Narc. Magazine Online
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The forward-thinking artist combines elements of traditional music with spoken word and electronic sounds
Fans of world music – a reductive and generic phrase, but the simplest way of describing an openness to the musical forms of other cultures – won’t want to miss Soumik Datta as he brings his Hope Notes tour to Sage Gateshead on Thursday 3rd November.
Datta is a genuine forward thinker, combining elements of traditional Indian and Bengali music with an astonishingly diverse array of music from disparate cultures. His ensemble includes Syrian, Kenyan and Ugandan contributors and musical influences, as well as incorporating electronic, spoken word and elements of arts activism.
Spoken word refugee stories, music homages to the various cultures, Hope Notes is an altogether uplifting and positive testament to the transcendental possibilities of true open-minded multi-culturalism, both in the arts and more generally. A living testament to the possibilities that can be explored when cultures don’t collide but coexist in harmony, Hope Notes can be enjoyed entirely on its own musical merit as well as with more thoughtful intellectual engagement.
If you know anyone who is unsure about what world music can offer to someone of a dyed-in-the-wool Western music orthodoxy, bring them along. We bet they will have their minds changed by the end of the evening.
Soumik Datta plays Sage Gateshead on Thursday 3rd November.
