DAVID YEARSLEY is fascinated by the account of four composers who transformed their experiences of the second world war and the Holocaust into deeply moving works of art
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‘In Afghanistan no women or girls have access to education. By playing music I am playing for the people who can't’
CHRIS SEARLE speaks to violinist Faradena Afifi
Faradena Afifi
[Chris Freeman/Noisy Women Present collective]
PETER MASON thrills to the sound of south London-born Yussef Dayes, and the galaxy of musicians drawn into his orbit
From post-human revolution in Puerto Rico to trans poetics and queer mythmaking, these three books that imagine new ways of being together
JAMIE BRITTON recommends that we all buy at least two copies of a remarkable book of poems
Re-releases from Iain Matthews, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and The Charlie Daniels Band
JAMIE BRITTON recommends that we all buy at least two copies of a remarkable book of poems
AS SHE was about to to enter an east London studio in November 2022 to create the album which eventually became bee Reiki, violinist and vocalist Faradena Afifi had an unusual meeting.
“A white-tailed bumblebee was the first being I encountered before going into the studio to record with Steve Beresford and Paul Kimasia Morgan. I was warming up outside, doing some T’ai Chi and I noticed the poor bee lying in a puddle. I ended up doing a reiki treatment and witnessing her flying off to the blue sky. It put me in a very good mood and my joy influenced everybody there. The bee became a folk song and I turned into its mood — definitely not something I would come up with on my own.”
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