10 tunes that deliver back again recollections 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, recognised as Bitori, on phase with bass player Danilo Tavares.

Some of my fondest childhood reminiscences are of family members holidays to Greece. These times Zorba’s Dance is undeniably a little bit of a cliche, but when I listen to that slow bouzouki intro, I’m reminded of my dad, who would set this LP on right after drunken dinners and start out dancing the sirtaki. I watched Zorba the Greek for the initially time during lockdown final year when I came throughout it in my dad’s DVD collection. I was shocked by how a lot it affected me, making me pine for Greece – and for my dad, who I realise looked 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 Picture/Alamy

Womad has been the resource of so numerous of my musical introductions: it was there, in 2007, that I initial noticed Mari Boine – the unofficial ambassador of Sámi audio – complete are living. It begun a fascination with Sámi tradition and joik, the distinctive guttural tune style of the indigenous folks of northern Scandinavia. A number of yrs afterwards I was invited to Kautokeino, way up past the Arctic Circle in close proximity to Boine’s household of Karasjok, for the Sámi Easter competition. It felt like a crash study course in all items to do with joik and reindeer, but it also gave me an invaluable perception into Sámi heritage and the people’s romantic relationship with these who colonised their land. These times the Sámi have their have parliament, flag and nationwide 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 many many others, I saw most of my travel programs scuppered past 12 months, together with a highway vacation from Nashville to New Orleans to coincide with the New Orleans jazz fest. The impetus for the excursion experienced largely come about though binge-looking at the HBO sequence Treme. We’d compiled a playlist for our journey by way of Tennessee and Louisiana, but when it grew to become crystal clear that our desire of traveling to venues these kinds of as Preservation Hall in New Orleans was not heading to happen, we’d participate in it at property. This observe by the Preservation Corridor Jazz Band always lifts my spirits, will get me dancing and would make me lifeless set on rebooking our journey as soon as it is protected 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 songs, steeped in saudade (nostalgia or longing). I could have picked any selection of Cesária tunes, but when I visited 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), current market stalls and bars. Funaná was banned by the Portuguese up until 1975 as they feared the songs in Creole were subversive and its frenetic dance rhythms immoral. Septuagenarian accordion participant Victor Tavares, AKA Bitori, is the genre’s unlikely star, mostly thanks to singer Chando Graciosa who persuaded him to record this in 1997, and to Samy Ben Redjeb of Analog Africa, who rereleased it in 2016.

Coach Track by Sakar Khan

1 of the most atmospheric competition spots I have frequented is the Mehrangarh Fort, home of Riff – the Rajasthan Intercontinental People Pageant, held each individual Oct through the harvest moon in Jodhpur. This colossal pink sandstone edifice reverberates with the seem of Rajasthani people musicians such as Manganiyar legends Lakha Khan and the late Sakar Khan, masters of common bowed, stringed devices the sindhi sarangi and the kamayacha. Riff is a full-on immersive working experience and to do it justice, a particular stage of endurance is necessary as live shows commence at dawn, carry on as a result of the heat of the day, then continue on prolonged into the night time. Whenever I listen to the rasping sounds of these historic instruments, I’m immediately transported back to Jodhpur.

St Thomas by Sonny Rollins

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The Jazz a Vienne competition, France. Photograph: Alamy

A single of the gains of researching French and German (in all those happy EU days) was being in a position to commit a 12 months as an English language assistant in a college in Vienne, just south of Lyon. Right after my stint instructing, I volunteered at Jazz à Vienne, a fantastic two-7 days jazz festival held in the town’s Roman amphitheatre. I returned each and every summer months in the course of the early 1990s, generating lifelong pals and getting a crash course in jazz in the process. About the a long time I observed amazing artists, which includes Ray Charles, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, and Sonny Rollins, who remains just one of my favorite sax players. The encounter grew to become the foundation for my like of music from all over the world and my perform currently.

The Plateau by Jenny Sturgeon

I’ve normally discovered consolation in strolling, and final calendar year it took on even increased relevance. So involving lockdowns, my spouse and I headed up to the Cairngorms to do some climbing. Just in advance of our journey I been given Jenny Sturgeon’s musical tribute to Nan Shepherd’s book about the Cairngorms, The Living Mountain. Each hike we embarked on would reveal diverse landscapes – and every form of weather imaginable. Back in London, listening to Jenny’s album brings back again recollections of individuals mountains, primarily listening to the fowl music on this opening keep track of, as Jenny sings: “Step on move, foot by foot, we wander that’s how we know, through the heather and the mud, the plateau ringing by means of our blood.”

Rely Your Blessings by the Como Mamas

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Porto Covo seashore, Alentejo. Photograph: Alamy

1 of my European pageant highlights in new years was FMM Sines, held on Portugal’s wild and reasonably untouristy Alentejo coastline, in the towns of Porto Covo and Sines. A really relaxed, welcoming vibe permeated the opening weekend in the seaside resort of Porto Covo, exactly where a combination viewers of locals and travellers congregated in the most important sq.. The Como Mamas, from Mississippi, were not known to me, but turned out to be a revelation. As the three singers took to the phase, the ambiance remodeled into anything resembling a devoted congregation at a gospel gathering. Since then, Count Your Blessings has develop into a mantra, significantly very last calendar year.

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 of the things I sorely pass up in the course of these socially distanced instances is all those random conversations you strike up with total strangers above a pint. There’s nowhere superior to do this than in Dublin, especially in one particular of the city’s lots of music pubs, this sort of as The Cobblestone or O’Donoghue’s. I haven’t been lucky adequate to see the Irish singer Lisa O’Neill at a session, while she was seemingly a common in pre-Covid times. The mixture of chat, beer and audio is perfect and I cannot hold out to revisit.

La Grande Folie by San Salvador

Most of the travelling I do as editor of Songlines is to festivals about the entire world, and one of the things I most appreciate about them is the communal listening knowledge. There is a little something visceral about hearing audio getting carried out reside with other people today all around you. For me, San Salvador correctly encapsulate this feeling. A sextet from Saint-Salvadour in south-west France, they sing in Occitan. There is a authentic physicality to their tunes and something unbelievably highly effective about the mixture of voice and percussion. They normally complete their sets with La Grande Folie – a track that resonates with these crazy instances.

• San Salvador are because of to complete at Songlines Encounters Competition at Kings Area in May possibly (Covid allowing)