A worthy custodian of the treasures of Mandingo Africa, Souraka Koite, the Senegalese griot (bard), is the man in the spotlight on this new reissue of En Hollande by Awesome Tapes From Africa. It is a remarkable cassette – showcasing a unique 1984 solo kora recording that took place in a converted chicken coop.
They made our year! Here is a shortlist of the albums chosen by Qwest TV's journalists amongst the best releases of 2018.
It has been said that there would be no contemporary art without Quattrocento, no Mozart without Bach and no Coltrane without Eastern culture. We might add that there would be no New Flamenco without Raül Fernández Miró, better known as Refree.
With the Abass Orchestra’s De Bassari Togo, this time the Analog Africa label offers us an Afrofunk dive into the golden age of the still largely unknown “Islamic Funk Belt.”
Lionel Loueke's latest opus, The Journey, marks an elegant voyage that feels global as well as intimate.
Ahead of her show at the 46th Autumn Festival in Paris, we take a look back at the career of one of the foremost contemporary choreographers. From Mozart to Miles Davis, the music that Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker engages with spans history and genre, but her vision remains centered on that most fundamental of relationships: music and the body.
The label Awesome Tapes From Africa has never lived up to its name so well as with this reissue of Asnakech, a 1975 tape recorded in Addis Ababa by two icons of the Ethiopian scene: Asnakech Worku and Hailu Mergia.
The guembri's history spans across epochs, continents and musical genres. Let's take a closer look at the Gnawa instrument's story so far as it infuses the music of Mâalems with that of jazzmen as well as electronic frontrunners, too.
Danyèl Waro is an emblematic, militant and still very active voice of the maloya genre. The first vinyl reissue of his visceral volcano of an album, Aou Amwin, is available now.
Gaye Su Akyol unveiled İstikrarlı Hayal Hakikattir, her latest creation, in an iridescent cape, mutinous bangs, and war paints on the New Morning stage in Paris last October 28. On this excellent third album just released on Glitterbeat Records, the Istanbul artist pits psyche-punk surrealism and emancipatory dreams against conservative oppression. Let’s meet her.
