Womad 2001 at Bluegum Creek Estate in Benoni on September 29 and 30th is going to expose audiences to unimaginable beauty. A beauty borne from unknown sounds, peculiar instruments and bizarre music and sights from foreign shores. The real beauty, however, will be unravelling the culture surrounding the music, learning about the artists, discovering the origin of their instruments, and deciphering the mystery behind them.
Womad 2001 workshop programme gives all festival-goers the opportunity to do just that. And due to the popularity of previous year’s workshops and the importance they played in the creation of the festival’s relaxed, entertaining and educational spirit, this year’s workshops promise to be even bigger and better.
Here’s a look at the line-up of artists who will be sharing their skills, inspirations, techniques and experiences with audiences at Womad 2001
Cheikh Lô
Senegalese percussion and guitar workshop.
Cheikh Lo and fellow percussionist Samba N’Dokh M’Baye invite you to experience their uniquely expressive sound from Senegal. Cheikh has created his own very personal musical landscape from which his soulful and spiritual voice and music flows with an ease and inner grace. Encompassing a range of musical traditions from Senegalese M’balax, Malian Bambara music to Cuban guajira…..this is sweet soul music in the fullest West African sense. Come and converse with Samba through the ‘tama’ ‘talking drum’ and bring you own percussion to explore the sounds.
Pato Banton and the Reggae Revolution – Jammin
Pato Banton and his band invite you to join them in this session of their own particular brand of song and percussion. All artists are based in their hometown of Birmingham in the UK, where they continue to encourage and help local, young musicians. Pato has collaborated with bands such as UB40, Sting and Ziggy Marley and the individual vibe of his music reaches out to everyone – bring a drum if you have one and be prepared to share the sounds and bask in the warmth of these ‘feel good’ reggae rhythms.
Mondetta – a Music Theatre Workshop
Mondetta will interactively take the audience through the process of how they collaborate and compose their material. Their latest album was literally composed, its entirety, 48hrs before going into studio. Mondetta will demonstrate how the creative process unfolds, for example how a violin-line can inspire the percussionist or a bass-line inspire the vocals. The audience will be invited to join in this organic process and through an experimental session determine the direction of a piece of music, picking the mood, theme and tempo. Come and be part of this spontaneous workshop.
Guitar connections – Steve Newman and Joey Williams of Blind Boys of Alabama
South African guitarist extraordinaire Steve Newman and New York based Joey Williams of the Blind Boys of Alabama come together to explore the language of the guitar. Steve’s mesmerising and richly textured sound has for many years been at the heart of ‘Tananas’ while Joey William’s distinctive guitar and vocal style is integral to the sound of The Blind Boys of Alabama. Find out how and where their music might coincide in this session of exploration and innnovation.
WORKSHOP SCHEDULE:
SATURDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER:
12H30 – 13H00Â Â Â Â GUITAR CONNECTIONS
13H45 – 14H30Â Â Â Â CHEIKH LO
15H15- 16H15Â Â Â Â PATO BANTON
SUNDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER:
14H00 – 15H00Â Â Â Â MONDETTA
FOLLOWED BY PERFORMANCES BY:
16H00 – 17H00Â Â Â Â NUCLEARTE
18H00 – 19H00Â Â Â Â YUNGCHEN LHAMO
Womad takes place from September 28 to 30 at the Bluegum Creek Estate in Benoni. There will be no performances on Friday. A two-day pass for Saturday and Sunday costs R185. Tickets for Saturday only are R120 and for Sunday R85. Booking is at Ticketweb 0861Â 400Â 500.