With world music from Europe, Africa and the Middle-East.
1- Oumniya – Souad Massi.
The Algerian singer / guitarist Souad Massi is one of the greatest North African stars of the moment. She masters many genres: folk, rock, fado, raï, African blues and French chansons. The Oumniya album that you are about to hear is a tribute to women, a plea for human rights and for the right to dignity for everyone. Souad Massi sings about what touches her, what she fights for: women and their circumstances around the world.
P. S. Souad Massi performs at Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht on Thu. Dec. 5 & at the Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven on Sat. Dec. 7.
Label: Naïve.fr / PIAS (2019) | VIDEO
2- Dance to the Full Moon – Invisible System.
Dance to the Full Moon is a collaboration between Mali and the United Kingdom based on the imagination of producer Dan Harper (Invisible System). Combining the traditional with the modern, forging new styles in ethnomusicology. The album is recorded in Bamako, Mali, alongside the best local musicians and griots – the traditional storytellers of West Africa – the production of Dan Harper continues to bring Malian music to new territory.
Label: Arc Music (2019), code : EUCD2874.
3- Vocapella – Tehran Vocal Ensemble.
The Tehran Vocal Ensemble was founded by Milad Omranloo in 2006 and opened a gateway to a new a cappella style in Persian a cappella music inspired by European bands. The style is based on a group of singers who each play the role of an instrument that has been composed to act as a harmonic orchestra with unparalleled sound effects. The ensemble has recorded two albums entitled Vocapella and Vocapella-2 in which the prominent vocalists have acted as guest singer. The Tehran Vocal Ensemble has won many International gold and silver medals in choir competitions in Asia and Europe.
Label: Ney Davoud Records (2011) | VIDEO
4- Bach à Bagdad – Nawaris.
With the second album entitled Bach in Baghdad, Nawaris led their boat along the river of imagination: – Let’s go to the children’s alley, laugh, cry, dance, discover, invent with them! Let us be J.S. Introducing Bach as a young boy, taken with a sudden desire to travel, a crossing from the Balkans to Baghdad! In this adventure the instruments are the oud, the cello, the bansoeri flute, the soprano saxophone, the voice, the percussions, the drums, the guitar and the violin. From their perspective as children in love, the theme of friendship, that precious moment when one finds it, is subtly placed on their shoulders. Here a story is told, don’t search for words, just a few notes of music.
Label: Homerecords.be (2019), code: 4446214 | VIDEO
5- Hakili Kéké – Mah Damba.
Mah Damba is a traditional griot singer. She comes from a family of griots: her father, Djeli Baba Sissoko, was a griot and her aunt, Fanta Damba, is also considered one of the Malian top singers. As a carrier of an age-old cultural heritage, Mah Damba has never closed the door to innovation. The size of her reach can be measured with this new album Hakili Kéké. It is her voice, firmly rooted in a tradition that makes the difference.
Label: Buda Musique (2019), code: 860350 | Distributie XANGO music.
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The Raison Why (3) – Goran Kajfes / Subtropic Arkestra.
Led by the productive Swedish trumpet player with Croatian roots Goran Kajfeš, the Subtropic Arkestra is possibly the best of those many bands that combine Afrobeat, Ethio jazz and big band funk. This is number 3 (and also the last) in the Reason Why trilogy and, just like the two previous parts, it contains a special mix of covers, obscure worldbeat and psychedelic oddities.
Label: Headspin recordings (2017), code: HEAD 024 | Distribution XANGO music | VIDEO
7- SIM – João Farinha & Fado Ao Centro.
The title of the latest album by singer and songwriter João Farinha – Sim – comes from a poem by Ricardo Reis. This is an album that follows new paths without deviating from the nobility of “Fado de Coimbra”, the genre to which João Farinha has devoted himself for so many years: new instruments and new sonority include poetry, love and nostalgia. And, in the words of the album’s author, “although the road is new, the soul of Coimbra is fully present.” In addition to the literary universe of Pessoa, Sim contains the verses of other poets initiated in the Portuguese language.
Label: Fado do Centro, code: SPA2018 | Distributie XANGO music | VIDEO
8- Joyeuse Ville – Louise O’sman.
For this first album Joyeuse Ville, Louise O’sman works together with two talented arrangers for a delicate arrangement that was written for five musicians. Expressive music with accents of classical music in which you hear the temperations, fluctuations of the tempo and rhythmic sessions. Both soft and intimate, including being polite, the universe of Louise O’sman stands out for its power, originality and poetry.
Label: Homerecords.be (2019), code: 4446211 | VIDEO
