Angélique Kidjo, Djin Djin : Semi-déception admirative

Miriam Makeba a toujours été une référence absolue pour Angélique Kidjo, qui a d'ailleurs enregistré son « Malaïka » dès l'adolescence, avant de chanter en première partie de ses concerts. Nées à 28 ans de distance (l'une en 1932, l'autre en 1960) leur ascension et leur progression semblent miraculeusement parallèles : de leur enracinement dans leurs pays d'origine vers un rayonnement universel à travers les filtres magiques afro-américains du jazz et de la soul.

Ce disque est sans doute celui où la dévotion de Kidjo rejoint l'influence de Makeba au point de faire d'Angélique l'héritière idéale, indiscutable de Miriam. Sa voix de bronze béninois y atteint souvent la justesse, la générosité et la luminosité de la voix d'or sud-africaine.

Bien entendu, on ne saurait résumer la musique d'Angélique Kidjo à cette noble filiation, et «Djin Djin » est plus encore que tous les précédents un album qui reflète une personnalité hors du commun.

Pour ne rien vous cacher, à première écoute, j'ai été consterné et même énervé par le côté gnan-gnan d'« Ae Ae » (qui ouvre l'album) et par quelques concessions inutiles aux modes ambiantes, comme «Arouna », facétie bollywoodienne qui me semblait a priori friser le ridicule… et qui n'est finalement pas si mal, quand on y revient après avoir écouté «Lonlon », adaptation ahurissante du «Bolero » de Ravel. Preuve que la beauté mystérieuse de cette voix impérieuse et métallique transcende tous les contextes, tous les styles musicaux.

Angélique Kidjo est une personnalité un peu agaçante, trop parfaite, trop évidemment consensuelle et transparente, peut-être (comme Youssou N'Dour ?) à cause des ONG qui se disputent leur bénévolat.

Angélique Kidjo, une version africaine de Barbara Hendricks ?

On en oublierait presque qu'elle est comme cette dernière une chanteuse et une musicienne d'un niveau absolument exceptionnel.

Dans « Djin Djin », écoutez la façon dont elle s'impose aux côtés de la ravissante diva du r'n'b Alicia Keys, tout en retrouvant ce vieux compagnon qu'est le génial saxophoniste de La Nouvelle-Orléans, Branford Marsalis. Ce morceau suffit à nous rappeler qu'Angélique Kidjo est (aussi) une vraie chanteuse de jazz. « Gimme Shelter », des Rolling Stones, prouve aussi qu'elle n'a rien à envier à la jeune prodige anglaise Joss Stone dans le registre « gospel & soul ».

Le duo avec Peter Gabriel (« Salala »), sur un bel accompagnement polyphonique vocal, est ravissant, mais sans rien d'original. « Senamou », sur accompagnement de kora (Mamadou Diabaté) et chœurs d'Amadou & Mariam, est nettement plus jouissif. La reprise du « Pearls » de l'anglo-nigériane Sade est une grande surprise, avec la belle voix de baryton de Josh Groban, la guitare toujours épatante de Carlos Santana, et une partie de quatuor à cordes bien écrite.

Sur « Sedjedo », Angélique fait chanter Ziggy Marley sur les chœurs et les rythmes de son Bénin natal, et c'est vraiment magnifique.

Il faut enfin vous le dire : ce cd est indiscutablement, malgré ou à cause de son ambition « mondialiste », celui où la Kidjo aura réussi le mieux jusqu'ici à introduire dans sa musique enregistrée la quintessence des rythmes béninois, grâce à la participation de percussionnistes du fameux Gbangbé Brass Band, maîtres des cloches (à battant externe) du vodun.

La « mondialisation musicale » est toujours équivoque : Angélique chante le début d' « Emma » comme ses sœurs le feraient à la sortie d'un couvent vodun à Ouidah (sa ville natale, celle de la tristement célèbre "porte du non-retour" puis le morceau devient une espèce de «folk song » extrêmement banal, où elle élève instinctivement la voix pour retrouver faute de mieux son modèle éternel : Miriam Makeba.

Il ne lui reste donc plus qu'à prouver demain (peut-être en ignorant les préoccupations commerciales de ses producteurs) que sa voix est le plus beau pont musical entre l'Afrique, l'Amérique et le monde entier. Elle doit bien savoir qu'elle en a la culture et les moyens.

Gérald Arnaud

Pas en vivant avec son chien

"Pas en vivant avec son chien" - Magyd Cherfi

Trois ans se sont écoulés depuis sa première envolée en solitaire. Et si le leader de Zebda prend son temps, ce n'est vraiment que pour livrer le meilleur.

En 2004, le leader de Zebda réussissait son pari de prendre un peu le large en partant à la conquête du public français en solitaire. Le résultat fut convaincant, tant artistiquement (les critiques de son album "La Cité des étoiles" furent excellentes) que financièrement (plus de 30 000 exemplaires de son disque auraient été écoulés). Expliquant que l'envie de refaire un album lui est revenue dès sa première tournée, l'artiste fait donc de nouveau parler de lui en 2007 avec "Pas en vivant avec son chien", réalisé en collaboration avec Stuart Bruce aux studios Realworld de Peter Gabriel.

Magyd Cherfi semble vouloir mettre son grain de sel dans la politique, comme il l'avait déjà fait avec son premier album. Mais "Pas en vivant avec son chien" n'est pas un disque militant et bêtement dénonciateur, l'artiste préférant dresser un simple constat de certaines situations dérangeantes. Sur des airs éclectiques, souvent à base de bossa et de java, il pose sa voix légèrement éraillée et chante le besoin de partage, la politique internationale, la nécessité de reconnaissance de chacun... Dans un monde où les choses vont parfois un peu trop vite, il nous apprend tout simplement à apprécier les choses. Ça fait du bien !

Tracklisting
1 · Place de France
2 · La Tête du Che
3 · La Tronche du patrimoine
4 · L'Oncle d'Amérique
5 · Ma Femme et mes enfants d'abord
6 · La Sandale magique
7 · Le Cirque
8 · Les Chaises qui volent
9 · Bénabar ou Delerm
10 · A dire ou à taire
11 · Les Cigarillos
12 · Scène II ménage

Retour aux sources pour Angelique Kidjo

Avec Djin Djin, Angelique Kidjo revient à ses sources.

La chanteuse et compositrice aux nombreuses récompenses a démarré sa carrière dans le village de Cotonou, au Bénin, à l’âge de six ans. Les troubles politiques dans son pays l’ont amenée à s’installer à Paris puis à New York où elle réside aujourd’hui. Sa voix impressionante, sa présence scénique et sa faculté d’adaptation aux différentes langues et cultures lui ont valu d’être respectée par ses pairs et reconnue dans le monde entier. La passion qui habite les textes de ses chansons a également été remarquée par de nombreuses associations humanitaires auxquelles son nom est associé depuis longtemps.

Angelique Kidjo a parcouru le monde et fasciné le public. Elle parle régulièrement au nom des enfants en tant qu’ambassadrice de l’UNICEF. Avec Djin Djin, qui marque un retour à ses racines musicales, elle boucle la boucle en amenant de nombreux artistes internationaux dans l’univers musical de son pays d’origine.

Enfant, Kidjo était fascinée par les couvertures iconiques des albums de Jimi Hendrix, qui l’ont amenée à remonter aux racines africaines de la musique à partir des USA, du Brésil et des Antilles. En ont résulté trois disques nominés aux Grammy Awards, Oremi, Black Ivory Soul et Oyaya. Sur Djin Djin, elle revient à l’âme du Bénin et, pour la première fois, collabore avec des invités prestigieux dans un mariage de cultures qui résonne bien au-delà de la musique. Inspiré par les traditions et la culture du Bénin, en Afrique de l’Ouest, le titre de l’album fait référence à la sonorité des cloches qu’on fait tinter pour y accueillir une nouvelle journée.

La diversité incarnée par des artistes tels que Peter Gabriel, Alicia Keys, Josh Groban, Carlos Santana, Joss Stone, Branford Marsalis ou le producteur Tony Visconti, en dit long sur ce projet : malgré toutes les différences qui caractérisent la musique de notre temps, l’Afrique y coule au milieu, telle une rivière.

L’idée a été de construire Djin Djin sur des fondations béninoises. Le pouls est donné par les percussionnistes Crespin Kpitiki et Benoit Avihoue, deux membres du Gangbé Brass Band. Les détails de l’héritage rythmique de leur pays, parfois spécifique d’un village, nourrissent la pulsation qui fait battre tout l’album.

Pour étayer le concept de Djin Djin, Angelique Kidjo a fait appel au batteur Poogie Bell, réputé pour son travail avec Erykah Badu et Chaka Khan, au claviériste funk Amp Fiddler (Prince, George Clinton), au multi-instrumentiste Larry Campbell (Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Paul Simon), au géant de la basse sénégalaise Habib Faye (Youssou N’Dour), aux guitaristes Lionel Loueke (Herbie Hancock), Romero Lubambo (Diane Krall, Dianne Reeves) et Joao Mota (originaire de Guinée Bissau), ainsi qu’au maître de la kora, Mamadou Diabate.

Tous ces instrumentistes sont des virtuoses mais surtout, ils étaient prêts à prendre des risques artistiques: «Il était important que tous m’accompagnent dans ce retour aux sources, précise Angelique Kidjo. Je n’ai jamais renié mes racines parce que je sais d’où je viens et j’ai appris que, pour être en mesure de donner à travers la musique, il fallait savoir se positionner parmi d’autres individus issus de cultures différentes, puis trouver des façons de découvrir que, finalement, nous ne sommes pas différents du tout.»

Depuis le début de sa carrière, Angelique Kidjo a beaucoup chanté en français et en anglais mais elle a estimé que, pour Djin Djin, elle devait s’exprimer dans les langues du Bénin, du Nigeria et du Togo. La chanson-titre est là pour rappeler que tous les petits moments éphémères de la vie doivent être vécus aussi intensément que possible. Ses chansons embrassent les joies et les peines de l’existence: la magie de la naissance (Salala), le caractère unique de chaque personne sur cette planète bondée (Arouna), la tentation de la violence (Mama Golo Papa), le potentiel vulnéraire et éducatif de la musique (Awan N’La), les leçons apprises au fur et à mesure que la jeunesse s’enfuie (Sedjedo), et l’isolement rendu plus intense par la société moderne (Emma).

Mais Angelique Kidjo ne mâche pas ses mots lorsqu’elle s’adresse à la bourgeoisie victime de son amour de l’argent (Senamou, qui signifie «c’est l’amour»). Elle rêve également d’un jour où quitter l’Afrique pour faire fortune loin de chez eux ne sera pas l’unique solution d’avenir pour la plupart des jeunes désespérés (AE AE). Dans sa reprise de Pearls, de Sade, elle loue le courage des femmes qui, bien que fortes, sont réprimées et incapables d’échapper à leur destin douloureux. Dans une autre reprise, un arrangement a cappella génial du nommé Bolero de RavelLonlon, elle met en lumière le pont qui s’étire de la musique classique européenne à la source de l’Afrique du Nord. Enfin, Angelique Kidjo transforme Gimme Shelter, le standard des Rolling Stones, en une performance internationale exubérante aux allures de mise en garde. «Cette chanson signifie énormément pour moi, dit-elle. Regardez ce qui se passe: le feu brûle dans nos rues. Des terroristes, au nom de Dieu, viennent pour détruire ce pourquoi on a travaillé. Si on ne donne pas un abri aux gens qui en ont le plus besoin, si on ne les considère pas comme nos propres frères et sœurs, quel espoir reste-t-il ?»

La participation de stars internationales illumine l’ambitieux concept d’Angelique Kidjo. En allouant une place, au sein de ce bouillon de cultures africaine et occidentale, à chacun de ces talents spécifiques, Djin Djin célèbre la beauté et la diversité des influences qui émaillent sa musique. Parmi ces géants, on trouve Peter Gabriel sur Salala («Il a tellement fait pour la musique africaine, qu’on peut affirmer qu’il y a quelque chose de très africain en lui»), Alicia Keys sur Djin Djin («Lorsqu’elle a entendu les batteries béninoises en studio, elle a dit: “Wow, c’est du hip-hop!” Elle a vite compris l’esprit et a chanté merveilleusement»), Joss Stone sur Gimme Shelter («Nous sommes amies, et quand je lui ai fait entendre ce qu’on faisait en studio, elle a insisté pour participer au projet et je suis ravie que ça ait pu se faire»), Josh Groban sur Pearls («Il chante sans effort apparent et pourtant ce n’est pas évident à un tel niveau de virtuosité»), Ziggy Marley sur Sedjedo («Il comprend si bien les connections entre la musique jamaïquaine et les rythmes africains, spécialement le rythme gogbahoun de mon village»), Carlos Santana sur Pearls («Ce n’est pas seulement un guitariste: avec son instrument, il chante, danse, swingue, pleure et il a un grand respect pour l’Afrique»), Branford Marsalis sur Djin Djin («C’est mon frère! Lorsqu’il joue, on ne sait jamais ce qu’on va entendre et où ses idées merveilleuses vont emmener la musique»), et Amadou et Mariam sur Senamou («On est amis depuis si longtemps, ça a été une bénédiction que de les avoir sur ce disque»).

Le producteur Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T.Rex, Morrissey) a amplement contribué à donner toute leur dimension aux chansons de Djin Djin. Enregistré aux studios Electric Lady à New York, l’album ambitionne de rassembler et de libérer ceux qui l’ont conçu et l’écouteront. «À la fin de l’enregistrement, nous étions tous très tristes car, après deux semaines, nous sommes devenus une famille, tient à préciser Angelique Kidjo. La musique nous rassemble mais lorsqu’elle est terminée, on n’a plus qu’à rentrer chez soi. Mais on peut être fier de qui on est. Qu’on soit né en Afrique ou en Amérique, on se doit de célébrer la vie.»

L’argument d’Angelique Kidjo est simple et profond: Djin Djin ne marque que le début de cette célébration. Elle durera ensuite aussi longtemps que vous le souhaitez.

Pape et Cheikh

Le groupe Pape et Cheikh : Le succès de « Gorgui Doli Nu » relance notre carrière

Cheickhou Coulibaly plus connu sous le nom de Cheikh et Pape Fall couramment appelé Pape sont les auteurs compositeurs de la chanson de campagne du candidat Abdoulaye Wade, pour la Coalition Sopi 2007, “ Gorgui Doli Nu ”, une composition qui a connu un grand succès. Nous les avons interpellés sur cette composition qui a fait feu et flamme dans les meetings. Dans cet entretien, le groupe Pape et Cheikh nous parle de leur prochain album qui sera bientôt sur le marché...

Sur le plan international, nous avons eu à faire un album qui n'est pas sorti au Sénégal. Cet album a été enregistré en Angleterre dans le studio de Peter Gabriel et c'est son label même qui a produit l'album. C'est notre premier album “ Cd ” international qui s'appelle “ Mariama ”. Malheureusement, il n'est pas sorti au Sénégal et beaucoup ne l'ont pas ici. Je crois que c'est déjà bien d'avoir un album sur le plan international. Après la sortie de cette cassette, nous avons fait beaucoup de tournées en Europe pour la promotion de l'album, nous avons joué lors d'un festival en Allemagne avec Youssou Ndour, nous avons joué aussi avec l'orchestre “ Baobab ” en Angleterre. Nous profitons de l'occasion pour les remercier. Nous avons fait une tournée aux Etats-Unis, au Canada...

Kidjo makes message magic

Angelique Kidjo performs at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 9, at the Corvallis High School Theater.

African vocalist uses the beauty of her voice to win audience over

It was 1998, and Lilith Fair was in its second year of bringing fabulous female artists together in a celebration of song and musicianship. The atmosphere of the Oregon Lilith Fairs was always highly charged with positive energy, from the womyn-centric village of craft and clothing booths to the mainly female audience dancing, singing and, occasionally, doffing clothing on a hot summer day.

Lilith Fair, at its best, had the mellow, universal-love vibe of old Country Fair before it went commercial, and without the creepy contingent of old men slyly taking photographs of topless participants and their painted breasts. I suspect actually, were such creepy men caught at Lilith Fair, they would have been summarily throttled by a tie-dyed sarong and thrown onto the stage for Sarah McLachlan to kick.

One of the highlights of attending Lilith Fair was the complimentary music compilation passed out to the audience. The CD contained dozens of female artists, many of which I heard for the first time by listening to the compilation after the event. It was in the 1998 collection that I heard Angelique Kidjo’s incredibly beautiful voice for the first time.

I quickly fell in love with her song “Oremi,” which means friend in Fon, a language of her native Benin, in west Africa. The song, and the album of the same name, propelled the already internationally popular Kidjo into the eyes of the American public. While Kidjo sometimes sings in English and French, her songs as frequently feature Fon, Yoruba, Swahili and other languages native to West Africa.

No matter the language, Kidjo’s songs deal with issues of social justice and human rights, from native rights to gender equality. It’s not surprising that her work as an artist has also led to a prominent role in international organizations, most prominently as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. She has been a voice for UNICEF since 2000, speaking out on issues ranging from child trafficking to AIDS/HIV.

Kidjo considered becoming a human-rights lawyer before deciding that her music was a valuable tool in communicating issues of justice to a wide audience.

Her latest CD, “Djin Djin,” will be released May 1, and features duets with a number of recording artists, including Alicia Keys, Joss Stone, Carlos Santana and Ziggy Marley. I was lucky enough to get a hold of an early release of the CD, and turned it up loud on a late Saturday morning, hoping its energy would help me get through a round of house cleaning.

“Djin Djin” did the trick, and the household was quickly dancing and jumping in rhythm to the music, and in short order, everything was gleaming again. To Kidjo’s credit as a musician, none of the “big names” who joined her on the CD ever overpowered her incredible vocals, in fact, it was easy to forget her duet partner in the beauty of her own voice.

In fact, although the title song, featuring Alicia Keyes and Branford Marsalis, and “Sedjedo” with Ziggy Marley were especially wonderful, I was even more excited about her solo pieces, including the uplifting “Ae Ae” and her version of Ravel’s Bolero, “Lonlon,” which is astonishingly powerful and a perfect way to end the album.

While the messages in her version of “Gimme Shelter” with Joss Stone, and the moving “Salala” with Peter Gabriel, expand upon her human-rights work, her expressiveness and thoughtfulness comes through in all the pieces, despite the language barriers for most American listeners.

Corvallis will have a chance to experience Kidjo’s mix of traditional African, R&B, jazz and funk during her visit to Corvallis High School May 9. Her album “Djin Djin” will be available locally beginning May 1 at Starbucks and other local music outlets.

Proposals for new Eden building

Eden Project supremo Tim Smit has pledged to build "the most exciting building in the world" in the next phase of development at the environmental centre. Plans for the building - to be called The Edge - are currently being drawn up and this is the first drawing of it to be released. The Edge has been shortlisted for the Big Lottery Fund's £50 million Living Landmarks: The People's Millions award. Mr Smit said this week that everyone at Eden is "very excited" by the scheme.

He said: "We always knew we wanted a third building at Eden and in the early days it was going to be about the dry tropics. However, that idea was put to one side about three years ago when we realised that we wouldn't be able to spend millions of pounds on a building which would recreate some of the poorest environments in the world. This building is not about that, it is about living within limits. We want to look at how well humans - individually and as communities - react positively to changes."

The new building will look at the approaching water crisis, the challenges in the supply of energy and the impacts of changes to our climate. However the building will not be about climate change, but because of climate change.

Mr Smit said: "It will have at one level a horticultural collection and the chambers below will be created by great thinkers and creative people of our generation looking at what it is to be a human being. I can't say what is going to be in any of the chambers as, for many of them, it is not known yet. However, we have worked a lot with the Sensory Trust and we are interested in the question of what it is like to be disabled. Having asked that question we also want to know what it is to be able. You might have people who might appear to be born without problems, but then might not be able to engage emotionally or have a poor sense of smell, something which is not immediately obvious but is disabling. We want to explore the effects of that and this will be interesting for all sorts of reasons. We are hoping that the chambers will be connected by corridors, some of which might be dark or lined with fur, or with rope. Or you might have to take off your shoes and socks to walk through them to experience something."

Mr Smit declined to say who would be involved with creating all the chambers but did confirm that author Philip Pullman, famous for the His Dark Materials novels, and musician Peter Gabriel would each be responsible for a chamber.

He added: "There will also be rooms created by the British public. They will be able to have their input in what it is to be a human being. We have already started work on site asking our public what are the things that move them. The smells, tastes and senses that excite them. People are fascinated by talking about themselves and their responses. We hope over the summer we can gather more of this information from visitors to Eden."
Eden will submit its final application for the lottery funding scheme next month and in October a final shortlist will be made of projects to go forward to a live public TV vote. The final vote will take place in the new year. Mr Smit said: "I want this to be the most exciting building in the world. That is exactly what we want for Eden and we believe that The Edge can be that building."

'Tiny Bubbles' singer Don Ho dies at 76

Hawaiian singer Don Ho (music), best known for his song "Tiny Bubbles," which he typically performed while accompanying himself on ukulele, died Saturday at the age of 76...

...In one of his final studio performances, Ho appeared on a 2002 anthology album, "When Pigs Fly: Songs You Never Thought You'd Hear," singing a version of ...Peter Gabriel's "Shock the Monkey."

Peter Gabriel: Fighting injustice with a videocamera

The TED Conference Launches All-New Website Focused on the Distribution of Its Award-Winning Audio and Video Podcasts

Redesigned Website Promotes "Ideas Worth Spreading"

TED, known for its annual invitation-only summit of the world's brightest minds, today unveiled the new TED.com (http://www.TED.com), showcasing the extraordinary talks that have made the conference famous. With its striking design and groundbreaking video technology, the free site encourages audience participation consistent with its tagline, "Ideas worth spreading."...

Peter Gabriel on TED Talks

Peter Gabriel. Musician and activist Peter Gabriel explains the personal ... Peter Gabriel first took the musical stage by storm with the band Genesis, but ... http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/download/video/45/talk/23

Music Review: Angelique Kidjo's - Djin Djin

Angelique Kidjo is a world renowned, Benin born, Grammy nominated singer. Her diverse music has won fans across the globe, as she effortlessly blends traditional African pop music with contemporary, modern grooves. She has been appointed as Good Will Ambassador by UNICEF, and performed her music in front of world leaders and dignitaries as well as millions of fans. Her new CD, Djin Djin is a welcome return for this musical queen.

Kidjo is an accomplished singer/songwriter in her own right, one who could easily sell millions of records at any given time. Any collaboration with the “hot” artist of the day, to help boost record sales is totally unnecessary. If any such artist were presented on a full length disc of hers, it would certainly help further establish and solidify Angelique’s reputation.

That is exactly what happens with this CD, as Angelique shares the stage with several celebrity musicians including Brandford Marsalis & Alicia Keys("Djin Djin"), Carlos Santana & Josh Groban ("Pearls"), Joss Stone("Gimme Shelter") , Peter Gabriel ("Salala"), Ziggy Marley ("Sedjedo"), and African music legends Amadou and Mariam ("Senamou –(C'est L'amour)"). The result is a hybrid of musical styles and influences, all beautifully coming together. If you didn’t have enough reasons to buy this CD before, you most certainly do now.

While the collaboration efforts are noteworthy and excellent, the real gems are found in the songs where Angelique is free to do her thing, unencumbered by making nice and sharing her vocal space with her guests. True, her work with Groban on the Sade reworking of is almost better than the original and it is one of the highlight songs of the album. But she also shines brightly on "Pearls""Ae Ae," and she makes us feel so at home on the shuffling "Papa. " To top it all of, Angelique hands in a amazing rendition of the classical piece Bolero entitled "Lonlon (Ravel's Bolero)," bridging European classical music with African folk.

The album sounds incredible thanks to super producer Tony Visconti’s guiding hand on the boards. With a clean and dry mix being applied, there is very little outboard effects and studio tricks on the songs. Every hand drum is heard with crystal-like clarity and every musician is heard clearly, making this one of the smoothest mixed albums that I’ve heard in a long while. With this CD, Angelique’s musical career looks ready for an invigorating boost! Get yours now and give yourself a boost as well, at your local Starbucks Coffee Shop, as the CD is distributed by their new Starbucks Entertainment/Hear Music Division.

The song "Mutoto Kwanza" is dedicated to UNICEF by Goodwill Ambassador Angelique Kidjo.

Angelique Kidjo - Djin Djin Razor &Tie Records/Starbucks Entertainment

Joseph Arthur : Un voyage astral entouré d'astronautes

Découvert par nul autre que Peter Gabriel dans les années 1990, le New-Yorkais Joseph Arthur n’a pas eu peur de repousser ses limites musicales pour l’enregistrement de Let’s Just Be.

Délaissant en partie ses airs folks, il nous arrive avec un produit des plus éclectiques où le rock et les expérimentations occupent une place de choix. Cette nouvelle direction artistique n’est pas étrangère à son association avec le groupe The Lonely Astronauts.

«J’étais en solo depuis une dizaine d’années et là, je voulais faire quelque chose de différent, avec un processus d’écriture en groupe», a-t-il indiqué cette semaine, quelques heures avant de monter sur la scène du O Patro Vys pour un petit concert privé à l’attention des membres des médias montréalais et de l’industrie.

Le risque était grand pour celui qui a réussi à se forger une solide réputation auprès de quelques-unes de plus grosses pointures de la chanson américaine (il a assuré la première partie des Ben Harper, R.E.M., Tracy Chapman et Coldplay et participé ce mois-ci à un concert en hommage à Bruce Springsteen).

Mais son désir de chambarder ses habitudes musicales était plus fort que tout.

«C’est vraiment une nouvelle sorte d’expérience pour moi. On a tout enregistré avec un 16 pistes live, sans reverb ni ordinateur. Ça s’est fait très rapidement, à la vieille école. C’est rafraîchissant de faire ça!» exprime-t-il.

80 chansons en trois semaines

Le moins qu’on puisse dire, c’est que le groupe était sur la même longueur d’onde, produisant les chansons à un rythme effréné.

«Après avoir écrit en tournée, nous sommes rentrés en studio et avons enregistré 80 chansons en trois semaines. Ça donne un résultat éclectique qui, à première vue, ne semble pas cohérent, mais qu’à force d’écouter, on en comprend le sens», raconte-t-il.

C’est ainsi qu’on passe du vieux rock à la Rolling Stones à un son plus dynamique, sans laisser pour compte le côté folk qui a fait la réputation de l’auteur-compositeur-interprète.

Ces derniers se laissent même aller dans une composition d’une vingtaine de minutes intitulée Lonely Astronaut.

«C’est comme une version rock du film 2001: L’Odyssée de l’espace. Il y a certes un côté progressif, mais je pense que le disque dans l’ensemble possède cette facette. Sans l’avoir fait de façon trop sérieuse, je voulais provoquer les conventions du rock’n’roll avec cet album», explique-t-il.

Avec encore près d’une soixante de chansons en banque, il ne serait pas étonnant que le groupe revienne à la charge avec un autre opus.

Malgré tout, le chanteur ne ferme aucune porte à d’autres avenues.

«Nous allons peut-être attendre un moment. Let’s Just Be dure quand même 80 minutes, ce qui en fait un album double. Peut-être aussi que nous allons écrire encore de nouvelles chansons, sans compter que je continue également de travailler mon matériel solo», évoque-t-il.

Artiste avant tout

Joseph Arthur est un artiste avant tout et, pour lui, tous les moyens sont bons pour s’exprimer, que ce soit par la musique ou encore par la peinture.

Il lui arrive même de fusionner ces deux genres d’arts, comme ce fut le cas pour la conception de son album ainsi que lors de la représentation de mardi au O Patro Vys, alors qu’il a peint une toile au cours de sa prestation.

Cette passion le mènera même à ouvrir sa propre galerie d’art dans les prochaines semaines.

«Je vais ouvrir ma galerie à Brooklyn et je suis très emballé à l’idée d’y penser même si c’est plutôt compliqué présentement d’organiser mon horaire en raison de la sortie de mon album», explique celui qui n’accorde jamais une entrevue sans un papier et un crayon pour se laisser aller à ses pulsions de dessinateur.

Demain soir à La Tulipe, Joseph Arthur sera entouré de ses Lonely Astronauts afin de faire découvrir les extraits de son nouvel album, disponible enmagasin mardi prochain.

Philippe Renault/ Le Journal de Montréal

Womad Summer School

The WOMAD Foundation is bringing the spirit of WOMAD to Bath Spa University this summer for the first-ever WOMAD Summer School.

It will take place between July 30 and August 4 and is running alongside the International Guitar Foundation's Performing Arts Summer School.

The Summer School is a week-long opportunity to deepen musical experience, with classes in music, voice and dance master classes, ensemble tuition, 'in conversation' sessions, workshops in vocal technique, performances and more.

Philip Castang, founder and manager of the International Guitar Foundation, said: "We are delighted to welcome WOMAD to our summer school programme and it is a real honour to have such a legend as Bill Cobham to inspire and instruct students, members of Tinariwen who are currently at the top of the world music scene, plus their producer and Robert Plant's guitarist and collaborator, Justin Adams. "In addition we have 25 more celebrated artists/tutors from countries as far apart as Zimbabwe, Brazil, India, Senegal and UK. "I am absolutely amazed at the range and quality of artists taking part. It is a really unique and special event and an experience not to be missed."

WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) was originally inspired by Peter Gabriel back in 1980 and is now recognized throughout the world as a unique and important festival organization promoting music, culture and arts from around the globe.

The WOMAD Foundation is a registered educational charity and the educational arm of the WOMAD Festival organisation.

"Worldwide, the WOMAD Foundation provides opportunities for cultural exchange, learning and active participation," said Annie Menter, WOMAD Foundation Director. Through these activities we bring the arts of different cultures before the widest possible audience. Music is a catalyst for the imagination and has the ability to transport us to spaces and places we may never physically visit. The WOMAD Summer School is a fantastic opportunity for us to bring the ethos of WOMAD to Bath."

The following week-long courses are available:

# Drum Academy: Led by legendary drummer Billy Cobham (USA) who invites students to come and improve all aspects of their playing and performance.

# Dance Roots: Landing Mané (Senegal) and Fernanda Amaral (Brazil) will take students on a journey from West Africa to Latin America through the dance expression and interpretation that has evolved over centuries.

# Patterns of Percussion: Sets out to explore the wealth of rhythms and techniques of Cuban, Indian and African percussion with charismatic tutors Johnny Kalsi (UK), Vicente Arrencibia (Cuba), Chartwell Dutiro (Zimbabwe), Landing Mané (Senegal) and Abass Dudu (Ghana).

# Striking A Chord: A vibrant introduction to the myriad of vocal techniques from Zimbabwe, Cameroon and the British Isles with Coco Mbassi (Cameroon), Cara Dillon (Ireland), Chartwell Dutiro (Zimbabwe) and Kirsty Martin (UK).

# Guitar Connections: Justin Adams (UK), Tinariwen's Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni (Mali) and Kevin Brown (UK) will dig deep into the links between the Mississippi and the Sahara.

# Singer Songwriters: Explore lyrics that spring from the heart and mind and give voice to experience and emotions that touch us all. Andy White (Ireland) will be hosting a week of opportunities to write, discuss ideas, collaborate, perform - or simply listen and take it all in. More special guests to be announced.

# Children's Art Camp: A host of fun things to do for younger family members in arts, crafts and dance workshops which will be led by artists from our experienced child-friendly WOMAD workshop team.

Extra curricular activities will include films, DJ sessions, informal performances, collaborative jam sessions, special interest classes, and one-to-one clinics as well as the opportunity to get stuck into the vast array of musical facilities on hand.

The WOMAD Summer School is supported by Arts Council England.

BOOKING DETAILS

Summer School - for those aged 12 years and over - costs £250. There is a group discount available - save 10% if four or more students book together.

Children's Art Camp - for five-12-year-olds - costs £16 for one day and £75 for a whole week.

Download a booking form from www.igf.org.uk/applications/index.php (then select chosen course from bottom of the page)

£67m Eden project will show the perils of a warmer world

Plans for Britain's first tourist attraction dedicated to climate change and how humans will live with increasing temperatures will be unveiled this week at the Eden Project in Cornwall.

As Britain basks in unseasonably warm spring sunshine, temperatures this weekend are expected to hit 25C as warm air from the Azores covers the country, the founders of Eden's 'biomes' - giant plant-filled bubbles - want to build a new area to allow people to explore what life will be like when weather patterns push humans to invent new ways of living.

The £67m building, called The Edge, will not be a semi-spherical greenhouse like the existing two structures, but the same designers hope the undulating, super environmentally friendly structure will be just as much of a talking point. Green innovations include indoor 'wind' turbines powered by the updraft of air heated through the greenhouse-like roof and the most up-to-date designs to collect and recycle water. The building will generate its own light from the turbines and heat from stored warm air.

The plans will be submitted by the end of May to the Big Lottery Fund, which has shortlisted The Edge and five other projects for a contest for up to £50m to be decided by viewers after a TV series, probably this winter.

Inside the new building will be a hypothetical country, based on dry tropical regions, with examples of how past civilisations dealt with massive changes in climate, how current societies are learning to cope with global warming and what people might have to do in future to survive when energy, water and other vital resources begin to run out. Underneath will be chambers of light and dark, with displays designed by famous names including musician Peter Gabriel and the author Philip Pullman to give visitors different sensory experiences.

Early ideas for The Edge include a wall of keys, from shed doors to a death chamber; a room filled with voices speaking about love in every language; and connecting corridors which force people to navigate using different senses, possibly bare feet or sound.

There will be plenty of plants, but Eden's latest - and last - zone will be very different, says Tim Smit, the co-founder and chief executive. 'The biomes we already have are a shop window for the world, plants and human dependence on them,' says Smit. 'We'll be inverting [that]: looking at us rather than the plants, looking at humans and what it is to be human.'

Eden caused a sensation when it opened six years ago, when visitors peaked at 1.8 million. Numbers have levelled off at just below 1.2 million visitors a year - but it is still one of England's top 10 paid-for attractions.

Eden staff hope that The Edge could tap into the zeitgeist as successfully as the centre's original recipe of education and entertainment.

Weather forecasters promise the recent mini-heatwave should continue this weekend and after a brief cool patch should return again later this week.

Last week the Met Office predicted another summer of above-average temperatures, after a spate of record-breaking years, while earlier this month the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued an apocalyptic warning of future mass migrations fuelled by loss of fertile land, droughts, rising seas and more intense storms - the very problems The Edge would address.

Despite some of the best environmental credentials of any organisation in Britain, Eden has been criticised in the past for not doing more to promote the issue of climate change.

Now the Cornish attraction will have to tread a fine line between educating visitors about their effect on potentially catastrophic climate change and not turning people away by lecturing or overwhelming them. It will also be entering the controversial tussle between environmental campaigners and climate change sceptics over how to present 'balanced' evidence - including scientific consensus that man-made global warming is causing damaging change and remaining uncertainties over the problem.

The new zone is an evolution of the original plan for a third desert biome, which had to be put on hold because the project initially raised enough money only for the existing rainforest and Mediterranean biomes.

In keeping with its past caution, Eden insists The Edge is 'not a building about climate change; it is a building because of climate change'. The focus will be on the dangers of humans living beyond their means - the reason past civilisations have collapsed, Smit points out - but, just as important, on how future generations can avoid the same mistakes, he says.

'The building will be to explain what it means to live within the limits, and because of climate change those limits will become more and more extreme, so we'll be hitting it head on. But it's not a shrine to the dangers, it's a response to them,' said Smit.

'The point is not about making them feel hopeless. Our brief is to make them feel excited about what humans are capable of if they can organise themselves. The single biggest message from Eden is optimism.'

Simple measures are not enough, says Smit, who talks of 'a new language, a new paradigm'. But he also rejects the idea that the transformation needed will significantly alter our quality of life, stressing instead how society can reduce massive waste and live more efficiently: 'We're going to have to view growth as a different animal and be very careful with language, so people realise we can live and progress without that impacting so heavily on the environment.'

Smit says his inspirations for the project include the Holocaust museum in Berlin, where visitors have to walk across a floor covered in tin plates with smiling faces and the names of victims before they enter the main display halls; and a clay print of a gorilla hand which has fascinated visitors to Bristol Zoo.

Eden's competitors for Lottery funds are a massive extension of cycle and walkways by Sustrans; the restoration of Sherwood Forest; plans to transform Somerset's waterways into a network of tourist attractions; a scheme to open up much of the National Museum of Science and Industry's stored collections; and an environmental regeneration of the Black Country industrial heartland.

Juliette Jowit, environment editor
Sunday April 15, 2007
The Observer

We7 veut proposer de la musique en ligne gratuite

Les opposants aux DRM gluants, aux iTunes uni-format et autres Napsters payants et qui n'ont rien contre un site de téléchargement de musique GRATUIT mais avec quelques pubs par-ci par-là se réjouiront de l'arrivée de We7.

Seuls quelques extraits sont disponibles pour l'instant sur le site We7 qui recense pour l'instant les avis des internautes, dont fait partie Peter Gabriel, qui souhaite que les lecteurs d'INQ y fasse un tour, comme pionniers d'une future communauté. Paix. Amour.

We7 se réjouit également d'accueillir les démos de votre groupe en mal de notoriété et qui souhaiterait, on ne sait jamais, passer par les oreilles expertes de l'ex-Genesis.

Traduction et adaptation d'un article de Martin Veitch pour INQ, par Cyril Fussy

Rap..rap...rapido !

A special message from Peter Gabriel to Antoine de Caunes and Rapido Birthday

Thanks to STEAM for this video! (or click on the picture)

more info about this program /plus d'info à propos de cette emission (in french/en français) : http://www.canalplus.fr/pid82.htm

Peter Gabriel plays music without frontiers

We7 offers free, legal music downloads. The much-ballyhooed theory that legitimate music downloads will go to a free, ad-sponsored model has thus far failed to materialise but believers can get a taste of the concept at the new We7 site.

There are only samples available on the site at present but We7 is canvassing opinion and the site’s backers, including Peter Gabriel, want INQ readers to visit, in advance of future additions such as community features. Also, if you’ve got a band, let We7 know and you could feature on the site.

Manu Katché lance son émission One Shot Not sur Arte

A partir du vendredi 13 avril, le célèbre batteur Manu Katché présente une nouvelle émission musicale live sur la chaîne Arte. Batpisé "One Shot Not", ce nouveau rendez-vous télévisuel s’annonce rafraîchissant et instructif. En ouverture, Manu Katché a rassemblé rien moins que Bryan Ferry, Air, Joss Stone et Kyle Eastwood.

Après "Taratata" sur France 4 et France 2, voici "One Shot Not" sur Arte, une nouvelle émission TV dédiée aux prestations musicales live, présentée par Manu Katché.

Très en pointe dans le domaine de la musique, France Télévisions a donné carte blanche au très actif Manu Katché (qui outre sa qualité de batteur est membre du jury de la Nouvelle Star sur M6) pour créer et animer ce rendez-vous.

Le concept de l’émission est celui de l’échange et de la liberté. Souhaitant apporter un souffle nouveau à ce type d’émission, le batteur Manu Katché a choisi d’accompagner l’événement live d’un "making of".

En effet, parallèlement au concert, "One shot not" propose un "récit" des jours qui ont précédé l’enregistrement: coups de téléphone, rendez-vous, répétitions, repas, séances de travail…

Manu Katché nous fait suivre les déambulations des artistes pour mieux rendre compte des coulisses des concerts. La caméra traque les répétitions, les conversations et les repas, dans le plus pur style documentaire.

Pour la première de "One Shot Not", Manu Katché a invité des pointures de cultures et d’horizons différents pour un boeuf exceptionnel: l’élégant chanteur Bryan Ferry, les papes de la "french touch" Air, la précoce chanteuse anglaise Joss Stone et Kyle Eastwood. Diffusée à 22h15 le vendredi 13 avril, l’émission est prévue pour durer jusqu’à 23h50.

La périodicité de l’émission n’est pas encore déterminée mais on parle déjà d’une deuxième émission avec Lenny Kravitz et Peter Gabriel. Pour autant, Manu Katché ne veut pas cantonner "One Shot Not" au rock et aux célébrités, mais au contraire l’ouvrir au jazz, à la pop et à la scène underground. Une vrai profession de foi en faveur de la musique.

Papa Wemba se lance dans l’humanitaire

Contre les mines anti personnel en RDC, avec MAG et l'UNICEF

Le roi de la rumba congolaise vient d’accepter la mission proposée par l’association anglaise MAG, Mines Advisory Group : il est désormais un ambassadeur de la lutte contre les mines anti personnel en République Démocratique du Congo.

La présence de Papa Wemba sera particulièrement importante sur le plan médiatique. Il a d’ores et déjà enregistré une chanson avec Peter Gabriel, Show me the way, titre prévu pour être l’hymne de la campagne d’information. Il devrait également apparaître dans les spots télévisés et radiophoniques de l’organisation.

Papa Wemba travaillera avec l’appui de l’ UNICEF, qui participe aux actions de sensibilisation auprès de la population locale et aux opérations de déminage. Depuis la fin de la guerre civile, près d’un millier de congolais ont été tuées par l’explosion de mines anti personnel. Plus de mille autres ont été blessées.

Percussions Assiko et danse capoeira

Percussions Assiko et danse capoeira, vendredi à l’institut français Léopold Sédar Senghor

Un spectacle dénomme ‘’Dembë’’ est prévu vendredi à partir de 20 heures 30 au théâtre de verdure de l’institut français Léopold Sédar Senghor (ex-CCF) avec la participation de danseurs de capoeira et de percussionnistes dont le tambour major Doudou Ndiaye Rose. La soirée s’inscrit dans le cadre du Miroir Festival International de Dakar Plateau (Fesmir) qui vise à ‘’revisite la culture locale du Plateau pour mettre en valeur l’ouverture sur le monde de ce quartier historique’’. Les percussionnistes feront revivre la musique traditionnelle Assiko, indique un communiqué transmis jeudi à l’APS.

Parmi eux, Doudou Ndiaye Rose qui, ‘’après cinquante ans de carrière et de nombreuses collaborations musicales — avec les Rolling Stones, Peter Gabriel, Maurice Béjart... — est devenu l’incontournable référence de la percussion africaine. Véritable phénomène sur scène, il dirige comme un chef d’orchestre ses tambours sur des musiques à la croisée des sons traditionnels et de la création contemporaine, offrant une musique inventive et moderne’’, souligne le texte. Les groupes ‘’Teaupla Siko’’, constitué de quinze tambours venus du Plateau dakarois, et ‘’Africa do Capoeira’’, basé à Gorée et alliant danse et art martial sur les rythmes effrénés de l’Assiko, sont aussi au programme de la soirée.

Black Horse Festival 2007

Tickets are now available for the Black Horse Music Festival, which this year will feature more than 30 acts of the calibre of Wilko Johnson, The Blockheads, Osibisa, Martin Carthy and Peter Gabriel protégé Daby Toure.

From Friday May 25 to Monday May 28 the festival, now in its 19th year, will be held in the grounds of the Shepherd Neame pub the Black Horse in Telham, East Sussex.

For the first time, the festival is launching "The Club in the Pub", which will return to the event's folk roots and give floor singers the chance to perform inside the bar.

Outside, there's a bar run by landlord John Wilson, selling beer from event sponsors Shepherd Neame, a barbecue and family entertainment, including jugglers, Punch and Judy, stilt-walkers, face-painting and balloon sculptures.

The festival starts on the Friday with an evening of urban sounds from Ian Dury's Blockheads and The Wilko Johnson Band, while the Saturday is dedicated to folk, with performances from headliners Waterson:Carthy, The Fold, Waking the Witch and many others.

Sunday is a day of world music, headlined by Peter Gabriel's favourites The Daby Toure Band, supported by African hi-life outfit Osibisa, roots legends Baka Beyond, Boum, from France and leTrio Perdu from Belgium.

The festival closes on Bank Holiday Monday with an afternoon of indie rock from some of the South East's most talented new bands and an evening party featuring the Cadillac Kings and a big soul band.

Tickets are £12 for Friday; £16 for Saturday; £18 for Sunday; £5 for the Monday afternoon; and £8 for Monday evening, available from www.blackhorsemusicfestival.co.uk or from Hastings Tourist Information Centre on 01424 781111. Floor singers wishing to do a spot should call festival organiser John Shotton on 01424 429840.

Rachel Z Unleashes “Good and Evil”

Sometimes the true nature of jazz is obliterated by our tendency to classify and label. Despite its “melting pot” roots and evolution, the genre is often embroiled in controversy over its definition. Enter an undeniably talented pianist/vocalist/composer whose chops shout Shorter and Hancock while her repertoire screams Sting and Stones. Such fusion of stylistic ideas has haunted popular performers from Miles Davis to the Bad Plus, and similarly, Rachel Nicolazzo—known simply as Rachel Z.

Be it a blessing or curse, Z’s eclectic appetite has proven a commercial success over the release of eight recordings, bridging genres and sonic sensibilities in reaching listeners from multiple generations. And assuming the diverse origins of musical ideas are simultaneously irrelevant and basic to modern jazz, Z’s newest recording should serve to place her exactly where she belongs—among the most talented and inventive of 21st century post bop magicians, one who should appeal equally to those raised on U2 and Smashing Pumpkins and those steeped in the lineage of Evans, Jarrett, Hancock and Tyner. Released in mid March on Savoy Jazz, the eponymous Dept of Good and Evil will be celebrated at the Dakota in Minneapolis (April 6-7), Jazz Standard in Manhattan (April 10-11), and Blues Alley in Washington, DC (April 12). Joining Rachel Z will be her “Good and Evil” trio-mates, Maeve Royce on bass and Bobbie Rae (also producer) on drums.

Rachel Z

Rachel Z initially seemed destined to follow her mother into the world of opera. Growing up in Manhattan, she began voice lessons at age two, then classical piano at seven; she attended her first opera at age nine. “My first doll house was a Metropolitan Opera House,” she notes. But on hearing “Miles’ Smiles” at age 15, she began improvising against the grain of her classical repertoire and was soon playing in a band covering Joni Mitchell and Steely Dan. She further crossed the classical-to-jazz divide by listening to Herbie Hancock’s interpretations of Wayne Shorter, launching a quintet named Nardis, and studying with Joanne Brackeen and Richie Bierach.

Rachel graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where she worked with Bob Moses, Miroslav Vitous and George Garzone. Back in New York in 1988, she toured with NEC classmate Najee and co-wrote the title track to the smooth saxman’s best-selling Tokyo Blue. Throughout the 90s, she played with fusion band Steps Ahead, Al DiMeola, Larry Coryell, Special EFX, Angela Bonfil and Mike Mainieri, who produced her debut release, Trust the Universe (1993). Next Z collaborated with hero Wayne Shorter, arranging, playing acoustic piano, and directing his tour for the Grammy-winning High Life. In the mid-90s, she extensively toured in support of her album dedicated to women artists, A Room of One’s Own, before turning to more electronic-driven music via Vertu (Al DiMeola, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White). Over the past decade, her efforts have encompassed interpretations of everyone from classic jazz giants to contemporary pop and rock stars, including recorded tributes to Wayne Shorter and Joni Mitchell. A global tour with Peter Gabriel (2002-2004) as well as three more recordings brought her international attention....(more)>

more acts added to Hyde Park Calling

The Answer, Jason Mraz, McQueen, Rushmore, Reuben, & more

Hyde Park Calling 2007

More acts have been added to Hyde Park Calling happening at London's Hyde Park on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th June.

On Saturday, joining the line-up of musical innovator Peter Gabriel, the newly reformed Crowded House, The Feeling, and Ghosts will be Jason Mraz, Rushmore, and Under The Influence Of Giants.

Joining Aerosmith, Chris Cornell, and Jet on the Sunday are The Answer, McQueen, Reuben, and Haunts.

Tickets cost £45 for either day - click here for the Saturday or here for the Sunday to buy.

Ex-Genesis man in concert at Blickling

A rock singer famous for founding a supergroup, dressing up in bizarre costumes and starring in one of the most popular music videos is coming to North Norfolk. Peter Gabriel is the latest name on the local summer gigs programme. He will appear at Blickling Hall on Saturday, July 21. Gabriel was one of the Charterhouse schoolboys who founded Genesis in 1967.

Gabriel's madcap costumes, which included a flower and Britannia, helped to lessen his initial stage fright. When he left amid tensions in 1975 he struck out on a solo career and enjoyed chart success with Solsbury Hill in 1977, followed by Games Without Frontiers in 1980. But it was his award-winning, partly-animated video to Sledgehammer, a song which reached number four in the charts in 1986, that provided him with his biggest hit. It was followed the same year by the ballad duet with Kate Bush, Don't Give Up.

Gabriel has also been a leading figure in promoting world music, setting up Womad - World of Music Arts and Dance - in 1980 and will appear at its 25th festival being staged a week after the Blickling gig. He is also well known as a writer of music and in 1989 released an album of instrumentals, Passion, used in Martin Scorsese's film, The Last Temptation of Christ.

His Blickling date adds to a summer line-up that also includes Bryan Ferry on July 13, Madness on July 22, and a sell-out 10-artist party marking 10 years of concerts at the venue on July 14. Tickets for the Peter Gabriel concert are £40, available on 0870 010 4900, the National Trust website www.nationaltrust.org.uk,

the Ticketmaster hotline on 0870 4000 688, or at www.summernightsonline.co.uk

Loreena McKennitt, bardée de celtitude

La discrète Canadienne Loreena McKennitt est l'une des principales forces de vente de la catégorie fourre-tout des "musiques du monde", rayon celte. Selon son distributeur français, le label quimpérois Keltia Musique, elle aurait écoulé plus de 50 000 exemplaires de son septième album studio, An Ancient Muse, depuis sa publication en novembre 2006. Les concerts de sa présente tournée affichent généralement complet.

Chez elle, au Canada, Loreena McKennitt vend jusqu'à 500 000 exemplaires de ses disques et elle a conquis le marché des Etats-Unis, où elle a vendu 2 millions de copies de The Book of Secrets (1997). Son site Internet est consultable en quatorze langues. Mais ni en gaélique ni en brittonique.

La musicienne a bâti son succès en repoussant toujours plus loin les frontières de l'imaginaire celte. Enregistré dans le saint des saints de la world music, les studios Real World de Peter Gabriel, An Ancient Muse transporte dans la Grèce antique, l'Orient des croisades ou sur la Route de la soie.

Le 15 mars à Paris, dans un Grand Rex comble, elle a pleinement justifié son surnom de "celtique éclectique", changeant sans cesse d'instrument : harpe, accordéon, piano. Sa voix oscille entre l'incantation folk et la joliesse de la variété pour les ballades. Dans un décor mauresque, ses neuf musiciens mêlent instruments électriques, violon, luth, oud, vièle à roue... Une même chanson peut avoir une assise pop-rock, une mélodie celte et une ornementation orientale.

Le propos aussi est hybride, un mysticisme new age qui se nourrit de poésie. En plus futuriste, il a fait le succès de l'Irlandaise Enya et de l'Australienne Lisa Gerrard, du duo Dead Can Dance, qui chantera le 15 avril dans ce même Grand Rex et devant une partie des mêmes auditeurs.

Le 5 avril à Roubaix (Colisée), le 6 à Anvers (Queen Elizabeth Hall).

An Ancient Muse, 1 CD Quinland Road/Keltia Musique.

LE MONDE | 05.04.07

Car-share scheme for WOMAD

Are you driving to this year's WOMAD festival at Charlton Park and have a space in your car?

Or do you need a lift? If so you can use the new Freewheelers car-share scheme.

Freewheelers is an online service which allows festival-goers to offer or request lifts to and from the event.

Sharing lifts helps to reduce traffic jams, pollution, travel costs and gives travellers the chance to make friends even before the festival gates have opened.

To find out more, visit www.womad.org

Senegal's top singerdebuts in Amazing Grace movie

Senegalese mbalax superstar Youssou N'Dour has opened a door of acting for himself with a thrilling feature in the February 23, 2007 released biopic movie entitled 'Amazing Grace'. The movie is the inspiring story of how one man's passion and perseverance changed the world. Based on the true life story of William Wilberforce, a leader of the British abolition movement, the film chronicles his epic struggle to pass a law to end the slave trade in the late 18th century.

Ioan Gruffudd plays a dynamic William Wilberforce, who was born to a prosperous family. Following the death of his father, he became a wealthy young man. His wealth allowed him to fund many charitable projects. He became a member of Parliament and an Evangelical Christian and wrestled with his conscience to pursue humanitarian interests.

But his younger close friend William Pitt (Benedict Cumberbatch), the youngest-ever Prime Minister, suggested that he use his political power to push his policies to the government.

These two idealistic young men embraced the opposition's fight. Wilberforce seeks the advice of friend and mentor John Newton (Albert Finney), a former slave trader who wrote the song "Amazing Grace" and who turned to the Church in order to atone for his earlier life. Albert Finney is magnificient as the wise old man steering these younger men in their careers.

The terrific ensemble cast also stars Romola Garai as Barbara Spooner, the beautiful and headstrong young woman who shares Wilberforce's passion for reform and becomes his wife.

Michael Gambon is Lord Fix, a member of Parliament who joins Wilberforce's group. Rufus Sewell plays Thomas Clarkson, another ally in the reform, and Grammy winning Senegalese singer Yousou N'Dour is Olaudah Equiano, an African sent as a slave to the Colonies who bought his freedom and made his home in London where he became a leading figure in the fight to end the slavery of his fellow countrymen.

Aside from a noteworthy script that tells a meaningful story with exceptional acting by all, this film gives a good account of historical facts surrounding horror of the slave trade.

Meet Olaudah Equiano (played by Youssou N'Dour)

A central figure in the abolitionist movement in Great Britain, Olaudah Equiano (c.1745- 1797) wrote an eyewitness account of his life as a slave and of his work in the anti-slavery movement: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa the African. Though born in what is now Nigeria, Equiano was kidnapped and sold into slavery in childhood and taken as a slave to the New World. As a slave to a captain in the Royal Navy, and later to a Quaker merchant, he eventually earned the price of his own freedom by careful trading and saving.

Equiano, like Wilberforce, stood for more than just abolition. Equiano was an African, a slave, a sailor, an Englishman, an abolitionist, a Christian, a writer. He used his many titles to show how slavery brutalizes society as a whole.

He wrote: "Is not the slave trade entirely a war with the heart of man? Such a tendency has the slave trade to debauch men's minds and harden them to every feeling of humanity! For I will not suppose that the dealers in slaves are born worse than other men…it corrupts the milk of human kindness and turns it into gall. Surely this traffic cannot be good, which spreads like a pestilence and taints what it touches!"

ABOUT YOUSSOU N'DOUR

Grammy Winner Youssou N'dour is one of Africa's music pioneers. He has put African music on the world map over the past fifteen years. Born in Senegal, his mother taught him the music and songs of the Wolof people, to whom his family belongs. He began to perform with music and drama groups at an early age in his home town in Daker, making his first public performance with a modern band in 1973.

In 1975 he joined the Star Band, the house band at Dakar's most popular night club. With them, he experimented, melding Wolof music with western instruments, in a style called mbalax. In 1979 he formed his own band Etoile, revamping and renaming them Super Etoile de Dakar in 1982, and continuing to introduce new elements to his music, with lyrics from Wolof mythology and elements of contemporary life in Dakar.

In 1982 he released his first cassette for sale, and his popularity grew in Dakar as more cassettes were recorded. His albums Immigres and Nelson Mandela provided him with an international breakthrough and led to his collaboration with Peter Gabriel. Together they toured in 1987.

Youssou N'Dour now records for the world market, but holds onto his African roots by continuing to live in Senegal with his family, recording music specifically for his African audiences. Amazing Grace marks Youssou's film debut and he also collaborated with David Arnold to provide music for the film's soundtrack.

That is why we need to Echo our own story. We acknowledge the other African media partners in the struggle such as OBE TV, BEN TV, Passion TV, Eagle media, The Trumpet and the various radio stations that joined us to tell the African story.

Peter Gabriel's April 'Full Moon Club' video

In this month's update Peter talks about WOMAD, tour dates, song lists, cello playing birds and the sounds of Rabbit Proof Fence. The Elders and Witness catch a break and spring is in the air.

Music is from Martyn Bennett's remix of 'Sky Blue', 'Crossing The Salt Pan' from Peter's soundtrack to 'Rabbit Proof Fence' - 'The Long Walk Home' and 'Salala' from Angelique Kidjo featuring Peter's vocals.

• Watch the Full Moon Club update.

Peter Gabriel se produira le 30 juin au festival de Werchter

BRUXELLES 02/04 (BELGA) = Le chanteur et musicien britannique Peter Gabriel se produira le samedi 30 juin au festival de musique de Werchter. Peter Gabriel s'était déjà produit en 1983 à Werchter. Il y avait notamment interprété son titre "Biko" qui avait pour thème l'apartheid. L'artiste effectue une tournée dans le cadre du 25e anniversaire du festival de musique Womad (World Of Music, Arts & Dance) dont il est le fondateur. D'autres grands noms tels que Marilyn Manson, Björk, Pearl Jam et Metallica se produiront également durant le festival de Werchter qui se déroulera du 28 juin au 1er juillet. (CLA) ./.

Peter Gabriel to play Blickling

A rock singer famous for founding a supergroup, dressing up in bizarre costumes and starring in one of the most popular music videos, is coming to Norfolk this summer.

Peter Gabriel is the latest name on the local gig programme, appearing at Blickling Hall on Saturday, July 21.

He was one of the Charterhouse public schoolboys who founded Genesis in 1967, with his flamboyant stage presence as lead singer helping them become popular across Europe.

Gabriel's madcap costumes, which included a flower and Britannia, also helped lessen his initial stage fright.

When he left amid tensions in 1975 he struck out on a solo career which saw him find chart success with the song Solsbury Hill in 1977, followed by Games Without Frontiers in 1980.

But it was his award-winning partly animated video to Sledgehammer, a song which reached number four in the charts in 1986, which provided him with his biggest hit. It was followed the same year by the ballad duet, with Kate Bush, Don't Give Up.

Gabriel has also been a leading figure in promoting world music, setting up Womad - World of Music Arts and Dance in 1980 - and will appear at its 25th festival being staged a week after the Blickling gig.

Over the years, he has also been involved with a wide range of human rights and environmental issues. His song Biko in 1980 was the first pop tune to talk about apartheid, and he has been involved in concerts for Nelson Mandela and Amnesty International.

His gig at Blickling adds to a line-up for the National Trust stately home, which also includes Bryan Ferry on July 13, Madness on July 22, and a sell-out 10-artist party marking 10 years of concerts at the venue on July 14.

Tickets for the Peter Gabriel concert at Blickling, which cost £40, go on sale tomorrow at 9am at the hall, the Blickling box office on 0870 010 4900, or National Trust website, the Ticketmaster hotline on 0870 4000 688 or the concerts website at www. summernightsonline.co.uk.

Stars compose new ways to use music

Do you want to write music, or remix a band's tunes and then find similar stuff? Three top rock stars are eager to help...

...Such evangelism for the digital realm is shared by other luminaries from the music world. Peter Gabriel's involvement in digitised music content is well documented, with his early dabblings in game-like CD-Roms such as Xplora (1994) and Eve (1997), and then the OD2

online musical distribution service he helped establish.

Now Gabriel is taking further steps into software with his involvement in The Filter, an intelligent playlist generator for the shuffle generation.

It currently works with Apple's iTunes and Nokia mobile phones - it's a free download that claims it will get us to hear more of the often neglected music files that lie dormant in our ever-expanding digital archives.

"About five years ago I registered the name thefilter.com," says Gabriel, "because it seemed inevitable that as people had more access to information, data and media, the way they found stuff they wanted or needed would become increasingly sophisticated and important. So I encouraged some experiments with filtering within OD2, and the team who were designing it for us began a business of their own based around recommendation engines into which I was invited to participate.

"The current incarnation is the beginning of something which I think is really exciting. I can see today's 'disc jockey' evolving into tomorrow's 'life jockey', and of all the different approaches to recommendation engines, The Filter has the most human response."

As a recording artist and head of a record label, Gabriel seems excited by the idea that developments such as The Filter can serve both equally well. "It enables people to find material that can surprise, inspire and excite," he says.

"The filtering process is not dictated by marketing dollars. Paid-for content has been the rock on which both the music and the film industries have been built. This rock is rapidly turning into quicksand and it seems to me that the future income streams are probably going to come as much from filtering and advertising, as from direct sale of content. I am hoping in our internet projects to make sure that musicians are not at the bottom of the pecking order."...