Antonio Forcione, Seckou Keita and Adriano Adewale Itauna come from three different continents - Europe, South America and Africa. All virtuosos in their own right, they grew up in three different landscapes, speaking three different languages, and were formed by three different cultures and musical traditions. All these differences have converged in AKA Trio, and the product is 'JOY'. Italian guitarist-composer Antonio Forcione has been travelling the world for over two decades, releasing twenty albums and collaborating with many major artists along the way, including such names as Charlie Haden, Trilok Gurtu, Angélique Kidjo and the Bulgarian Voices, amongst many others. Seckou Keita from Senegal is one of the world’s foremost kora players, involved in many international projects including his ground-breaking duo with Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, Africa Express with Damon Albarn and his Transparent Water project with Cuban pianist Omar Sosa. Brazilian percussionist and composer Adriano Adewale has collaborated with Bobby McFerrin, Joanna McGregor and Benjamin Taubkin and has composed music for orchestras and dance theatre.

Following the huge success of their award-winning debut release ‘Clychau Dibon’ back in 2013, Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita release their long-awaited second album SOAR. The album takes flight on the wings of the osprey, the magnificent bird of prey recently returned to Wales after centuries of absence, which makes its annual 3,000 mile migration from the coasts of West Africa to the estuaries of Wales, soaring like music and dreams over man-made borders, on its innate and epic journey of endurance. Drawing deep on their own diverse traditions and transforming them with remarkable synergy, audiences the world over have been captivated by Catrin and Seckou’s exhilarating live performances. Entrancing, mesmeric, intricate and ethereal, this is remarkable music. “A sublime duo of two artists who are masters of their instruments… musicality and architecture at work.” (Simon Broughton, London Evening Standard)

Nominated for 'Best Band' at the 2019 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, The Rheingans Sisters are one of the most visionary acts on the British folk scene today. Their new album Receiver follows 2018's Bright Field – a record that dazzled audiences and critics with its Leonard Cohen-esque lyrical imagery and strikingly inventive arrangements of violins, banjo, Bearnaise three-holed flute and Pyrenean stringed drum. Produced by Andy Bell (Karine Polwart, The Furrow Collective, Sam Sweeney) Receiver is their first collaboration with record label bendigedig (the team behind Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita's SOAR).

Writer, poet and musician Gwyneth Glyn releases her new album Tro on the bendigedig label on September 29. Tro, which is Welsh for ‘turn,’ is the first major solo album from one of Wales’ most intriguing and talented artists, with a passion for language, who applies her delicate craft and exquisite gift to this compelling new album. Tro also geatures Senegal’s acclaimed kora player Seckou Keita and BBC Radio 2 Folk Award Winner Rowan Rheingans. Elegant and deliciously emotional, dark and poignant, the songs are united by a consistent quality and beautiful, poetic lyrics rooted in Gwyneth’s language and culture. Tro is the first album to release on the new label bendigedig, an independent partnership between Theatr Mwldan and ARC Music Productions. “Her lyrics have a simplicity of language and imagery: there’s a poet here who is able to leave words and images hanging in the memory… She has a fine feel for the art of song writing as well as the wind, trees and landscape of Wales that inform her music and emotions.” (LCWL1) “…molasses-sweet tones…” (Buzz Magazine)

Dublin native Aoife Ní Bhriain is one of her generation's most versatile and gifted violinists, a dazzling musician who commands both the classical world and her Irish traditional heritage. From across the Irish Sea and the west coast of Wales, harpist Catrin Finch has also built an impressive classical career and ventured into unchartered musical territory, most notably through her international award-winning collaborations. Double You, their debut album as a duo, features an exquisite collection of new compositions that draw inspiration from various genres, taking listeners on a captivating journey on the wings of the bees across the Irish Sea and inspired by the cultures of their home countries.

‘islais a genir’ is the second album from Welsh Trio VRï; Jordan Price Williams (cello, voice), Aneirin Jones (violin, voice) and Patrick Rimes (viola, violin, voice); three young men from deepest, darkest chapel-going Wales who have mined the cultural upheaval of past centuries and drawn inspiration from the incredible story of a time when Wales’ traditional music and dance was suppressed by Methodist chapels, and, earlier, its language by the Act of Union.

As audio archaeologists, VRï have unearthed long-lost nuggets that shed new light on a vibrant folk tradition that harnesses the raw energy of the fiddle with the finesse of the violin, the beauty of chamber music with the joy and hedonism of a pub session. Their songs, sung with powerful vocal harmonies, tell stories of the people who struggled 200 years ago, just as many struggle today. It’s a wonderful and unique soundscape that connects across the centuries to give us a sense of belonging, of community, and a magical feeling of weightlessness and uplifting freedom.

“Sosa and Keita deliver a work that variously ebbs, flows and sparkles.” (Jane Cornwell, Jazzwise)

SUBA is the second album from the collaboration between one of Cuba’s most prolific Jazz Artists, pianist Omar Sosa, and Senegalese kora master Seckou Keita. Omar and Seckou’s debut album Transparent Water has toured worldwide since 2017 to enormous critical acclaim. They are again accompanied on this tour and album by Venezuelan percussionist Gustavo Ovalles. Seven-time Grammy-nominated jazz pianist Omar Sosa has been passionately interested in exploring African musical cultures and their connections with his Afro-Cuban roots throughout his career, subtly blending traditional and contemporary sounds on many of his recordings. Seckou Keita has arguably become the most influential and inspiring Kora player of his generation, an exceptional and charismatic musician and a modern global citizen, with seven centuries of tradition and heritage expressed through his music.

Watch Sosa and Keita's Tiny Desk Concert for NPR Music!

REVIEWS:

With a lighter, lyrical, improvisational approach, the two musicians create something artistically special and pull it off with aplomb. With its sympathetic sensitivity to human condition, SUBA’s mesmerizing music is a hymn to courage, strength and perseverance in a post-pandemic world. Each relaxing track, whether emphasizing piano, kora or vocals, presents itself a prayer for health, unity and sunnier skies ahead.

-- Roots Music Report

ECHO celebrates the tenth anniversary of an extraordinary partnership between two virtuosos whose previous releases include 2018’s album SOAR and their 2013 debut Clychau Dibon. ECHO marks the third part of this remarkable trilogy. The harp and kora share centuries of history, and Catrin and Seckou create a unique dialogue in a musical alliance of rare empathy, inspired by differences and similarities. Their atmospheric magic crosses genre boundaries, from folk and world music to classical and contemporary as their fingers flow like opposing tributaries into a single river of sound. ECHO is the tender triumph of an extraordinary musical partnership that combines harp and kora, the modern and traditional, different cultures and common humanity.