| Charlton Park, Wiltshire
The international arts festival returned after a two-year absence with a triumphant celebration of music and dance from around the world After two Covid-induced years away, Womad returns to mark its 40th anniversary celebrations – and it’s earned itself a little nostalgia. Festival co-founder Peter Gabriel is here, of course, introducing Ghanaian-British rock band Osibisa, praising their role in popularising African music here back in the 70s, and harking back to the first Womad in 1982, when their singer and dancer Angie Anderson was also with the dance company Ekome, who backed Gabriel on his performance of Biko. The Congolese soukous veteran Kanda Bongo Man, still as rousing a performer as ever, said that his UK debut at Womad in 1983 “took me from nowhere to the international market”. And those passionate exponents of Sufi devotional singing, the Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali, paid tribute to their uncle Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, whose 1985 Womad debut also received praise from Gabriel in an earlier onstage discussion of the festival’s history. But the festival also continues to look to the future and trails still being blazed. Sona Jobarteh, the continent’s first female kora-playing star, demonstrates her exquisite playing of the West African harp alongside a band that includes her 15-year-old son Sidiki on balafon. From Europe come Taraf de Caliu, four of whom were once international stars with Romanian Gypsy band Taraf de Haïdouks. They returned to Clejani, Romania after the band split and – fronted by new singer Florin Murgoi, who said he was a farmer in the village until they signed him up – they’re clearly delighted to be back with their thrilling, virtuoso blend of rapid-fire duelling violins and cimbalom. From across the border in Ukraine, Folknery open with a song praising their country’s soldiers before reworking traditional songs with an edgy, eerie blend of female vocals, percussion and electronic effects. Continue reading... |
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