Artsreach, the county’s rural touring arts scheme, are pleased to present a weekend of world music on the 8th and 9th June. Both Etran Finatawa, from Niger, West Africa, and She’Koyokh, London’s award winning Balkan band, have only appeared once previously on the Artsreach circuit. This summer these two stunning groups are back for one special weekend of live music.
Among the grasslands of the Sahel and the shifting sand dunes of the Sahara desert, two legendary nomadic peoples, the Wodaabe and Tuareg, are joined together through the raunchy guitars, camel-gait percussion and haunting voices of Etran Finatawa.
Reflecting on their roots and with a nostalgia and warmth that mirrors the majesty of their desert home, these musicians have toured constantly all over the world since the release of their BBC Award-nominated first album in 2006. Many of the group’s songs reflect their longing to return to their roots and their music creates a soundscape of the grasslands of the Sahel and the arid desert perfectly uniting their two cultures. Never before have the clear, piercing vocals of the Wodaabe been heard in a contemporary context, infused with swirling Touareg guitars and hypnotic, driving, calabash rhythms, more familiar from the touring of ‘desert blues’ bands such as Tinariwen. Now touring the UK to launch their new album, ‘The Sahara Sessions’, Etran Finatawa make a much-anticipated return to the Artsreach circuit following their first visit back in 2007, the night before they attended the BBC World Music Awards ceremony in London.
Saturday 8th June, 8:00pm. Evershot Hut. Tel: 01935 83580
Tickets £10, £8 U18s, £30 family of four
London’s award-winning eight-piece klezmer ensemble She’Koyokh will take you on a fascinating musical journey through Eastern Europe, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. Expect soulful Gypsy melodies, toe-tapping Yiddish music, Balkan dances, Turkish ballads, and virtuosic solos, performed with huge energy and passion and enjoyed by all ages.
Hailed by Songlines magazine as ‘Britain’s best klezmer and Balkan music band’ and winners of the Netherlands’ International Jewish music competition, She’Koyokh’s evolution spans the humble origins of busking at East London’s Columbia Road flower market to performing in the famous concert halls of Europe including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and London’s Southbank Centre. As well as TV appearances and live sessions on BBC Radio’s In Tune and World on 3, She’Koyokh have performed at festivals such as Glastonbury and WOMAD, and were nominated as Best Group in the Songlines World Music Awards 2012.Expect afabulous and varied evening of exhilarating music for singing, listening and dancing. Those who enjoyed the London Klezmer Quartet will love She’Koyokh.
Sun 9th June, 7;30pm. The Exchange, Sturminster Newton. Tel: 01258 475137
Tickets £10, £8 u18s, £30 family four
For information on these two events, and all shows currently touring the Artsreach circuit, visit www.artsreach.co.uk
