Music / World
Bristol’s month in World Music – December 2024
Faris Ishaq joined with the Bristol European Jazz Ensemble for the Cotham Club’s post-pandemic relaunch back in 2022. Since then the Palestinian virtuoso of the traditional nay reed flute has renewed the collaboration several times, his combined knowledge of Palestinian musical heritage and a jazz approach making a perfect fit with BEJE’s eclectic embrace of musical diversity.
Now touring together as Siblings Not Fools they kick off December’s world music menu with an early evening gig at St George’s (Sunday, 1) preceded by a workshop on playing the nay, the oldest known flute still in existence.
The Cotham Club’s regular session, meanwhile, has virtuoso blues harmonica player Johnny Mars (Cotham Club, Friday, 20).
is needed now More than ever
Coming up to Christmas there’s fewer than usual world music gigs on offer but the Jam Jar rounds off its impressive Ghana Special series with a bumper night (Friday, 6).
The triple bill features Afropop songstress Lamisi and British Ghanaian master musicians The Sackey Brothers with a headline set from We Be Many boasting an ‘all-star line-up of special guests’.
Later in the month London-based Afro-house outfit Afroquoi will be rocking The Lantern (Friday,13) with support from DRC vocalist and loopster Liz Ikamba, while The Bell’s New Years Eve party features gnawa maestro Mohamed Errebbaa’s Tanga Groove as well as the reliably funky James Morton’s Groove Den (Tuesday, 31).
Latin American music kicks off with a Peruvian evening at Casa Latina (Sunday, 1) including a special menu and Peruvian folk-pop singer Ludetka.
The month’s hot ticket will surely be an all-too-rare chance to catch the Buena Bristol Social Club (Lantern, Thursday 12), a real supergroup of Latin jazz talent superbly catching the spirit of that famous album.
Cuban trumpeter Michel Padron is very much to the fore in the BBSC and he’ll be warming up with his Trio Batey at Canteen the night before (Wednesday, 11). And Canteen also has Tuto Tribe (Friday, 13), an idiosyncratic samba/rock five-piece led by Brazilian Tuto with a repertoire including implausible rock anthems Latinised alongside originals.
The month’s reggae starts at The Bell with Mizizi (Saturday, 14) and ends at Canteen with Rude Boy revivalists Ya Freshness (Friday, 27).
In between, however, Ujima Radio are holding an end of the year celebration at the Beacon (Saturday, 21) with long-standing ‘Queen of Lovers Rock’ Sandra Cross and her five-piece band. Still very much recording after some forty years in the business Sandra’s claim to be ‘100 per cent Lovers Rock’ is more than justified.
London-based Cajun traditionalists Joli Blond come down to the Bell (Sunday, 29) for a fine night of two-steps and waltzes, while Bristol’s Cut Throat Francis bring their circus-style mash-up of Balkan, Brazilian and jazz flavours to Canteen (Friday, 20).
And a more elusive blend of influences ‘from Persian funk to Czech jazz’ comes to an afternoon performance from the Vilk Collective duo (St George’s, Sunday, 15).
Main image: Faris Ishaq
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