This album starts like a spoken-sung prayer. A cappella, in an ancient and enchanting language that leaves me wondering: what are they saying? It’s Yoruba, a language that travelled from Nigeria and Benin to Cuba on slave ships 300 years ago. 

Funk is a blend of jazz, blues, gospel, rock’n’roll, soul and reggae. All these elements are there in guitarist Keziah Jones’ music. Born in Nigeria, he has lived in England since he was 8 – his father, a prominent businessman, wanted him to have an academic career; he went on to be a busker and […]

Legendary guitarist Mark Knopfler’s eight album, Tracker, starts smoothly with a mixture of waltz, jazz and Celtic music. Laughs and Jokes and Drinks and Smokes, the first song, is a lulling, nostalgic (and quite long – more than six minutes) tale of Knopfler’s youthful memories of growing up in London: “We were young, so young […]

Disclaimer: this is not your classic book review. The book, which – I will tell you straight away – is fun and worth reading, is just a pretext to introduce a good artist. She became famous around 2003 as one half of self-defined Brechtian Punk Cabaret duo, Dresden Dolls. Her artistic life had begun long before, though. Amanda Palmer […]