10 tunes that provide 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, known as Bitori, on stage with bass participant Danilo Tavares.

Some of my fondest childhood memories are of family vacations to Greece. These times Zorba’s Dance is undeniably a little bit of a cliche, but when I hear that slow bouzouki intro, I’m reminded of my dad, who would put this LP on just after drunken dinners and begin dancing the sirtaki. I viewed Zorba the Greek for the 1st time through lockdown very last yr when I arrived throughout it in my dad’s DVD selection. I was amazed by how significantly it afflicted me, earning me pine for Greece – and for my father, who I realise appeared remarkably like Zorba (played by Anthony Quinn).

Vuoi Vuoi Me by Mari Boine

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Sami musician Mari Boine on phase in Norway. Photograph: Gonzales Photo/Alamy

Womad has been the source of so a lot of of my musical introductions: it was there, in 2007, that I to start with saw Mari Boine – the unofficial ambassador of Sámi audio – accomplish dwell. It begun a fascination with Sámi culture and joik, the distinct guttural tune type of the indigenous people of northern Scandinavia. Many years later on I was invited to Kautokeino, way up previous the Arctic Circle in close proximity to Boine’s property of Karasjok, for the Sámi Easter festival. It felt like a crash training course in all matters to do with joik and reindeer, but it also gave me an priceless insight into Sámi background and the people’s romantic relationship with these who colonised their land. These days the Sámi have their possess parliament, flag and national working day (6 February).

Which is It! by the Preservation Corridor Jazz Band

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Jazz at Preservation Hall, New Orleans. Photograph: Alamy

Like several other people, I observed most of my journey ideas scuppered last yr, like a street vacation from Nashville to New Orleans to coincide with the New Orleans jazz fest. The impetus for the trip had largely come about when binge-watching the HBO collection Treme. We’d compiled a playlist for our journey by Tennessee and Louisiana, but when it grew to become crystal clear that our desire of visiting venues this kind of as Preservation Corridor in New Orleans was not going to transpire, we’d perform it at dwelling. This track by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band constantly lifts my spirits, will get me dancing and would make me dead set on rebooking our vacation as quickly as it is risk-free 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 music, but when I frequented Santiago – most significant of the Cape Verde islands – it was funaná that grew to become the soundtrack of my excursion, blaring out of the packed alugueres (minibus taxis), marketplace stalls and bars. Funaná was banned by the Portuguese up right until 1975 as they feared the tracks in Creole have been 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 file this in 1997, and to Samy Ben Redjeb of Analog Africa, who rereleased it in 2016.

Practice Song by Sakar Khan

A single of the most atmospheric festival areas I have frequented is the Mehrangarh Fort, dwelling of Riff – the Rajasthan Global People Competition, held every single October for the duration of the harvest moon in Jodhpur. This colossal red sandstone edifice reverberates with the sound of Rajasthani folks musicians such as Manganiyar legends Lakha Khan and the late Sakar Khan, masters of conventional bowed, stringed instruments the sindhi sarangi and the kamayacha. Riff is a total-on immersive experience and to do it justice, a particular level of endurance is essential as concert events start out at dawn, have on by way of the warmth of the day, then go on lengthy into the evening. Every time I hear the rasping sounds of these ancient devices, I’m immediately transported again to Jodhpur.

St Thomas by Sonny Rollins

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The Jazz a Vienne competition, France. Photograph: Alamy

1 of the added benefits of studying French and German (in people happy EU times) was being capable to shell out a 12 months as an English language assistant in a school in Vienne, just south of Lyon. Immediately after my stint instructing, I volunteered at Jazz à Vienne, a fantastic two-week jazz competition held in the town’s Roman amphitheatre. I returned just about every summer time during the early 1990s, generating lifelong pals and acquiring a crash class in jazz in the system. About the many years I observed outstanding artists, together with Ray Charles, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, and Sonny Rollins, who continues to be 1 of my favourite sax players. The knowledge grew to become the basis for my really like of songs from about the environment and my get the job done these days.

The Plateau by Jenny Sturgeon

I have always found comfort in walking, and last 12 months it took on even larger value. So concerning lockdowns, my spouse and I headed up to the Cairngorms to do some mountaineering. Just right before our vacation I acquired Jenny Sturgeon’s musical tribute to Nan Shepherd’s ebook about the Cairngorms, The Dwelling Mountain. Every hike we embarked on would expose distinctive landscapes – and every single type of climate imaginable. Back in London, listening to Jenny’s album delivers back again memories of people mountains, primarily listening to the hen music on this opening keep track of, as Jenny sings: “Step on move, foot by foot, we wander that is how we know, as a result of 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

One of my European festival highlights in current several years was FMM Sines, held on Portugal’s wild and somewhat untouristy Alentejo coastline, in the towns of Porto Covo and Sines. A genuinely comfortable, pleasant vibe permeated the opening weekend in the seaside vacation resort of Porto Covo, wherever a combination viewers of locals and travellers congregated in the primary square. The Como Mamas, from Mississippi, ended up unidentified to me, but turned out to be a revelation. As the three singers took to the phase, the ambiance remodeled into a thing resembling a devoted congregation at a gospel collecting. Due to the fact then, Depend Your Blessings has become a mantra, specially past 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

Just one of the things I sorely miss out on in the course of these socially distanced instances is individuals random discussions you strike up with full strangers above a pint. There is nowhere far better to do this than in Dublin, specially in a person of the city’s many songs pubs, this sort of as The Cobblestone or O’Donoghue’s. I have not been lucky more than enough to see the Irish singer Lisa O’Neill at a session, whilst she was apparently a common in pre-Covid instances. The mix of chat, beer and tunes is excellent and I just can’t wait around to revisit.

La Grande Folie by San Salvador

Most of the travelling I do as editor of Songlines is to festivals close to the environment, and just one of the things I most get pleasure from about them is the communal listening knowledge. There’s a thing visceral about listening to songs becoming done reside with other people about you. For me, San Salvador completely encapsulate this experience. A sextet from Saint-Salvadour in south-west France, they sing in Occitan. There’s a genuine physicality to their music and anything amazingly powerful about the mixture of voice and percussion. They generally complete their sets with La Grande Folie – a music that resonates with these ridiculous instances.

• San Salvador are due to complete at Songlines Encounters Festival at Kings Location in Could (Covid permitting)