Music / salsa
Bristol’s month in World Music – January 2025
It’s a gentle start to 2025 – a year where we sadly have no WOMAD festival to look forward to – but January certainly gathers momentum towards the end of the month.
For Bristol’s energetic salseros and salseras the annual Salsa Congress (Trinity, January 10-12) is an exhausting weekend. The programme includes masterclasses, concerts and parties also covering mambo, cha-cha, bachata and other Latin (and Afro-Latin) dance styles.
Friday night’s concert programme includes the Bristol Salsa Orchestra, Italian salsa band La Maxima 79 and Barcelona-based Salsa Dura big band Tromboranga and the Saturday party goes on till 5am.
For equally energetic Latin action on a smaller scale, however, The Bell (Wednesday, 8) has salsa-jazz quartet Starlings while Canteen offers cool cumbia from Zubieta & The Suaves (Wednesday, 22), the high-energy Afro-Brazilian outfit Soma Soma (Friday, 31) and, of course, the Canteen Latin Session (Wednesday, 15).
Mr Wolf’s round the month off with Mad Apple Circus’ dance-friendly ska-Latin fusion (Friday, 31) but possibly the most intriguing gig will be at the Jam Jar (Wednesday, 23) when DJ/producer El Brúho mixes South American folk sources with stylish electronic beats and laconic cumbia grooves.
The Jam Jar also hosts Tanzanian mother and daughter duo Zawose Queens and their band (Friday, 17) whose utterly infectious East African beats and assured stagecraft charmed last year’s Glastonbury Festival.
The Beacon welcomes back Nigerian superstars Femi Kuti and the Positive Force (Thursday, 23), very much keeping the flame of Afrobeat burning brightly in the manner of Femi’s dad Fela.
Raz and Afla’s more updated form of the music is at Jam Jar (Friday, 31), bringing contemporary electronic sound and beats into the mix.
Over at The Bell (Monday, 27) you can catch composer/electronics wizz Ross Hughes with his new project inspired by Ethiopian dance music – so new a project that we aren’t yet sure what it’s called.
Reggae-wise, long-established Czech band CCTV All Stars bring their jazzier end of the reggae spectrum to Mr Wolf’s (Saturday, 4), Chai Wallahs present They Say Jump’s brand of electro-ska (Mr Wolf’s, Thursday, 30) and Gringo Ska’s instrumental rocksteady and ska will rock The Bell (Wednesday, 22).
Soulful vocals front Mizizi’s rootsier reggae sound (Canteen, Saturday 11) but for the deepest of deep reggae roots it has to be Teachings In Dub (Trinity, Friday 31) this time featuring King Original Soundsystem with guests Dub Judah and Kibir la Amlak (aka KLA).
Also on the last day of the month, the Cotham Club welcomes the unique Indo-jazz of Shephali Frost Ensemble (Cotham Parish Church, Friday 31), with Shephali’s vocal take on South Asian singing traditions seamlessly merged into a contemporary jazz sound.
Main image: Starlings
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