Lo'Jo

Sakifo (île de la Reunion), c’est parti pour trois jours

Coup d’envoi, ce midi, de trois jours et trois nuits de fête musicale.

Les nomades sont de retour Ils ont été repérés par Baguett’ du temps de Komela et des premières scènes de rue avec Jo Bitume. “C’était en 1991”, racontent les piliers de Lo’Jo, Denis Péan et Richard Bourreau. “On a joué un peu partout dans l’île pendant un mois et on en garde un vrai bon souvenir. Ça nous a permis de connaître non seulement un pays mais aussi sa musique, avec, en particulier, un kabar mémorable chez Firmin Viry. Et depuis, on n’a pas cessé de transmettre notre amour pour cette musique”.

Comme eux, elle voyage, se marie à toutes les autres traces musicales d’ailleurs tout aussi féconds et nourrit des chansons, ou des échanges voire des retrouvailles avec des dalons comme René Lacaille. “Il a participé à la bonne franquette à l’enregistrement de notre dernier disque et nous a même mitonné de bons caris !”, ajoute Denis avec l’approbation gourmande de ses compagnons. Six musiciens et musiciennes angevins aux racines différentes, aux goûts et aux choix de vie originaux. “Pour faire notre chemin, comme une famille avec la diversité en guise de richesse”.

“On ne fait rien de conventionnel ”

Et l’esprit grand ouvert, comme leur maison communautaire, sur le reste de la planète. “On accueille des artistes de partout, des Indiens Navajos, des nomades du Sahara, en résidence. Il y a toujours un mouvement d’échanges autour de nous avec de la musique et des artistes à la maison”. Les différences, c’est leur souffle, leur respiration. “Le groupe a germé autour de ça. Un alliage de senteurs. On ne fait rien de conventionnel, on a dit non au conformisme. En réalité on a inventé une sorte de créole musical, poétique, n’ayant pas de limite dans nos sentiments. On raconte la vie, on tisse des liens, on dessine des lignes...”

En évitant comme la peste la tendance au produit formaté pour plaire au plus grand nombre, note encore Denis Péan. “Je reviens de Rodrigue où j’ai été sidéré de découvrir qu’à la radio, on passe les mêmes disques que partout ailleurs. Pourtant, il existe tant de musiciens là-bas comme dans tous les pays qui ont des secrets dans leur musique et qui n’ont pas d’audience...” Lo’Jo, si. “Sans sacrifier un pouce à ses goûts, ses ambitions L’obsession de créer notre propre musique, notre image sonore. Il a fallu du temps pour faire ce groupe”. Un groupe dont Philippe Ducayron a écrit que la musique est l’une des plus lumineuses qui soit.

Rien d’étonnant à ce que le Billboard américain ait flashé sur leur dernier enregistrement en studio, le consacrant “meilleur album world de l’année”. Un bel hommage pour ces étonnants voyageurs qui ont leur place au Womad. “Le genre de festival sans stars mais avec que des gens intéressants. Il nous a conduit cette année en Australie et en Nouvelle-Zélande”. De quoi ajouter d’autres sonorités à leurs échappées musicales pour l’album à venir en janvier “Bazar Savant”. En attendant, rendez-vous tout à l’heure à 18 h sous le Chapitô. “On donnera le meilleur, forcément on a envie d’être aimés !” C’est à notre avis l’un des concerts à ne pas manquer.

Textes et photos Marine Dusigne

Africa Calling 2

Eden's hopes for Africa Calling 2

The spectacular biomes of Cornwall's Eden Project may ring to the sounds of African music again in 2006. The attraction has confirmed that talks are taking place about hosting Africa Calling 2 next year.

More than 4,000 people attended the Africa Calling concert in July as part of Make Poverty History's Live 8. Artists on this year's bill included Angelique Kidjo, Coco Mbassi and Youssou N'Dour who performed a duet with Dido.

"There's a real desire to make it happen" Bryher Scudamore, Eden Project.

Bryher Scudamore, Eden's director of communications, told BBC News its success had prompted the idea of another. She said: "It was a fantastic thing and there was a massive response afterwards. "I can confirm talks have started and there's a real desire to make it happen. It's very early days though and nothing is set in stone."

Senegalese star Youssou N'Dour said Africa Calling was the most important concert of Live 8. It was compered by Peter Gabriel, the co-founder of World of Music, Arts and Dance (WOMAD), and set up after criticism over the lack of black artists at the Live 8 show. More than 35,000 people applied for the 4,200 tickets available for the Eden show.

Console for Womad

Ampco chooses Midas for WOMAD

UK - For a record twelfth consecutive year, Holland's Ampco Pro Rent (APR) has supplied the complete audio production for the WOMAD Festival at the Rivermead in Reading, where nine stages present an eclectic blend of tunes, poetry, dance and arts workshops, all featuring performers from around the globe. APR's primary console brand of choice for WOMAD is Midas, with around 80% of the Reading event's 25 desks being Midas Heritage Series or XL3 consoles.

"We rarely have time for sound-checks and of course there are a lot of visiting engineers around all the stages who need to be able to jump on a desk and be ready to mix instantly," says APR production manager Dieter van Denzel. "Midas gives us the familiarity, the reliability and of course the essential audio quality."

All in all, APR oversaw the action at the main (Open Air) stage, the ever-popular Siam Tent, the Village Stage, Rivermead Club WOMAD, Spiegeltent, Green Room workshops Thames Suite dance studio and the One World Platform. "The festival has grown again since last year," says van Denzel, who also mixed many of the bands. "This year they added a ninth stage - the BBC Radio 3 World On Your Street Stage, to one side of the main arena. This was planned to be a little booth for 200 people but ended up being a club-sized sound system that drew up to 2000 people."

In the past 12 months, Ampco has also worked on WOMAD festivals in Singapore, Cáceres and Madrid in Spain, Grand Canaria, New Zealand, Australia and Sicily. These locations are being added to this autumn by the first WOMAD Sri Lanka. All operate as a joint partnership in each country between WOMAD, co-founded by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Brooman, and local site production, with APR in charge of the audio and Stage Miracles providing stage management.

"Consistency is a huge part of it," says van Denzel. "Artists love to know that at every WOMAD they'll find the same team, the same technical crew, the same stage setup, the same sound." Among the artistic highlights of the Reading event were Senegalese superstar Youssou N'Dour, Bill Cobham, Nitin Sawhney, Richie Havens, the Fatback Band, Yasmin Levy and Robert Plant.

(Lee Baldock)

Brit-Asian Stars Rock Womad

British Asian stars including Apache Indian & The Dhol Foundation rocked the WOMAD festival over the weekend....

[ClickPress, Wed Aug 03 2005]

The WOMAD festival rocked across the UK on Sunday July 31st August when reggae superstar Apache Indian took to the main stage and entertained over 50 000 to probably one of his finest ever performances and too make WOMAD even hotter when The Dhol Foundation made a surprise appearance with the main man, Johnny Kalsi at the helm. A 15 000 audience watched the king of Dhol go wild on stage and at one point, fans were asked to not make so much noise as they we’re drowning out the main stage audience of about 50 000.

Apache Indian headlined the Sunday festival and gave workshops for the younger fans of Womad generation. Apache performed live alongside his now legendary musicians, The Reggae Revolution Band. Ten tracks were played, starting off with classics such as Movie Over India and Chok There and then taking people through various songs from his new album “Time For Change”.

As part of his live set, Apache also spoke to the audience about the world we lived in and how we must all work together to end racism and violence which immediately led to a rapturous applause from the WOMAD crowd. He finished his set with three classics including his new single Israelites, followed by two of his former chart hits Boom Shak-alak and Ruggermuffin Girl.

Johnny Kalsi of the Dhol Foundation hosted the BBC Radio 3 Village stage over the three days. The stage featured live acoustic sets of acts from all over the globe including Syria, Palestine Argentina, Korea, Uganda, France and Iraq with a live broadcast on BBC Radio 3 each night. Johnny introduced each act over the three days and acted as an ambassador for WOMAD, which meant running around the festival to give various interviews for radio, tv and press in between introducing all the Village stage to crowds of 15 000 plus.

Over the three days the Dhol Foundation new album sold out at the WOMAD store and after various requests and constant demands by fans who had seen Johnny perform over the years, he decided to bow down to pressure and gave a live performance towards the end of Village stage line up. Performing tracks from Drum-believable drove the crowd to scenes of mass cheers and shouts of Johnny. As a finale to his set, he finished off with a track taken from this current album, which is a cross between traditional Punjabi dhol beats and Celtic sounds of the fiddle

Notes to Editors:

• WOMAD is now in its 15th year and held in Reading, UK

• WOMAD has over 100 festivals held in 21 countries

• WOMAD 2005 featured artists from 30 countries

• Apache Indian will be performing at WOMAD Singapore

• DHOL FOUNDATION will be performing at WOMAD Singapore and Sri Lanka

• Apache Indians latest album is titled “Time For Change”,for more info go to: www.karmasound.com

• Dhol Foundation’s latest album is titled “Drum-Believable”, for more info visit www.dholfoundation.com

Anne Heaton

Lush, The Way She Likes It

Anne Heaton bares her soul through her richly textured voice at this year's SoNo Arts Celebration

by LuAnne Roy - August 4, 2005

Anne Heaton loves a full sound

Every year the SoNo Arts Celebration committee searches for original visual and performing artists to showcase in its annual two-day festival, held on the streets of South Norwalk. As in the past, this year's roster looks to represent a diverse group of musicians--from reggae bands like Mystic Bowie to Latin bands like Cosmic Jibaros and Mandorico and string bands like California's Hot Buttered Rum. Aside from all the ethnic sounds there will be plenty of great pop rock artists. One of the most exciting is the dynamic female singer/songwriter Anne Heaton. <...>

When you ask Heaton how she feels about the direction her music is going in, she giddily responds, "I love a full sound." She cites Peter Gabriel as her "favorite artist of all time" and the source of her inspiration for creating layered sounds that include adding a strong bass line or electric guitar. "I like when there's a lush sound," Heaton adds. "I feel like the songs I'm writing come across better that way." ...

Youssou Ndour propose une association des musiciens africains

Le Soleil (Dakar)

L'artiste-musicien sénégalais, Youssou Ndour, a proposé, avant-hier, la création d'une Association des musiciens professionnels africains (AMPA) destinée à mieux organiser ce secteur sur le continent.

"Contre la piraterie, mais pas seulement, il faut améliorer les métiers de la musique qui ne sont pas à la hauteur des talents africains", a expliqué la grande vedette de la musique africaine dans les colonnes du quotidien français "Le Monde".

Youssou Ndour a jugé anormal que les musiciens ne puissent pas vivre en Afrique de leurs talents, critiquant l'absence de politiques répressives contre la piraterie. "Dans un continent qui est le grenier, la maman de la tradition musicale, les musiciens ne vivent pas de leur art. Nos gouvernements doivent voter des lois et harmoniser leur politique", a plaidé le musicien sénégalais, citant le cas de la Gambie et du Sénégal.

"La Gambie, par exemple, ne doit pas fermer les yeux sur les pirates, quand le Sénégal est en train de les réprimer à ses frontières. Nos dirigeants ont créé l'Union africaine, nous allons faire pression", a ajouté Youssou Ndour.

D'autres grands noms de la musique africaine tels que les Maliens Salif Keïta et Rokia Traoré ainsi que le Camerounais Manu Dibango se sont associés à l'idée de la création de l'AMPA. Confrontés à différentes sortes de difficultés dans leurs pays, les musiciens africains choisissent très souvent le chemin de l'exil, posant leurs valises à Paris, Londres ou Bruxelles.

"Get up, Stand Up"

Chuck D, Bono "Stand Up"

Politically minded musicians to appear in new documentary

Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Willie Nelson, Steve Earle, Michael Stipe, Peter Gabriel and Bob Geldof will appear in Get Up, Stand Up: The Story of Pop and Protest, a documentary about the history of protest music, to air September 28th on PBS.

Produced and directed by the team of Hannes Rossacher and Rudi Dolezal -- whose previous work includes documentaries about Miles Davis, Freddie Mercury, Quincy Jones and Billy Joel -- the film recounts the origins of protest songs in American labor unions and how musicians ranging from Bob Dylan to Sly Stone to the MC5 put political issues front and center for a generation of listeners.

Named for the Bob Marley song, Get Up, Stand Up is narrated by politically minded rapper Chuck D. The Public Enemy frontman grew up listening to protest music, and later used it as inspiration for his own work.

"'Fight the Power' by the Isley Brothers was the song that inspired me to write 'Fight the Power' by Public Enemy," he says. "But, being a child of the Sixties, there's so many great protest songs. 'People Get Ready' and a lot of Curtis Mayfield's songs touched my soul. James Brown had a protest song against drugs with 'King Heroin,' and Peter, Paul and Mary struck me as a kindergartener. How could those songs not mean so much?"

Colin Devenish

A country field with a view across the planet

Financial Times
Arts & Weekend / Art, music & theatre

By David Honigmann

... Youssou N'Dour and his band, Super Etoile de Dakar, exerted a magnetic attraction. N'Dour opened with a song in praise of Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba, and also slipped in a mention of Womad's chieftains Peter Gabriel and Thomas Brooman. "Salaam aleikum," he chanted. "Peace to all, not just to Muslims."

The early ominous synthesiser chords were superseded by a storming set from Super Etoile, whose combination of stuttering firecracker drum attack and curiously old-fashioned guitar breaks sets the backdrop for N'Dour's commanding tenor, rising above the clatter in benediction. The band were as lock-tight as might be expected, given that in Senegal they play multi-hour sets most nights.

Purists sniff at "7 Seconds", N'Dour's chart hit duet with Neneh Cherry. But when he sang it here, his voice fracturing into seven syllables on the "million" of "a million voices", the thousands of voices joining in the chorus must have echoed off the Cotswolds. Djanka Djibe, singing the female part, replaced Cherry's boho sass with nu-soul diva hauteur: as she spiralled baroquely upwards on the last verse, even N'Dour watched in admiration.

N'Dour's newest west African rivals, the blind couple Amadou and Mariam, continued their irresistible rise with a set as bouncy as two toddlers jumping on a mattress. Their quieter blues numbers were swamped by enthusiastic orchestration, but "Coulibaly" and "Ko Be Na Touma Do" shone through....

Rain fails to dampen Womad spirit

By Martin Vennard
BBC News

The sight of several thousand people standing in a giant tent after midnight listening to Siberian throat-singing sums up the spirit of Womad. It's about letting your hair down, or putting it up under a funny hat with dreadlocks attached, and generally doing other things you would not normally do.

The audience was transfixed by Huun-Huur-Tu's deep, guttural harmonising, and the Siberians were amazed by Womad. They seemed particularly impressed by the fact that there was a fun fair on the festival site. For the music is not the only attraction at the World of Music Art and Dance by the River Thames in Reading.

It is a place for discovering groups like India's Kala Chethena Kathakali Company. They tell stories through minimalist theatre, wearing stunningly colourful costumes and make-up, while accompanied by percussionists.

It is also a place for rediscovering stars of the past.

Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin fame was just one such artist. With his restrictions on photographers and production office he seemed a little bit too big for Womad. But his extended version of Whole Lotta Love at the end of Friday night on the main stage reminded people why he was a star.

Another survivor from the '70s was Kiki Dee, who once famously duetted with Elton John. Her audience may be suffering from middle-age spread, but her voice and figure are as good as ever. And accompanied by a guitarist and a backing singer she proved she has "still got the music in her".

Womad brings people together. There were Australians performing Bulgarian choir music, Armenians joining forces with Persians, and British Asians singing reggae.

The crowd is also part of the show. One couple was having a joint stag and hen party in front of the main stage and, despite the rain, hosted a game of Twister for their guests. But the strange sights are not limited to the audience.

Russia's Terem Quartet must have one of the world's biggest balalaikas. And they claimed that Bach had composed a piece especially for it.

The Fatback Band from the US impressed with their soul, rhythm and blues, while the singer had echoes of James Brown in his voice - and their diminutive guitarist's solos left listeners stunned.

Youssou N'Dour and his group Super Etoile are archetypal Womad performers and, topping the bill on Saturday night, they did not disappoint. The Senegalese superstar has as much energy as ever and his hit Seven Seconds Away had the crowd singing along.

Sunday is an altogether more relaxed day at Womad. If you have not already had the chance, it is the opportunity to wander around the dozens of stalls selling everything from hemp baseball caps to antique theatre costumes.

Richie Havens and his acoustic guitar are veterans of the festival circuit, going right back to Woodstock. Sounding like a more avuncular Bob Dylan, he used his deep, rich voice to tell stories and perform songs such as All Along the Watchtower.

Colombia's Toto La Momposina and her band had people in the Siam tent moving to Latin beats that were perhaps less in evidence than in previous years.

When you see the procession of children and their adult helpers snaking its way around the site on Sunday evening, you know Womad is coming to an end for another year. The children had been making props at workshops.

Finally, the All-Star Gala Finale brought several of the Womad performers together on the main stage for a climatic version of Bob Marley's One Love. Let's just hope it rains a bit less next year.

Womad 2005 Youssou N'Dour Interview

He's one of the most celebrated African musicians in history and he's performing at Reading's WOMAD Festival. Youssou N'Dour took time out of his hectic schedule to speak to BBC Berkshire about WOMAD.

You're coming to WOMAD, one of the World's biggest music festivals, not long to go now, how are you feeling?

"I'm feeling good, I'm happy, because I think the WOMAD Festival really started the beginning of my career in Europe, and I remember in 1984 doing the WOMAD Festival, it was really exciting.

"A long time ago we were thinking that World music was going to be something happening in two/three years, now we realise everyone is playing world music."

WOMAD is quite unique because it provides a platform, a showcase for that kind of music. How important is that to you?

"Yeah I think WOMAD brings to the table diversity. It's really something that makes the world richer - culturally and musically especially. I think WOMAD helps people to understand diversity. At the same time, it's kind of a platform to tell people who listen to the radio every day that it's not the only thing happening in music, and there's a lot of great music."

What kind of performance can people expect to see from you at WOMAD?

"Yeah it will be with the same band I used at WOMAD 20 years ago, it'll be all my stuff, old stuff and new stuff also. It's also about bringing an African vibe."

Are there any other acts at WOMAD you particularly want to see?

"Yeah, doing the tour is really difficult, seeing everything that goes on at WOMAD because I believe in it. And people are bringing some wonderful things but I wonder about having the time!"

Your biggest hit to date in the UK is 'Seven Seconds' with Nenah Cherry. You performed that with Dido at Live 8, what was that like?

"It was great. Nenah said when we wrote this song, it's not for us anymore, it's for everybody, and it's great to hear from different singers that want to sing the song with me or with Nenah - I remember the one with Annie Lennox in South Africa was great also.

"I was really happy and Nenah was also, I spoke to her a week after we sang in Edinburgh. It's great to have a song that unites people and brings musicians and singers together."

You perform all over the world, what kind of reception do you get when you go back home to Senegal?

"I feel the language of music when I go back to my country, 10 million people but little country...I feel like every member of the country is proud that my music is touching the world.

"I think people are seeing in me and other African artists something they really need and I'm really proud and really excited."

What kind of music do you listen to?

"I listen to everything but I'm a real fan of the sixties...Wilson Picket and things, I'm a real fan of soul music. I also listen to African traditional music."

What else are you doing this summer?

"I'm touring around Europe, after WOMAD I'm going back home, I'm going to Budapest after, some gig in France also.

"And something is going to happen on October 1st in Paris - a big African concert, 15-20,000 people."

Womad 2005 Robert Plant interview

By Linda Serck

We spoke to Robert Plant before his performance at WOMAD 2005.

Read the interview below or listen to it through the link on the right hand side of the page.

Interview with Robert Plant

Plant opened his set at WOMAD with current band Strange Sensation with Led Zeppelin's song No Quarter. The second song he played was theenew single off current album The Mighty Rearranger, called Shine it all around. They also played Black Dog, and ended with Whole Lotta Love. So the crowd could still "get zepped" at WOMAD while listening to Robert Plant, even though he's moved on from that period.

What are you doing here at WOMAD?

The reason I'm here is, I've got new work and I've got an elevated state now. But there will be some Led Zeppelin songs, and they won't be anything like they used to be.

What do you love about WOMAD?

I think it gives so much more of a window on the realities of what music can do. Entertainment isn't just based on the very structured syndrome of European popular music, and it's great that there are so many thousands of people who are of the same opinion. All over the world, the idea of creating an melange of international musics, it's a very healthy thing. I think it's spurred on by the fact that there's so much European popular music that's so very lacking in imagination.

You're also the curator of the WOMEX exhibition this October, what draws you to World Music?

My dear, I was working in India in 1969. If you know anything about Led Zep you'll know we were playing with Indian musicians in '68. I was just 19 years old then. I've travelled through North Africa for the last 33 years. The last thing this can be considered as in terms of my career is something new. It's just that I have a band now that's consolidated a lot of North African musicality into a rock thing. It's great, it couldn't be better!

Last time you were here was Reading Festival 1998, is that right?

I played the Hexagon, I had a band called the Priory of Brion there. What year was that? 2000?
Jimmy Page used to live in Berkshire, too. We spoke to him for Children in Need!

In Pangbourne, yes. But he's moved several times now. He's a good guy, we both work quite fastidiously with charities, it's a good thing to do.

Tell us about the new album, The Mighty Rearranger. What is The Mighty Rearranger?

It's what brought us here, destiny, fate. It's all written already, it's just that we didn't know it. I'm not trying to be cosmic, it's just everything's on a roll and that's how it is. The songs within the album discuss that very condition.

Do you still get nervous going on stage?

I still get nervous, and I get a day older! I haven't got the gift, I just borrow it now and then...

Last Night: WOMAD, Rivermead, Reading

Led Zeppelin meets Latino in this festival of fascinating rhythms

Published: 01 August 2005 ; By Phil Meadley

Sometimes it takes one vital spark to ignite a festival. This year at Britain's biggest and best-loved world music festival it was Ethiopia's Mahmoud Ahmed who provided it. Now in his 63rd year Ahmed has remained one of Addis Ababa's best-kept secrets for decades; military rule between 1974 and 1991 keeping his vibrant blend of east African funk a local phenomenon while the country's strict censorship remained.

Only recently, through the wonderful Ethiopiques compilation series, his uniquely soulful singing has been heard in the West. Making two appearances this year, his Saturday performance at the Village stage impressed. His seven-piece band wove insistently funky, horn-led Fela Kuti-style passages round a truly majestic vocal range, conjuring up images of James Brown at his soulful best.

Robert Plant's performance provided one of the most talked-about moments of the first day. His heavy, riff-driven set split the audience down the middle in terms of those who yearned for the classic Led Zeppelin tunes, and those who sought to escape to the Radio 3 acoustic session to see Syria's premier zither player Abdullah Chhadeh, or else search in earnest for a Chai tea. A couple of middle-aged women couldn't help shouting, "We love you Robert" but his often leaden delivery bemused as many people as it inspired.

Saturday was far more enticing. Aside from Mahmoud Ahmed, there was Madagascar's colourful Jaojoby who mix traditional Malagasy rhythms with the new, funkier salagey style, which became popular in the Eighties.

Cape Verde's Lura performed a very polished Creole/Latino-inspired set, and jazz-drumming legend Bill Cobham fused world influences with complex, jazz-funk fusion workouts. The fascinating Japanese trad-meets-electronic dub collective OKI Dub Ainu Band fused sounds from the northernmost island of Hokkaido.

Although rain threatened to dampen the evening, the Fatback Band and Algeria's Akim El Sikameya kept spirits up on the two main stages. The latter's mix of Algerian Rai and Andalusian music was saccharin- sweet at times, but there was no denying his musical virtuosity or powerful, falsetto vocal range.

Youssou N'Dour and his Senegalese band Super Etoile were the most anticipated act, and for the most part this much-loved African superstar didn't disappoint. Running an extensive repertoire, which stretches back to the late 1970s, he was at his very best duelling with the mind-bogglingly dextrous Talking Drummers. At his worst, his heavily Westernised and overly sincere pop ballads such as "My Hope Is In You" and "Seven Seconds" seemed oddly out of place.

Sunday was the debut of hotly anticipated blind Malian couple Amadou & Mariam, who played a funky set of Malian rock 'n' roll and provided one of the most exciting and electrifying moments of the festival. Beside Amadou's phenomenal guitar playing, his mostly French band provided a tight background to the blind couple's compositions.

Here Come the Flood...Smoke On The Water

Droughts, twisters, floods: what on earth has happened to our weather?

Robin McKie, Barbara McMahon and Giles Tremlett

Sunday July 31, 2005
The Observer

Britain's biggest water company is pressing ahead with plans to ban hosepipes and sprinklers in August. Thames Water, which supplies 8 million homes in the south of England issued the warning yesterday despite rainstorms that have deluged much of Britain in the last few days and a 130mph tornado which smashed a three-mile trail of destruction through areas of Birmingham.

But despite rainfall of several inches in some areas, the downpour has made only a marginal improvement to levels at reservoirs, a spokesman for Thames Water warned yesterday. 'It was enough to save us from introducing bans this week, but unless we get substantially more rain in the next couple of weeks, it is very likely that we will have to start introducing some types of restrictions on water use before the end of August.'

.....

Britain's water crisis is mirrored by heatwaves and droughts afflicting much of Europe. Italy is currently in the grip of a searing heatwave, with Level 3 alerts in operation - the highest warning, indicating a danger to the general population - in many cities.

Milan recently experienced temperatures of 43C; Turin, 37; Bologna, 40, and Rome, 42. Visitors to the Italian capital have been bathing in the city's fountains, while the authorities in Perugia have been giving out bottled water free of charge. Hospitals have reported large numbers of people suffering heart or respiratory problems - a worrying situation for the authorities, who are desperate to avoid a repeat of the 2003 heatwave, during which an estimated 20,000 people died.

In Sardinia serious forest fires have devastated acres of forests and put at risk the holiday homes of many tourists and celebrities, including Peter Gabriel of Genesis. At one point fires were raging at points along 20 kilometres of coastline until winds dropped and firefighters were able to contain the flames.

Spain is suffering its worst drought since national figures were first produced in 1947. In some areas reservoirs are down to just 14 per cent of their capacity. And in western France, water levels are at their lowest since the drought of 1976, with restrictions operating in 60 out of 100 departments.

Some 52 Portuguese municipalities are now receiving water from tankers, as are some villages in northern Spain. A further 22 small Portuguese towns and villages are already having their water cut off for several hours a day.

Dried-out trees and crops have helped spread fires across Spain and Portugal, with crops burnt and at least a dozen people killed...