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Why Music? The Key to Memory

Kathryn Tickell presents performances by British-Iraqi singer Alya Al-Sultani, Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita and UK folk singer Sam Lee from Wellcome Collection in London.

Kathryn Tickell explores how music is remembered and passed down from generation to generation in three very different traditions from around the World with performances by British-Iraqi singer Alya Al-Sultani, Senegalese kora player Seckou Keita and Mercury Prize nominated UK folk singer and song collector Sam Lee.
Recorded earlier this evening at the world-renowned Wellcome Collection as part of 'Why Music? The Key to Memory' - a weekend of live events, concerts and discussions exploring music's unique capacity to be remembered.

Alya Al-Sultani was born in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, and moved to London with her parents following the Iran-Iraq war. Her first musical experiences were Iraqi folk songs sung by her great grandmother and radio broadcasts of Um Kolthum, Abdel-Halim and Fairouz which she listened to with her family whilst growing up in Tottenham. With her ensemble SAWA she puts a fresh take on these Iraqi folk songs drawing on elements of free jazz and post-classical composition.

Seckou Keita comes from a long lineage of Senegalese musical heritage: his father is from the Keita royal line, and his mother was a Cissokho, a clan associated with musicians. He has been a champion of the kora music of the Casamance region of southern Senegal, but he plays styles from throughout the country, embracing the four different traditional kora tunings.

Over the course of the last five years and two albums Sam Lee has tirelessly worked at collecting and sharing traditional music from Britain and Ireland; in particular from the Romany Gypsy and Irish traveller communities. His stunning arrangements of these traditional songs both preserve and push forward the tradition in new and exciting ways.'.

2 hours

Last on

Fri 13 Oct 2017 23:00

Music Played

  • Alya Al-Sultani

    Win Ya Galoub

    Performer: Alya Al-Sultani.
  • Suleima Murad

    Hatha Mou Insaf Minek

    Performer: Suleima Murad.
  • Alya Al-Sultani

    Hatha Mou Ansaf Minek

    Performer: Alya Al-Sultani.
  • Alya Al-Sultani

    Chal Chal Alay

    Performer: Alya Al-Sultani.
  • Alya Al-Sultani

    Foug El Nakhal

    Performer: Alya Al-Sultani.
  • Alya Al-Sultani

    El Hilwa Di

    Performer: Alya Al-Sultani.
  • Seckou Keita

    Distance

    Performer: Seckou Keita.
  • IsmaΓ«l LΓ΄

    Tajabone

    Performer: IsmaΓ«l LΓ΄.
  • Seckou Keita

    Little Bro

    Performer: Seckou Keita.
  • Seckou Keita

    If Only I Knew

    Performer: Seckou Keita.
  • Seckou Keita

    Tatono

    Performer: Seckou Keita.
  • Joaquin Diath

    Dize la Nuestra Novia

    Performer: Joaquin Diath.
  • Ruth Rubin

    Vos Vilsti Mutter Hobn

    Performer: Ruth Rubin.
  • Γ“scar ChΓ΅vez

    Macondo Cumbia

    Performer: Γ“scar ChΓ΅vez.
  • Sam Lee & Sam Lee and Friends

    Airdog

  • Freda Black

    Bonny Bunch of Roses

    Performer: Freda Black.
  • Sam Lee

    Bonny Bunch of Roses

    Performer: Sam Lee.
  • Sam Lee

    Over Yonders Hill

    Performer: Sam Lee.
  • Sam Lee

    Moss House

    Performer: Sam Lee.
  • Sam Lee

    Moon Shone

    Performer: Sam Lee.
  • Sam Lee

    Blackbird

    Performer: Sam Lee & Friends.
  • Sam Lee & The Roundhouse Choir

    Lovely Molly

  • Sam Lee

    Goodbye my darling

    Singer: Sam Lee.

Broadcast

  • Fri 13 Oct 2017 23:00

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