039 1391 Fri 3 Nov \ Bangor \ Pontio \ pontio.co.uk \ 01248 382828 Sat 4 Nov \ London \ LSO St Lukes \ barbican.org.uk \ 020 7638 8891 Sun 5 Nov \ Milton Keynes \ The Stables \ stables.org \ 01908 280800 Mon 6 Nov \ Cambridge \ Junction \ junction.co.uk \ 01223 511511 Tue 7 Nov \ York \ NCEM \ ncem.co.uk \ 01904 658338 www.kapa-productions.com Wed 8 Nov \ Bristol \ Colston Hall/The Lantern \ colstonhall.org \ 0844 8871500 Thu 9 Nov \ Sheffield \ University of Sheffield \ sheffield.ac.uk/concerts \ 0333 6663366 Fri 10 Nov \ Lincoln \ Performing Arts Centre \ lpac.co.uk \ 01522 837600 Sat 11 Nov \ Gateshead \ Sage Gateshead \ sagegateshead.com \ 0191 4434661

A Sadler’s Wells Production. Co-produced with BB Promotion, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg and Birmingham Hippodrome

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“A carnival of high-octane song and dance” Mail on Sunday

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“Cuba is back in business and bursting to show you a good time. Irresistible” Sunday Express

24 Oct - 11 Nov peacocktheatre.com

Holborn