10 music that deliver again memories of my travels: Jo Frost’s playlist

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Zorba’s Dance by Mikis Theodorakis

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Cape Verde accordionist Victor Tavares, recognized as Bitori, on stage with bass participant Danilo Tavares.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of family members vacations to Greece. These days Zorba’s Dance is undeniably a little bit of a cliche, but when I hear that gradual bouzouki intro, I’m reminded of my father, who would put this LP on soon after drunken dinners and begin dancing the sirtaki. I watched Zorba the Greek for the first time in the course of lockdown very last calendar year when I arrived across it in my dad’s DVD assortment. I was shocked by how significantly it afflicted me, generating me pine for Greece – and for my dad, who I realise seemed remarkably like Zorba (performed by Anthony Quinn).

Vuoi Vuoi Me by Mari Boine

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Sami musician Mari Boine on stage in Norway. Photograph: Gonzales Image/Alamy

Womad has been the supply of so a lot of of my musical introductions: it was there, in 2007, that I very first observed Mari Boine – the unofficial ambassador of Sámi music – accomplish reside. It begun a fascination with Sámi lifestyle and joik, the unique guttural song design and style of the indigenous men and women of northern Scandinavia. Quite a few several years later on I was invited to Kautokeino, way up past the Arctic Circle close to Boine’s household of Karasjok, for the Sámi Easter festival. It felt like a crash class in all things to do with joik and reindeer, but it also gave me an priceless insight into Sámi history and the people’s partnership with those people who colonised their land. These times the Sámi have their own parliament, flag and countrywide day (6 February).

That is It! by the Preservation Corridor Jazz Band

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Jazz at Preservation Hall, New Orleans. Photograph: Alamy

Like quite a few many others, I observed most of my journey ideas scuppered last yr, together with a road journey from Nashville to New Orleans to coincide with the New Orleans jazz fest. The impetus for the excursion had mostly come about even though binge-looking at the HBO collection Treme. We’d compiled a playlist for our journey as a result of Tennessee and Louisiana, but when it turned distinct that our dream of checking out venues these types of as Preservation Corridor in New Orleans was not likely to occur, we’d engage in it at property. This track by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band normally lifts my spirits, receives me dancing and will make me dead established on rebooking our trip as quickly as it’s harmless to do so.

Bitori Nha Bibinha by Bitori

The most internationally celebrated artist from Cape Verde is the late Cesária Évora, the doyenne of morna tunes, steeped in saudade (nostalgia or longing). I could have picked any selection of Cesária tunes, but when I frequented Santiago – largest of the Cape Verde islands – it was funaná that became the soundtrack of my journey, blaring out of the packed alugueres (minibus taxis), industry stalls and bars. Funaná was banned by the Portuguese up until eventually 1975 as they feared the music in Creole were being subversive and its frenetic dance rhythms immoral. Septuagenarian accordion player Victor Tavares, AKA Bitori, is the genre’s not likely star, largely many thanks to singer Chando Graciosa who persuaded him to history this in 1997, and to Samy Ben Redjeb of Analog Africa, who rereleased it in 2016.

Teach Tune by Sakar Khan

1 of the most atmospheric pageant places I’ve visited is the Mehrangarh Fort, property of Riff – the Rajasthan International Folk Festival, held every single Oct during the harvest moon in Jodhpur. This colossal red sandstone edifice reverberates with the sound of Rajasthani people musicians these types of as Manganiyar legends Lakha Khan and the late Sakar Khan, masters of standard bowed, stringed devices the sindhi sarangi and the kamayacha. Riff is a comprehensive-on immersive working experience and to do it justice, a sure level of stamina is required as concerts begin at dawn, carry on by the heat of the working day, then continue on lengthy into the evening. When I listen to the rasping sounds of these ancient instruments, I’m right away transported back to Jodhpur.

St Thomas by Sonny Rollins

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The Jazz a Vienne competition, France. Photograph: Alamy

One of the rewards of learning French and German (in individuals content EU days) was remaining equipped to shell out a yr as an English language assistant in a school in Vienne, just south of Lyon. Following my stint instructing, I volunteered at Jazz à Vienne, a amazing two-week jazz competition held in the town’s Roman amphitheatre. I returned every summertime in the course of the early 1990s, building lifelong good friends and finding a crash class in jazz in the course of action. Around the years I saw extraordinary artists, like Ray Charles, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, and Sonny Rollins, who remains a person of my favorite sax gamers. The practical experience turned the basis for my adore of music from around the environment and my get the job done right now.

The Plateau by Jenny Sturgeon

I have usually uncovered convenience in walking, and very last 12 months it took on even greater great importance. So among lockdowns, my husband or wife and I headed up to the Cairngorms to do some hiking. Just prior to our journey I gained Jenny Sturgeon’s musical tribute to Nan Shepherd’s e book about the Cairngorms, The Dwelling Mountain. Every single hike we embarked on would expose unique landscapes – and each variety of weather conditions possible. Back again in London, listening to Jenny’s album delivers back again reminiscences of these mountains, particularly listening to the hen song on this opening observe, as Jenny sings: “Step on step, foot by foot, we walk that’s how we know, as a result of the heather and the mud, the plateau ringing by our blood.”

Depend Your Blessings by the Como Mamas

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Porto Covo seaside, Alentejo. Photograph: Alamy

One particular of my European competition highlights in new several years was FMM Sines, held on Portugal’s wild and reasonably untouristy Alentejo coastline, in the towns of Porto Covo and Sines. A genuinely relaxed, welcoming vibe permeated the opening weekend in the seaside vacation resort of Porto Covo, exactly where a combination audience of locals and travellers congregated in the key sq.. The Como Mamas, from Mississippi, had been unidentified to me, but turned out to be a revelation. As the 3 singers took to the phase, the atmosphere reworked into something resembling a devoted congregation at a gospel collecting. Considering the fact that then, Count Your Blessings has turn into a mantra, especially very last 12 months.

Pothole in the Sky by Lisa O’Neill

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Irish musicians at O’Donoghue’s pub, Dublin. Photograph: Hugh Reynolds/Alamy

One particular of the issues I sorely miss out on all through these socially distanced instances is individuals random conversations you strike up with full strangers about a pint. There is nowhere superior to do this than in Dublin, in particular in 1 of the city’s many new music pubs, these types of as The Cobblestone or O’Donoghue’s. I have not been fortunate plenty of to see the Irish singer Lisa O’Neill at a session, despite the fact that she was apparently a frequent in pre-Covid situations. The mixture of chat, beer and audio is great and I just cannot wait to revisit.

La Grande Folie by San Salvador

Most of the travelling I do as editor of Songlines is to festivals close to the earth, and just one of the factors I most delight in about them is the communal listening practical experience. There’s anything visceral about listening to music currently being carried out live with other men and women all-around you. For me, San Salvador beautifully encapsulate this sensation. A sextet from Saint-Salvadour in south-west France, they sing in Occitan. There is a genuine physicality to their music and a little something exceptionally potent about the mix of voice and percussion. They always end their sets with La Grande Folie – a music that resonates with these ridiculous situations.

• San Salvador are thanks to conduct at Songlines Encounters Festival at Kings Position in Might (Covid permitting)