‘Come Out and Dance’ for Ted KirkEdward Fielding Kirk, the lyricist of the two Fela Sowande songs central to Phase 1 of Singing Cultures, died last weekend at the age of 90. A year ago at the start of the Singing Cultures journey it was a pleasant surprise to discover...

Fela Sowande’s Music – ‘An Unfolding Solution-Finding Process’ As Juwon’s previous blog notes, Fela Sowande is regarded as a ‘principal inspirational figure’ in modern Nigerian Art Music. He is recognised as a pioneer in creating compositions within the idiom of...

Turning a New Leaf, with the London Lucumi Choir The London Lucumi Choir, the leading exponent of Afro-Cuban Santeria-based devotional music in the UK, recently launched new album called Lullabies for Naila. The album features contributions from several guest...

Beyond the Bass Line – For Africa Utopia Over the past couple of years, I’ve enjoyed a fruitful association with Voice Lab – the department that deals with choirs and community singing events at London’s Royal Festival Hall. This mutually beneficial relationship...