Fear of Flying

Flying by jet may become uncool. I'm concluding that based on early signs I've picked up this year at the WEF in Davos. When you fly, you become a polluter. And for the first time, that reality may be sinking in.

Last night at a meeting of top journalists and leaders of media companies, I talked to Peter Gabriel, the rock musician and social activist. I was struck by how he started talking, spontaneously, about his worry that global understanding could wane as people fly less.

Gabriel says a number of his friends are starting to take significantly fewer trips by airplane because they've come to believe that flying is environmentally irresponsible. The energy used per passenger mile by someone in a jet is generally far higher than in any other form of transportation.

Gabriel was the second person I've talked to in Davos this week who, out of the blue, brought up the notion that flying may wane. An environmental activist CEO who lives in London separately told me, unprompted, that he is convinced flying may significantly diminish within five years as people get more and more worried about global warming.

Gabriel, who has devoted much of his career to promoting world music, has a specific concern, even as he sympathizes with the desire to fly less. Music is a bridge to cross-cultural understanding, and encourages our interest in learning more about others, something he believes is deeply important. He is concerned that our perception of others and sense of all being in this world together could change for the worse if we travel less. But it sounded to me like he believes it could easily happen.

This would be a major new development in the galloping trend of environmental awareness in the age of global warming.

-- David Kirkpatrick

Womad tickets go on sale

Tickets are now on sale for Peter Gabriel's massive world music festival, WOMAD, which is to be held in Wiltshire in July.

The global festival, set up back in 1983, has for 17 out of its 25 years been based at the Rivermead site in Reading.

But at the end of last year festival organisers insisted that WOMAD's flagship festival had outgrown its Thames-side setting and would be moving to Charlton Park near Malmesbury Tickets for WOMAD Charlton Park are available on-line from the WOMAD website WOMAD Charlton Park 2007 > From February 1 a full Box Office will be set up to handle online, telephone and postal bookings.

If you book now, though, there are a few deals to be had.

The Early Bird Tickets, for instance, are offering Weekend tickets for 2007 at 2006 prices. They're available if you book your tickets before Wednesday 28th February, 2007.

Plus residents with an SN16 postcode (your billing address must be within the SN16 postcode area in order to qualify) are being offered a discount Weekend ticket price of £50.00. Two thousand tickets are available, on a 'first come, first served' basis, and there is a limit of six tickets per household. Charlton Park is a picturesque 280 acre park set within easy access of the motorway.

More than 20,00 festival goers are expected to descend on Charlton Park, this year, when the three day festival kicks off on Friday 27th July.

Organisers are promising music from 70 world-class artists from over 40 different countries plus Taste The World cookery sessions; late night dance, DJ's and grooves at Club WOMAD; a children's procession; a Global Village of over 250 international food, drink, arts, craft and merchandise stalls plus hundreds of flags, projections, visual art and temporary structures.

Interview with Peter Gabriel in Davos

Thu Jan 25, 2007 1:01am PST, By Adam Reuters

SECOND LIFE, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Bureau chief Adam Reuters interviewed musician and activist on Thursday, part of a series of interviews from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Gabriel is currently active in Witness.org, which uses video technology to expose human rights violations.

His hits include “In Your Eyes” and “Sledgehammer,” and he was the founding lead singer of Genesis. He also founded one of the first online music download services, OD2, in 2000.

Want to discuss or comment? Click here to teleport to the Reuters Second Life discussion area, or meet Adam Reuters during his office hours at Reuters Island on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting at 1600 GMT.

Davos as the Gateway to Millions Via the Media

Here's a shot of Peter doing an interview with Reuters in Second Life. You can see his avatar on the computer in the background. When he saw it he quipped: "OH, I've lost weight!"

There are media swarming this place and fortunately for WITNESS we have Peter Gabriel as an ally. Today, we did substantive interviews about our work and a range of human rights issues including our campaign with our partners CPT and CEJIL in Brazil to end the cycle of slavery into which 25,000 Brazilians fall each year.

I hope to get a short film we produced with our partners featuring interviews from many people enslaved inside Brazil to President Lula who is here this week. We talked to Reuters, TV8 (Switzerland's prime time news channel), Globo (Brazil), BBC Channel 4 radio (prime time news program), another radio program syndicated throughout the Americas, and the One documentary which is still in production and will include interviews with the Dalai Lama and scores of other leading voices for peace.

And then I can't resist....Peter with a Swiss doctor inspecting his nostrils. I took him to the infirmary for some cough medicine and he got a full review! He says he owes me one for this...

Technorati Tags: davos07

Posted by Gillian Caldwel on January 25, 2007 at 08:44 AM in Davos07 | Permalink

Bono & Gabriel Only Glitterati at ‘07 Davos

Bono and Peter Gabriel are hanging out in Davos, Switzerland this week, attending the 5 day World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. First of all, picturing Bono in a room full of stuffy business and political leaders is kind of funny. Of course, I’m imagining him in his sunglasses that look like goggles. I guess it’s not so bad. the meeting is a “tie-free zone” after all.

Global warming and security are the two big topics of discussion this year. Sounds like they’ll have plenty of fuel for the fire. According to the article, “the initial lack of thick snow in the town that bills itself as the highest ski resort in Europe was a firm reminder that climate change is a hot topic.”

Bloggers are also out in Davos in full-force. They are chattering about the fact that there isn’t as much “glitz” as there has been in past years. This year, no Angelina Jolie, no Sharon Stone. Reuters blogger Jeremy Gaunt asked, “Could it be that Davos is no longer hip?”

Not so, says Klaus Schwab, the founder, executive chairman and all-round booster of the World Economic Forum whose goal is no less than shaping the global agenda. “We invited what you call ’star’ people only the last years because they were relevant to a very specific topic,” he told celebrity-starved reporters. “This year we don’t feel in need of such a special accelerator, multiplier of the message.”

“Ouch,” wrote Jeremy. I agree! No need for star power this year to spread the word? Just Bono, who will talk about Africa, and Peter Gabriel, who is currently active in Witness.org, which uses video technology to expose human rights violations. Peter actually blogged about Witness earlier this month in the Huffington Post.

If you don’t know much about this meeting, take a few minutes to search the web. There are hundreds of articles floating about. The meeting’s website allows readers to watch live webcasts (and later on demand webcasts), plus it provides a way to join the conversation.

I’ve already learned something today. I could be standing right behind Peter Gabriel at the grocery store and wouldn’t know the difference.

Source: In-Forum

Singer Gabriel pushes social justice at Davos

DAVOS, Switzerland – Singer Peter Gabriel is making his case for social justice at the annual World Economic Forum.

Gabriel said Thursday he'd like to see the economic forum take on more of a social conscience. "From my own point of view, I would love to see an integration between the world economic forum and the world social forum, but I think that's an unlikely dream," said the former member of the group Genesis, who's now 57.

Gabriel is a co-founder of Witness, an advocacy group that has trained and supported thousands of human rights activists in dozens of countries to use video as an advocacy tool. "So you have big business people, governments making deals for sure but there's also an opportunity if you have a cause like we have," said Gabriel, who's in Davos. Gabriel is promoting the Internet as tool that gives ordinary people the power to fight injustice and abuse.

Michael Brook, Ready to get out of the house

Michael Brook, who's recovered from an injury, is all set to go play the world again.

Michael Brook is in every way the globe-trotter.

The Toronto-born musician-producer has performed in India, Moscow and the Canary Islands. Brook's new album, titled "RockPaperScissors," has a border-crossing tone in music and geography, having been recorded in locales including Bulgaria and England. He's collaborated with late Pakistani star Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, a group of singers from Sardinia and Mexican rock group Maldita Vecindad — not to mention having an association with a little Irish ensemble known as U2. And among his many soundtrack projects, he did the (pardon the expression) chilling score for last year's Al Gore global-warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" and is finishing up work on music for "Passion of the Game," looking at the international love of soccer by English director Michael Apted.

Against that history, his working habits of late may sound a little odd.

"I actually didn't set foot outside the door for five days at the beginning of the year," says the wiry, mild-mannered musician, sitting amid a clutter of guitars, computers, pedals, wires and chords in the studio at his Hollywood Hills home.

Rather than go out into the world, he was busy creating musical worlds here, not just with the intense work to finish the Apted score, but assembling the equipment and sonic elements that will allow him to re-create the vast span of his music in a series of concerts, including one tonight at Largo. And in what spare time he has, he has been supervising an ambient remix version of "RockPaperScissors," titled "BellCurve," by producer James Hood. That, like the original album and the "Truth" soundtrack, is being released on the bigHelium/Canadian Rational label that Brooks runs in partnership with manager Hugo Veriker.

Intense as all that has been, this is not a bad place to be stuck for a while, as is clear during a rehearsal a few days later. The guitar-and-electronics maestro is joined in the cozy quarters by his wife, violinist Julie Rogers, and multi-instrumentalist-singer Lisa Germano to run through the tricky pieces the three of them are to present during a 2 1/2-week jaunt that started with showcases at the Sundance Film Festival last weekend. With white whippet Buck slinking in to say hello, the trio irons out intricacies of distinctive compositions ranging from the densely layered, pulsating "Doges" to the fragile rustic ambience of the Germano-sung "Want."

Clearly, after the sedentary time, Brook is keyed up about hitting the road for his first real tour since the early 1990s — even more so because this tour was originally scheduled for the fall, but had to be put on hold because of his own little inconvenient truth. Just before he was scheduled to go out, he broke his collarbone in a bicycling accident. The timing was terrible, as the canceled shows were meant to capitalize on both the release of "RockPaperScissors" and the cultural-consciousness crest of "An Inconvenient Truth."
"We definitely lost some momentum," Brook says.

It might have been for the best, though. He says the extra time to prepare the complexities of realizing this music live is a positive for him. And a few extra months for fans to live with the complexities of the music may not have been bad as well. With his guitar-based textures mixing with recordings he made with various Bulgarian ensembles and Armenian duduk player Djivan Gasparyan, archival tapes of Nusrat and Sir Richard Burton (the latter reading a Dylan Thomas poem) and new vocals by Germano and the Blue Nile's Paul Buchanan, among many other puzzle pieces, "RockPaperScissors" is a lot to take in.

"One thing I've found with the album is a lot of people won't like it the first or second time," he says. "But after multiple listenings, they get it. I guess at first you don't know where to focus your attention. Maybe there are too many layers or something. I've been involved in world music and hybrids so long that I don't notice things like that. Certainly, that's been a lot of the feedback I've gotten. But then I remember the first time I heard Jimi Hendrix. It seemed like a lot of noise. Now it's psychedelic blues, but at first to me it seemed random and chaotic. I can't imagine that now."

The notion of disparate and even jarring elements working together comes naturally to Brook now, having been mentored by musician-producer-theorist Brian Eno. The two got to know each other in 1980 when Englishman Eno was doing some work in a Toronto video production facility that Brook ran.

"I convinced him to trade video services with musical ones for my first album," Brooks says.

The relationship expanded, with Brook contributing his ethereal guitar sounds to Eno's ambient experiments, including some with another Canadian, Daniel Lanois. And when Eno and Lanois began producing U2 in the early '80s, Brook introduced the Edge to his "infinite guitar," a system that allows for endless note sustain and which quickly became one of the band's sonic trademarks. Around this time, Brook's work also came to the attention of Peter Gabriel, who, spurred by the incorporation of some Indian inspirations, recruited Brook to produce albums for Pakistani qawwali king Nusrat — works that would introduce that remarkable talent to the western world.

Since then, he's been a go-to guy for a wide range of productions, soundtracks, sessions and collaborations, along with sporadically releasing solo albums. But to him it doesn't matter on what — or where — he's working. It's all part of the same world.

"Maybe it's a little like that TV show 'Mission Impossible,' " he says. "The mission changes, but what they do is roughly the same. I'm roughly doing the same job all the time. And I'm amazingly lucky that I have a range of things that come in."

By Steve Hochman, Special to The Times

Peter Gabriel: Internet pour la défense des droits

Le chanteur Peter Gabriel fait campagne pour l'utilisation d'Internet à des fins humanitaires, dans le cadre du Forum économique mondial de Davos, en Suisse.

En entrevue à la Presse canadienne et NTR, l'artiste engagé a indiqué qu'Internet est un outil donnant plus de pouvoir aux simples citoyens afin de corriger des injustices.

L'ex-leader du groupe rock Genesis milite pour l'organisme Witness, qu'il a fondé il y a 15 ans afin de documenter des cas d'abus des droits humains. Il émet le souhait que le site web de Witness devienne un véritable carrefour d'enregistrements vidéos mettant au jour des abus à travers le monde.

L'organisme fournit des caméras et des ordinateurs à plusieurs groupes de défense des droits humains pour leur permettre de réaliser des vidéos qui pourront ensuite servir de preuves dans le cadre d'actions en justice.

Peter Gabriel insiste à l'effet que les simples citoyens peuvent aussi devenir des témoins actifs en fournissant leurs propres vidéos au site de Witness. Il reconnaît que le Forum économique mondial n'est perçu que comme un club sélect de chefs d'entreprises qui veulent dicter l'agenda mondial, mais il soutient que l'événement permet aussi de faire avancer des causes humanitaires.

L'artiste de 57 ans affirme qu'il était lui-même très cynique à sa première visite au Forum de Davos. M. Gabriel dit éprouver encore aujourd'hui des sentiments partagés quant au Forum et il précise qu'il souhaiterait que l'événement fusionne un jour avec le Forum mondial social. Toutefois, il indique qu'il donne accès à des gens qui peuvent avoir un impact pour la suite des choses.

Pour la suite du World

Michael Brook: "J'aime bien travailler en cinéma, mais j'aime aussi ne pas le faire, parce que j'ai la chance de produire d'autres artistes, Jorane par exemple."

photo: Kevin Yatarola

Michael Brook transporte ses atmosphères teintées de musiques du monde sur la scène de La Tulipe. Invitation au voyage.

Avec son plus récent disque solo, le producteur, guitariste et compositeur Michael Brook s'est offert un album-souvenir dans lequel il salut discrètement quelques-uns des artistes dont il a croisé la route. On y trouve un zeste de Brian Eno (époque Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy), une référence à King Crimson (il faisait partie du groupe de tournée de David Sylvian et Robert Fripp, avec Trey Gunn et Pat Mastelotto) et la voix du regretté Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, que Peter Gabriel lui a demandé de produire pour son étiquette Real World. D'ailleurs, la pièce-titre pourrait fort bien être chantée par ce dernier.

Ça fait quand même une belle collection d'amis pour un p'tit gars de Toronto! "Je suis heureux de vous surprendre", réplique-t-il lorsque je le rejoins à Los Angeles, où il vit depuis qu'a décollé sa nouvelle carrière de compositeur de musique de film (An Inconvenient Truth [AIT] est le plus récent). "Je n'ai pas vraiment inscrit ces filiations consciemment, explique-t-il, mais ces différentes collaborations font maintenant partie de moi, de ce que je fais." On trouve aussi sur ce disque à la production très soignée un orchestre symphonique et un choeur enregistrés en Bulgarie; "Oui, je me suis payé la traite! C'est un projet qui a pris du temps, mais je suis heureux de l'avoir pris. C'était peut-être imprudent de mettre autant de temps et d'argent dans un projet, mais je me suis dit que je n'aurais peut-être pas si souvent l'occasion de faire vraiment le disque qui me tente."

Il n'est pas sûr, en effet, qu'il aura autant de latitude pour remplir les prochains contrats de musique de film que sa collaboration à AIT ne manquera pas de lui amener... "Je pense que personne ne s'imaginait que ce film aurait autant de succès! Mais pour la suite, on verra. J'aime bien travailler en cinéma, mais j'aime aussi ne pas le faire, parce que j'ai la chance de produire d'autres artistes, Jorane par exemple (ou The Pogues, Youssou N'Dour, Cheb Khaled..., la liste est longue). Et puis, quand tu te fatigues de ça, tu retournes au film, ou tu pars sur la route, comme je le fais maintenant!" Et la tournée d'une douzaine de villes qui l'emporte ces jours-ci depuis la Californie passe heureusement par Montréal.

Ce ne sera pas facile de reproduire en concert la qualité sonore de son dernier opus, Rock Paper Scissors... " En effet... et nous ne le ferons sans doute pas! Il faudrait 70 personnes, et on ne sera que trois. En fait, nous en ferons une interprétation, sans chercher à ce que ce soit identique. On fera aussi des pièces de mon album précédent, Cobalt Blue, et de AIT." Brook, qui sera à la guitare et aux électroniques, sera accompagné de la violoniste et chanteuse Lisa Germano (qui donne aussi la première partie) et par son épouse, Julie Rogers, une violoniste elle-même très en demande. À découvrir.

Réjean Beaucage

Le 31 janvier
À La Tulipe
Voir calendrier World/Reggae

À voir/écouter si vous aimez
Hector Zazou
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Brian Eno (ambient)

Peter Gabriel prend ses affaires en main

Le chanteur et musicien britannique Peter Gabriel vient d'annoncer qu'il lancera son prochain album en Amérique du Nord sans l'aide d'une compagnie de disque. Ce dernier est sans contrat de disque sur le continent nord-américain.

Selon le journal The Sunday Times, Gabriel, pionnier de la distribution de la musique numérique, a amassé 2 millions £ (environ 4,6 millions $US CAD) pour enregistrer et distribuer son prochain album studio, qui ne porte pas de titre pour l'instant, dans le cadre d'une entreprise commune avec la firme de capital-risque britannique Ingenious Media.

Gabriel devrait récolter le double des revenus qu'il aurait obtenu avec un contrat de disque conventionnel. Pour le reste du monde, Gabriel confiera la production de son CD à Warner Bros. Records.

Par ailleurs, l'artiste fera une apparition sur «Djin Djin», le prochain disque de la chanteuse bénoise Angelique Kidjo dont la sortie est attendue le 1er mai prochain via Razor & Tie et Starbucks Entertainment. Il chantera sur la pièce «Salala». Josh Groban, Alicia Keys, Carlos Santana, Joss Stone et Ziggy Marley ont également collaboré à cet album.

Marc Gadoury [AgenceNews]

Angelique Kidjo"Salala" : featuring Peter Gabriel

Kidjo Digs Deep With Groban, Keys, Santana

January 23, 2007, 11:05 AM ET/ Marc Pellegrino, N.Y.

With a little help from her friends, international music star and UNICEF goodwill ambassador Angelique Kidjo will return this spring with "Djin Djin," a return to her diverse cultural and musical roots.

Due May 1 via Razor & Tie and Starbucks Entertainment, the album finds Kidjo partnered with producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie, Morrissey, T. Rex) as well as Josh Groban, Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, Carlos Santana, Joss Stone and Ziggy Marley. "Djin Djin" will be sold in Starbucks stores in the U.S. and Canada as well as traditional retailers.

Singing in her native languages as well as in English and French, Kidjo revisits the music of her native Benin, building the album's sound around the traditional rhythms of her country.

The set features such tracks as a cover of Sade's "Pearl" with Groban and Santana, "Salala" featuring Gabriel, "Sedjedo" with Marley and "Gimme Shelter" with Stone. Keys and Marsalis appear on the title cut.

In addition, Kidjo will join Groban as the opening act for his spring tour, which begins Feb. 17 in Verona, N.Y. and runs through April 7 in Las Vegas.

Click to learn more...
Here is the track list for "Djin Djin":

"Ae Ae"
"Djin Djin" featuring Alicia Keys and Branford Marsalis
"Gimme Shelter" featuring Joss Stone
"Salala" featuring Peter Gabriel
"Senamou" featuring Amadou and Mariam
"Pearls" featuring Josh Groban and Carlos Santana
"Sedjedo" featuring Ziggy Marley
"Papa"
"Arouna"
"Awan N'La"
"Emma"
"Mama Golo Papa"
"Lonlon (Ravel's Bolero)"

http://www.myspace.com/angeliquekidjo

Brands: Today's Gods?

Brands have become a part of our daily lives, whether on clothing, multimedia gadgets or accessories. Today, what you wear or possess indicates whether you are "in" or not. This
can lead to social exclusion and increased pressure to consume, especially for young people.

1. How do brands affect the way society functions?
   How do brands change our social interactions?
   
   
2. To what extent can consumption pressure be pushed back?
   Could school uniforms be a solution?
   
   
3. What are the roles and strategies of multinational companies in this context?

• David Bosshart, Director, Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute, Switzerland
• Peter B. Gabriel, Musician, Real World, United Kingdom
• Kathleen Ix, Student, International School of Geneva, Switzerland
• Reno Sami, Manager, School Uniform Project, Plusminus Basel, Switzerland
• Sir Martin Sorrell, Group Chief Executive, WPP, United Kingdom

Moderated by

• Bendicht Luginbühl, Journalist, Switzerland

Davos moment

Participants at the forum always talk about “Davos Moments” — those only-at-Davos experiences in which, for example, you find yourself washing your hands in the bathroom with former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres on one side and rock musician Peter Gabriel on the other...

Peter Gabriel Goes it online and alone

Peter Gabriel The pioneer of digital music is to fund his next record.Former founding Genesis member and multi-instrumentalist Peter Gabriel has announced that he will release his next album in the US without the aid of a record company.First reported in The Times newspaper yesterday (January 21), Gabriel, an early pioneer of digital music distribution, has raised £2 million towards recording and 'shipping' his next as-yet-untitled album in a venture with investment boutique Ingenious Media.

Gabriel is expected to earn double the money that he would get through a conventional record deal. Commercial director Duncan Reid of Ingenious explains the business savvy of the deal, saying, "If you're paying a small distribution fee and covering your own marketing costs, you enjoy the lion's share of the proceeds of the album. Gabriel is expected to outsource CD production for worldwide release through Warner Bros. Records. The new album deal covers the North America territory, where Gabriel is currently out of contract. Ingenious have previously scored chart entries with independently released albums by Mick Hucknall's Simply Red.

Second Life does Davos

SECOND LIFE,* Jan 19 (Reuters) - Reuters will conduct a series of interviews with artists, politicians and executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland next week, in front of a live Second Life audience.

Reuters Bureau Chief Adam Pasick will talk with guests including Linden Lab Chairman Mitch Kapor, author and entrepreneur John Battelle, former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, and musician Peter Gabriel during the WEF, which takes place Jan. 24-28. They will have their own customized avatars and will take questions from residents.

* What is Second Life?

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 2,826,459 people from around the globe.

Gabriel deals a blow to the record business

Peter Gabriel, a pioneer of digital music, is taking another step towards weakening the role of the record industry by raising £2m towards the recording and distribution of his next album.

Gabriel, a founder member of Genesis, has formed a joint venture with Ingenious Media, the investment and corporate-finance boutique headed by Patrick McKenna. Ingenious is investing funds from two of the venture-capital trusts that it manages.

Duncan Reid, commercial director at Ingenious, said the arrangement could more than double the amount of money Gabriel makes from his next as-yet-untitled album. Now in his fifth decade in the music industry, Gabriel’s most recent record still sold more than 1m.

The deal covers North America, where Gabriel is currently out of contract, and where he toured with great success in 2003. The joint venture, called High Level Recordings, will outsource CD production, probably to Warner Bros.

Reid said: “If you’re paying a small distribution fee and covering your own marketing costs, you enjoy the lion’s share of the proceeds of the album.”

He added: “The world is changing. With digital distribution, the barriers to entry are far lower. But for the long term, there’s going to be a role for the majors [the record companies] in terms of rolling something out worldwide quickly.”

Ingenious has also worked closely with Mick Hucknall of Simply Red, another singer who has chosen to release albums without the backing of a record company.

Separately, the world’s independent record labels have come together to create a new licensing agency, called Merlin. This is intended to provide a single point of contact for YouTube, MySpace and the multitude of other websites that are expected to follow in their wake.

Internet users are already mixing copyright-protected songs into the content of numerous websites. The music industry is seeking ways to license and earn money from this usage, but the sheer number of independent labels poses a particular challenge.

Paul Durman/The Sunday Times/January 21,2007

WEF : PG Related Sessions

Related Session

Putting Art on Trial

Breaking the Apathy Barrier

How Can You Compete with Free? - Workshop

Can Artists Still Change the World?

Nightcap: Star Power and Social Change

Cultural Leaders Dinner

Democracy in the Information Age

Celebrity Inspired Action

Liens WEF

Bono au Forum Economique Mondial 2007 de Davos

Comme chaque année, le Forum économique mondial (WEF) de Davos rassemble, dans les Alpes suisses, les élites de la mondialisation. Au départ forum patronal pour trouver une réponse européenne aux défis de l'internationalisation des économies, il s'est progressivement élargi aux hommes politiques, aux économistes et même aux artistes pour devenir un club planétaire de décideurs.

Cette année Peter Gabriel sera de la partie en plus de Bono qui répondait déjà depuis quelques années au rendez-vous. On se souvient que l'année dernière il y avait annoncé les produits Red.

Cette année le WEF se tiendra du 24 au 28 janvier et le programme est placé sous le thème d'un agenda global qui se façonne sous l'effet de rapports de force changeants.

Les moments clefs seront retransmis en audio et en video sur le net à partir du 24 janvier.

» Site officiel du World Economic Forum.
» Lire l'article de l'Agence Télégraphique Suisse via Bluewin.ch.

WEF: Bono, Tony Blair et Peter Gabriel seront de la partie

Le Forum économique mondial (WEF) accueillera 2400 participants de 90 pays la semaine prochaine (24-28 janvier) à Davos, dans le canton suisse des Grisons placé sous haute sécurité. Parmi les 24 chefs d'État et de gouvernement attendus pour l'édition 2007 figurent le Premier ministre britannique Tony Blair et la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel. Les chanteurs Bono et Peter Gabriel seront aussi présents.

La liste des participants fait figure de «Who is who» de la politique, de l'économie et de la culture. À côté des chefs de gouvernements britannique et allemand, on pourra notamment y voir le président brésilien Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, son homologue sud-africain Thabo Mbeki et le Premier ministre ukrainien Viktor Ianoukovitch.

Les grandes entreprises de la planète seront aussi présentes en force: pas moins de 73 des 100 plus grandes sociétés seront représentées avec, à leurs côtés, quelque 800 chefs d'entreprise. Parmi les six co-présidents de l'édition 2007 se trouvent le patron de Coca-Cola (KO), Neville Isdell, celui de Google (GOOG), Eric Schmidt, et James Schiro, patron de Zurich Financial Services.

Au nombre des représentants des organisations internationales figurent Mohammed El-Baradei, directeur général de l'Agence internationale de l'énergie atomique (AIEA), le directeur de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC) Pascal Lamy et le patron de la Banque mondiale Paul Wolfowitz.

Chez les ONG, Amnesty International sera représentée par sa secrétaire générale Irene Kahn et Greenpeace par son directeur exécutif Gerd Leipold. Les chanteurs pop Bono et Peter Gabriel y feront un détour, l'ancien champion du monde d'échecs Anatoli Karpov également.

Le programme de cette année est placé sous le thème d'un agenda global qui se façonne sous l'effet de rapports de force changeants. «Nous vivons dans un monde schizophrène», a observé Klaus Schwaab, le fondateur du WEF. «Le monde évolue de plus en plus vite, alors qu'il devient de plus en plus complexe et difficilement compréhensible.»

Le forum se veut un instrument de compréhension du monde et un outil pour élaborer un agenda global pour l'année à venir. Le programme de l'édition 2007 compte 223 séances, ateliers de travail, débats et autres manifestations.

Middle East big issue at World Forum

...The Forum will also address many of the same threats to global welfare from previous years, from climate change to terrorism and energy security to bird flu. Stars will be less conspicuous than in previous years. Bono is back, as is Peter Gabriel, but there will be no Angelina Jolie or Sharon Stone...

Climate change to dominate Davos meeting

The world's elite will hold discussions on climate change and the Middle East next week at their annual rendezvous in the chic Swiss ski resort of Davos, this time with few distractions from Hollywood stars...We do not need such (show business) invitations," said Klaus Schwab. "This year it happens to be just Bono and Peter Gabriel, and I think it's right."...

Tonight's Top Stop: Varttina

Finland may seem like a long way away from the mystical world of Middle-earth, the land created by J.R.R. Tolkien in "The Lord of the Rings," but the country's folk music apparently sounds just like the sort of jams Frodo and Co. would shake a hairy toe to — at least the way Varttina plays it.

The 23-year-old band, led by singers Susan Aho, Mari Kaasinen and Johanna Virtanen and bouzouki player and saxophonist Janne Lappalainen, was pegged to contribute to the soundtrack to the stage version of "The Lord of the Rings," which debuted in Toronto last year and is slated for Broadway in 2007.

"A couple of producers from the show were looking for interesting sounds, and they were going through a big stack of world music records, and, just by chance, they came up with our 'Ilmatar' album, and they felt it would be ideal for the show," said Lappalainen by phone from Finland.

Varttina was composing music for "Rings" as it was recording its new CD, "Miero," the group's first for Peter Gabriel's Real World label, and Tolkien's world affected the sound of the nine-piece band.

"The original idea was to make a kind of darker, more sinister record than the records we had done," Lappalainen said. "We had done such happy, up-tempo music, and we wanted to do something different from that, mostly lyrically."

The band got its start and made its name by reviving Finnish folk songs, but over the past few years Varttina has moved away from traditional music. "Miero" features 13 original songs, and while the music is still built around luminous Finno-Urgic female singing traditions, Varttina's string instrument and accordion-based songs incorporate a wide range of influences, from jazz to rock to classical.

"The band has existed for such a long time that it needs to evolve, it needs to go forward,"Lappalainen said. "We need to keep creating new things, and it feels like a very natural thing to start composing original music for the band. It makes the music more personal when you're playing your own tunes rather than singing the traditional stuff."

Davos 2007 : Bono & Peter Gabriel

WEF 2007: le nouvel équilibre des pouvoirs au coeur des discussions

Le Forum économique mondial de Davos 2007 s'interroge sur le nouvel équilibre des forces dans le monde. L'affiche comporte de nombreuses personnalités politiques et économiques. Les stars du people manquent à l'appel comparé aux précédentes éditions.

Le WEF 2007 se déroulera dans la station grisonne du 24 au 28 janvier. Quelque 2400 participants sont annoncés, parmi lesquels 24 chefs d'Etat ou de gouvernement, 85 ministres et 800 patrons d'entreprises. Le WEF ne fait pas dans le "show business". "Le casting de cette édition est de haut niveau, malgré l'absence de stars", a déclaré le président et fondateur du WEF Klaus Schwab à Cologny (GE) en dévoilant le programme à la presse.

Après Sharon Stone, Angelina Jolie ou Brad Pitt en 2005 et 2006, la culture sera représentée par les chanteurs Bono et Peter Gabriel, l'écrivain brésilien Paulo Coelho ou le grand maître russe des échecs Anatoly Karpov...

Realworld at Celtic Connections

Wednesday 31st January 2007, 9.00pm

Peter Gabriel's eclectic record label, Real World, is delighted to present it's first Scottish showcase. This represents an exciting new direction for Celtic Connections, as the festival seeks to share common ground and forge fresh new links between the folk and world music scenes.

In this one-off event Real World brings uplifting voices, superlative musicianship, dub-heavy grooves and irresistible rhythms from West Africa to Central Asia, from London to Ohio - a truly global celebration, bursting with talent.

The legendary blues-and-beyond guitarist Skip McDonald, aka Little Axe, will be joined by the renowned rhythm section of Doug Wimbish and Keith LeBlanc (Sugarhill Gang, Tackhead) with Bernard Fowler (Tackhead, Rolling Stones) on vocals. They will be joined by production maestro Adrian Sherwood, of On-U Sound Records, who as well as producing their current album, Stone Cold Ohio, will also perform his own live sound-system.

Other special guests include the latest incarnation of pioneering Asian fusioneers Joi and the young Mauritanian singer-songwriter Daby Touré who has been described as an African Cat Stevens or Nick Drake. Also flying in is the gorgeous, vibrant Sevara Nazarkhan - Uzbekistan's ravishing young star and winner of a BBC Radio 3 World Music Award.

We will not be forgetting the much loved, much missed Martyn Bennett and will be paying tribute to his special legacy to Scottish music.

Hassan Hakmoun : Stomping With Sintirs as a Route to Trance

Jack Vartoogian/FrontRow Photos

Hassan Hakmoun on the sintir, playing music with African and Sufi Muslim influences, on Saturday night at Symphony Space.

Stomping With Sintirs as a Route to Trance

In the highlight of the Hassan Hakmoun show at Symphony Space on Saturday night, the Moroccan-born Hakmoun brothers had a gnawa dance-off. AbderRahim Hakmoun, dressed in an orange tunic and a bejeweled, fezlike hat, spun its tassel like a helicopter propeller, smacking his bare feet on the stage in a complex pattern. Hassan Hakmoun, playing a sintir (a three-stringed, wood and camel-skin lute), matched his younger brother’s furious rhythm, whipping around his long, reddish dreadlocks.

“This is a traditional African foot stomp,” Hassan Hakmoun said, describing it as the root of American tap dance. As the duo got low to the ground and shook their hips and shoulders, their moves suggested a clear line to more modern styles, too, from stepping to krumping. The dance was mesmerizing, but it was also apparently painful.

“Next song,” Hassan Hakmoun said, “we’re going to wear shoes because living here in America for so long, we don’t have African feet anymore.” He laughed. “And medical care is too expensive.”

His music, gnawa trance, is hypnotic devotional music with African and Sufi Muslim influences. Brought to the region by West African slaves and traders, it’s heavily rhythmic, built around drums, qaraqebs (metal castanets), hand claps and the sintir, which is both thumped and strummed.

Gnawa is designed to bring listeners into a mystical, trancelike state; songs often start with a slow, mournful vocal and sintir introduction, then gradually speed up until they are frantically, heart-poundingly fast. In derdeba ceremonies, gnawa music and dancing are often used to drive out evil spirits (when someone is sick or troubled) or to honor beneficial spirits (when someone is exceptionally well).

Gnawa groups play at Marrakesh’s Jamaa el F’Na, a large square where tourists flock for photo-ops with snake charmers and surly monkeys. That’s where Hassan Hakmoun, the son of a Berber healer, started playing as a boy. Now he is a m’allem (a master musician or band leader) and a New Yorker, well known in the West for his work with Peter Gabriel, Kronos Quartet and Pharoah Sanders.

On Saturday, Mr. Hakmoun had the charisma of a rock star, theatrically thrusting around his sintir and singing huskily with an ecstatic expression. He sang call-and-response with his qaraqeb-shaking brother, who earned cheers for his acrobatic leaps during “Moussaoui.”

The set included traditional derdeba songs, with stunningly complicated polyrhythms by the percussionists Brahim Fribgane and Ron McBee.

While introducing “Challaban,” Mr. Hakmoun said: “This is a very, very spiritual and peaceful song. You have to follow the drums. You have to be the drums.” The crowd clapped along as instructed, but the results weren’t exactly rousing. Music this rapturous is better appreciated in a less formal setting, where people could try some (probably painfully awkward) trance-dancing and the band could feed off the energy. The show was simultaneously enthralling and academic.

Mr. Hakmoun ended it with “Maaboud Allah” and a sweaty dance of twirls and kicks. Then he dropped to his knees for a lengthy spotlight turn — like the Eddie Van Halen of the sintir.

Real World Night, Jan 31

from Sunday Herald (Scotland)

Celtic Selections

...Real World Night, Jan 31, Old Fruitmarket, 9pm The festival goes global in glittering style, as Peter Gabriel's label hosts a night of international sounds, with appearances by Skip "Little Axe" McDonald, dub guru Adrian Sherwood, Asian underground pioneers Joi, African singer-songwriter Daby Toure and Uzbekistani songstress Sevara Nazarkhan...

The man in charge

...Celtic Connections 2007 sees a substantial increase in artists from the contemporary Americana scene, including major figures such as Rosanne Cash, Bela Fleck, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Cowboy Junkies, plus a wealth of newer acts, many making their Scottish debut. Perhaps more controversial, though, is Shaw's decision to embrace world music under the festival's already capacious umbrella. Key highlights here include the Real World night, curated by Peter Gabriel's celebrated label and featuring artists from Africa, Uzbekistan and the Asian underground scene. Then there's the Burns Mela, an Asian-themed extravaganza in honour of the national bard, and Flutes Of The World, both of which feature the legendary North Indian flute virtuoso Hariprasad Chaurasia.

"I know some people might see this as stretching things too far," he says, "but I've always been a big advocate of the idea that Celtic music is world music, too, in the same way that Real World see no contradiction in signing Scottish artists like Martyn Bennett and the Afro Celts. Conversely, in the case of someone like Hariprasad Chaurasia, first and foremost he's just one of the most gifted, emotive and soulful flute players you'll ever hear, but he's also been a major influence on Irish and Breton players.

"And if we were having a heated cultural discussion about it, there's plenty of historical evidence that the Celts travelled as far as North Africa and even India, so you could point to a connection there. "There are also really fascinating similarities between aspects of African and Gaelic music, particularly in the rhythms and melodies of their work songs, and also in the language. In Mali, for instance, some of their tribal words for elemental things like moon', sun', river', land' and boat' are almost phonetically identical to Gaelic: nobody really knows why, but I like to think there's some ancient ancestral link involved."...

Joseph Arthur : Nuclear Daydream

After being in the music scene for a decade with the help of Peter Gabriel and his label, Real World Records, Joseph Arthur has produced a disc of complex pop. It's the first album on his own label [Lonely Astronaut Records]. Arthur plays most of the instruments, pressing his seal into his signature sound. Equal parts modern electronic and bare acoustic, Nuclear Daydream

spans the pop and folk genres.

Arthur fuses gritty, acoustic guitar with synth and looping techniques to create multilayered compositions. One mood drifts into another with a dark edge. His use of theremin in "Electrical Storm" brings a sense of magic and infinity to the fold. Beginning with soft guitar and vocals, the song subtly fleshes out into an otherworldly, existentialist lullaby. Standout track "You Are Free" exhibits how the exceptional can be found in simple things, where Arthur's basic harmonies and lyrics haunt your ears well after the song ends.

While he channels other artists like Beck [on "Too Much to Hide"], U2, and the rhythmic swagger of Blur's "Coffee and TV" [on "Enough to Get Away"], Arthur also offers an original voice. On Daydream Arthur opts for diversity in his songwriting formula. He's not afraid to explore finer, soft sounds as well as heavy, thick tones. He embraces his falsetto just as openly as his natural baritone, and he keeps the instrumentation to a minimum. He does not feel a need to overfill everything, adding just the right amount of harmonica accents and simple drumbeats. What stands out is Arthur's versatile songwriting ability that ranges from the effervescent, Christian rock of "Don't Tell Your Eyes" to co-dependent love ballad "Woman."

Come My Love, Listen To This...

Never mind that recent run-in with the vocoder on Love Cannot Bear. If you want to hear some real expression and soul coming from the direction of Robert’s vocal chords then cop your lugs around this one courtesy of Biff Uranus Blumfumgagne. Ah, Robert Fripp – the Benny Hill years. And of course it’s not Ernie wailing in the background but Peter Gabriel circa PG1 / 2 as far as I can tell. I asked the old goat about this one and the best I could get from him was “sounds like a man from Dorset reading words to a solemn song!” It’s a pity we hadn’t got our mits on this one last year as this would have been in my top ten records of 2006.

(merci à Alain11)

Le Spectrum de Montreal, une salle mythique

Le Spectrum souffle 25 chandelles cette année. Si la salle continue d'exister, comme le souhaite Spectra, il reste que l'esprit et la chaleur du 318, Sainte-Catherine, son bar et ses murs étoilés, ce lieu ni trop grand ni trop petit, pourront difficilement être reproduits ailleurs.

Au coeur des spectacles intérieurs du Festival international de jazz et des FrancoFolies de Montréal, la salle de 900 places, ou 1200 avec des spectateurs debout, a vécu toute l'évolution de la scène musicale contemporaine, du rock aux musiques du monde, en passant par le jazz, bien sûr, la chanson et de nombreux autres événements reliés à la musique et à l'humour.

Existant auparavant sous le nom Club Montréal, la salle avait accueilli au début des années 80 un quatuor de débutants répondant au nom de U2 Acquise par Spectra en 1982, la salle a connu des heures de gloire. Dès 1983, même s'il remplissait déjà des stades,The Police est allé y enregistrer pour la télévision.

Le grand Peter Gabriel a choisi le Spectrum dans les années 90 pour répéter son spectacle Secret World devant nul autre que le metteur en scène Robert Lepage...

McKennitt’s worldly tapestry

Imagine the music that might emanate from an Arabian harem tent. Seductive, silky and hypnotic. Now imagine that tent is somewhere in the north moors of Glasgow, Scotland. Now imagine Peter Gabriel is the DJ for this otherworldly affair. At this point, you’d have a pretty good taste of Loreena McKennitt’s beautiful new CD titled “An Ancient Muse.”

McKennitt is a champion for the world music set in the much the same way as Enigma or Enya, but what separates her from the pack is the unique instrumentation that’s employed on every track. There’s no synth patches or keyboard trickery with McKennitt’s music. Everything is played on an eclectic assembly of instruments that’s as diverse as the worlds they come from. Tabla, bouzouki, nyckelharpa, and hurdy gurdy all make appearances somewhere in the mix. Even if the names are unfamiliar, the soundscape is still thoroughly enjoyable.

The CD begins in the normal fashion for McKennitt, with a wordless voice that stretches out across the audio spectrum. Through the album’s centerpiece, “Beneath a Phrygian Sky,” the Canadian songstress delivers the swirling stories that sound as if they were thousands of years old. And they probably are.

Loreena McKennitt’s greatest achievement remains 1997’s hugely successful “Book of Secrets” with its inescapable “Mummer’s Dance,” and nothing here rises quite to that level. But “An Ancient Muse” takes a similar journey with the choral effects of “The English Lady and the Knight” and Celtic ballads like “Penelope’s Song.”

Listening to this CD is like circling the globe without leaving your front door. From the cultures of the Himalayas to the romantic mysticism of old England, there’s no new roads to be traveled for Loreena McKennitt on “An Ancient Muse.” But the world is a big place and there’s no shortage of influences for this unique talent. http://www.quinlanroad.com

Randy Crawford and Joe Sample interpretation of Peter Gabriel's "Lovetown"

Randy Crawford and Joe Sample Are Feeling Good About New CD

February Release on PRA Records Marks Reunion of Vocalist and Pianist More Than 30 Years After 'Street Life' CD Launched Worldwide 'Literally' with December NASA Mission

On Tuesday, February 20, 2007 PRA Records will release Feeling Good, a new album from Randy Crawford and Joe Sample. This Tommy LiPuma-produced CD marks a return collaboration between vocalist Crawford and pianist Sample who first worked together more than 30 years ago...

...The lasting mastery of Sample's piano playing skill is evident through each of the album's 13 songs. From their interpretation of Peter Gabriel's "Lovetown" to the Latin-flavored "Rio De Janeiro Blue," to a modernly funky but also softened reading of "See Line Woman," Sample's work on the keys surrounds, highlights, and compliments Crawford's voice exquisitely. Some of the other covers chosen for this album include a seductive take on Billie Holiday's "Tell Me More and More and Then Some," a breezy run through "Everybody's Talking," the tune made famous by Harry Nilsson and the film Midnight Cowboy, and a heartfelt version of "When I Need You," written by Albert Hammond and Carol Bayer Sager. A special sentimental choice is "Last Night at Danceland," a song written by Sample and originally recorded by Crawford in 1980...

Autographed Fairlight Goes For $100,000

CMI signed by 44 well-known artists raises money for WITNESS

We brought you news of the forthcoming auction in December and now we can tell you the vintage Fairlight CMI keyboard, signed by 44 artists, received a winning bid of $100,000 US at the WITNESS Focus For Change Benefit Dinner and Concert in New York City on December 11, 2006. Proceeds from the winning bid will be dedicated to WITNESS, an independent non-profit organization dedicated to empowering individuals to use video technology to expose human rights violations around the world.

The WITNESS Focus For Change Benefit Dinner and Concert was held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City and was co-hosted by WITNESS founder Peter Gabriel and actor Gael Garcia Bernal. The event featured performances by Paul Simon, Angelique Kidjo, and Kate Pierson and Fred Schneider of the B-52’s.

The Fairlight CMI Keyboard was autographed by 44 artists who brought the instrument to prominence in the 1980s, including David Bowie, Bono, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox, Steve Winwood, Mark Knopfler and Sir George Martin. The Fairlight CMI was the world’s first digital sampler and featured other radical advances for the time, including a light pen interface and menu-driven GUI. It was used in numerous hits from the 1980s, including “Sledgehammer” by Peter Gabriel, “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, and “Rocket” by Herbie Hancock.

John Lancken, CEO of Fairlight had this to say, “The generosity of 44 Fairlight users to sign the CMI keyboard speaks to the importance of bringing human rights violations to the surface. It is an honor to have played an integral role in raising money for the WITNESS cause and Fairlight is proud that the CMI keyboard not only symbolizes a pivotal era in the history of rock and roll, but has now taken on an even greater significance.”

Gillian Caldwell, Director of WITNESS added, “As an organization focused on the use of technology to bring about worldwide change, WITNESS applauds the remarkable steps Fairlight has taken to support our cause through its own technological innovations. The impact of the Fairlight CMI on the music industry, and the recognition of that impact by the world’s most influential musicians, has translated into a major donation towards the fight to end human rights abuses.”

About WITNESS:
WITNESS www.witness.org uses the power of video to open the eyes of the world to human rights abuses. By partnering with local organizations around the globe, WITNESS empowers human rights defenders to use video as a tool to shine a light on those most affected by human rights violations, and to transform personal stories of abuse into powerful tools of justice.

Since its founding in 1992, WITNESS has partnered with groups in more than 60 countries, bringing often unseen images, untold stories and seldom heard voices to the attention of key decision makers, the media, and the general public -- prompting grassroots activism, political engagement, and lasting change.

About Fairlight:
Headquartered in Sydney, Australia Fairlight designs and manufactures media creation tools including digital audio recording, editing and mixing systems for standard and high definition audio post, broadcast and music production applications.

More information:

• www.witness.org

• www.fairlightau.com

Graham Nash : Helpfully hoping still

Graham Nash is as passionate about political and social activism as he was when he met his musical soulmates, David Crosby and Stephen Stills, in 1968...

Graham Nash : "There are a lot of people doing good work - Peter Gabriel giving people cameras to document human rights abuses."

more here : [plus ici ] : http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,,21015816-5006024,00.html

Sophe Lux Q&A

Lead singer/songwriter Gwynneth Haynes shares her answers to our questions.

January 5, 2007 - For all intents and purposes the moniker Sophe Lux is singer/songwriter Gwynneth Haynes sonic alter ego.

Porland based Haynes released the first Sophe Lux album, Plastic Apple, in 2002. Aiding her on the songs were Larry Crane, John Moen, and Mike Clarke.

By 2004, however, Haynes had joined forces with another crew of musicians and Sophe Lux became a bona fide band consisting of Erika Miller on bass, Kelly Goodwin on accordion and keyboards, Scott Appleman on drums, and Twayn Williams on guitars and lap steel.

This configuration recorded the second Sophe Lux album, Waking The Mystics, which will be released on February 27 2007 on Zarathustra Records.

We recently caught up with Haynes and dished out our (hopefully) insightful questions to her in an attempt to illicit equally insightful answers (needless to say, Haynes did not disappoint)...

...IGN Music: Do you perchance recall the first concert you ever went to?

Gwynneth Haynes: Joni Mitchell.

IGN Music: Keeping up the flashback angle, do you remember the first album you ever bought? If so, what format was it on (CD, vinyl, cassette or 8-track)?

Gwynneth Haynes: Peter Gabriel: The album with "No Self Control" on it.

IGN Music: What is your favorite album and why?

Gwynneth Haynes: The Dreaming by Kate Bush. Because it is creative genius in form. A revelation. A stunning creative opus.

IGN Music: Can you name a musician that you've always wanted to work with but haven't yet?

Gwynneth Haynes: Brian Eno. Because he is brilliant and one of my all time favorite musicians and one of my favorite producers.

Sophe Lux music on Myspace

WOMADelaide Brings The World To SA

The fifteenth WOMADelaide Festival brings exciting performers from all corners of the globe.

Beginning as a world music festival pioneered by Peter Gabriel, the World Of Music, Arts & Dance continued to find a following in South Australia's capital. In 2006 over 75,000 fans came together over the three days, almost half making the trip from interstate. Now Adelaide hosts the fifteenth staging of the holistic festival, which embraces the joyous sounds and sights of all cultures.

WOMADelaide 2007 will be held from March 9 to 11 at Adelaide's Botanic Park. They'll be running six stages for music and dance performances from global artists, as well as workshops from 35 groups from 20 countries. Also included are a KidsZone, arts and street theatre, international cuisine and educational stalls.

Performers include: Bollywood legend Asha Bhosle with the awe-inspiring Kronos Quartet, roots-reggae sensation Blue King Brown, Afrobeat progeny Femi Kuti and The Positive Force, New Caledonian kaneka percussionist Celenod, the cinematic French/Argentine sounds of The Gotan Project, Latin Grammy winner Lila Downs, innovative Celtic folkies Lunasa, mali's "Golden Voice of Africa" Salif Keita and so much more.

Happy new year from Box

Surprise !