The Nyodema Drummers, photo courtesy of Stephen Kennedy

One of the things I love most about travelling is discovering new cultures, whether its listening to authentic local music, watching traditional dancing or trying a regional dish that I’ve never heard of before. As with so many travel addicts I don’t get away nearly as much as I would like to.

I find a way to ease my affliction, at least in part, is to seek out interesting workshops and world music and arts events within easy distance of my home. Since 2007 I’ve been on the look out for acts from around the world to book for an annual festival in my home town and in the last couple of years I’ve even started performing in a West African drumming group and a choir that sings songs from all over the world.

While of course we’d all prefer to discover a culture in its homeland, when this just is not possible, sometimes different cultures will come to you!

The Times presents Destinations: Holiday and Travel Show

Earls Court, London, Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th February 2012

One event I’ve been going to for a number of years now gives everyone a chance to touch, smell, taste, hear and see the world under one roof at Earls Court in London.

While there will be hundreds of leading and independent travel companies there, and it certainly is the perfect place to get inspiration and advice for your next big adventure, there’s a lot more to the show than that. Two ‘Meet The Experts’ theatres will host presentations from celebrities and leading travel experts who will share their travel experiences with you including such fascinating personalities as the distinguished broadcaster and journalist Sir Trevor McDonald OBE, the marine biologist and TV presenter Monty Halls and world record-breaking adventurer Dave Cornthwaite. There will also be expert panel sessions from a host of industry experts on Travel Writing, Responsible Travel, Career Breaks, Going Solo and Gap Year Breaks plus Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year Competition Gallery. New this year are free masterclasses on Travel Photography.

On the World Entertainment Stage you can enjoy some spectacular entertainment from around the globe, including Indonesian dancers and Japanese Taiko drummers, but don’t stop there have a go yourself -  maybe try the tango, Bollywood dancing or have a go on numerous cultural instruments.

You can also bring out your creative side making traditional African jewellery, learn about the art of henna from India or mask making from Peru.

Plus celebrity chefs and experts will share their passion for traditional cuisine from the seven continents including the entertaining entrepreneur and celebrity chef Levi Roots demonstrating his passion for Caribbean cookery.

There is also a special area for animal lovers with a range of exotic animals for you to meet!

And you can discover more about this year’s charity Stuff Your Rucksack. (If you’d like to do more for charity bring along your old mobile phones and if you do there’s a chance to win a free holiday too.)

For more information on all the events and how to get to Earls Court please visit Destinations.

Destinations are offering all my readers two complimentary tickets to the show in London  (booking fee of £1.40 per ticket applies).

The normal entrance cost is £10 but you can claim two free tickets to The Times presents Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show, London’s Earl’s Court from 2-5 February, by quoting DE3C

Last year I tried my hand at playing Caribbean steel drums, came face to face with a tarantula, learnt about numerous cuisines from a round the world, listened to some wonderful live music and some fascinating talks. I also joined in a belly dancing workshop and was pleased to discover that I can still ‘camel’ with the best of them even though it had been some years since I last tried. I wonder what I’ll get up to this year!

Eating akara, dancing to Baatin and saying goodbye to The Gambia

Thursday morning and it’s our last full day.

After another school visit in the morning (on behalf of The Gambia Experience’s School Development Fund), Shelagh and I spend the afternoon visiting our Guinean friends to say goodbye. More chatting, more singing and a few more photos. We are really touched when they give each of us a wooden carving. They are wonderful but I can’t help thinking that they shouldn’t have. No, they really shouldn’t have. They have so little. I will treasure the carving and when I am sitting at home on a cold English winter’s evening I’m sure it will bring back many happy memories of my friends in Africa.

That evening we enjoy chatting to some of the other guests at the hotel who we have made friends with. They really are a lovely bunch of people.

There’s a band playing on the restaurant’s terrace – an interesting mixture of reggae, jazz, blues and traditional West African music. It’s our last night and when some of the waiters and waitresses start dancing I join in and soon most of the other guests do too.

Afterwards I have a chat with the band. Baatin, means something along the lines of righteous passage or telepathy – a higher plane of thinking perhaps. They sing in Wolof, Swahili, Portuguese as well as English. Ebrima Touray, the male lead singer and co-leader of the band has a lovely gravely voice well suited to the blues. Kumba Sowe, who sings female lead for some of the songs has a beautiful rich, velvety voice. Originally from Senegal, Baatin met Ebrima in The Gambia and he introduced the band to the blues. You can find out more about Baatin and listen to some of their music on myspace although the information is rather out of date.

Our last morning, and as I step out onto the open stairway outside our room I breath in the smell of burning churia banta. A type of wood sprinkled over charcoals or heated in clay pots to perfume the air. The walk through the gardens to the restuarant is lovely in the morning sunshine.

I have never tried the local breakfast dish akara so I pop three of the small round balls and a little of the sauce onto a plate and sit on the terrace overlooking Ngala’s gardens with a glimpse of the sea through the palm trees. The akara is great and I’d wished I’d tried it sooner. The balls are made of  black-eyed peas grounded into flour and deep-fried, served with an onion, chilli and jimbo (seasoning) sauce. I found them really delicious, crispy on the outside and smooth and light on the  inside.

After breakfast there’s plenty of time for relaxing by the pool before we have to head off to the airport and I think over what a wonderful week it’s been.

This is my last diary entry until my next visit to The Gambia, but I’ve lots more to tell you in the coming weeks from this trip including  interviews with the fascinating chef at Ngala Lodge and the wonderful Kora player, Bajaly as well as my morning with Ida cooking fish benechin and I have been given a Gambian cook book to review so I’m really looking forward to trying some of the recipes when I get home. Plus I’ll be answering some questions, such as why do you see flip-flops nailed to trees in West Africa and how do you play wuri?

Time to start planning another journey! Where next?

New Album Out Now!
Based in UK, the touring core of Baka Beyond hail from Nigeria, Ghana, Congo, Cornwall, Wales and Northumberland. Their great new album is now ready to download and you can listen to it here.

See Baka Beyond live this weekend…  Saturday Nov 5th at  The Met in Bury and Sunday Nov 6th at  Chapel Arts in Bath.

Read about the amazing time I had learning songs from the Baka pygmies from South East Cameroon and their neighbours, the Mbendjele pygmies from the Congo, with the founders of Baka Beyond, Sue and Martin. Singing the forest awake

Seeing as it’s the 31st October and all things from the darker side of life will be out on the prowl tonight I thought I’d share with you a couple of my favourite tracks from YouTube that would be perfect for a halloween party. A great version of Zombie Jamboree from Spain and from Jamaica – Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s Having a Party. I’d love to hear your suggestions of what we should be listening to tonight!

The London Community Gospel choir are considered the most influential gospel choir in Europe and having seen them perform and attended their workshops (both in the UK and in Italy at this years Gospel Valenza) I would whole heartedly agree! Later this month they have organised a concert in London not to be missed. The details are as follows so do get there if you can.

Last spring while wandering around with my camera, I stumbled across a crazy looking bunch of brass players with trumpets, saxophones, helicons and a clarinet or two entertaining passersby in Brighton. I stayed and listened for a while, enthralled by their energetic East European gypsy brass.

A couple of months later, while at a one day singing workshop with Polina Sheperd (also known as Polina Skovoroda), a penny dropped as Polina described the brass band she sometimes sang with… Fanfara… the crazy looking bunch I’d seen in Brighton.

Polina, who grow up in Tartarstan, is a vocal virtuoso and I enjoyed every minute of the day we spent learning Jewish and Russian songs. The workshop was fun as well as educational, as Polina gave us many insights into her culture and background with interesting anecdotes. Some of the songs she teaches were nearly lost under the communist’s restrictions but were since rediscovered. Polina told us how her father cried when as a girl she first sang one of these songs to him that he hadn’t heard since his childhood. It was a wonderful day and at the end of the workshop I couldn’t resist buying some albums including the one she had recently released with Fanfara, Civilisation. A wonderful album and Polina’s stunning vocals sit perfectly with Fanfara’s energy and a wonderful sense of fun!

As well as teaching and performing with Fanfara and a number of other bands Polina also runs three choirs: Brighton & Hove Russian Choir, Chutzpah Choirand East European choir at UCL. How does she find the time?

Through my role with Nyodema I’ve been sent some wonderful CDs from bands wishing to perform at our annual world music and arts festival. It can be very frustrating when due to our limited budget or other constraints we are unable to promote some of these amazing artists. This couldn’t have been more true than when a CD from Madrid landed on my door mat - Batuque de Tambor by Maracatu FM.

You can listen to a few tracks from the album here maracatufm.com

Formed in 2003 by Brazilian percussionist, Carlos Mankuzo, who also runs a samba percusion group of the same name, Maracatu FM mix samba, funk, ska and dub with folk music from Pernambuco in Brazil  to produce an energetic sound of exciting rhythms and memorable melodies. I’m quite sure that it is impossible to sit still at one of their gigs.

In 2011Maracatu FM toured extensively throughout Spain but they have not as yet performed in the UK. For now at least  I can only imagine the excitement of a live performance by Maracatu FM backed by a full on samba drumming troupe!

Their album, Batuque De Tambor, is available to download from Amazon.

Maracatu FM on myspace

I’d be interested in what you think so please do leave a comment!

While we were sitting in Bognor Regis in the UK (see my previous post) watching the live transmission of The Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary show at the Royal Albert Hall in London, many theatre fans around the world were also watching.

The Ugly Bug Ball’s blog gives a more detailed account of the event in San Fransico including some great photos.

Christine (Sierra Boggess) by 'Ugly Bug Ball'

“Wow, am I exhausted!  I got up at 7am this morning, and it’s been POTO25 ever since.  Here in San Francisco, the simulcast of The Phantom of the Opera Live from the Royal Albert Hall began at 11am.  We drove down early, ate breakfast nearby, and then got to the cinema for choice seats.”

Read more

Last night, Cameron Mackintosh presented Andrew Lloyd Webber’s
The Phantom Of The Opera at the Royal Albert Hall in London to celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary. The lavish production starred Ramin Karimloo as ‘The Phantom’ and Sierra Boggess as ‘Christine’ and seats I’m told cost a staggering £250. Yet just a ten minute stroll from my front door I was able to watch the show live at my local cinema for just £5.

Having come back from London that afternoon I only just made it to the cinema with minutes to spare. Luckily I already had my ticket as the seats had sold out and people were being turned away. It was really wonderful to see the auditorium full for a change. Could this be the way to ensure our cinemas survive?

While in no way as sumptuous as the Victorian splendour of the Royal Albert Hall the ageing interior of the Picturedrome, with traditional if slightly scruffy red velvet seats, enhanced what was a truly memorable evening. It was certainly the nearest thing you could possible get to actually being there. From time to time I was so transfixed by the emotions on the screen that I completely forgot where I was and the audience clapped and cheered as if they were at the performance in London.

At the end of an outstanding production I half expected that the standing ovation given by the audience at the Albert Hall to be duplicated in the cinema as Andrew Lloyd Webber came on stage and welcomed former casts members including Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford. We were then treated to a number of former phantoms singing with Sarah – a wonderful finish to a wonderful night.

Further screenings are being held in cinemas in USA, Canada and Australia and a DVD will soon be available. Visit www.phantom25th.com for more information.

The Picturedrome, Bognor Regis
The Picturedrome is a wonderful old cinema which was first opened in May 1886 and used for a variety of purposes including stage shows, dancing, roller-skating, badminton and community functions.

The most prominent feature of the building is the octagonal lantern tower, which at one time housed a revolving light, operated by a boy pedalling a bicycle-type mechanism that advertised its presence for miles around.

Films were first presented here in 1887 alongside the other activities but, after various improvements and renovations, it re-opened in 1919 as the Picturedrome, a dedicated cinema.

A glass canopy over the entrance had been added supported by columns with elaborate grill work with the new name of the cinema set on the front in coloured glass lettering against a sunburst pattern. Other alteration and additions included the orchestra pit built to accommodate the pianist who accompanied the silent films.

This is now long gone but the glass canopy remains proudly displaying the name Picturedrome and the octagonal lantern tower still stands (minus the lantern and the boy!).

Sadly, however, the glass canopy is in dire need of repair and cinema attendance has been so low that several times in recent years the cinema has come close to closing it doors for good. Hopefully with more of these live tranmissions scheduled for the coming months (from The Royal Opera House, The National Theatre, The Royal Ballet Convent Garden and Berliner Philharmoniker) we will see many sell out evenings in this lovely historic building helping to ensure its future.

In my last post I shared with you my experience of the wonderful festival held every September in Calvi Rencontres de Chants Polyphoniques de Calvi  hosted by the polyphonic singing group A Fileta. For those of you not familiar with this form of singing here’s a bit of background information (and a taster to whet your appetite).

Polyphonic literally means ‘many voices’ and applies to music where one person plays one melody or rhythm will others play different melodies or rhythms. For instance, in a West African drumming group each drummer (or section of drummers) plays different interlocking, often quite simple, rhythms to produce a far more complicated overall sound. In the case of traditional Corsican polyphony the instrument is the male voice (although there are a number of excellent female groups now too).

Polyphonic singing is found in many cultures from the pygmies of central Africa to the Western musical traditions of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. In Corsica, traditional polyphonic singing had almost died out. Its resurrection coincided with the rise of nationalism of the 1970s and it is now a very important part of modern Corsican culture.

A Filetta, formed in 1978, sing some of the most emotional and moving music I have ever heard. You can listen to A Filetta singing L’Invitu (written in the 1st century) set to some of my photographs of Corsica in the video above. Please note that the photographs are low resolution and are best viewed at the size they appear in this blog.