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24 Oct 13 - 08:56 AM (#3569581) Subject: WOMEX in Cardiff, October 2013 From: Mick Tems WOMEX, the folk/roots/world music international marketing conference, is happening NOW in Cardiff, with showcases and performances by many folk artists including a host of Welsh musicians (including Georgia Ruth, Sian James, Gwenan Gibbard, Sian James, Robin Huw Bowen, Cass Meurig, Patrick Rymes, Gazalaw, 9bach, a collaboration between international harper Catrin Finch and Senegal superstar Seckou Keita, and artistic director Cerys Matthews); Lau, The Emily Portman Trio, the April Verch Band, Kan, Fiona Hunter, The Jacky Molard Quartet (from Brittany), the Yves Lambert Trio (from Quebec), plus a whole army of world roots musicians. the WOMEX-sponsored Horizons Tours will send Welsh musicians (including 9bach, Alaw, DnA, Gazalaw and Ballet Cymru) and world artists including the Cumbia All Stars from Peru, Les Tambours de Brazza (Congo)and Ebo Taylor (Ghana) to 16 arts centres and theatres all over Wales from Sunday October 27 to Wednesday October 30. In addition, Catrin and Seckou will be plugging their new CD, Clychau Dibon, at venues all over Wales and England. Read FolkWales Online Magazine - click on "Listings" to find out the WOMEX events in Wales or England. |
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24 Oct 13 - 02:28 PM (#3569684) Subject: RE: WOMEX in Cardiff, October 2013 From: Steve Gardham Heard some of it on the R2 folk programme. Great music and very lively and interesting presentations. Mark Radcliffe watch out! |
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25 Oct 13 - 04:27 AM (#3569862) Subject: RE: WOMEX in Cardiff, October 2013 From: Splott Man But there is a fringe at Mischief's, in the Bay. Also at Dempseys opposite the castle. As the main event is a trade fair, it's inward looking rather than pushing out to the public, and registration is prohibitively expensive. However, I spoke last night to a couple who'd been to the opening concert and they were full of praise for the quality of the music. Splott Man |
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25 Oct 13 - 11:22 AM (#3569996) Subject: RE: WOMEX in Cardiff, October 2013 From: Mick Tems The registration might seem expensive; you claimed the package cost 300 euros, but it should be remembered that WOMEX is a worldwide marketing symposium, centred on delegates who work for agencies, record companies, festivals, folk-roots publications (including Ian Anderson, editor of fRoots Magazine) and professional artists and musicians, working towards a higher profile for folk and world music. Apart from the artists' showcases, the programme crams educational workshops and debates into the long weekend, which are designed to give knowledge and awareness in the music business (for instance, visa hassles are still the main problem with artist mobility; this workshop shows musicians various tricks to smooth the way over bureaucratic officialdom.) And the trade fair, which is at the Motorpoint Centre in Cardiff, was sold out six months ago! And tickets are not expensive, as far as Joe Public are concerned. Advance day/night tickets are £17, but we paid £22 on the door. My wristband let me see the rising star of Welsh music, songwriter/harpist Georgia Ruth, backed by members of Cowbois Rhos Botwnnog; the exquisite Scottish traditional singer, Fiona Hunter, accompanied by fiddler and guitarist Mike Vass; the amazing Scottish/Ulster/Yorkshire quartet Kan, with fiddler Aidan O'Rourke and whistler/flautist Brian Finnegan providing brilliant sparks; we gawped at the fiddle-led pyrotechnics of the Jacky Molard Quartet, who were playing in the Brittany stage; and we tried to figure out the meaning of double-bass artist Krismenn, who rapped in Breton. WOMEX played into the night, and we left with the trumpets of the Orkestrar still ringing in our ears. We could have checked out the dozen European and worldwide bands in the two marquees close by the WMC in Roald Dahl Plass, but we just didn't have the time. What value for money! We met with two friends from Llantrisant Folk Club, who were overwhelmed and excited by what they saw. What's more, they had paid £45 for a season ticket – that's just an incredible bargain. No, WOMEX is not "inward looking" – the opening concert, Land Of Song, was a sell-out at the WMC, and it was absolutely chocker last night. Surely you must have seen the many reports on national BBC News (and Cerys's programme on Radio 2), reporting on a unique event? |
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25 Oct 13 - 02:51 PM (#3570053) Subject: RE: WOMEX in Cardiff, October 2013 From: Anne Lister I'm just very, very sorry that it clashes with a big family event and I can't be there! |
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27 Oct 13 - 07:04 AM (#3570441) Subject: RE: WOMEX in Cardiff, October 2013 From: GUEST,John Jones 9bach were superb last night. |
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27 Oct 13 - 07:27 AM (#3570448) Subject: RE: WOMEX in Cardiff, October 2013 From: Mick Tems From FolkWales Online Magazine: "Mali's Festival au Désert and its organiser, Manny Ansar, will receive the WOMEX 13 Professional Excellence Award at an award ceremony on Sunday morning, October 27, open only to WOMEX delegates. The laudation will be offered by the freelance writer and journalist Andy Morgan (UK). "Twelve years ago, in the deserts of northern Mali, one of Africa's most remarkable music festivals was born. It drew a veil aside to reveal a previously hidden desert culture. Since then, the Festival au Désert has found a permanent home in a sea of silky white dunes west of Timbuktu and turned it into a place where the desert can meet the world in friendship and safety and parade its beauty, its pride, its musical and human wealth. The spell that the festival cast on those dunes at Essakane held firm until just a few days before the outbreak of civil war in January, 2012, while extremism and ethnic hatred banished it from its home." |