England - London Part III & Bedforshire

'Psychedelic Turbo Folk' band Don Kipper proclaim to be playing 'traditional music of North-East London', which is one of the most culturally diverse parts of the city.  They started off in 2013 as a klezmer band around Greek/Serbian singer Dunja Botic, but incorporate many Eastern European and Balkan influences.  The name of their latest album released in 2018 is Seven Sisters, which is a sub-district of Tottenham, which they claim as their spiritual home.  Here's a mad song from that album called Opa Ela:

Folk singer and avid collector of traditional songs of Britain and Ireland Sam Lee was born in Tufnell Park, North London.  He picked up his love of folk music during summer camps as a kid.  Son of Jewish parents he has a particular interest in songs from the Roma and travelling communities.  His latest album released in January this year is called Old Wow and this is the opening track from it called The Garden of England (Seeds of Love):

Indie folk band Patch and the Giant consist of 5 multi-instrumentalists based around Highgate in North London producing sometimes a foot-stomping, clap along sound, sometimes more melodious songs.  This is from their 2017 album All That We Had, We Stole and is called Flowers:

North London is also home to a large Jewish community, especially around areas of Golders Green and Finchley.  From these areas sprung Oi Va Voi in 2000, playing Klezmer fused with indie-rock and alt-folk.  'Oi va voi' is an exclamation in modern Hebrew roughly translating as 'oh my gosh!'.  Here's a song from their 2018 album Memory Drop called Vanished World:

English folk musician and composer Andy Cutting hails from Harrow, a suburb to the northwest of London.  The melodeon player was part of Blowzabella and Fernhill and is known to perform both traditional English and French material as well as writing his own compositions.  Apart from the above bands he also extensively collaborated with guitarist Chris Wood and many others within the folk scene.  In 2015 he formed an Anglo-French band called Topette, which we will revisit once we hit France.  He has only one solo album to his name, which is the self-titled Andy Cutting released in 2010.  These are 2 tunes from that album: Old Light and The Abbess:

Moving a little beyond the commuter belt of London we hit Bedford, where we meet two musicians.  First up is '1940's compere and all round dapper chap' Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq., who went viral a while ago with his witty song I've No More ... to Give.  He performs in a smart suit playing a mandolin banjo singing some hilarious lyrics, some of everyday funny situations, others throwing ridicule at the political establishment.  In case you have missed his most famous song, here it is, and it features on his debut 2018 album Awkward Encounters While Walking My Dog: 

Secondly from Bedford is Jack Sharp, who, after 13 years of fronting psych folk band Wolf People on guitar and vocals, has recently released an album of more traditional folk songs inspired by his native Bedfordshire and pared down to just acoustic guitar and singing.  The album is called Good Times Older and this is a collection of songs off it.

This is it for today.  Next time we will finally complete our tour of the British Isles and forthwith bravely head onto the rest of Europe.  As usual you can follow my virtual ramblings on my tripline map.  

England - London Part II

Continuing our exploration of the multi-faceted music scene of London we encounter record producer and guitarist Simon Emmerson.  After a life changing trip to Senegal to produce 3 tracks for Afro pop-star Baaba Maal, he felt similarities between African and Celtic music and went on to found the Afro Celt Sound System in 1995.  This is a track from their 2018 album Flight called Sanctus:

Simon Emmerson was also one of the main organisers of The Imagined Village, a collaborative work from many roots musicians intended to produce modern folk music.  They produced a self-titled album in 2007, from which this song is taken, where Emmerson plays the bouzouki and featuring Billy Bragg on guest vocals: John Barleycorn: 

London based music collective Kefaya based around Giuliano Modarelli and Al MacSween collaborates with musicians from all over the world, including the UK, Italy, Cuba, India, Spain, Kurdistan and Afghanistan.  The result can sometimes be a confusing mix of styles as on their 2016 debut album Radio International, which includes a rendition of Bella Ciao alongside classical Indian, Flamenco, Maghreb sounds and electronica.  Their second album with Afghan pop singer Elaha Soroor called Songs of Our Mothers released in 2019 is a bit more focussed.  Their name means 'enough' in Arabic and is used to describe the grassroots liberation movement in Egypt which lead to the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011.  This is a song off the second album called Charsi:

Folk musician and fiddler Peter Knight left Steeleye Span in 2013 to forge a career mostly with his band Gigspanner.  He is way more than just a fiddler, but is a classically trained violin virtuoso as is demonstrated on this tune called The Water is Wide, which features on his 2011 live album Doors at Eight:

Folk band Blowzabella was formed in 1978 in Whitechapel, East London who play bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy and an array of acoustic instruments to produce a driving, drone-based sound influenced by English and European folk.   Here's a song from their 2018 album Two Score called Adam Was A Poacher:

Folk singer/songwriter and fiddler Nancy Kerr was born in Plaistow, East London, but has since moved to Sheffield.  She has been impressively productive both on her own and as part of numerous collaborations since her emergence in the early 1990's.  This a song from her 2016 album Instar called Gingerbread:

I think we'll leave it there for today and spend a 3rd day in London as to not overwhelm you all.  As usual you can follow my virtual trip on my tripline map.

England - London Part I

London is such a big place that it is practically a country in itself also boasting a huge ethnic diversity and therefore a lot of different musical influences.  I'm just going to pick a few bits over two blog posts, highlighting some folk, but also a few other international musical styles.  We are starting in the southwestern suburb of New Malden, where John Martyn was born, whose music blurred the boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and blues.  Sadly he died prematurely aged 60 in 2009 after a life marred by substance abuse and addiction.  He left behind an impressive discography.  Here's a live performance from early in his career, Couldn't Love You More.  A version of that song features on his 2008 album Glorious Fool:

Driving up the A3 dual carriageway, which believe me is some kind of hellish nightmare, having commuted up and down there myself for many years, we arrive in Putney, southwest London, where folk singer Naomi Bedford hails from.  In recent years she has been collaborating with mandolin player and guitarist Paul Simmonds, who used to play with folk rock institution The Men They Couldn't Hang.  Their latest album from 2019 Singing It All Home: Appalachian Ballads of English and Scottish Origin, does just what it says on the tin.  This is the opening track from that album called I Must and Will Be Married:

Singer/songwriter and fiddle player Lisa Knapp was born in Balham in South London and grew up in nearby Tooting.  Her 3 albums to date all have received much praise around the folk scene.  Her 2017 album Till April Is Dead - A Garland of May, is a celebration of the month of May and the ancient rituals surrounding spring celebrations.  This is the title song from the album:

Now London is a hotchpotch of multiple cultures, but South Asians are prevalent in many parts with parts of Hounslow, Tooting or Brick Lane having a distinct Indian feel, with restaurants and ethnic shops wafting smells of curries and blaring out sounds that transport you to Mumbai, Delhi or Chennai.  Unnati Dasgupta was born and raised in London being the daughter of late Indian classical vocalist Nitai Dasgupta, with whom she toured in her teens.  Now she is forging a musical career of her own with the recent release of her debut album Indigo Soul, where she blends Jazz influences with classical Indian sounds.  This is a song from the album called Teri Yaad Aati Hain:

Folk Rock band Steeleye Span started off in London way back in 1969 and have been going strong ever since (with a few changes in personnel of course...).  With a back catalogue spanning 50 years, it's difficult to pick just one or two songs from their repertoire.  Here's one from their 2009 album Cogs, Wheels and Lovers called Thornaby Woods:

String duo Francesca Ter-Berg and Flora Curzon (cello and violin), known simply as Fran & Flora, combine Eastern European music with original compositions and experimental electronics, making for a fascinating and haunting blend.  Their debut album from 2019 is entitled Unfurl.  This is a song sung in Yiddish and is called Mayn Rue Platz, which translates as my resting place:

London based band Vula Viel was founded in 2011 by Bex Burch, a percussionist from Yorkshire, who spent 3 years with the Dagaaba People of the Upper West Region of Ghana learning the gyil, a type of wooden xylophone.  They blend jazz with electronic and minimal music.  Their latest album released this year is called What's Not Enough About That and this is the title track:

[Later edit April 2022]: I now saw them live at the Black Box in Belfast.  Here's an extract from that gig:

Stayin on an African theme a brand new international collective just released an album this month called Keleketla.  This is how they describe themselves:

Keleketla! is an expansive collaborative project, reaching outward from Johannesburg to London, Lagos, L.A. and West Papua, “Keleketla!” started as a musical meeting ground between Ninja Tune cofounders Coldcut and a cadre of South African musicians (introduced by the charity In Place Of War), including the raw, South African-accented jazz styles of Sibusile Xaba, and rapper Yugen Blakrok (Black Panther OST). From those initial sessions, the record grew to encompass a wider web of musical luminaries, including Afrobeat architects, the late pioneer Tony Allen and Dele Sosimi, legendary L.A. spoken word pioneers The Watts Prophets, and West Papuan activist Benny Wenda.

Here's the opening track to their album called Future Toyi Toyi:

As I am off travelling for real next week, I better finish here, continuing with more music from London next week.  As usual you can follow my virtual journey on my tripline map.