fusion
CD: Vijay Iyer - TirthaSaturday, 26 February 2011![]() A recent Grammy nominee for his 2009 album Historicity, composer-pianist Vijay Iyer is one of an increasing number of young jazz artists who refuses to be corralled by genre. Iyer's work traverses a continuum that embraces everything from hip hop to... Read more... |
Penguin Cafe/Portico Quartet, Usher Hall, EdinburghMonday, 21 February 2011![]() It’s the convention to review concerts on the first night of a tour rather than the last, but in this case it transpired it was rather wise to make an exception. These two groups may make very different kinds of music, but in their questing desire... Read more... |
Cheikh Lo, The ScalaFriday, 14 January 2011![]() As part of my homework before last night’s gig at the Scala I played Senegalese singer Cheikh Lo’s latest album Jamm over and over again, waiting for some of its tunes to lodge in my mind - waiting to be compelled rather than feel duty bound to play... Read more... |
The Thrill of It All, Forced Entertainment, Riverside StudiosTuesday, 26 October 2010![]() It’s pretty hard to describe a Forced Entertainment show. But let’s try anyway: imagine a stage full of crazy dancers, the men in black wigs, the women in white ones, prancing around, flinging their arms in the air, mistiming their high kicks, and... Read more... |
Krystle Warren, Rich MixFriday, 22 October 2010![]() Paradoxically, the greater the number of established artists you find yourself comparing a new talent to, the more original you are eventually forced to conclude this new talent is. So let’s get those comparisons out of the way: this Kansas City gal... Read more... |
Mulatu Astatke and the Heliocentrics, BarbicanThursday, 30 September 2010![]() After only a couple of songs there are shouts from the audience to turn Mulatu up. But these people have missed the point. The clue is in the name of the instrument he's playing: the vibraphone, or vibes for short. The word "vibe" has long been... Read more... |
Nitin Sawhney and LSO, Yogoto No Yume, BarbicanMonday, 01 March 2010![]() When I last met Nitin Sawhney, I’d heard that he was a whizz at mental arithmetic. I asked him, perhaps impertinently, what was 91 times 94? “8,827,” he relied, quick as a flash. Several hours later, I worked out he was probably right. “Vedic... Read more... |
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