Musicians out and about in Essaouira: Focus on Ilê Aiyê from Brazil

I’ve just returned from a bucket-list trip to the Gnaoua Music Festival which takes place yearly in Essaioura, a breezy coastal town in Morocco. I was first introduced to this genre of music, also known as Gnawa, over thirty years ago. An album called Night Spirit Masters: Gnawa Music of Marrakesh produced by the late … Read more

Make Some Noise! Images of Purim & Percussion

This year I was invited to a Purim party held in London’s Stables Market, organised by the Chabad Rabbi for Kentish Town and Camden, seen below and appropriately for Camden Town sporting a fuchsia-coloured punk mohawk wig. The Jewish Festival of Purim is a celebratory story of survival over annihilation. The Megillah records the story … Read more

Musings on A Tuba to Cuba – Images of Brass and Percussion

I was in New Orleans over the New Year. I’m a big fan of the music and even back at home in London constantly listen to the New Orleans local radio station WWOZ. During my trip I was listening to the station and came across an interesting track. I recognised the melody which I’d sung … Read more

Hot Days and Hand Fans

Nowadays in addition to carrying my red metal water bottle I make sure I have a little folding paper fan with me. Although it doesn’t help that much on the hot, airless carriages of London Underground I am usually grateful for the relief this simple classic device provides. I’ve always like the look of fans; … Read more

Behind the Scenes with the London Lucumi Choir: Updated Portfolio

I’ve updated my project entitled Behind the Scenes with The London Lucumi Choir. The London Lucumi Choir, directed by Daniela Rosselson, is now in its 13th year.  The choir and was originally conceived  and co-created by Daniela  together with percussionist Dave Pattman and singer Martha Galarraga of the Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba in late 2006. … Read more

The London Lucumi Choir recording session: a behind the scenes gallery

Over the weekend The London Lucumi Choir travelled to Nottingham to record tracks for our upcoming 4th album. We’ve recorded at the Paper Stone Studios before and had a positive experience. The acoustics suit our music which are sequences of Afro Cuban spiritual song and percussion and the engineer is calm and understands the production … Read more

Conga Drums and Nostalgia

A few weeks ago I took some photos of musician Daniel Marruzzo at London’s Afro Cuban Music Night. He is about to play a conga drum and the lighting gives the whole image a red glow: The conga drum looks red but isn’t. From time to time I miss my old red conga drum. A … Read more

Percussion & The Afro Cuban Music Night

Back in May I wrote a blog post highlighting images of dance and movement at the monthly Afro Cuban Music Night in London. I wanted to post some new images featuring musicians and percussion instruments. This is Richard Sweet on okonkolo, the smallest of the three batà drums used to play traditional Afro Cuban music: This … Read more

New Images of Dance at London’s Afro Cuban Night

It’s been a few months since my last post on London’s Afro Cuban Music Night and I’ve wanted to do a piece highlighting images of dance. The following three photographs allude to dance using fragmentation – parts of the body to suggest the whole.  The dancer is an Italian called Cesare. In the photo below … Read more

New images of behind the scenes with the London Lucumi Choir

Yesterday The London Lucumi Choir, of which I am a long-time member, went to Birmingham to sing at the Faiths in Tune finale at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Here are a few photos I took. On the way up on the train I sat next to Tamara, a relatively new member, and a … Read more