Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festival - 2008 line-up

Festival dates: Thursday June 26 to Sunday June 29

Updated: At last, the line-up has been posted for the 2008 Essaouira Gnaoua and World Music Festival, and now (20 June) there is a detailed program that's nicely colour-coded to show musical genre, along with the lists of the artists and biographies. Also (18 June), some of the artist listings show the venue, day and time, so you can now plan your festival.

Note that you need to access the site using the French entry point if you want to see the musicians - the English side of the site is still pretty sparsely populated. I've added hyperlinks to the section headings below, so you can easily read more details about the artists. Links to the original French are shown in italics, English translations (courtesy of Google Translate) are shown in normal type.

I've added some links for some of the artists to their web-sites or Myspace profiles, so that you listen to their music, before the event, to help you to determine which sets you should attend.


Artistes World / International musicians

Franck Vaillant (Drums)
Jaleel Shaw (AltoSax) USA
Mohamed Derouich (Guitar) France / Morocco
Stéphane Edouard (Percussion) - India
Hassan Idbadssaïd (Vocals / banjo / guitar / Rebab / violin)
Abdenour Djemaï (Multi instrumentalist strings) France and Algeria
Andy Narell (Steel drums) NY
Jon Balcke Norway (Piano / keyboards)
Ibrahim Maalouf (Trumpet / Lebanon)
Fermin Juarez and Nelson Javier Silva (Argentina)

Groupes Etrangers / Foreign groups

Eric Légnini Trio - Belgium
Le Trio Joubran , Samir Joubran, Wissam Joubran, Adnan Joubran, Yousef Hbeisch
3 MA
Justin Adams - UK with Juldeh Camara - The Gambia
Groupe Bassekou Kouyaté
Toumani Diabaté - Mali (Kora)
Diwane El Kasbah - Algeria
Wayne Shorter quartet - USA
Ky-Mani Marley - Jamaica
Orchestre National de Barbes - Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia
Samulnori Molgae - Korea

Groupes Marocains / Moroccan groups
Groupe Darhem
Groupe Berbère Raiss Said OUTAJJAJT et Raissa JAMILA TAMINTAGHT
Groupe Paco Ghiwane
Groupe Wachmin’hit
Hmadcha
Ganga (Smimou)
Haddarates
Issaoua de Meknès
Groupe bana de Marrakech
Kif Samba

Groupes Gnaoua / Gnaoua groups
Maâlem Hamid El Kasri
Maâlem Mustapha Bakbou
Maâlem Mohamed Kouyou
Maâlem Abderrahim Benthami
Maâlem Omar Hayat
Maâlem Abdelkébir Merchane
Maâlem Mahmoud Guinea
Maâlem Abdellah Guinéa
Maâlem Abdenbi El Gadari
Maâlem Allal Soudani
Maâlem Abdeslam Alikane, Tyour Gnaoua
Maâlem Mahjoub Laghnaoui
Maâlem Abdelwahad Stitou
Maâlem Abdeslam Belghiti
Maâlem Saïd Boulhimas
Maâlem Mustapha Gholf
Maâlem Mustapha Hagbel
Maâlem Adil Amimi
Maâlem Najib Gbani
Maâlem Rachid Fadli Ladhass
Maâlem Abdelkader Amlil
Maâlem Saïd El Bourqui
Groupe Baâlil
Maâlem Ahmed Bakbou
Maâlem Chérif Regragui
Maâlem Lahcen Demnati

There will be a number of changes this year with a new performance area (scene): Bab Doukala for the traditional Gnaoua - which will undoubtedly be where Joseph Sebag will spend most of his time.

There was also talk on the festival site about a new venue - Bab Sba, which looked like it would replace Bab Marrakech, but now it looks like that's not going to happen. To read my wife's view on that proposed change of venue, link to Maggie Knutson: Gnaoua and World Music Festival, Essaouira, Morocco June 26-29, 2008

Hold Fire at The Railway Inn, Winchester

I went along to the Railway Inn in Winchester last night to record Hold Fire, a band from Brighton who've been playing togather since 2002. They played a short but powerful 30 minute set and really got the beach party rocking. Super job, guys.

Let's start with their second number:




Here's the finale:




You can find more music by Hold Fire on YouTube and MySpace

Ryan O'Reilly at the Discovery Centre, Winchester

I used to go to school in Newcastle and seemed to spend the best part of five years waiting for a bus at one end or the other of the Westgate Road. We used to tell a joke - "Why are Newcastle buses like bananas? Because they are yellow and come in bunches." I know, its not that funny. What is funny, though, is that I go for months without recording anything, and then I get three gems in one day.

Ryan O'Reilly's business card says he is a singer/songwriter/musician, and if his short session before Polly and the Billets Doux at the Discovery Centre, Winchester last night is anything to go by, he's very good at all three. Here's a couple of his songs, sung with a smokey voice and a lyrics that hint at a life full of experience.

Elisabeth:



I know I'm not good enough:



If you like these songs, go check out more of his work on his web site or on Myspace or just buy some of his tracks on iTunes.

Rowlie at the Discovery Centre, Winchester

As I mentioned in my earlier post today, Rowlie opened the evening last night for Polly and the Billets Doux, at the Discovery Centre, Winchester. Rowlie is a print maker at the Winchester College of Fine Art, and, if his printing is as good as his singing and guitar playing, he's going to have a very successful career ahead of him. Shades of Syd Barrett, with similar lightness of touch and quirky lyrics.

Well, since I wrote the previous paragraph on on Sunday, I've seen some of Rowlie's work and I'm really impressed. This piece illillustration.com combines a great piece of fantastical artwork with an imaginative use of a virtual magnifying glass. I'll leave the reader to discover how to navigate the site, but take your time - it'll be worth it. I'd love to see the 1600x1400 dip pen and ink original. You'll find more of Rowlie's work on his web site.

The Queen and I:



Intaglio:

Polly and the Billets Doux at The Discovery Centre, Winchester

If you were in Winchester last night, you couldn't have had a better time than I had, listening to Polly and the Billets Doux playing live at The Discovery Centre - Winchester's new, intimate performance venue. After un-billed performances by the multi-talented Rowlie and Ryan O'Reily (surely a star in the making), Polly and her band came on to a rousing welcome and certainly didn't disappoint.

Here are a few samples.

When I get low I get high:



The old blues standard House of the Rising Sun, rendered in a way that makes it sound new, all over again:



The set closed with this - look out for Polly playing the lead guitar!



You can buy PBD's new EP CD at any good record shops or, I'm told, from iTunes, or visit the band web site . Their MySpace profile lists their upcoming gigs, including the GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL on 27 Jun 2008 at 13:00 .

A few months ago, I mentioned that I was thinking of getting a video camera. Well, as you can see, I got one and it's really great. Not too heavy but super quality, though you lose a lot when you compress the movie file for use on YouTube. I'll post some more videos and some music mp3s from the show, so keep a look out.

nps output webradio

Someone I met in Amsterdam yesterday told me about an internet radio station that played jazz and world music, so, this morning, when I got home, I decided to take a look at npsoutput.com . What I found is a never-ending stream of great, non-stop, music - world, jazz, blues and grooving music too, spread across three different channels. Indeed, three never-ending streams.

Go to the webradio page select the channel (Kies je station) and click the Shoutcast icon and open the playlist file to add the channels to your iTunes. The tracks being played have their titles shown, real-time. There's also a Media player link, if you prefer that. See the playlist on the right nav-bar for access and a display of what's playing now.

I've been listening to it all day now - you should do the same. It's playing an old Miles Davis / Gill Evans track now - sublime.

Laloli Jewellery Design, Amsterdam

I first found Laloli, at Grimburgwal 13, in Amsterdam, last year, when I was looking for something nice for my wife. I bought her a beautiful little enamel brouch, a tiger or a monkey. Anyway, she loved it and then she lost it, so, I was under orders to get her a replacement when I was there yesterday. All they had left was a turtle covered in hearts.

Monique, if you read this, she loves this one too.
Marianne, you'll have to let me know what other animals you make, since you've got a fan, over here.

I also bought a tulip brouch, like the one in the image (Copyright Laloli), but taller and thinner. They lots of other stuff too, including some wonderful gold earings. Maybe, next time.

Do you want to buy a joke?

"Do you want to buy a joke?" That's what I heard this guy say, yesterday in Amsterdam. Really. I was sitting on a bench, in the sun, looking at the canal, eating my chips - the best chips. No, I mean the best. He'd ridden up on a bike and was talking to the couple on the bench right behind me. Intrigued, I turned around and asked him what a joke costs. Good jokes were 2 euro and great jokes were 5. I asked for a good joke, but only had a five, so decided to go for the great joke. To be honest, the joke was good, but the telling was really great. It was the Panda joke - eats, shoots and leaves, respun.

So, when later in the day, I saw the pandas at the Go Gallery, I wondered, "what's with all of the pandas, all of a sudden." I'm not one for signs, so I figure it was just a coincidence, but it makes you think.

Sit at the Go Gallery, Amsterdam

Yesterday I was in Amsterdam for the day and decided to go the Go Gallery and pick up a copy on this year's Moon Calendar. So far, I've had to make do with seeing it tesselated as as the background on my laptop and I was looking forward to seeing it up close where you can see a lot more detail.


How lucky I was to stumble upon Sit's Unwired exhibition, now in its third week at the Go Gallery and running until 12th May. In his latest work, Sit, better known as Freakin Sitnie delivers a haunting prediction of a very bleak future. We all see examples of some of what Sit portrays here, everyday, but we still ignore the warning signs. Visit the Unwired website (select paintings) for a flash screenshow of details from the work. Let's all hope that his visions - if these are what they are - don't become much more real than they are today. I will not be able to forget the pandas. Speaking of pandas, see ...



Go Gallery describes Sit in these terms:

SIT (Amsterdam, 1976)
Sit,vroeger beter bekend als Freakin Sitnie, maakte jaren geleden furore inde Amsterdamse straatkunstscene met zijn geheel eigen stijl van scherpeen eigenzinnige schilderijen. Geïnspireerd door illustere comicillustratoren als Simon Bisley, Sam Keith, Todd Mcfarlane en JamieHewlett, perfectioneerde hij zijn stijl. In rap tempo werd hij zeersuccesvol. Zijn werk was overal te zien, tijdens evenementen en inclubs, van Amsterdam tot Kuala Lumpur. Vanaf 29 maart t/m 12 mei in GO Gallery.

Or, when translated by Google, with a little editing by me:

Sit, formerly known as Freakin Sitnie years ago created a furore in the Amsterdam street-art scene with his own style of scherpeen(?) idiosyncratic paintings. Inspired by illustrious comic-illustrators such as Simon Bisley, Sam Keith, Todd Mcfarlane, and Jamie Hewlett, he perfected his style. He rapidly became successful and his work has been widely seen, at events and in clubs, from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. From March 29 to May 12 in GO Gallery.

More details of how Sit approached this work can be found on blakkbyrd.

All images Copyright Sit, linked to on the Go Gallery website, or taken from a review on A Blue Chicken .

My charicature

I was in Las Vegas last week and had my charicature drawn by a Canadian artist called Sam Gorrie which bears quite a striking resemblence to what I look like. Here's a photo that I took of it. Sam took all of 10 minutes to draw this!! Cool, or what?