World Circuit (record label)
World Circuit | |
---|---|
Parent company | BMG Rights Management |
Founded | 1986 |
Founder | Anne Hunt and Mary Farquharson |
Genre | World music |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Official website | www |
World Circuit is a British
History
1986 to 1999
In 1986, the label released its first albums, María Rodríguez's La Tremenda and
World Circuit's first taste of major success came in 1993 with the teaming of
During the mid-nineties World Circuit began working with new artists, who would go on to become long-time label stalwarts. Moving away from their usual Latin and West African emphasis, World Circuit released the album Rumba Argelina by Spanish group
rhythms.In 1996, Cooder was invited to
As a result, Gold and Cooder changed their plans and recorded three consecutive albums with Cuban musicians instead.
Nick Gold had met Jerry Boys after working together on an album with Oumou Sangaré during 1993 and they subsequently began their close collaboration on Cuban music projects in 1996.[9] In 2001 Gold bought the Livingston Recording Studios from Boys, which enabled most of World Circuit's artists to record and mix music at that site.
Nick Gold and World Circuit are also responsible for bringing the
2000 to 2009
Mandé Sessions trilogy
In the summer of 2004 the World Circuit team of Nick Gold and Jerry Boys travelled with a mobile studio to Mali to record a trilogy of albums at the Hotel Mandé, Bamako. The first album in the series,
The third and final part of the Mandé Sessions trilogy, Savane (released July 2006), was also the first posthumous Ali Farka Touré release. It was received with wide acclaim by professionals and fans alike and was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category "Best Contemporary World Music Album". The panel of experts from the World Music Chart Europe (WMCE), a chart voted by the leading World Music specialists around Europe, chose Savane as their Album of the Year 2006, with the album topping the chart for three consecutive months (September to November 2006).[13] The album has also been listed as No. 1 in the influential Metacritic's "Best Albums of 2006" poll,[14] and No. 5 in its all-time best reviewed albums.[15]
2010 to present day
In February 2010, World Circuit released the successor to Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté's, In The Heart of the Moon (2005), Ali and Toumani. Recorded over three afternoons at Livington Studios, London, in 2005, with contributions from Orlando "Cachaíto" López on bass, and produced by Nick Gold, it was Touré's final studio album, and lasting legacy.
In October 2010, World Circuit released
Following Ali Farka Toure's death from cancer in 2006, Toumani Diabaté continued to record for World Circuit as a solo artist, releasing The Mandé Variations, a classical-sounding album of solo kora in 2008, and duetting with his kora playing son Sidiki Diabate on 2014's Toumani & Sidike.
As time ran out for many of the veteran musicians World Circuit had recorded in its early years, the label brought young and previously unknown talent to the fore. Fatoumata Diawara's 2011 debut Fatou introduced a new female voice to rival her fellow Malian singer Oumou Sangare, whom she had once backed.
Mbongwana Star, a new seven piece band from the Democratic Republic of Congo released their debut album, From Kinshasa on World Circuit in 2015 and in 2017 the label released Ladilikan, a ground-breaking collaboration between Trio da Kali, comprising there young Malian musicians, and the Kronos Quartet. Produced by Nick Gold, the project was sponsored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.
The veterans of Orchestra Baobab also released a new album in 2017, Tribute To Ndiouga Dieng, and celebrated its release with a world tour in 2018.
Discography
References
- ^ Paine, Andre (15 October 2018). "BMG acquires Buena Vista Social Club label World Circuit | Labels". Musicweek.com. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
- ^ Public Broadcasting Service(PBS). Retrieved 18 March 2007.
- Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 March 2007
- ^ a b c Nigel Williamson. Sleeve notes from Wim Wenders' Buena Vista Social Club documentary, Road Movies Filmproduktion, Berlin. Licensed by FilmFour Ltd, 1999.
- ^ Sleeve notes from A Toda Cuba le Gusta – Afro-Cuban All Stars, World Circuit Records WCD 047, 1997.
- ^ Sleeve notes from Buena Vista Social Club, World Circuit Records WCD 050, 1997.
- ^ Nigel Williamson. Sleeve notes from Introducing...Rubén González, World Circuit Records WCD 049, 1997.
- ^ The Buena Vista Social Club at AllMusic
- ^ Livingstone Recording Studios Nick Gold and Jerry Boys
- ^ Frank Bessem, "Musiques d'Afrique: Orchestre Baobab", Webcitation.org
- ^ Lucy Duran, "Orchestra Baobab," World Music Central
- ^ Chabasseur, Eglantine (7 April 2006). "Malian Music – Toumani Diabaté". RFI Musique. Retrieved 25 June 2007.
- ^ "Charts - World Music Charts Europe". Wmce.de. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
- ^ "Best Music and Albums". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
- ^ "Best Music and Albums". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
External links
- Official website
- World Circuit Records at MySpace