FRIDAY MUSIC: Madrugada, by JD

Madrugada is a Norwegian alternative rock band formed in Stokmarknes in 1993, with a core lineup of Sivert Høyem (vocals), Robert Burås (guitar), and Frode Jacobsen (bass). Following Burås' death on 12 July 2007, Høyem and Jacobsen decided to finish recording what was to be their final album in the original lineup. On 21 January 2008, the band released Madrugada and announced that they would split after one last tour. They performed their final concert on 15 November 2008.

When Madrugada regrouped to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of their classic debut album «Industrial Silence» in 2019, they quickly realised that interest in the band had not waned in their absence. It had, in fact, increased, not least on the European continent.

What’s more, they realised that they loved being back together. Being in Madrugada had never been quite this much fun.

Says vocalist and guitarist Sivert Høyem: «It was if as the last piece of the puzzle had snapped into place. I’d never felt so self-assured on stage before. It was no stress at all, whereas in the past it had always been very stressful to me.

The tour was a triumph, with the band selling out shows in the their native Norway, plenty of festival dates and a host of concerts throughout Europe, where the band now sold out halls that were twice the size of the places they used to play back in the day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madrugada_(band)
https://madrugada.no/#biography

Madrugada - The World Could Be Falling Down (Official Music Video)

Madrugada - Call My Name (Official Music Video)

Madrugada - Majesty (Live from Oslo Spektrum 2005)

Honey Bee

Madrugada - The Riverbed

This Old House

FRIDAY MUSIC: Rock 'n' Roll, by JD

The world is currently shrouded in gloom and doom. We all need cheering up so here is some good old fashioned rock and roll guaranteed to put a smile on everyone's face and I have included some unlikely collaborations which work surprisingly well!

Status Quo - All Around My Hat, Wembley Arena 14th December 1996

Racey - Some Girls (1979) • TopPop

The J. Geils Band - Centerfold (Official Music Video)

The Temperance 7 - Sergeant Pepers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Electric Light Orchestra - Rock n' Roll Is King (Official Video)

ZZ Top - Gimme All Your Lovin' (Official Music Video) [HD Remaster]

Status Quo and The Beach Boys 'Fun Fun Fun' (Official Video)

Footnote: RIP Brian Wilson (died 11 June 2025), the man who wrote all or most of the Beach Boys songs one of which is included above.

FRIDAY MUSIC: Cesária Evora, by JD

I’m not sure how well known she is in this country but judging by the number of views registered on YouTube the rest of the world seems to love her music.

Cesária Evora (27 August 1941 – 17 December 2011)

"Cesária Evora was a Cape Verdean singer who was known for her rich, haunting voice.

“She became known for singing mornas, traditional Cape Verdean folk songs that were sorrowful emotion-charged chronicles of the country’s long and bitter history of isolation, slave trade, and population loss due to emigration. She also sang coladeras—mornas with a faster tempo. Although her music earned her a multitude of fans on the islands of Cape Verde, it did not provide financial success.

“The positive response generated by the 1992 release of Miss perfumado earned her widespread popularity in Europe and led to an international tour. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Evora continued to record new albums and perform around the world. She won a 2003 Grammy Award for her album Voz d’amor. Her final album, Cesaria Evora &… (2010), was a collection of duets assembled through collaboration with musicians from more than 15 countries."

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cesaria-Evora
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ces%C3%A1ria_%C3%89vora

Cesária Evora - Mar Azul (Official Video)

Cesária Evora - Petit pays (Official Video)

Tiempo y Silencio

Cesária Evora - Sangue de Beirona (Official Video)

CESARIA EVORA - Sodade. Live In Paris at Le Grand Rex, April 2004.

Cesária Evora - Angola (Official Video)

FRIDAY MUSIC: Tim Buckley, by JD

"Very few people have any idea of Tim Buckley other than as Jeff Buckley's father, or maybe as a folkie from the late sixties. Those labels hardly begin to scratch the surface of his musical genius, as uncommercial as it may have been at the time. But few who have looked at his full career can deny that he had a talent like few others, and a voice that, I believe, is still unmatched.

"Tim Buckley (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American singer/songwriter. He began his career based in folk rock, but subsequently experimented with genres such as psychedelia, jazz, the avant-garde, and funk paired with his unique five-octave vocal range.

"Buckley died at the age of 28 from a heroin and morphine overdose. He left behind one biological son, Jeff, who himself was a highly regarded singer who died young, as well as an adopted son, Taylor."

https://audiography.livejournal.com/531395.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Buckley

Tim Buckley - Song to the Siren

Tim Buckley • “Happy Time/Sing A Song For You” • 1968 [Reelin' In The Years Archive]

Tim Buckley - Dolphins - Whistle Test (May '74)

Tim Buckley - Wings

Tim Buckley - Once I Was

FRIDAY MUSIC: Kathryn Tickell, by JD

You may not know her name but I think you might enjoy her music.

Kathryn Tickell is a folk musician who plays The Northumbrian smallpipes as well as playing the violin/fiddle. I am not sure how well known she is beyond Northumbria and Tyneside but she is highly regarded among her peers in the world of folk music. She has been invited to play at the BBC's Folk Proms and has shared the stage with the great Richard Thompson as can be seen in two of the videos below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northumbrian_smallpipes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Tickell

https://www.kathryntickell.com/biography

The Kathryn Tickell Band at the Proms: Early Morning Air, Tullochgorum, Music For a New Crossing

Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening | One Night in Moaña | Seirm 2024 | BBC ALBA

Alistair Anderson, Richard Thompson & Kathryn Tickell

The Shee feat. Kathryn Tickell & Shona Mooney Perform Fiddle Duet / Sheepolska & more

Kathryn Tickell - 'Air Moving'

FRIDAY MUSIC: The Unthanks, by JD

Can't believe I haven't featured the Unthank sisters before now and I had forgotten how good they are. Their father George Unthank is also a folk singer with a quartet called the Keelers; worth investigating further I think. The sisters use 'folk' and traditional music as a starting point for their musical explorations which leads them in all sorts of interesting directions.

"Concise descriptions of The Unthanks range variously from “music that asks you to consider everything you know and un-think it”, to “a take on tradition that flips so effortlessly between jazz, classical, ambient and post-rock, it makes any attempt to put a label on them a waste of time”.

https://www.the-unthanks.com/

The Unthanks – Mount The Air (Folk Awards 2016)

The Unthanks - Magpie - Later... with Jools Holland - BBC

The Unthanks perform The Testimony of Patience Kershaw

The Unthanks - The Bay Of Fundy (Official Video)

River River by The Unthanks

The Unthanks - King of Rome (2012 Folk Music Awards)
(King of Rome was written by Dave Sudbury of Derby. Here is the link for the story of Charlie Hudson and his famous pigeon.
http://www.derbyphotos.co.uk/features....)

Unique and unbelievably excellent, I'm sure you will agree.

SATURDAY FOLK/ROCK: Roy Harper, by JD

Of the generation of troubadours who came of age in the London folk clubs of the 1960s, some have passed away, while others have surrendered to the regurgitation of the blandest form of acoustic folk music. But among the survivors, there is one figure whose body of work, comprising 23 studio LPs and almost as many live and compilation releases, has come to stand for a particularly single-minded form of integrity. That man is Roy Harper.

Now officially ‘retired’, and living in a secluded corner of Ireland, Harper has recently been hailed as a key influence by a much younger generation of devoted starsailors who instinctively recognise his innovations, his refusal to compromise and his visionary world view. The likes of Fleet Foxes and Jim O’Rourke are avowed fans; and in previous decades he has enjoyed public endorsements and tributes from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Kate Bush, Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour and many more.

It’s been a damned good innings and he’s still not out. In January 2013 Harper received the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Lifetime Achievement Award. In September 2013 Roy Harper: Man & Myth - The Documentary, directed by George Scott, was broadcast on Sky Arts and his first album in thirteen years, ‘Man & Myth’, was released on Bella Union followed by three special concerts. The album received rave reviews.

https://www.royharper.co.uk/

Roy Harper - When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease (Remastered)

'You' - Roy Harper, Kate Bush & David Gilmour

Roy Harper ► McGoohan's Blues [HQ Audio] Folkjokeopus 1969

Jimmy Page & Roy Harper - St Ives, UK 1984 (Same Old Rock)

FRIDAY MUSIC: Billy Cowie, by JD

I have featured the music of Billy Cowie before. It is time for another sample. Since the previous feature, more information is available about the man and his inspiration - https://www.billycowie.com/

Bus Stop from Tangos Cubanos (premiere)

Tangos Cubanos 1 (sad story)piano piece by Billy Cowie for Danza Contemporanea de Cuba

De Lo Alto de Altos Edificios

dancer Luciana Croatto, choreography, texts and music Billy Cowie, voice Clara Garcia Fraile.

romance3.mov

Leyna Gonzalez in Llorando from Danzas de Amor que se Fue for Danza Contemporanea de Cuba. Choreography and music Billy Cowie, Text Garcia Lorca, Voice Daphne Scott-Sawyer, Visual Design Silke Mansholt

Narciso from Danzas de Amor que se Fue

Garcia Lorca Auditorium, Gran Teatro de la Habana - Billy Cowie's new choreography and music for Danza Contemporaneo de Cuba 2019. Text Lorca. Singer Daphne Scott-Sawyer. Visual Art Silke Mansholt. Filming Adolfo Izquierdo.

Tiempos de Tango Adolfo Izquierdo 2015

The first and last videos are the same tune but style and mood are completely different, I'm not sure which I prefer but I love both of them which is why they are both here.