A feast of contemporary opera, concerts and theatre to brighten up the summer will take place at Almeida Summer Festiva 10 July – 2 August 2008. Building on the long-term success of their annual opera season, the Almeida Theatre's new Summer Festival will also incorporate elements of their critically acclaimed theatre program and an array of concerts.
 
 The festival will see a partnership form between the Almeida Theatre and Tiata Fahodzi, a major tour de force in Black British theatre, who will take up a up a week-long residency to present their annual festival of new writing Tiata Delights. On Saturday 2 August Tiata Delights will conclude with a concert bringing together some of the UK's finest African musicians including contemporary Gospel sensation GK Real, Sierra Leonean harmonica player Leon Maddy, James Lascelles and African Classical Music Ensemble's Tunde Jegede.

Sixteen years in the making, Peter Gabriel's Big Blue Ball is now out on Real World Records. This all-star collaboration began in 1992 during a "Recording Week" at Real World Studios when Gabriel opened the doors to 75 international artists from over 20 countries. This series of weeklong residential sessions continued over three years. "The idea was to put rock musicians together with musicians from all over the world and see what happened," Gabriel says. "We ran the studio like a dating service with a 24-hour cafe."
 
 The 11 tracks on Big Blue Ball offer a world-view of music, a snapshot of the music-making continents at that time. Featuring Gabriel on lead vocals on several tracks, performances also include Karl Wallinger, Tim Finn, Sinead O'Connor collaborating with Japanese percussionist Joji Hirota, Natacha Atlas singing with an Egyptian string section brought in by Hossam Ramzy, The Holmes Brothers with Billy Cobham on drums, and Papa Wemba's extraordinary vocals paired with the flamenco guitar of Juan Manuel Cañizares. Additional notable western, African and Asian musicians also contribute.

Sa Dingding

Alive (Wrasse Records WRASS 213, 2007)

I’d be the most terrible of liars if I said I possessed anything resembling a comprehensive knowledge of Chinese music. Given China’s vastness in terms of culture and sheer size, it’s wise that emerging Chinese singer Sa Dingding doesn’t aim for an overview of any kind either. Rather, her music is infused with sounds, ideas and inspirations stemming from Chinese (and non-Chinese) elements that have had a profound impact on her. These include pastoral Mongolian melodies, Tibetan spirituality rooted in Buddhist, Christian and Animist sources, modern electronica and invented languages. She sings effectively in a made-up lingo on parts of her CD  Alive (to be released in the U.S. on July 29) as well as in Sanskrit, Tibetan and, naturally, Chinese.

Brazilian artist Gilberto Gil - singer, songwriter, icon, statesman - returns to Miami with his full band. The Gilberto Gil Broadband tour features Arthur Maia on bass, Alex Fonseca on drums, Bem Gil on guitars, Claudio Andrade on keyboards, Gustavo de Dalva on percussion, and Sergio Chiavazzolli, also on guitars.

In the spirit of the tour's moniker, Broadband, concert audiences will be encouraged to record at will on their digital cameras and cell phones. The shows, along with footage shot backstage and on the road, will be launched on the net via a variety of platforms ranging from a dedicated blog to the parallel universe of "Second Life". The only major artist of his generation to retain complete control over his intellectual works, Gilberto Gil intends to interact with his audience and provoke interaction.

One of Africa’s greatest singers and Guinea’s biggest star, Sekouba “Bambino” Diabate performs in the Bay Area for the first time in three years. He and his band play some of the most infectious and uplifting music from his three-decade career, both new songs and classics, mixing Afrobeat, acoustic, and experimental forms into a signature style.
 
 Diabate grew up in the village of Siguiri near the Malian border, descended from griots, who carry on West African family and cultural histories through story and song. Diabate learned from his mother, one of the leading singers in the area, and garnered attention early on for his voice. Thirty years ago he became the youngest-ever singer in the country’s most acclaimed ensemble when he was appointed by Guinean President Sekou Toure to sing with the national band, Bembeya Jazz National. “I was the smallest in the group,” Diabate remembers, “and since we had already Sekou le grand (guitarist-bandleader Sekou "Diamond Fingers" Diabate), I became Sekou le petit, the bambino in the ensemble.”

Ira B. Tucker Sr.,  the lead lead singer of the influential Dixie Hummingbirds died of heart failure June 24 in Philadelphia. He was 83.

"As a member of GRAMMY-winning gospel group Dixie Hummingbirds, Ira B. Tucker had a fiery vocal style and energetic stage presence that revolutionized gospel music, infusing more soul and rhythm into the already spirited genre," said Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy. "In 2000 — after nearly 60 years of influential musical contributions — the Dixie Hummingbirds' 1946 single "Amazing Grace" was inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. Tucker's artistry has left an indelible imprint on gospel as well as R&B and soul, and our deepest sympathies go out to his family, friends, and all who were moved by his music."

This summer Dobet Gnahoré returns to the US and Canada for a tour of select festivals and concert venues. One of today’s most talked-about young African artists, Dobet Gnahoré’s energetic dance moves and powerful vocals have earned her comparisons to African music icons Angelique Kidjo, Zap Mama and Miriam Makeba. On Sunday, July 13th Dobet Gnahoré brings her riveting performance to the 11th Annual Chicago Folk & Roots Festival presented by the Old Town School of Folk Music.
 
 Dobet Gnahoré grew up in one of Africa’s most unique artist enclaves. Village Ki-Yi M’Bock, located in the Ivory Coast, is home to over fifty resident artists of diverse traditions, ages, and origins, including dancers, actors, puppeteers, sculptors, painters, costume designers, and musicians, and has played an important role in the African arts scene. There, African artists with a multitude of ethnic backgrounds collaborate freely, united in their commitment to creating uniquely African artistic expressions. Dobet’s father was a co-founder of the community and from a young age she was trained in a multi-faceted approach to music and performance where dance, percussion, song, poetry, and theater are intertwined. On this solid artistic base she is now bringing her music to audiences worldwide.

San Francisco (California),  UK - Japan is no longer perceived as home to the worst excesses of idol pop or inaccessible traditional music. In truth, Japanese musicians have for years been skilful at blending the traditional with the pop and coming up with some of the world's craziest concoctions. The Rough Guide to the Music of Japan (RGNET1211CD)encompasses sounds from ancient gagaku to today’s hottest roots acts, mixed with quintessential enka and post-war boogie-woogie – a compilation to blow away any lingering preconceptions.

Contemporary Japanese musicians excel in creating new combinations by mixing traditional sounds and instruments to a vast array of influences. Oki Dub Ainu Band has become one of Japan’s most successful world music exports, combining ancient Ainu (indigenous Japanese) sounds with dub, reggae and world styles.

Puerto Rican band Plena Libre will release  Plena al Salsero - Live in Monterrey, Mexico, on July 17th on Ritmo Artists/GN Musica. Since their last studio recording, 2006’s Grammy- and Latin Grammy-nominated Evolución, Plena Libre have continued to add contemporary cumbia, merengue, salsa and other Afro-Caribbean sounds into their mix, creating a unique sofrito borinqueño that is pushing the island’s roots music well into the future. With band leader Gary Núñez now securing some of the Puerto Rico’s top players for his band, Plena Libre has aptly transcended their humble beginnings – evolving into a powerhouse force that is undoubtedly one of the heavy-weight live orchestras on the current Latin music scene.

Inspired by the concerts during Plena Libre’s lengthy Summer 2007 North American tour, Gary Núñez began to ponder how best to capture his group’s live energy. “This idea of a live recording was something that I had been pushed to do for years”, says Gary, “but just in the past year or two, the personnel and the chemistry in the band had gelled so much that I knew that there would never be a better time. The evolution of the musical sound, and the excitement, and energy of Plena Libre’s live shows over this past year was something I honestly had never experienced with the group before. I knew this sound had to be captured right now!…. But when, and where?.....that was the question.”

The Sudanese Music and Dance Festival returns in 2008 with concerts in Chicago and Detroit. The festival had its inception in 2007 at New York’s Central Park Summerstage. This one-time event was the largest and most representative gathering of major Sudanese talent ever assembled on an international stage, and the 2008 events will build on that success and surpass it. The festival is produced by ISAMI, in collaboration with a veteran of daring world music initiatives in the United States, Dawn Elder.

Elder’s passion for Sudanese music goes back to her work with Sudan’s greatest living singer, Mohammed Wardi. Wardi no longer leaves his homeland, but some of the musicians who backed him and other Sudanese legends will perform in the Nile Music and Dance Orchestra, the musical hub of this historic, Sudanese showcase. The orchestra combines traditional Sudanese percussion with instruments from Arab tradition (oud, violins, and percussion) and also western music (brass section, electric guitar, keyboards). As such, the inclusive, progressive spirit of Wardi and his seminal generation will pervade the performance.