Extraordinary Contemporary Sounds from Ancient Instruments. The 2018 Songlines Music Awards winners Black String will premiere new music from their upcoming album set to be released this autumn, following their acclaimed albums Mask Dance (2016) and Karma (2019) on the German label ACT. ‘a spellbinding experience’ (The Guardian on Black String’s K-Music Show) ‘no boundaries … [Read More]
Musician: Lee Aram
Black String’s new album “Karma” bodes well for the K-music festival
I’m not quite sure why I didn’t rave about Black String’s debut album Mask Dance when it came out in 2017. Listening to Karma, their follow-up studio album on ACT records due to be released on 27 September 2019, I’m finding it compelling listening. And returning to Mask Dance now I’m seeing it in a … [Read More]
Black String win Songlines Music Award
Congratulations to Korean fusion group Black String, whose debut album on ACT, Mask Dance, won the Songlines Music Award in the Asia and Pacific category. Black String, who played at the 2017 K-music festival, were in town for the awards ceremony in Brixton on 20 October, where they played music from the album. [Read More]
Gig review: Kathryn Tickell + Black String
After witnessing so many astounding gigs at Club Inegales, where musicians from different cultures come together to create new and unrepeatable sounds, it really should not surprise me when a collaboration that looks slightly weird on paper is actually a stunning success when it happens. Collaboration, between Korean and British-based musicians, is one of the … [Read More]
Tim Garland’s Korean collaboration: Sinawi and the Blues
The combination of Korean traditional instruments with modern western ones gives rise to complex performance issues. Incompatibilities of style, volume, timbre and tuning are challenges to be overcome, not always with success. With the improvisatory nature of jazz, where instruments get their chance for solos and where amplification is a customary feature of the mix, … [Read More]
Event news: Korea Moves – with Tim Garland @ London Jazz Festival
Last year at the KCC we had an interesting jazz / gugak fusion concert. Coming soon as part of the London Jazz Festival, a concert in which the emphasis is more likely to be on the jazz, but with participation from the Tori Ensemble‘s Heo Yoon-jeong (whom we saw at the KCC last February) and … [Read More]
Fashion, food and music: Korea Shining Bright with Lie Sang Bong at the V&A
It’s not often that an honour guard in Joseon dynasty costume greets you as you enter a London public building. In fact the last time I can recall it happening was at the celebration of Korean food and fashion at the Banqueting House in 2009. And at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 30 July … [Read More]
Concert Notes: All Eyes on Baramgot at the Purcell Room
I had expected the five-piece ensemble Baramgot (바람곶) to provide a solid evening of traditionally folk-inspired Korean music. Having attended a number of traditional Korean music performances before, I had a fairly clear idea of what I was in for, and I was looking forward to it. The 75 minute programme consisted of seven items, … [Read More]
Korean Music Ensemble Baramgot at the Purcell Room
LKL is a great fan of Baramgot, and they return to the South Bank with the added attraction of crossover haegeum player Ccotbyel. Not to be missed. Korean Music Ensemble Baramgot Date: 29 July 2012, 7:45pm Venue: Purcell Room Baramgot return to Southbank Centre led by Won Il, bringing a fresh approach to the mystical … [Read More]
Concert notes: Baramgot at the South Bank
When Baramgot visited London two years ago they played to a sparsely populated mediaeval church in the middle of the Barbican complex. This year, the performance was in the more comfortable environment of the Purcell Room, and the audience was much bigger. What we gained in comfort was somewhat lost in atmosphere – the echoing … [Read More]
Baramgot at the South Bank
Baramgot’s Barbican concert in 2008 was undoubtedly the live performance of the year. Won Il’s creative traditional Korean music ensemble are in town this weekend to perform at the Thames Festival, and will be staying to give a concert at the Purcell Room on 13 September. Too often the reinvention of traditional music can turn … [Read More]
Concert notes: Baramgot at St Giles — event of the year?
It was a typical wet autumn evening in the Barbican, and inside St Giles’s church it was a little bit chilly. The audience was a touch thin on the ground – some of the regular followers of Korean cultural events will have been at the gala opening of the Korean film festival 5 minutes walk … [Read More]
A Night with Baramgot
European Premiere Experience new waves of traditional Korean music A Night with Baramgot Date: Thursday 06 November 2008 Time: 7:30pm Venue: St Giles’ Cripplegate, Fore Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DA Tickets £8 / £5 (concessions) at the door Sponsored by Art Council of Korea Produced by Baramgot Managed by KCPA Won Il’s group Baramgot gives … [Read More]