What in the world…?
Other channels might not be open for world music, but the-raft has always championed the genre, showcasing talents from Manu Chao through Susana Baca to Los De Abajo and Moreno Veloso.
And 2003 is as promising a year as any before with the spotlight firmly fixed on a variety of acts like Blind Boys Of Alabama, Papa and Cheikh, Adrian Sherwood and the Afro Celt Sound System.
The Blind Boys Of Alabama are already a household name in the States. Despite forming over 60 years ago at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind in 1939, they are currently experiencing an all-time career high.
They might have last found fame with their roles in the 1983 production of The Gospel at Colonnus, but recent years have seen them transforming popular songs from the likes of Bob Dylan, Richard Thompson, the Rolling Stones, Tom Waits and Ben Harper into pure gospel soul.
Last year, their album Spirit Of The Century won them a Grammy for Best Traditional Gospel Act and this year’s album, Higher Ground, could do the same. This time the Grammy nominated group take on compositions from Curtis Mayfield, Prince, Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Cliff, Stevie Wonder and Funkadelic.
The Blind Boys have just signed a new deal for two further albums Stateside (including a Christmas duets album slated for Yuletide ’03) and have recently been touring the US with the one and only Peter Gabriel.
For further information, click here: www.blindboys.com
From gospel to folk: Papa and Cheikh hail from Senegal and take their influences from the traditions of the Serer region of the country as well as folk heroes like Bob Dylan, Cat Stevens and Joan Armatrading.
Anyone who saw them take to the stage at last year's Dakar night at the London Barbican Centre's Urban Beats Festival will know what we mean – the guys stole the show.
Papa Amadou Fall and Cheikhou Coulibaly grew up in the central Senegalese town of Kaolack and have been close friends since the age of eight. After time at Dakar's Conservatoire, Cheikh went on to play bass with the veteran Senegalese bandleader Ouza, while Pape joined a Serer acoustic group, Santamuma.
But in 1997 the pair established themselves as a duo and signed to the Jololi label, established by fellow Senegalese musical star, Youssou N'Dour. Their debut album, Yakaar, appeared at the beginning of the 2001 election campaign in Senegal and their song 'Yatal Gueew' ('Widening the Circle'), a plea for tolerance, so caught the public imagination that opposition leader Abdoulaye Wade adopted it as his official theme which contributed to his success. |
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Well Look Who It Is!!! Asian Dub ...
