05.16.05 (MusicPortal.com) After 2004's critically acclaimed "Roots" album, the GIPSY KINGS will return to the UK at London's Carling Apollo Hammersmith for a very rare concert in that city on June 30th. Since the 1987 release of their international hit single 'Bamboleo,' the GIPSY KINGS have dominated the World Music charts, selling more than 14 million albums worldwide Over the years the GIPSY KINGS -- who hail from the gypsy settlements in Arles and Montpelier in the south of France -- have included singers and guitarists from the Reyes (Canut, Nicolas, Pablo and Patchai) and Baliardo families (Diego, Paco and Tonino). GIPSY KINGS lead singer Nicolas Reyes is the son of famed Flamenco singer Jose Reyes, who with his cousin, guitarist Manitas De Plata, sold millions of records in the 60's and 70's. With their music featured in numerous motion pictures, including Peter Weir's "Fearless" and Joel and Ethan Coen's "The Big Lebowski," the GIPSY KINGS are truly an epic global music group. The GIPSY KINGS are largely responsible for bringing the joyful sounds of Progressive Pop-oriented Flamenco, called "Sevillana" in Spain, to the world. The band started out in Arles, a village in southern France during the '70s when Nicolas and Andre Reyes teamed up with their cousins Jacques, Maurice and Tonino Baliardo, whose father is Manitas De Plata. The GIPSY KINGS originally called themselves "Los Reyes," and started out as a gypsy band traveling around playing local weddings, festivals, and in the streets. Because they lived so much like gypsies, the band adopted the name the GIPSY KINGS. Later, they were hired to add color to posh parties in St. Tropez. Popularity did not come right away, and their first two albums attracted little notice. At that point, the GIPSY KINGS played traditional, albeit passionate Flamenco music punctuated by Tonino's precise guitar playing and Nicolas' exceptional voice. Though they had devoted fans, they still had yet to gain wider recognition until 1986, when they hooked up with visionary music producer Claude Martinez.

05.13.05 (MusicPortal.com) Trojan Records are gearing up for the July 11th album release of "The Best Of Tippa Irie - Hello Darling." This highly anticipated compilation of one of the UK's leading Reggae stars features all of TIPPA IRIE's best known music including his mainstream hits, best-known chart-toppers, plus a brand new previously-unissued track, 'Pick Up My People,' which was recorded specifically for the upcoming compilation. Still at the forefront of the UK Reggae scene after having produced 15 albums and enjoying a string of hits, TIPPA IRIE is one of the UK's major contemporary Reggae artists. Signature tracks on "The Best Of Tippa Irie - Hello Darling" include the title track 'Hello Darling,' 'Raggamuffin Girl,' 'Stress,' 'Superwoman,' 'Baby I've Been Missing You,' and most recently, his collaboration with the Black Eyed Peas, 'Hey Mama.' The latter song went on to become a huge international best-seller, and was nominated earlier this year for a Grammy award in the "Best Rap Song" category. Anthony Henry, better known as TIPPA IRIE, emerged from England's Saxon Sound International, the star-studded traveling sound system that has been at the forefront of the UK Reggae Dancehall scene for the past 25 years, which helped launch the careers of artists such as Maxi Priest, Papa Levi and Smiley Culture. TIPPA IRIE was part of the new generation of British MC's who developed the "Fast Talking" style chat which today can be heard in modern day rappers like Busta Rhymes. Irie toured extensively with his friend and long-time sparring partner Pato Banton throughout the 80's, including an appearance at Jamaica's Reggae Sunsplash and their U.S. debut tours together, the DJ duo of both Irie and Banton having become one of the genre's favorite combinations. As the Nineties began, the two each pursued their solo careers. Over a decade would pass before TIPPA IRIE & Pato Banton would reunite in the studio with legendary singing sensation Peter Spence to produce 'The Good Old Days,' a track featured on Banton's 2000 Grammy-nominated "Life Is A Miracle" album, as well as and Irie's "I Miss" tribute album to his late, great sister - MC Miss Irie... [full story]

05.11.05 (MusicPortal.com) Sanctuary Records Group has announced a new multi-album, creatively scopic label deal with producer, arranger and musician extraordinaire BILL LASWELL. Drawing on the diverse musical vision he has established over his decades-long career, Laswell will bring six broad ranging projects to the Sanctuary label group on his new Nagual label. Included will be his own dub re-interpretations of songs he personally selected from the legendary Trojan Records archives, new albums from PRAXIS and TABLA BEAT SCIENCE, as well as a groundbreaking Drum 'N' Bass project called DAMAGED. The remarkably prolific and shapeshifting BILL LASWELL has worked as a collaborator or producer with such artists as Herbie Hancock, Mick Jagger, Peter Gabriel, Yoko Ono, George Clinton, Laurie Anderson, Brian Eno, Afrika Bambaataa and many others. Laswell has also created live/recording bands such as MATERIAL and PRAXIS, released more than 30 albums under his own name, and originated or contributed to more than 700 other projects. BILL LASWELL notes about his new label, "Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan separates the 'tonal,' that is the predictable universe, from the 'nagual,' the unpredictable universe of intuition, where anything is possible. These productions/records are 'nagual' by necessity. Clear recognizable sounds/forms do emerge, but not always through conscious control. Nothing exists until it is observed." For BILL LASWELL, the Grammy-winning electric bass player, producer and re-mixer, all sound is equal. By extension, power structures such as genre, tradition and commerce are tools to be utilized but should never determine the flow, process or priorities of his music. "Sometime in the past," he once commented, "I decided that freedom interests me more than stability or security. I never had any kind of show business or entertainment aesthetic. I always just followed the thing that was interesting to me." His willingness to take risks is unparalleled in the world of music, as is his ability to unite seemingly disparate voices. A traveler from the time he was born, BILL LASWELL's discography reads like a series of postcards from around the planet.

05.09.05 (MusicPortal.com) VANESSA-MAE, the breakthrough artist who helped define the "Classical Crossover" sub-genre, will play a rare solo show at London's Royal Albert Hall this Thursday, May 12th. Performing a repertoire of Classical favorites and songs from her current album, "Choreography," VANESSA-MAE is set to dazzle the stage once again. From child prodigy to international icon, her performances are always vivacious and dynamic, as she is recognized worldwide as one of the most successful artists to combine Classical and Pop music, and at just 25 years old she has already performed with many of the greatest musicians in the world. Just in her mid-teens when she shattered the mold of the Classical virtuoso with the release of her first Fusion album, "The Violin Player, VANESSA-MAE helped forge a new style that has made her a multi-million selling worldwide phenomenon. "Choreography," a highly original album that celebrates dance rhythms from around the world that is also her Sony Classical debut, marks a new musical direction for the superstar violinist. VANESSA-MAE has collaborated with such Pop stars as Janet Jackson and Prince, performed on the soundtrack of the Disney animated feature "Mulan," played Bach for the British Royal Family on the 250th anniversary of the composer's death, fiddled as she modeled a wedding dress on the runway of a Jean-Paul Gaultier fashion show in Paris, and reached out to the children of the South African township of Soweto, the first international artist to be invited to its music school. Her stunning presence only adding to her appeal, People magazine has voted VANESSA-MAE one of the "50 Most Beautiful People In The World," while FHM named her one of "The World's 100 Most Beautiful Women." She has also toured the world several times over, playing performances in many spectacular venues such as the Kremlin Palace in Moscow, the Acropolis in Athens and stadiums in Beijing and Shanghai. VANESSA-MAE made her U.S. debut in New York's Times Square, when she hopped spontaneously onto a passing yellow taxi in the climax to a live performance seen all over the world.

[Ethnic News: April 2005]
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