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Posted April 24th 2019

Brighton Festival 2019

Brighton Festival

4 – 26 May

This May, Brighton Festival presents pioneering musicians from all over the world.  curated by Malian superstar Rokia Traoré, including in the line up are …Canada’s Grammy-winning pianist Chilly Gonzales, Swedish counter-cultural icon Neneh Cherry and so much more..

Melting Vinyl picks

Anna Moulson’s:

Chilly Gonzales + Support Sarah McCoy

The Grammy-winning Canadian pianist and entertainer is known as much for the intimate piano touch of best-selling albums Solo Piano I and Solo Piano II as for his showmanship and composition for award-winning stars. Gonzo, as he is known to close collaborators, aims to be a man of his time, approaching the piano with classical and jazz training but with the attitude of a rapper. He has performed and written songs with the likes of Jarvis Cocker, Feist and Drake and holds the Guinness world record for the longest solo concert (running for more than 27 hours).

Anna Marko’s:

Neneh Cherry

In a record that’s equal parts angry, thoughtful, melancholic and emboldening, Neneh Cherry‘s fifth solo album, Broken Politics, asks big questions about a world in flux, patient in the quest, but also acknowledging that sometimes the answers don’t exist.

A continuation of Neneh‘s collaboration with Four Tet’s Kieran Hebden, with whom she worked on her 2014 release Blank Project, Broken Politics is more reflective and subdued.

However, in live performance Cherry’s untameable energy and genuine investment in the sentiment of her music makes every song crackle with energy. In the words of The Guardian, Cherry’s music is ‘simultaneously beautiful and abrasive, cheerful and deeply sad, much like its maker’.

Polly Miles’:

Current Affairs

Incredibly beautiful, yet politically charged, Ghanaian artist Serge Attukwei Clottey’s large-scale Afrogallonism pieces are meticulously fashioned from discarded 20 – 25 litre yellow jerry cans. These vessels, imported into Ghana from Europe carrying fuel oil, are often repurposed to carry potable water by people struggling with Ghana’s water shortages. This unhealthy practice was especially true during the era of President Kufuor (giving them the popular local name ‘Kufuor gallon’). Attukwei Clottey’s use of these plastic cans in his art touches on global issues of plastic waste and access to basic services, but also promotes his greater philosophy of exploring personal and political narratives rooted in histories of colonialism, trade and migration.Taking over Fabrica’s spacious unconverted Regency chapel, the exhibition also highlights Attukwei Clottey’s twin roles as artist and community activist, and presents his film and performance work.

Polly Miles’:

Ghost Caribou

In Ghost Caribou, Thingumajig Theatre’s new night-time street act, giant illuminated creatures, part caribou, part spirit, roam a mystical world after dark, accompanied by a wild herdsperson. As they gather a crowd, they clear a space to perform their otherworldly ceremony. Using music, song and shadow puppets, they tell stories of lost homes, impossible migrations and seeds of hope before continuing the journey into their hauntingly beautiful dreamworld of the night.

Also taking place at Queens Park on the same day is Storytelling Army by nabokov and Museum of the Moon by Luke Jerram – a fantastic opportunity to see all three festival works in once space.

Jess Gilchrist’s:

Chamber Music

After the release of its début album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) in 1993, the 9-member Wu-Tang Clan gained global notoriety and an army of fans almost immediately. One of those fans was the founder of UK hip hop label Big Dada, Will Ashon, who has now released an eclectic tribute to the album, Chamber Music: About the Wu-Tang (in 36 Pieces), which covers everything from the urban geography of New York to the history of jazz. He will be in conversation with Kevin Le Gendre, veteran music journalist and author of the recent Don’t Stop the Carnival.

Go here for further info: Brighton Festival