Alongside him for the 70th birthday concert will be longtime musical partner Dave Swarbrick, daughter Eliza Carthy and radio DJ and musician Tom Robinson. To mark the event, Topic will also be releasing the album Essential Martin Carthy in mid-March.

Having become a regular at the Troubadour folk club in Earl’s Court, London, the young Martin Carthy released his eponymous debut album in 1965, including an arrangement of ‘Scarborough Fair’ adapted the following year by Paul Simon. On his debut was fiddle player Dave Swarbrick, with whom he would develop a lifelong musical collaboration.

Since 1972, Carthy has also worked with the Watersons, these days in the guise of Waterson:Carthy with his partner Norma Waterson and their daughter Eliza Carthy.

Carthy has influenced more musicians than it is possible to count, and although a stalwart of the return to traditional English folk music, he has always been ready to experiment and develop the sound of the genre – from the electric folk of Steeleye Span in the 70s to the urban re-imaginings of folk music with the Imagined Village in recent years.

www.watersoncarthy.com

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This year’s line-up includes rising Côte d’Ivoire star Dobet Gnahoré, English folk reinterpreted by the Imagined Village, London Latin roots sextet Alejandro Toledo and the Magic Tombolinos, Chinese flautist Guo Yue, Jah Wobble’s Japanese Dub, Hungarian folk legend Marta Sebestyén, English folk royalty Norma Waterson and Galician bagpipes from the Anxo Lorenzo Band.

The festival – featured in the August/September issue of Songlines – takes place across four stages in the art deco venue The Spa in the Yorkshire seaside town.

Come and visit the Songlines stand at this year’s Musicport Festival.

www.musicportfestival.com

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The Top of the World CD includes tracks from spiritual Senegalese star Cheikh Lô; the mother and daughter of English folk Norma Waterson & Eliza Carthy; samba’s Frank Sinatra Wilson das Neves; fantastic musical meetings between The Bulgarian Voices Angelite with Huun-Huur-Tu & Moscow Art Trio and a collaboration between kora player Ballaké Sissoko and cellist Vincent Segal; and politically-charged African song from Western Sahara’s Mariem Hassan and Cameroon’s Lapiro de Mbanga, among others.

The main editorial features include:

• Cheikh Lô & Carlou D – Two different generations of Senegalese artists, united by their Sufi brotherhood.

• Etoile de Dakar – Senegal’s answer to The Beatles – and the band that shot Youssou N’Dour to stardom.

• Morris Dancers – Challenging the saying ‘You should try everything once, except incest and morris dancing,’ we look at this oft-derided artform.

• Irish/Cuban Pianos – An Irish initiative helping to salvage Cuba’s ageing and dilapidated pianos.

• Dobet Gnahoré – The singer from Ivory Coast about to bring her dynamic live show to the UK.

• Sounding Out Shanghai – all the best places to see and hear music in the fast-developing Chinese city.

• Beginner’s Guide to Australian legends Yothu Yindi.

• Postcard from Islamabad, Pakistan.

• Musicport Festival, Yorkshire, UK.

• Backpage from Damascus, Syria.

• My World – BBC radio presenter Simon Mayo.

• Grooves – French cellist Vincent Segal, Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis and Stu Hanna of English folk duo Megson share their favourites.

• News, including Dispatches USA from Albuquerque.

• Reviews of the latest CD, DVD and World Cinema releases.

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