Search results for

The Chieftains: A Beginner’s Guide

Nigel Williamson looks back at the enduring global popularity of the Irish musical ambassadors

Dispatch from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Charlotte Algar speaks to musicians Nani Medeiros and Gabriel Selvage about the disastrous flooding in Rio Grande do Sul this year

Frigg: A Beginner's Guide

Tim Woodall examines the career of the remarkable Finnish string group

Lido Pimienta interview: “When you realise that you don’t actually have to please other people, your life gets better”

It’s been a tough road for Colombian-Canadian artist Lido Pimienta, but she’s finally having her moment. She speaks to Russ Slater about her music and activism

Manu Chao's Clandestino appeared at the cross-fade of the millennium and sounded perfect – a radical masterpiece

Peter Culshaw reminisces on his time biographing the elusive Manu Chao as his classic solo album, Clandestino, is re-released 20 years on

Sly & Robbie meet Nils Petter Molvaer review – London, Jazz Café, July 25

Jamaican duo Sly & Robbie team up with Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer for yet another productive and intriguing musical partnership.

WOMEX 2020 Digital Showcases: Day Four, October 24

Simon Broughton checks into the last day of digital performances and enjoys the concerts of Hungarian bands with a real audience that took place in Budapest.

Obituary: Péter Éri (1953 – 2023)

A member of the hugely influential four-piece Hungarian folk band Muzsikás, Peter Éri has died from lung cancer aged 70.

Tracy Chapman on the show that changed her life

Tracy Chapman recalls how Stevie Wonder’s lost hard drive inadvertently gave her debut album the extra exposure it needed to kickstart her career and become a still-loved classic

Cara de Espelho: Time to Protest

Alarmed by the far-right surge, Cara de Espelho have gathered members of some of Portugal’s best-loved bands to create something new, and urgently needed. Gonçalo Frota meets the group and attends one of their first shows

A Beginner's Guide

Djivan Gasparyan: A Beginner's Guide

If there was one sound emblematic of Armenia it would be the duduk. Simon Broughton appraises the career of the instrument’s most famous exponent who has just turned 90

Live reviews

Orchestra Baobab review – Barbican, April 27

The legendary Senegalese band performed to a sold-out Barbican Centre on April 27 as part of the festival La Linea.

News

Today is Good! Songs of refugees to be released

On June 30, the charity Arts Against Slavery will launch a CD of music written by young asylum-seekers based in Sicily.

Features

Les Aunties: “We can’t get up and tell our husbands to stop mistreating us, but if it’s in the song, you can express yourself there and he will listen”

Les Aunties, a new all-female group from Chad intend to improve women’s rights in their country. A recent tour of Canada has already begun the process. “The impact is enormous,” hears Emma Rycroft