MIK SABIERS savours the first headline solo show of the stalwart of Brighton’s indie-punk outfit Blood Red Shoes
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Sona Jobarteh, Kings Place London
Sona Jobarteh demonstrates why she's one of the most exciting kora players around
Kora queen: Sona Jobarteh
New releases reviewed by IAN SINCLAIR
STEVEN ANDREW is moved beyond words by a historical account of mining in Britain made from the words of the miners themselves
CAILEAN MCBRIDE welcomes a refreshing and timely study of the way officialdom creates structures that exclude LGBT+ rights and humanity
The bard mourns the loss of comrades and troubadours, and looks for consolation with Black Country Jess
CHRIS MOSS relishes the painting and the life story of a self-taught working-class artist from Warrington
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a star-studded adaptation of Ibsen’s play that is devoid of believable humanity
BEAUTIFULLY poised, strikingly good-looking and quietly charismatic, Sona Jobarteh is guaranteed to hold the attention of any audience with her superbly dextrous kora playing.
Born and raised in London but from a Gambian clan on her father’s side that has boasted a number of kora virtuosos, she’s the first woman ever to make a living out of playing the instrument. For seven centuries, it has been a male-only preserve within West African griot families such as her own.
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