Justin Adams-
Guitarist/producer and composer Justin Adams is both one of Britain's great bluesmen and African crossover music's leading proponents. First coming to prominence in 1990 with Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart, Adams laid the foundations of his career through working as a respected sideman. His list of credits grew to include internationally known artists such as Sinéad O'Connor, Damien Dempsey, and more. His love affair with the music of North Africa first became evident with the release of his debut solo record in 2001. Desert Road stylistically explored the African heritage of blues melodic concepts, blurring the line between 20th century America and the timeless Sahara. That same year Adams worked with the breakout world music success Tinariwen, producing their debut record, The Radio Tisdas Sessions. Adams began collaborating with rock legend Robert Plant in 2002, playing on his Grammy-nominated Dreamland record. His relationship with Plant would flourish over the years, as Adams played in his Strange Sensation band and was a co-writer on his 2005 release, Mighty Rearranger. As Adams' reputation as an Afro-crossover super-producer developed, so did his ability to uncover and promote new talent. Adams launched a collaboration with Gambian musician Juldeh Camara, who had been featured on both Tinariwen and Robert Plant projects. The relationship bore fruit in 2007 with the release of joint venture Soul Science. The album earned a BBC World Music Awards nomination for Best Album and enjoyed a lasting presence on /World Music Charts Europe. Adams went on to produce the award-winning Tinariwen's third record, Aman Iman, which was also released in 2007. Two years later the Adams and Camara album Tell No Lies was released by Peter Gabriel's Real World label.
Ben Mandelson-
You've seen him touring as one of Billy Bragg's Blokes. The unassuming man in the yellow shirt and the dark suit, with the Badge of Mustapha on his lapel. The one coaxing ringing notes from the bouzouk and seamless slides from the bügeleiser. Or an instrument of his own invention, the 8-string barizouki.
Or perhaps you're more familiar with his work in world music. As the consultant/director of London-based GlobeStyle Records (a label on Ace Records, established in 1985), he has opened new frontiers for globe-spanning music, with a roster that includes Laver Bariu, Ferus Mustafov, Ofra Haza, Shoukichi Kina, Kadri Gopalnath, Rakoto Frah, and Orquesta Ritmo Oriental. (GlobeStyle Irish has released a series on traditional Irish music that includes selections from Dan Sullivan's Shamrock Band, Hugh Gillespie, and Margaret Barry.) To date, he has worked on at least 99 albums for GlobeStyle.
In the early 1990s, he compiled for GlobeStyle Golden Voices from the Silver Screen, collections of Bollywood music. He has also been involved with the post-production of the compilation, Bosnian Breakdown: The Unpronounceable Beat of Sarajevo (Yugoslavia). In 1992, his production credits included Francisco Ulloa's Ultramerengue.
He has also produced works for numerous international artists, including a recent album by Madagaskar group Tiharea. He and Ian Anderson recorded and mixed Jaojoby's Salegy! album, and is credited for "invaluable assistance" on Freddy De Majunga's Tsinjaka.
In the last few years, he has produced an album by The Uyghur Musicians from Xinjiang. A recent project was the mastering of Malagasy recordings for the all-star Vakoka Project. His work with Malagasy music has also included producing Introducing Shiyani Ngcobo. Also, he produced Yat-Kha's album Re-Covers. Recently, he produced accordionist Chango Spasiuk's Tarefero de mis Pagos, and was lauded by BBC World for displaying "no telltale sign of calculating producer. Ben Mandelson, the man in charge, has no trademark stamp that makes his work instantly recognizeable. Rather, he is the embodiment of the producer as Invisible Man, happiest if you cannot tell that he was even there." For this album, he was nominated for a Latin Grammy in the Producer of the Year category. In 2005, he also produced Czechomor's album, What Happened Next.
He's written the liner notes to albums including Eduardo Durao's Timbila, Bajourou's Big String Theory, and the compilation Mozambique Two.
For a number of years, he was also the director of the annual WOMEX conference on world, roots, folk, ethnic, traditional, and local music. Now he regularly makes presentations at WOMEX and is the award curator. More recently, he has been an "advisor" for the Modal (formerly known as musicalliance) conference. He is also on the jury for the BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music, and was part of their 2005 awards-related roundtable on world music. In addition, he is part of the British Council's Music Advisory Network. In 2005, he served on the jury of the Sayan Ring Festival.
In Christoph Wagner's book on music, Ear and Eye, he contributed the essay "Skiing in Madagascar - Experiences of a Record Producer." This book also includes pieces by Lol Coxhill, Terry Riley, Jah Wobble, and Colin Bass.
Ben's involvement in the world music arena has led to his participation in a number of other events. In October of 1997, he was part of a press conference (organized by Global Music Centre and Star of Africa Association) entitled Music Business and Culture in Developing Countries. He was asked to give "an overview on the music industry in developing countries," and delivered an insightful fifteen-point outline of recording "studio needs" in developing countries.
A summary of an interview On Wor[l]d Music, in which he participated, along with László Távolodó Marton (Magyar Narancs) and musicians Tamás Kobzos Kis, Tamás Szarka (Ghymes) and Jeno Zsigó (Ando Drom), can be found here.
Asked by On to give a "list of albums, EPs, tracks, ideas, overviews, predictions..." here's what he offered.
Ian Anderson of Folk Roots magazine documents Ben's role in the development of "world music." In the March 2001 issue of fRoots, he also conducts an excellent interview of Ben detailing his musical career to date. In July 2003, there is a Root Salad followup in which Ben is asked twelve questions on various topics.
At late folk legend Bob Copper's 85th birthday party was spotted a "well known wearer of the Fez and able assistant to one William Bragg..."
A brief (and inaccurate) bio by Craig Harris can be found in the AMG's All-Music Guide.
In 1997, he and Michael Morris devised Now You Squeeze It: Accordion Heaven on the South Bank.
Lu Edmonds-
Robert ("Lu") Edmonds is a musician, composer, and producer based in London. Since his start in the 1970s as a guitarist for the punk band the Damned, he has been maintaining an active presence as a well-respected artist in a variety of genres. In recent years, he has been best known for his contributions to world music.
Background and Musicianship
Lu was born in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. He acquired the name "Lu" after successfully auditioning for the Damned. After having made his name as a guitarist in the punk and New Wave scenes, he expanded his
oeuvre to include other musical instruments and genres (including folk, roots, world music, jazz, and avant). He has been known to play the guitar, bass, piano/keyboards, bass-pulur, bozok, bouzouk, saz, cümbüş (and its variants: tarbush, tenorbush), ud, darbuka, mazhar, Norwegian flute, tüngür, drums, and bagpipes. He has also learned throat singing. Having taken up the bouzouk and saz (including the electric saz he now uses) in the 1980s, he now also builds his own cümbüşes.
In recent years, Lu has been an active member of a number of bands, including Billy Bragg & the Blokes, the Mekons, the Blue Blokes 3, and Les Triaboliques. He is also a member of Shriekback, and frequently collaborates with jazz soprano saxophonist Lol Coxhill. He has been recording and performing squeaky-bonky acoustic "anti-music" in Raz3, a trio with K-Space's Ken Hyder and Tim Hodgkinson. He and Mark Roberts have also performed with Babar Luck (from King Prawn).
