Loads of sounds coming through New York this SUnday January 10. Here’s the line-up:
– Alif Naaba, West African acoustic song (Burkina Faso)
– Cara Dillon, striking Celtic vocalist (Ireland)
– Caravan Palace, swingin’ electro manouche jazz (France)
–Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole, Creole Zydeco heir from Louisiana (USA)
– Federico Aubele, bolero and cumbia meets electro downtempo (Argentina/USA)
– François Ladrezo & Alka Omeka, Gwo-ka master (Guadeloupe)
– La Cumbiamba eNeYé, music from the Pacific and Caribbean coasts of Colombia (Colombia/USA)
– La Excelencia, old-school salsa dura revivalists (USA)
– Meta and the Cornerstones, African roots reggae export (Senegal/USA)
– Namgar, Siberian shaman rock from the Central Asian steppes (Russia)
– Nguyên Lê’s Saiyuki, acclaimed French-Vietnamese guitarist leads a Pan-Asian jazz trio
(Vietnam/Japan/India/France)
– Nightlosers, Transylvanian blues-rock/Gypsy chameleons (Romania)
It’s exciting and inspiring for us to see Sierra Leonean sounds featured in a prominent paper such as the LA Times. We read a piece today talking about music and its political role in Sierra Leone, a country where the divide between the educated elite and the masses leaves little room for effective criticism. Singers sometimes play a significant role in tilting the opinion through their engaged lyrics. Rather than simplify and paraphrase, read Scott Kraft‘s great piece here.
Not sure who took this photo… but whoever took it did a great job. As we start 2010 we hope to get back to Luanda very soon, the music and energy were so inspiring… and as the African Cup of Nations approaches, surely the levels of energy – or straight up chaos! – in Luanda must be reaching new highs!!!! Saudades das pessoas que conhecemos em Angola… feliz ano novo!!!
We share a lot of our ideals with Nomadic Wax, a fantastic structure which gave birth to the great Democracy in Dakar film, but also to a slew of other projects, you MUST have a look at their site. If you know the Akwaaba story, you’ll enjoy the similarities with the beginnings of Nomadic Wax – down to the founder’s first name!! From their site:
“In the summer of 1999, Nomadic Wax founder Ben Herson stumbled upon a thriving hip hop scene in Senegal, West Africa. Enthralled by the politically and socially conscious lyrics of the emcees he encountered, Herson researched and wrote his award-winning undergraduate dissertation Fat Beats, Dope Rhymes, and Thug Lives: Hip Hop, Youth and Politics in Senegal. In 2001, Herson returned to Senegal with collaborator Dan Cantor of Notable Productions. The two set up shop in a spare room in a Dakar community center to record African Underground Vol. 1, a compilation featuring fourteen of Dakar’s illest emcees.
Since 2001, Nomadic Wax has grown into an internationally recognized brand in global urban music and media, working with hundreds of pioneering artists worldwide. Focusing on Africa and the African diaspora, Nomadic Wax has expanded its projects into the Middle East, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean.”
