The summer festival season kicks off in Europe, Japan and North America early next month, with many bands from developing countries joining the festival circuit. There are lots of festivals that celebrate musical diversity, which is, I believe, important in these times of rising intolerance and xenophobia.
The awards season is also upon us. BBC Radio used to be the place for World Music awards but dropped them a number of years ago (and, unfortunately, it has recently cut back on its radio programming for World Music). London-based Songlines magazine picked up the baton from the BBC and for some years now has run its Songlines Music Awards (disclaimer: I am a correspondent for the magazine).
Songlines has five geographical categories for awards: Africa & Middle East, Americas, Asia & Pacific, Europe and Fusion. Some of the winning releases have featured in this column.
Africa & Middle East winner Malian singer-songwriter Fatoumata Diawara's long-awaited follow-up to her debut, Fenfo, sees the talented musician extend her range to include Afro-pop and funk on a bedrock of Bamana music. The title of the album translates as "something to say" and this artist has a lot to say about creating a better world.
Cuban supergroup Orquestra Akokan won the Americas category with its eponymously titled album. Take a pianist from Los Van Van, a brass section from NG La Banda and New York-based singer Jose "Pepito" Pedroso and put them in a studio in Cuba. The result? Cuban cool from the 1950s like the golden sound of Benny More and Perez Prado.
The Asia & South Pacific category winner, Small Island, Big Song is a set of field recordings from local communities across the Pacific and Indian oceans -- the brainchild of producer and filmmaker Tim Cole and his Taiwanese partner BaoBao Chen. Music fans who liked Laya Project will go for this one.
However, it is always disappointing to find that so few producers in Southeast Asia send in their releases for review (and therefore miss the chance to publicise their music).
The Portuguese fado singer Mariza snared the Europe award with her album Mariza. On this one, her seventh studio album, she has returned to her fado roots. If you want to know what saudade means, listen to this one.
Finally, the fusion category went to Welsh harp maestro Catrin Finch and West African kora player Seckou Keita for their second collaboration, Soar. Fusion music of the highest calibre.
The winners of the Best Artist and Best Group will be announced at the Songlines Music Awards on Nov 30 at EartH in Dalston, London. Find more information at songlines.co.uk.
Elsewhere, the European Broadcast Union's Top 10 World Music chart for May has one or two gems that music fans may well want to check out. Perhaps the most surprising success on the chart is the top ranking for the collaboration between the Kronos Quartet and Iranian singers Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat. This is a set of 14 tunes composed to accompany classical Iranian poetry by Hafez and Rumi and contemporary poetry by Forough Farrokhzad, Mohammad Obrahim Jafari and Atabak Elyasi.
Lastly, my favourite Polish band the inimitable Warsaw Village Band has a new album out, Mazovian Roots Re: Action, and it is riding high at No.4 on the chart. Having seen this unique band that blends ancient Polish folk music with contemporary influences perform, I can't recommend them highly enough. Get more information on the EBU charts at wmce.de.
EUROPEAN BROADCAST UNION’S TOP 10 WORLD MUSIC CHART
- PLACELESS
Mahsa & Marjan Vahdat, Kronos Quartet
(Iran/USA, KKV) - GECE
Altin Gun
(Netherlands/Turkey, Glitterbeat) - AMINA
Refugees for Refugees
(Belgium/various Muziekpublique) - REAKCJA MAZOWIECKA / MAZOVIAN ROOTS RE:ACTION
Warsaw Village Band
(Poland, Jaro) - MIRI
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba
(Mali, Outhere) - TANGO ARGENTINO TODAY
El Afronte Orquesta Tipica
(Argentina, ACT) - CELIA
Angelique Kidjo
(Benin/USA, Universal) - RÜYA
Olcay Bayir
(Turkey /UK, ARC) - ASSU
Ulla Pirttijärvi, Harald Skullerud, Olav Torget
(Finland/Norway (Sami), Bafe's Factory) - BLACK TENERE
Kel Assouf
(Niger/Belgium, Glitterbeat)
John Clewley can be contacted at clewley.john@gmail.com
