Best of 2008
30. 1. 2009 | Rubriky: Articles,Best of Year,Feature
Ken Hunt
2008 was one of the greatest music years of my life, full of fresh discoveries and confirmations of vision and talent still shining brightly.
New releases
Bellowhead / Matachin / Navigator
Szilvia Bognár, Ágnes Herczku and Ági Szalóki / Szájról szájra / FolkEurópa
Arun Ghosh / Northern Nameste / Camoci
Barb Jungr / Just Like A Woman / Linn
Sultan Khan and Manju Mehta / Umeed / Sense World Music
Mariza / Terra / EMI
Beáta Palya / Adieu Les Complexes / Naive Sony/BMG (Hungary)
Alim and Fargana Qasimov / Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan / Smithsonian Folkways
Zoe & Idris Rahman / Where Rivers Meet /Manushi Records
Kala Ramnath and Ganesh Iyer / Samaya / Sense World Music
Márta Sebestyén / Nyitva látám mennyeknek kapuját / SM
Peggy Seeger / Bring Me Home / Appleseed Recordings
Historic releases, reissues and anthologies
Don Cherry, Nana Vasconcelos, Collin Walcott / The Codona Trilogy / ECM
Robbie Basho / “Bonn Ist Supreme” / Bo’Weavil
Peter Bellamy / Fair England’s Shore / Fellside
Fotheringay / 2 / Fledg’ling (also in a vinyl edition on Stamford Audio)
French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson / Live, Love, Larf & Loaf / Fledg’ling
The Fugs / Don’t Stop! Don’t Stop / Fugs Records/Ace
Grateful Dead / Rocking The Cradle – Egypt 1978 / Rhino
Grateful Dead / From Egypt With Love / Grateful Dead Productions
A L Lloyd / Ten Thousand Miles / Fellside
Makám / Orient-Occident / Z Paraván Kiadó
Chris McGregor Septet / Up To Earth / Fledg’ling
Mihály Vándor, János Vándor, János Zerkula and others / Gyimes 1977-1978 / FolkEurópa
Various Artists / Vetettem gyöngyöt / I Sowed Pearls / Etnofon Records
Events
Laurie Anderson and Band, Barbican Centre, London
Café Tacuba (pictured), Barbican Centre, London
Indo-Jazzwise Festival, Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, London
Ari Babakhanov & Ensemble, Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Rudolstadt, Germany
Billy Bragg, Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Rudolstadt
Mariana Sadovska and Borderland, Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Rudolstadt
Sprjewjan, Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Rudolstadt
“The Imagined Village”, Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Rudolstadt
Bea Palya Quintet, Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London
Kronos Quartet & Alim Qasimov and Ferghana Qasimova, Barbican Centre, London
Bang On A Can & Iva Bittová, DeSingel, Antwerp, Belgium
Zoe & Idris Rahman, Purcell Room, London
Szilvia Bognár, Ágnes Herczku and Ági Szalóki, H’ART Festival, Centre of Contemporary Art, Glasgow, Scotland
Kadri Gopalnath and Ronu Majumdar, Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan, Jalandhar City, India
Manju Mehta, Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan, Jalandhar City
Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay, Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan, Jalandhar City
Petr Dorůžka
In 2008 I was lucky to see some of the best concerts of my life, so maybe that explains why I didn’t have that much time for CDs…
Albums / alphabetical order 
Buena Vista Social Club / At Carnegie Hall / World Circuit
Djivan Gasparyan / The Soul Of Armenia / Network Medien
Kries / Kocijani / Kopito
Various / Zegar Zivi / Cloud Valley
Events / chronologically
Iva Bittová, Ida Kelarová, George Mraz and band, Lucerna, Prague
Mesechinka, Dutch Blend, Rotterdam
Linna Gong, Babel Med, Marseille
Sergei Starostin Family, Sayan Ring Festival, Siberia
Hazmat Modine, Folk Holidays, Czech Republic
Ale Möller Band, Glatt und Verkehrt, Krems
Mimmo Epifani and band (pictured), Alessano, La Notte della Taranta
Longital, Region Conference, Budapest
Chava Alberstain with Czechomor members, Strings of Autumn Festival, Prague
A Filetta, Womex, Sevilla
Miguel Poveda, Womex, Sevilla