World Music

VICTORIA HANNA INTERVIEWED AT WOMAD (2018): Songs and psalms from the ancient to the future

25 Mar 2018 | 6 min read

On You Tube you can easily find a short video of Israeli singer Victoria Hanna conducting what is called a cymatic experiment with her voice. She did it at home by using a microphone to sing into a scattering of sand, and as she sings pure notes the sand rearranges itself into pleasing geometric shapes. For Hanna – who grew up in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish home in Jerusalem... > Read more

Aleph-Bet

DAYME AROCENA INTERVIEWED AT WOMAD (2018): Cuba getting its jazz-funk improv on

25 Mar 2018 | 5 min read

When Dayme Arocena from Cuba took the stage for his first of two shows at Womad she came on like petite powerhouse, her dusty black skin wrapped in pure white, and her band immediately hitting some hard rocking jazz-funk. Anyone expecting laidback Cuban folk was put on notice. This was going to be loud, seriously grounded Afro-Cuban music with large dollops of soul and jazz... > Read more

Drama, by Dayme Arocena

JOJO ABOT INTERVIEWED AT WOMAD (2018): The colour and the shapes

23 Mar 2018 | 4 min read

Odd though it is to say this, but when sitting and talking with Ghanaian-born global citizen and singer/dancer/multi-media artist Jojo Abot, it's not her waist-length multi-coloured dreadlocks braided with bright ribbons or equally striking clothing which takes your attention. It is her dancing eyes – oil-dark pupils in pools of bright white – and her constantly moving... > Read more

To Li

THE DAY LINE-UP FOR WOMAD 2018: The world on your doorstep

13 Mar 2018 | <1 min read

As in previous years, the line-up and running times for the forthcoming Womad festival in March in Taranaki has been announced. Elsewhere has been posting interviews with a number of the artists appearing (see here) and will continue to profile others in the coming weeks. Meantime though you can plan ahead -- be there Friday for Aldous Harding, Maisey Rika and the Miltones... > Read more

Various Artists: Womad, Australia and New Zealand 2018 Compilation (Womad)

4 Mar 2018 | 1 min read

This 15-track collection of diverse world music artists is a tasty amuse-orielle, not just for those going to this year's festival in Taranaki (details below) but for those who still wonder what all the fuss is about. The fuss is about the unexpected, where acts from various corners of the globe bring their traditional music or a contemporary take on it. Sometimes the latter comes... > Read more

Jojo Abot (Ghana/USA), Gods Among Men

ELSEWHERE WORLD SERVICE: A quick overview of recent world music releases

15 Feb 2018 | 3 min read

Here's a frequent flyer/transit lounge/vicarious listening music column for those at home who want to get their musical passport stamped. Elsewhere has so many CDs and downloads commanding and demanding attention that we run occasional columns which scoop up releases by international artists (IN BRIEF), in much the same way as our SHORT CUTS column picks out New Zealand... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE WORLD MUSIC QUESTIONNAIRE: Victoria Hanna

12 Feb 2018 | 1 min read

The annual Womad festival in Taranaki brings diverse artists not just from all over the world but through many genres, from raw folk to spiritual songs, from cultural dance music to electronica. Victoria Hanna, raised in an ultra-orthodox Jewish household in Jerusalem, touches on nearly all of those in her set. She found a way to express herself and overcome her stutter when she... > Read more

Aleph-Bet/Hosha'ana

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE WORLD MUSIC QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Nano Stern

6 Dec 2017 | 3 min read

Singer/guitarist/composer Nano Stern from Chile was born into a family of musicians and activists, and – after learning violin as a child – became part of the underground punk rock scene in Santiago and began his musical travels (literally, he lived in Cologne and Amsterdam after quitting his music composition course at university) and followed them up with classical and jazz... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE WORLD MUSIC QUESTIONNAIRE: Ghada Shbeir

20 Nov 2017 | 2 min read

The arc around the Mediterranean we loosely refer to as “the Middle East” boasts some astonishing voices, not the least that of Lebanese singer Ghada Shbeir whose yearning sound conveys the passions and tragedies of that region. School in many Arabic traditions as well as the sounds of Andalusian-Arabic songs and ancient chants, she brings a formidable personal history to... > Read more

Ya Nadimi

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE WORLD MUSIC QUESTIONNAIRE: Kiya Tabassian of Constantinople

13 Nov 2017 | 1 min read

For nearly twenty years the ensemble Constantinople -- with memebers from Canada and Senegal -- have explored musical diversity through the lens of ‘East meets West’,an ever changing melting pot, much like the city after which they are named. Their inspiration for their Jardins Migrateurs performance is a poetic meeting between strings and voice, with griot Ablaye Cissoko adding... > Read more

Poisson au fond de l'ocean

Trio-Da-Kali and Kronos Quartet: Ladilikan (World Circuit)

13 Nov 2017 | 1 min read

Everybody's favourite hipster string quartet, Kronos – once referred to as the Talking Heads of the classical world – here further their many explorations into world music (previous encounters with Chinese, Eastern European and Indian musicians, and Tanya Tagaq, among others) with more African adventures, here with an acclaimed trio from Mali. Trio-Da-Kali are rightly... > Read more

Kene Bo

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE WORLD MUSIC QUESTIONNAIRE: Bubba from My Bubba

12 Nov 2017 | 2 min read

Now don't be put off by the name which conjures up Anika Moa's recent albums for wee ones, My Bubba from Sweden/Iceland's most recent single Gone was recorded by Jack White in his Third Man Studios in Nashville and it's a ghostly alt.country affair. The My Bubba duo are My Larsdotter (vocals and Norwegian lap-harp-playing) with guitarist/ singer and banjo player Guðbjörg... > Read more

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE WORLD MUSIC QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Dayme Arocena

10 Nov 2017 | 1 min read

Singer, composer, arranger and bandleader, Daymé Arocena was recently dubbed by The Guardian as “Cuba’s finest vocalist”. The young Afro-Cuban artist, mentored by Gilles Petersen and winner of the prestigious Juno Award in 2015, has a rich understanding of her heritage but is also constantly finding new musical inspiration and connection through her love of... > Read more

Drama

THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE WORLD MUSIC QUESTIONNAIRE . . . Jamie MacDowell

10 Nov 2017 | 2 min read

One is good with his fingers, the other is good with his mouth. Beatbox sensation, Tom Thum – best known for the most watched TEDx talk of all time: Beatbox Brilliance – joins forces with bohemian singer-songwriter Jamie MacDowell to create original, genre-defying music that is "redefining musical parameters". Armed only with a guitar, and a versatile... > Read more

THE EVER- EXPANDING LINE-UP FOR WOMAD 2018: The world coming to Taranaki

18 Oct 2017 | 9 min read

With the teaser announcements out off the way (Dragon, Kamasi Washington and Anoushka Shankar) we now get down to the detail with a major list of other acts confirmed to play next year's Womad in New Plymouth (more details below). And with a fascinating mix of well-known internationals (Tinariwen ! Rodrigo Y Gabriela !!), acclaimed local artists (a coup to get Aldous Harding we would think)... > Read more

TWO WOMAD ACTS FOR 2018 ANNOUNCED

28 Sep 2017 | 1 min read

If the first anouncement of an act for next year's Womad festival in Taranaki was a bit undewhelming (Dragon) now it is starting to get serious with two major artists announced, Kamasi Washington and Anoushka Shankar. Both of these artists have appeared at Elsewhere and we have a big interview with jazz saxophonist/arranger and composer Kamasi Washington here and an archive one with... > Read more

ELSEWHERE WORLD SERVICE: A quick overview of recent world music releases

18 Sep 2017 | 2 min read

Here's a frequent flyer/transit lounge column for those at home who want to get their musical passport stamped. Elsewhere has so many CDs and downloads commanding and demanding attention that we run an occasional column which scoops up releases by international artists (IN BRIEF), in much the same way as our SHORT CUTS column picks out New Zealand artists. And of course Yasmin picks up... > Read more

Various Artists: Musical Explorers Series; Deben Bhattacharya, Krishna in Spring (ARC CD/DVD)

25 Aug 2017 | <1 min read

The excellent archival reissue series of music and films by the late ethnomusicologist Deben Bhattacharya (1921 – 2001) continues with this, a CD of field recordings and a 25 minute film by Bhattacharya from '69. As a note attached observes, at time of the film in the commentary mentions 500 million Hindus in India, today there are about twice that number. The film in... > Read more

Kathak-Krishnalila

Various Artists: Musical Explorers; Deben Bhattacharya, Colours of Raga (ARC Music)

30 Jun 2017 | 1 min read

Elsewhere has previously introduced the excellent double CD set The Rough Guide to Indian Music which, on release in 2014, immediately went into our Essential Elsewhere albums list. For those more familiar with Indian classical and folk traditions, or now ready to take the next step after that Rough Guide, this CD/DVD curated by the founder of Songlines world music magazine Simon... > Read more

Bageshri

ELSEWHERE WORLD SERVICE: A quick overview of recent world music releases

15 May 2017 | 3 min read

Here's a frequent flyer/transit lounge column for those at home who want to get their musical passport stamped. Elsewhere has so many CDs and downloads commanding and demanding attention that we run an occasional column which scoops up releases by international artists (IN BRIEF), in much the same way as our SHORT CUTS column picks out New Zealand artists. And of course Yasmin picks up... > Read more