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Taken from This Is Wiltshire (Jul 05, 2018)
Diverse stars from DJ Goldie to Gipsy Kings at WOMAD
by Flicky Harrison
Kojey |
World music always takes centre stage at Wiltshire's famous summer festival and this year one of the pioneers of Jungle will be waltzing into WOMAD when Goldie steps behind the decks.
WOMAD takes place in Malmesbury's Charlton Park from July 26 to July 29.
Goldie |
Clifford Joseph Price aka Goldie is one of the biggest names in dance music but he started off as a graffitti artist before becoming heavily involved in the rave scene of the 1990s in the UK.
The multi talented record producer is also an actor and best known for his role in the 1999 James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, Guy Ritchie's Snatch and BBC 1's long running soap EastEnders.
Along with writing and recording dance music Goldie took to the dance floor when he appeared in Strictly Come Dancing in 2010.
His first studio album Timeless brought out on his own record label Metalheadz went to number seven in the album chart.
Goldie will be performing a DJ set and joining a host of big names in this year's Big Red Tent, including Gilles Peterson who makes his debut at Charlton Park with his fusion of hip-hop, jazz, house and soul.
Bringing artist from all over the world has always been crucial to the ethos of WOMAD.
Peter Gabriel said: "The first dream was to bring a lot of artists to one place and, when it looked like we had a future, the dream was to bring the world to the world.''
Another name heading for this year's festival is Kojey Radical (photo above), a rapper from East London, who mixes the inward musings of hip-hop artists with the angry-young-man style of an activist poet.
Kojey said: "I make poetry because it is a tool for me to communicate... it becomes another language.'' The rapper is renowned for using video to reaffirm his music and cerebral lyrics. His video, Footsteps, which he used for his 10-track EP based on a series of conversations between Kojey and his father, won him a MOBO.
In the last year he has been touring the world and next year he releases his debut album and his cross over to main stream is hotly tipped.
Gipsy Kings |
Back on the world stage where fiery latin vies with dulcimer jazz, four members of the elite band of brothers, close relatives and best pals that are known as The Gipsy Kings will strutt their stuff. The Reyes siblings Patchai, Paul and Canut, plus brother-in-law Chico Bouchikhi perform under The Original Gypsies of Carmargue.
In the late '80s The Gipsy Kings, whose rumba and flamenco sounds, most notably on the anthem Bamboléo, made them a household name, were featured on an episode of the cult TV series Miami Vice!
Peter says that the importance of WOMAD in bringing all races, all religions and all people together to celebrate music is priceless.
"WOMAD shows the stupidity of racism. Global citizenship is crucial at the moment. It is a big job and WOMAD has an important role to play,'' said Peter.
Other acts include Papaya from Gran Canaria, Kowoko from Democratic Republic of Congo, Aeham Ahmad from Palestine, Electric Fields from Australia, La Dame Blanch from Cuba, Omar Souleyman, the wedding singer from Syria, and Sharon Shannon from Ireland.
Along with the feast of music there are a number of WOMAD worlds at the festival giving a feast for the other senses including taste. Some of the artists performing take the chance to cook up their favourite dish and the audience get to sample their culinary delights. The Children's International Cookery Workshops take place every morning for the young ones.
Also with the little people in mind the World of Children runs from 9am to 7pm with two large tents hosting creative projects such as creating large scale processional structures and costumes and headdresses, so they can take part in the big family parade on Sunday with the theme of insects. WOMAD Weenies is for under 5s, then there is a Teen Tent, a Happening Tent, a music caravan and a storytelling tepee. Youngsters can try out slacklining, circus skills, den building, woodland walks, music making and family Zumba!
World of Art was launched at the festival in 2010 to engage with the work of contemporary visual artists and the Physics Pavilion brings top science to the festival in collaboration with CERN, The Institute of Physics and The University of Lancaster with demonstrations and talks.
WOMAD Spa is an oasis of calm, to rejuvenate and restore from Thursday 2pm to Monday morning 10am, and is for over 16's only. Spa opening times are 7am - midnight.
For more details and tickets visit http://womad.co.uk/
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