Inside: Issue 21

Music Review: Havana Cultura: The Remixes by Gilles Peterson & Friends

Less than a year since releasing Havana Cultura: New Cuba Sounds, Gilles Peterson returns this summer with a remixed version of his latest musical excursion which has seen him join forces with prodigious pianist Roberto Fonseca and some of the island’s fresh, young talent.  And what a gorgeous collection ‘Havana Cultura: Remixed’ is, with its [...]

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Inside: Issue 21

Reggae & Soca Stars: Tessanne Chin / Farmer Nappy

Where reggae music is predominantly viewed as Jamaican, and soca is often seen as ‘small island’ music, there is no dispute concerning the fact that they both represent the Caribbean. Meet the new stars of the genres: reggae-Rock singer Tessanne Chin and soca artist Farmer Nappy.
Tessanne Chin
myspace.com/tessannechin

It’s not every day that a vocal talent such [...]

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Inside: Issue 21

Notting Hill Carnival Sounds

Notting Hill Carnival wouldn’t be the same without music, food and costumes. As the Bank Holiday weekend approaches, many soca fans will be heading to their local independent record shop to buy the latest songs to add to their collection.  We have highlighted the latest songs that you should expect to hear on the streets [...]

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Inside: Interviews

Divine Unity: “We’re not a gospel group, we’re a pop group!”

Martina – 23, Sharlene -24 and Sacha – 25, the feisty, glamorous and irrepressibly good natured girls of Divine Unity speak to Catch a Vibe about inspiration, the problem with being pigeonholed and their egalitarian approach to lead vocals.
CAV: How did you ladies get together?
Sharlene: We were raised in the same church, House of Bread [...]

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Inside: The Vault

Summer Music Festivals: The Alternative

Glastonbury, Reading, Bestival, Creamfields, the Isle of Wight…sound familiar? They should do, as these festivals are hard to escape once summertime approaches.
Our country is renowned for holding some of the most famous festivals in the world and they are becoming more popular than ever amongst music lovers. If indie, dance, dubstep, drum & bass and [...]

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Inside: The Vault

Soundtrack to Your Summer: Vocal Slender

What would you be willing to do to make your dream a reality? It wasn’t until BBC 2 aired Welcome to Lagos a three-part documentary about life in the slums of Lagos, Nigeria that I considered the question more deeply. In the first part of the series I—like millions of viewers in the UK— was [...]

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Inside: The Vault

Soundtrack to Your Summer:Benin City

Benin City is a collective of spoken word artists and musicians hailing from the UK who have united to offer audiences a truly unique experience.  Catch A Vibe spent an hour with Josh, one of the band’s vocalists to discover more about Benin City and get a taste of some “Invisible Cake”.

CAV: Tell me about [...]

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Inside: The Vault

Music Monthly Review: Ayobaness + Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba – South Africa’s Skylark
Nascente Records -
Out on 21 June 2010
Buy South Africa’s Skylark on Amazon
If you know anything about the late Miriam Makeba you may know The Click Song or Pata Pata; perhaps the commanding Amampondo from Leon Gast’s 1996 Oscar-winning documentary When We Were Kings.  The other tracks on this double CD [...]

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Inside: The Vault

Music Review: Nas and Damian Marley – Distant Relatives

Nas and Damian ‘Gong Jr.’ Marley
Distant Relatives
Republic Records
Out now
Super-groups rarely equal the sum of their talented parts on a whole album, so excuse me if the idea of Nas and Damian Marley didn’t send me into an orgasmic tailspin of joy. Nas has saddled “The Great Horse of Average” since 2002’s God’s Son, while Damian [...]

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Inside: The Blog

Eric Roberson Tackles Nine Questions in Nine Minutes

A few hours before he hit the stage to perform and host the live music event Groove Gumbo at The Pigalle Club in London, Eric Roberson gave an impromptu interview to Catch a Vibe. The singer/songwriter had a lot to say about his visit to London, his music and a few of [...]

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Inside: Interviews

An artist with a difference: Lizzie Emeh

Lizzie Emeh is a remarkable artist in more ways than one. Born with a learning disability, she was never expected to walk or talk. 32 years later, supported by arts organisation Heart and Soul, she is promoting her critically acclaimed first album.
Lizzie shares her incredible journey with us.
Can you describe in a few words what [...]

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Inside: The Vault

Yaaba Funk album review: Afrobeast

Afrobeast
Yaaba Funk (Yaabaphone)
Released 10.05.10
Highlife music originated in Ghana in the 1800s and enjoyed a golden age during the 1950s and 1960s. The defiant orchestra of talking drums, xylophones and calabash shakers layered with lutes, fiddles, penny whistles and all manner of small portable instruments provided the perfect soundtrack for a continent – chafing at the [...]

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Inside: The Vault

Yaaba Funk: Taking High Life into the 21st Century

“I say YAABA, you say-” “FUNK!” The resounding response reverberated off the walls, shouted by a charged crowd who hadreduced Brixton’s spacious The Rest is Noise wine bar to a standing-room-only venue. The spirited call out started with Richmond Kessie, percussionist and lead vocalist for the celebrated high life/afrobeat/funk band, Yaaba Funk.
The band, renowned for [...]

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Inside: The Vault

“I put my music out myself” – Jesse Boykins III

Jesse Boykins III (JBIII) is an emerging force in contemporary soul music; he has trained under Bilal, performed alongside the likes of Chrisette Michele and Eric Roberson and is due to release his second LP Love Apparatus later this year.  Jesse was in London recently headlining the Writer’s Block 2nd Anniversary show and Catch a [...]

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Inside: The Vault

Music Monthly Review: Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah Pt. 2

Erykah Badu
New Amerykah Pt.2: Return of the Ankh (Island Records)
Out now
Confession time! I’ve never been a big fan of Erykah Badu’s previous material. I’m sorry. There were a few singles I could say I grew fond of but as far as albums are concerned Ms Badu was always ”too” something; too much jazzy bass on [...]

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