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Jazz is World Music
Why is there so much snobbery and closed-mindedness about jazz from the ‘world music police’?
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Rituals, femininity and mother earth are at the heart of Italian-Iranian group Hysterrae
An extended version of our Q&A with Italian-Iranian 5-piece Hysterrae about their hypnotic new album
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Meeting Souad Massi: “The world is fragile, and I’m afraid for the future of our children”
Robin Denselow talks to the French-Algerian singer-songwriter Souad Massi, whose latest album is a testament to survival amid the depths of global despondency and personal hardship
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Rhiannon Giddens & Francesco Turrisi: Challenging perceptions of home and belonging
Rhiannon Giddens and Francesco Turrisi revisit classic folk songs on their latest release. The pair talk about the continuing relevance of folk music, the concept of home and life during lockdown
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Omar Sosa interview: “Music as a weapon of mass consciousness”
A prolific collaborator who has travelled extensively since leaving his Cuban homeland, Omar Sosa talks to Jane Cornwell about his fact-finding tour of East Africa and his new album, which sees him collaborate with some of the region’s leading folkloric musicians
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“Ask where the music is taking you” | Frigg
Tony Gillam spoke with Frigg’s Esko Järvelä and Petri Prauda before the septet’s belated 20th-anniversary tour and finds the irrepressible Nordgrass veterans in buoyant mood
A Beginner's Guide
Master Musicians of Jajouka: A Beginner's Guide
Tim Cumming delves into the history and mystical appeal of the Moroccan musicians from Jajouka
Features
Music in the time of Coronavirus
COVID-19’s impact has been global and unprecedented. Russ Slater speaks to various musicians and people who work within the music community about how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting their approach to making and promoting music
Features
Mamadou Diabaté: master of the balafon
The West African xylophone is steeped in the mythology of the Mali Empire. Simon Broughton meets balafon player Mamadou Diabaté, who is helping to keep the instrument’s 800-year history alive
Features
Harp of Darkness: “If I expose the bin-baja harp, something will have to die”
Patrick Jered ventures into Madhya Pradesh in India to unearth the legendary bin-baja harp, widely considered as a pariah instrument
Features
Vieux Farka Touré interview: “It’s difficult to be the child of someone who has gone to the top of the mountain”
Emerging from the shadow cast by his famous father, guitarist Vieux Farka Touré has spent a career forging his own path. But now he’s finally returning to his roots. Photography by Kiss Diouara
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Fatoumata Diawara: “We have created something, a fusion, a music that I would say is totally new”
Fatoumata Diawara adds collaboration to the mix on an album of reconciliation and largesse. “It’s time for me to invite you… into my world,” she tells Lucy Hallam
Features
Heart and 47SOUL
Tipped as one of London’s hottest new groups, 47SOUL talk to Yousif Nur about the stresses and challenges of being a touring band from the Middle East, and how they’ve become pioneers of shamstep and champions of the Palestinian cause
Features
Afel Bocoum interview: “By the time corona arrived we had already more than enough going on here in Mali”
A key figure in Ali Farka Touré’s band, Afel Bocoum is releasing a long-awaited and rare solo album that finds him stepping into the limelight. He talks to Bram Posthumus about living in exile in Bamako, the situation in Mali and his desire to reconnect with the world
A Beginner's Guide
Steeleye Span: Beginner's Guide
Hark to this parcel of rogues, as we place the career of these ever-evolving English folk-rock icons under the microscope
