A week of contrasts
Current mood: good
Category: Music

Natacha Atlas' show at the Jazz Café attracted a large, appreciative audience and good "live" reviews in both The Guardian (by John L Walters) and the London Evening Standard (by Jane Cornwell). The show had been booked long before the new acoustic album Ana Hina was scheduled and comprised mostly her older electric set with some teasers of what is to come when the new album is released at the end of May. There will be an acoustic showcase in June, probably at The Pigalle, London, featuring the full orchestra and soloists. Should be an unmissable event. You can read the reviews of the Jazz Café at The Guardian and the Evening Standard.

The much-lauded Dengue Fever will be in the UK in May and Finnish harmonica quartet Sväng in July. More details soon (will be posted in both blogs and bulletins).

The media mailshots were done this week for two new box sets - Mariza (EMI) by Mariza and the Various Artists Free Reed Revival re:Masters series (12 CDs and box: see pic above right). Not having done any box sets in recent years, I'd forgotten how much effort goes into getting the sets packed properly, into the mail (postage this week was up by an additional £500 and there was an extra 70 recorded delivery slips to complete) and out to the various media recipients. Everything seems to be working O.K., however, with packages arriving the next day.

This past week has been one of meterological contrasts with brilliant sunshine and early summer heat on several days plus a day or so of heavy snow. All the animals who regularly drop by our garden from the land situated between our rear stone wall and the cliffs -- the foxes, squirrels, Jays, doves, magpies, dunnocks, robins and blue tits -- are all on full Spring alert. It's a wonderful, regenerating period and one of my favourites of the year.

Listening this week to: the double CD set Various Artists Theme Time Hour (Ace); Edgar Varèse Complete Works Of...Volume 1 (El); Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective Wátina (cumbanche); William S Burroughs Real English Tea Made Here (Audio Research Editions); and an advance copy of Yusa Haiku (Tumi), the latter due for release in June.

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Taping - when 3 Heads are better than 2
Current mood: animated
Category: Music

The past fortnight has seen a couple of my tape machines finally cease to work. As I have iPods (x 3), CD-Recorders (x 2), DAT machines (x 2) and a mobile phone that can record up to an hour of conversation, the need for audio cassette recorders may seem redundant. However, I have around 200 cassettes, many of them of quite obscure material -- including early cassettes of such stuff as Serbian / Croatian choirs and folk groups, early Calypso 78s on tape, significant demos received by young bands / artists who have gone on to great popularity, and compilations given by friends that are just right as they are (even if I have most, if not all, of the performances on vinyl or CD myself!).

Trying to buy a new audio cassette machine is not, however, an easy task. Most stores, whether online or in the High Street have only one 2-Head model, if any (and certainly not any affordable 3-Head machines like my original one: the extra head allowing a monitor switch between source and cassette to check quality of recording). I eventually managed to purchase one of the Ion Tape2PC decks, which I’ve plugged into my Apple Mac in order to transfer the most important stuff to mp3 / my iPod or CD-R. (There’s much moaning in chat rooms about how impenetrable is the Audacity software for this equipment. It’s actually very good and easy to use: it just requires the buyer reads the manual.)

Also, I managed to track down a Sony recorder to use for taping phone interviews with singers / musicians. I still prefer a cassette recorder for this purpose as it seems much easier to pause during the transcribing of an interview. My previous Sony phone recorder lasted 18 years (and my main hi-fi cassette deck 20 years!) so I suppose I shouldn’t complain though I’m always against junking stuff without an attempted repair because of the environmental implications.

Currently reading Albert Camus Exile and the Kingdom (Penguin) and Kevin McDermott ELEPHANT HOUSE or. The Home of Edward Gorey (Pomegranate) and listening to Various Artists Victrola Favorites (Dust-to-Digital) and an advance of Natacha Atlas and the Mazeeka Ensemble Ana Hina (World Village) due out on 26 May 2008

Currently listening : King Ubu By Teiji Ito Release date: 21 July, 1998

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Recycling a past and tasting the future
Current mood: creative
Category: Music

Cultural and spiritual life has always been, for me at least, a synthesis of new experiences and the best of the past. My contemporaries, however, sometimes seem to be split into two distinct groups: those who completely wallow in nostalgia (a 50-something taxi driver recently regaled me with stories of the 1960s festivals he had attended -- ’They don’t make music like that anymore!’ he exclaimed) and others who will entertain only the new, as if previous enthusiasms never existed at all. (For the record, I attended ’60s festivals and club gigs, catching the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Donovan, The Byrds, Freddie King, Bert Jansch, Shirley Collins and Hedy West but also love much of the new music I hear each year at the Cambridge Folk and WOMAD festivals and the English Colisseum Opera House.)

Recently reading Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach (Vintage) and J G Ballard’s Miracles Of Life (4th Estate), plus Jeanette Winterson’s recent Times feature (which can be read at Time Is A Luxury), made me embark on a re-read of the work of Albert Camus, whom I first read extensively in the ’60s and early ’70s. So far, I’ve enjoyed and been illuminated anew by Camus’ A Happy Death (Penguin) and The Myth Of Sisyphus (Penguin Modern Classics) with The Rebel (Penguin Modern Classics) and The Plague (Penguin Modern Classics) awaiting their turn among the pile of future reading.

A Happy Death made me realise how radically different a work can seem when revisited later in life (particularly once the reader has inhabited the same age at which the author wrote the words). It doesn’t invalidate the reading made when young. At that age, one often sees things more vividly, idealistically and, perhaps, truthfully (I was so much older then/I’m younger than that now as Bob Dylan sang). It just rounds out the experience of the text with the current state of the body as well as the mind -- which is why the book is a classic.

On what is proving to be a cold Easter (with snow flurries even reaching the South-East coast today), I’ve been listening to the 1968 South African modern jazz of The Chris McGregor Group Very Urgent (Fledg’ling) and Loren Connors Sails (Table Of The Elements). The latter is the 2005 double CD by this amazing guitar playing, musical deconstructionist. Probably his finest work to date, it takes apart the roots and basic licks of the blues and other early American music and reassembles them in a new creative whole (much as Albert Ayler took the growls and musical devices of early jazz to create his free blowing style, though Loren sounds nothing like Ayler).

After the holiday, I will begin PR work on the new Natacha Atlas album Ana Hina (World Village through Harmonia Mundi), a stunning acoustic set (her first) and due for release on 26 May. Watch out for a cover feature on Natacha in the next SONGLINES magazine and a joint cover feature interview / dialogue between Yasmin Levy and Natacha for fROOTS in June 2008 (this edition will celebrate the magazine’s 300th issue).

Just heard on the news of the passing of Cachao, the Mambo pioneer and fabulous musician. RIP and thanks for all the great sounds!

Currently listening : Master Sessions, Vol. 1 By Cachao Release date: 19 July, 1994

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17 Hippies - 4-star reviews in Guardian, Indie and OMM
Current mood: chipper
Category: Music

The press campaign for 17 HIPPIES has got off to an enthusiastic start. Last Friday saw two 4-star reviews in THE GUARDIAN (by Robin Denselow) and THE INDEPENDENT (by Andy Gill). These can be accessed online by clicking to Guardian reviews and Independent reviews. Charlie Gillett's earlier 4-star review in the OBSERVER MUSIC MONTHLY magazine (November 2007 issue) is at OMM reviews.

Pic (right): 17 Hippies

Currently listening : Heimlich By 17 Hippies Release date: 12 March, 2007

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Wyeside Arts Centre - more Arts funding cuts
Current mood: awake
Category: Music

Dr John Barrow emailed me this morning to ask if I would sign a petition to stop the closure of Wyeside Arts Centre in Wales. The award-winning Wyeside Arts Centre, home to Wales' longest-running cinema, faces enforced closure. Appeals to Powys County Council and the Arts Council of Wales have been declined.

This is all part of a parcel of massive cutbacks in Arts Council support to venues around the country so that money can be transferred to funding a small group of prominent theatres / venues and The Olympic Games. The idea that huge swathes of other cultural activity should get no support in the year of sport is such a petty, short-term vision.

In my mind, though, it is also a second prong to what is really a concerted attack on "live" music, particularly folk, jazz, blues and world. The recent restrictive licensing legislation for bars and small events has signalled the death for many folk clubs above pubs. Of course, festivals continue to flourish but these are major events subject to licensing and a raft of legislative rules. What the current UK government seems keen to do is dismantle any local music gatherings that are not strictly subject to Health & Safety legislation and licensing. This allows the authorities, in the future, to restrict and control music events by withdrawing approval for their existence.

I'm always surprised over the past few years, how the procession of Labour ministers appearing at the BBC Folk Awards to say how much they love folk music has never been met by either no applause or heckling. After all, they seem bent on doing their best to destroy the local, grassroots dimension that has always been an intimate part of the folk scene.

To sign the petition against closing the Wyeside Arts Centre, go to Save Wyeside Arts Centre

Currently reading : Letters of Ted Hughes By Ted Hughes Release date: 01 November, 2007

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Cape Verde music like a summer breeze - Carmen Souza
Current mood: blessed
Category: Music

The new album by young Cape Verde singer CARMEN SOUZA will be released by Connecting Cultures in the UK on 3 March 2008. She will play a series of gigs in the UK in support of it, including a London launch at Momo's.

I've been asked to handle her PR (written press, radio and TV) for this release and it's a pleasure to be working with yet another talented Cape Verde artist (there are new albums by others like Sara Tavares and Tito Paris due later this year). A fuller portrait of Carmen Souza and her new CD will be posted in the near future.

Pic (left): Carmen Souza in reflective mood

Currently listening : The Gentle Side of John Coltrane By John Coltrane Release date: 15 October, 1991

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Sväng low
Current mood: calm
Category: Music

A hit at the 2007 WOMEX expo, the new harmonica quartet SVÄNG will be releasing its second album Jarruta (Hit The Brakes) (Aito Records AICD013: distributed in the UK by Proper) on 3 March 2008. Devoted, since the band's inception in 2003, to the search for new potential in this familiar instrument, Sväng has built on the ensemble's eponymous début (Aito Records, 2004), gaining well-deserved attention and respect from critics and roots music aficionados alike. What makes Sväng unique is the fact that, unlike so many other harmonica groups, the band performs original material composed by the four members.

Jouko Kyhälä, the mastermind behind Sväng, is the first person to complete a doctoral thesis on harmonica at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. Kyhälä's band mates, Eero Grundström, Pasi Leino, and Eero Turkka, are each well-respected harmonica professionals. In addition to remarkable individual musicianship, Sväng also boasts a great sense of team effort, thanks to their numerous domestic and international performances.

Sväng's eagerly awaited sophomore effort Jarruta (hit the brakes) will be released by the Helsinki-based Aito Records on 3 March 2008. The album sees the group continue to push the envelope in terms of finding new possibilities for an often overlooked instrument. On Jarruta, Sväng sets on a task to further develop their completely unique signature sound which relies heavily on the individual and combined virtuosity of the quartet. In fact, with Sväng it is sometimes easy to forget that we're dealing with a harmonica ensemle here. When the compositional skills and performance reach a certain level it is difficult to believe that the instrument being used is one of the most common and readily available ones known to man.

Technique, of course, is important as well. Each of the four members has a distinct part to play in creating the Sväng sound. The bass harmonica, along with several kinds of chromatic and diatonic ones combine into four elements coming together in a way which somehow seems to total more than four participants. The indefinable additional element so often sought after in the arts is clearly present as well.

Furthermore, by utilising a special playing technique called "overbending", the virtuosos of Sväng manage to take their instruments to new heights. This technique is best heard on tracks such as the catchy Deadline, which simultaneously serves as a reference point to the idea behind the album concept at hand. That is, we should all slow down a bit in order to detach ourselves from the hectic pace of everyday life in the 21st century. Maybe even hit the brakes at times. Just listen and you'll catch the drift.

Pic (above left): Sväng blows up a storm

Currently listening : Art of Field Recording, Vol. 1 By Various Artists Release date: 06 November, 2007

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Flu and Dengue Fever
Current mood: optimistic
Category: Music

For me, it's rare to come through the Christmas and New Year holidays lighter in body weight than when I went in. However, that's what happened this year. Jan went down with the flu on Christmas Day and I was in the same shape by Boxing Day. We were laid up -- running a fever, aching and sleeping 23 hours out of 24 -- until around 3 January. As a result, Jan dropped two dress sizes and I lost several pounds too. Strangely enough, I'd had a flu jab in October (pressured as usual, post cardiac, by my GP) but it must have been the wrong kind of flu jab.

Only just catching up with the music received over the holiday period and work in hand. Listening, in no particular order to Henry Flynt & Nova'billy (Locust); Henry Flynt & The Insurrections I Dont Wanna (Locust); Harold McNair The Fence plus bonus tracks (Bodyheat); Dengue Fever Dengue Fever (Web Of Mimicry) and Escape From Dragon House (M80); Joe Pass Joy Spring (Pacific Jazz) and an advance copy of the new album Wanderlust by Kiran Ahluwalia (World Connection), which boldy unites Indian and Persian ghazals with Portuguese fado and is released on 21 April 2008.

A bunch of media features underway: Rachel Unthank in THE INDEPENDENT (by Tim Cumming), THE SUN (by Simon Cosyns), MAVERICK (by Hazel Davis) and SALUT! LIVE (by Colin Randall); Yasmin Levy in THE GUARDIAN (by John Lewis) on Friday 18 January, just before Yasmin embarks on her UK national tour; Sevara Nazarkhan Rocket Launcher feature in fROOTS (March issue).

Currently listening : Wanderlust By Kiran Ahluwalia Release date: 28 August, 2007

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Current mood: calm
Category: Music

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all readers of this blog!

In the spirit of the season, here's hoping 2008 brings more tolerance, patience and love between the inhabitants of, what is after all, just one tiny planet set in the immensity of the galaxies. God's golfball, indeed.

Currently watching : Symphony of Sorrowful Songs Release date: 20 November, 2007

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Two London shows for Rachel Unthank & The Winterset
Current mood: cold
Category: Music

Following the BBC Folk Awards ceremony on Monday 4 February 2008,
RACHEL UNTHANK & THE WINTERSET will play two London shows:

The Borderline, Charing Cross Road, LONDON on 8 and 9 February 2008.

Order now. Doors - 7pm

Tickets - £15.00 available from www.seetickets.com 08701500044
TICKET HOTLINE: 0871 231 0842 (24 hours)

Tickets for their last two London shows sold out quickly. To avoid disappointment, book early!

Watch out for upcoming features on the group in THE INDEPENDENT and THE SUN.

Currently listening : Blowing in From Chicago By Clifford Jordan and John Gilmore Release date: 26 July, 2000

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BBC Folk Awards nominations 2008
Current mood: cheerful
Category: Music

Two of the artists for whom I handle UK publicity and PR have been nominated for a total of six Awards in the 2008 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Music:

RACHEL UNTHANK & THE WINTERSET

4 nominations for

Best Album
Best Group
Best Live Act
Horizon Award

THE IMAGINED VILLAGE

2 nominations for

Best Album
Best Traditional Track 'Cold Haily Rainy Night'

FULL DETAILS OF THE FOLK AWARDS CAN BE FOUND AT THE BBC WEBSITE: 2008 BBC Radio 2 Awards nominations page

The Imagined Village reaches LONDON on Tuesday with a performance at the Royal Festival Hall, South Bank Centre. Tickets are still available. Go to Imagined Village box office page

Enjoying a slew of music over the past few weeks including Levon Helm Dirt Farmer (Vanguard); Mbilia Bel Bel Canto (Sterns); the quietly brilliant Tcheka Lonji (Lusafrica/Harmonia Mundi), an album I would have put high, if not top, in my annual poll votes if it had been released in time; Various Artists People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs. 1913-1938 (Tompkins Square); and the unique PJ Harvey White Chalk (Island).

Photo: Rachel Unthank "live" at this year's Green Man Festival

Currently listening : The Voice of Lightness: Congo Classics 1961-1977 By Tabu Ley Rochereau Release date: 25 September, 2007

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Bole2Harlem nominated for a BBC World Music Award
Current mood: cold
Category: Music

Bole2Harlem has been nominated for a Culture Crossing gong in the 2008 BBC Radio 3 Awards For World Music.

'one of the funkiest albums of the year. The kaleidoscope of styles has hip-hop, Ethiopian melodies and African beats which all blend into one super-charged whole' Marcus Dunk, DAILY EXPRESS ****

'rollicking blends of live instruments and sound systems celebrates and modernises ethnic traditions. International party-with-attitude music is the result' Gavin Martin, DAILY MIRROR ***

hybrid of Ethiopian soul and East Coast hip-hop that is the gloriously upbeat Bole2Harlem' Tim Cumming, THE INDEPENDENT (feature)

Currently listening : Live on the Riviera By Albert Ayler Release date: 15 March, 2005

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Annual fROOTS poll selections
Current mood: cheerful
Category: Music

Last Saturday, I submitted my selections for the fROOTS / BBC RADIO 3 ALBUM OF YEAR POLL 2007. Around 300 music industry people send in similar nominations, the only stipulations being that the music selected is relevant to the folk and world genres (so there's no jazz, rock or classical stuff in this poll) and that you don't vote for any artist with whom, or album with which, one has a professional relationship.

Nominated by: JOHN CROSBY

Very short self-description:
Independent music publicist & PR / record compiler

NEW ALBUM OF 2007 - MAXIMUM 6 NOMINATIONS
EXTRA GOLDEN/Hera Ma Nono/(Thrill Jockey)
IBRAHIM FERRER/Mi Sueño/(World Circuit)
BASSEKOU KOUYATE & NGONI BA/Segu Blue/(Out/Here)
PG SIX/Slightly Sorry/(Drag City)
TINARIWEN/Aman Iman: Water Is Life/(Independiente/Emma Prod)
LUCINDA WILLIAMS/West/(Lost Highway)

REISSUE/ HISTORIC/ COMPILATION ALBUM OF 2007 - MAXIMUM 4 NOMINATIONS
JOHN FAHEY/Fare Forward Voyagers/(Takoma/Ace)
FAIRPORT CONVENTION/Liege & Lief (deluxe edition)/(Island Remasters)
VARIOUS/Art Of Field Recording (Sampler)/(Dust-to-Digital)
VARIOUS/Molam: Thai Country Groove From Isan Vol. 2/(Sublime Frequencies)

BEST PACKAGED ALBUM(S) OF 2007 - JUST 2 NOMINATIONS
BASSEKOU KOUYATE & NGONI BA/Segu Blue/(Out/Here)
VARIOUS/How Low Can You Go? Anthology of the String Bass (1925-1941)/(Dust-to-Digital)

Currently listening : Goffin & King: A Gerry Goffin and Carole King Song Collection 1961-1967 By Gerry Goffin Release date: 30 October, 2007

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Andrew Voyce artwork
Current mood: chipper
Category: Music

You can (almost) always tell an artist from an entertainer. Whereas the latter provides something that can easily be used as a 'background' experience, an artist tends to demand attention by the way s/he communicates their own unique vision to the receiver.

Andrew Voyce is a Bexhill artist, who has taken his experiences within the Mental Health system and created, via computer generated art, a most subtle, witty and insightful body of work. The two pieces here are typical of his wry humour, generous spirit and keen observation.

He has exhibited several times in the East Sussex area and is finally beginning to get recognition beyond his locality, recently gaining an award in Glasgow.

All his work is for sale and anyone wanting to know more, please contact me via email and I will pass on your details direct to the artist.

I've been asked to work again on the written press for Oi Va Voi. I previously worked with the band on Laughter Through Tears (Outcaste), when K T Tunstall was the occasional singer and Sophie Solomon the fiddler. Both of them have now gone on to be stars, K T a superstar, but Oi Va Voi remains a powerful musical group and it's nice to be collaborating together again (even though picking up a PR campaign halfway through is never that easy.

In addition, this week, I will be refiring up campaigns with Tsuumi Sound System, Hotel Brown and Daphna Sadeh, all slightly delayed by the continuing postal strikes.

The weather has finally turned cooler, the overnight frostiness requiring some heating, though the garden is still full of flowers - fuchsias, passionflowers, kerria and osteospermum, to name just four.

Pics by Andrew Voyce

Currently watching : The Other Side of the Mirror: Live at Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965 Release date: 30 October, 2007

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Yasmin Levy in performance
Current mood: chipper
Category: Music

Yasmin Levy delivered a superb performance at Ronnie Scott's Club, Soho, London on 16 October. Showing what a consummate performer she has developed into these past few years, Yasmin sang work from her brand new album Mano Suave, as well as material from her back catalogue, accompanied by her own band plus special guests, including, on the album title, the singer Natacha Atlas.

The set list for the evening was:

1. Irme Kero

2. Esta Montanya D'Enfrente

3. Mal de l'Amor

4. Si Veriash

5. La Rosa Enfloresse   

6. Komo La Roza

7. Intentalo Encontrar

8. Nani Nani

9. Una Noche Mas

10. Mano Suave            

11. Por la Mia

12. Akedat Itzhak        

13. Madre Si Esto Hazina

14. Vengo

15. Una Ora                  

Encore:
16. Adio Kerida

The brand new album Mano Suave (World Village / Harmonia Mundi) is released on Monday 22 October.

You can see photographs of the Ronnie Scott's gig by viewing David Sinclair's photographs

Currently reading : Happy to Be Here By Garrison Keillor Release date: 01 April, 1990

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