Posts by Ammar Kalia (@AmmarKalia2 )

A Song for You: Joy Unconfined

Berlin-based, BIPOC-centred vocal ensemble A Song for You is altering the perception of choral music, harnessing the power of communal singing for unfiltered expression.

Kamasi Washington: Life Overflowing

On ‘Fearless Movement’, the saxophonist’s first full-length in six years, he finds inspiration in earthly pleasures: family, connection and the act of living.

Speed of Sound: Mdou Moctar

Tuareg trailblazer Mdou Moctar has built a fervent following for his blistering takedown of colonialism through stadium-sized riffs. His latest album, ‘Funeral for Justice’, makes his plight all the more urgent.

Chasing the rhythm with Yussef Dayes

Calling on the divine spirit of jazz greats and his own family ties, drummer Yussef Dayes’ debut album, ‘Black Classical Music’, is a masterful entry in this storied musical lineage

BCUC are finding strength in numbers

For spirited South African seven-piece BCUC, music is not just the motor behind their mind-blowing improvisational live shows, but language for communal understanding

A full-scale spectacle: Highlights from Field Day 2023

Victoria Park, London 19 August

Beverly Glenn-Copeland

The Ones Ahead Transgressive

Rising: Rarelyalways is inspired by the future

We caught up with the London artist following the release of his debut album, the aptly-titled ‘Work’

Yves Tumor

Praise a Lord Who Chews but Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds) Warp

Duval Timothy: Life in Colour

Duval Timothy’s meticulous musical practice reverberates with humanity. Now, he’s ready to embrace life in all its messy shades.

Los Angeles artist Maral sat with her arms folded

Maral: Aural Histories

Los Angeles producer Maral draws from a rich vein of Persian folk, pop and classical to recast enduring sentiment in urgent new ways

Vieux Farka Touré and Khruangbin

Ali Dead Oceans

Obongjayar

Some Nights I Dream of Doors September Recordings

Binker & Moses

Feeding the Machine Rough Trade Records

Emma-Jean Thackray: Everything will flow

When multi-instrumentalist and producer Emma-Jean Thackray contracted Covid-19, it threatened to derail her career. Instead, she recalibrated

Sons of Kemet

Black to the Future Impulse! Records
Nubiyan-Twist Freedom Fables

Nubiyan Twist

Freedom Fables Strut
Toots & the Maytals, Got to Be Tough

Toots & the Maytals

Got to Be Tough BMG

Asher Gamedze

Dialectic Soul On the Corner
tony allen

Remembering Tony Allen, the pioneering Afrobeat drummer who inspired generations

With Fela Kuti, Tony Allen pioneered Afrobeat. His work as a solo artist and bandleader was just as foundational. We pay tribute to the late drummer who turned rhythm into joy

Shabaka

Shabaka and the Ancestors

We Are Sent Here by History Impulse! Records
We're New Again

Makaya McCraven and Gil Scott-Heron

We're New Again XL Recordings
Ezra Collective Parallax © Cian Oba-Smith

Ezra Collective: Young Masters

We meet with one of London’s most exciting jazz bands to talk the genre’s evolution, working with Quincy Jones and choosing joy when confronted with bleakness

Shabaka Hutchings Interview

Shabaka Hutchings has something to say

We meet the visionary leader ushering in London’s jazz revolution