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Feel the Tremor
Erin Cobby heads to a festival in the Azores for a weekend of global sounds and finds herself part of a community championing inclusivity, creativity and open-air commmunions
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A Beginner's Guide
Toumani Diabaté: A Beginner’s Guide
The kora has become almost synonymous with the music of Mali. Nigel Williamson examines the career of its chief exponent Toumani Diabaté
Features
The Gurdjieff Ensemble's Sacred Movements
As Armenia’s The Gurdjieff Ensemble make their first visit to the UK for Songlines Encounters Festival, Simon Broughton talks to the group’s director about the enigmatic composer and mystic who inspired the ensemble
Features
Tinariwen: every album reviewed
Since their debut album in 2001, the throbbing desert blues of the Touareg guitar band Tinariwen has conquered the musical world: here are reviews of all of their albums to date
Features
Oumou Sangaré interview: “Africa can evolve while preserving certain traditions that are worth preserving”
Oumou Sangaré contemplates the current state of her native Mali. She speaks to Andy Morgan about how music and mogoya may be the only things that can save it. Photography by Holly Whittaker
A Beginner's Guide
Fela Kuti | A Beginner’s Guide
The perfect introduction to Fela Kuti – a true original: "Never have life, politics, art and music been so inextricably linked together in one incendiary, insurrectionary and highly danceable package"
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“My whole body was shaking. I started to tremble and sing. Two songs later, I didn’t want to stop” | Natalia Lafourcade interview
The multi award-winning Mexican singer Natalia Lafourcade reveals to Catalina Maria Johnson how she found her voice in rewriting the Latin American songbook
The Rough Guide to World Music
The Rough Guide to World Music: Jamaica
Jamaica is a serious contender for the title ‘loudest island in the world’. On any night, and especially at weekends, it shakes to the musical vibrations of thousands of sound systems
Features
Top 10 Albums of 2020
Here are 10 of our favourite albums from the past 12 months, including releases from Sam Lee, Cocanha, Afel Bocoum, Siti Muharam, Damir Imamović and more...
A Beginner's Guide
Abdullah Ibrahim: A Beginner's Guide
A South African pianist who navigated the trauma and difficulties of apartheid while always staying close to home. Nigel Williamson documents a remarkable, boundless career… that’s not over yet
Features
Erol Josué interview: “I wanted to participate in the reconstruction of Haiti’s national heritage. I needed to be there”
The vodou priest, singer, actor and choreographer Erol Josué is on a mission to dispel the myths and misconceptions about Haiti’s musical religion
Features
The Rough Guide to World Music: Jamaica
Jamaica is a serious contender for the title ‘loudest island in the world’. On any night, and especially at weekends, it shakes to the musical vibrations of thousands of sound systems
A Beginner's Guide
Jim Moray: A Beginner's Guide
Once the wunderkind of the English folk scene, Jim Moray’s sound has matured and coalesced over his career. Tim Cumming dives into his catalogue
Features
3MA: African Chamber Music
The pan-African trio of musicians, 3MA, are clearly relishing their reunion and latest collaboration, as they tell Pierre Cuny in advance of their appearance at the 2018 Songlines Encounters Festival
Features
Songs of the Syrian refugees
In a place where freedom of speech easily gets you arrested, refugees have daringly turned to music and poetry in order to express their feelings. Alexandra Petropoulos reports
