Thursday, September 18, 2025
Ustad Noor Bakhsh at The Rose Hill, Brighton, (August 26)
The benju virtuoso makes Daniel Spicer feel particularly superlative
Live reviews
Thursday, September 18, 2025
Ganavya: Daughter of a Temple (Barbican Centre, London, September 4)
Ganavya’s headline Barbican show blended spiritual depth, surprising textures and personal tributes, though its rotating cast of guests sometimes disrupted the flow
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
FolkEast Festival 2025: innovation, tradition and midsummer magic in perfect harmony
Julian May heads to a pop-up village of midsummer rituals, famous guitars and sighing oaks
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Glatt & Verkehrt: from Hungarian folk to Afghan resistance songs, a festival of voices without borders
Simon Broughton selects highlights from Austria’s most vital world music festival
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
WOMADelaide, Australia, March 7–10 2025
Jane Cornwell picks out six sweet sets from WOMADelaide in Australia, featuring Trio da Kali, Duo Ruut, Yemi Alade and more
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Guru Nanak's Message of Peace Through Music at the Barbican
Simon Broughton attends a special event at London's Barbican Centre celebrating Guru Nanak
Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Jordi Savall's Ibn Battuta: The Traveller of Time
The many journeys of Maghrebi explorer Ibn Battuta are the focus of a new ensemble performance from Jordi Savall
Thursday, November 28, 2024
Heemoon Lee & OBANGSINGWA, London, November 23
After blowing away audiences in 2018, Heemoon Lee returned to London with a new group, OBANGSINGWA, to perform a stunning end to this year's K-Music Festival.
Friday, November 15, 2024
Llais 2024, Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, October 12-13
Voices from Bulgaria, India and Ireland light up the latest edition of one of Wales’ most vocal festivals.
Thursday, November 14, 2024
La Tène, Cafe Oto, London, November 7
Franco-Swiss drone collective La Tène offer up a simultaneous study of constancy and change.
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Black String, London, October 10
Korean experimental folk outfit Black String offered a rare opportunity to hear the chime of ancient instruments gracefully collide with modern sonic tools.
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Lake of Stars, Nkhotakota, Malawi, September 6-8
The 20th-anniversary edition of Lake of Stars shows how much Malawi's music scene has grown
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
A to Jazz Festival, Sofia, July 4
Justin Turford explores one of Europe's newest showcases of world music
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
The Breath: Giving up the ghosts
The Breath’s Ríoghnach Connolly and Stuart McCallum tell Dave McNally about the love and suffering that informed their new album and how they unexpectedly evolved into an acoustic folk duo
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Sam Lee, Round Chapel, London, June 13 2024
Singer and conservationist Sam Lee blends environmental activism with enchanting folk music in live show for 'songdreaming' tour
