“Whether youāre looking to soak up the musical vibe in an English country field, or fancy venturing somewhere more exotic, thereās a wealth of festivals taking place this year. We highlight some of our favourites…”
My rundown of the best summer festivals in 2011 for Songlines.
“The Gnawa of Morocco are famed for their deep, soulful music and their healing and trance powers. To see the maalem spirit masters in action, Jane Cornwell visits the Gnawa Festival in Essaouira and Torben Holleufer witnesses trance in action at a religious festival.”
“Moroccoās capital knows how to shake its festive thing with the best of them. Jane Cornwell joins the throng.”
āThe most important single element of Moroccoās folk culture is its music,ā wrote the author and musicologist Paul Bowles, who loved the place. āThe entire history and mythology of the people is clothed in song.ā
“Chaser touches down at the summer festivals: Jane Cornwell connects with the Gnawa at the Essaouira World Music Festival in Morocco.”
Article on theĀ Essaouira World Music Festival for Straight No Chaser.
“Their mix of African and Latin music made them stars. Then they got into gold lamĆ© and it all went horribly wrong. Can Orchestra Baobab ever recover? By Jane Cornwell”
“Last week, Peter Gabriel’s Real World label celebrated a decade of championing world music. But does the global roster live in its founder’s shadow?”