SIMON PARSONS is discomfited by an unflichingly negative portrait of motherhood and its trials
Global Routes with Tony Burke: February 19, 2024
A feast of kora and the music of the Palestinian experience
PAUL FOLEY recommends an extraordinary double bill that packs a punch and leaves you reeling
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a play about AI that results in a deadening disconnect for its audience
SIMON PARSONS applauds an insightful state-of-the-nation play that explores the growing class divide in South Africa
MATTHEW HAWKINS pays tribute to the performance artist and costumier, Leigh Bowery
SIMON DUFF reviews a new composition by German composer and pianist Florian Weber that blurs the line between where improvisation ends and composition begins
New releases from The Jim Mullen Quartet, Caroline Kraabel/John Edwards, and Matthew Muneses/Riza Printup
MALIAN kora player Toumani Diabate’s albums originally released on Joe Boyd’s Hannibal Records between 1988 and 1999 are being remastered and reissued on vinyl and CD by Chrysalis Records over the coming months, kicking off with New Ancient Strings, a collaboration kora player Toumani Diabate and Ballake Sissoko.
Described as a follow up to the rare 1970 album Ancient Strings, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw5MhyvSMUg&t=12s, a collaboration between their fathers, Sidiki Diabate and Djelimadi Sissoko, the reissue consists of eight timeless instrumentals of traditional Mande music with themes going back to the 13th century as well as embracing more modern-day sounds.
The reissue series will feature albums originally produced by ethnomusicologist and broadcaster Lucy Duran who presented the BBC’s World Routes on Radio 3 between 2000 and 2013. Speaking exclusively to the Morning Star, Duran explained the attraction of Toumani Diabate’s music.
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