Of the 762 brass bands I have records of from County Durham, around 130 were colliery bands (and more of them would have been directly connected to the local colliery, even if not specifically named after the mine or mining company). This article looks briefly at the history of the Durham Miners’ Gala and the colliery bands that performed at it.

This is a ‘study of a choir’; the author joined the choir for three months and participated in every aspect, from rehearsals, dinners, a meeting to a gig. They chatted to the members, sang with them and talked to the choir leader and manager about everything from the ethos of the choir, to whether meat was served often enough at dinner. It was the…[Read more]

Brass bands are, of course, musical organisations first and foremost, and the bulk of their heritage is bound up in the hundreds of thousands of concerts, marches, contests and other performances they have provided their audiences with over the years. Very few of these live performances were ever recorded, at least until recent years, and we must…[Read more]

During the 1890s and early parts of the 20th century a type of band arose using kazoo-type instruments. Zobo instruments, based on kazoo principles, were invented and developed in the USA in the early 1890s, rapidly becoming a new craze for a while. When the instruments spread to the UK the bands that were formed using them were largely “comic”…[Read more]

(v9 – August 2019) [c. 6,740 entries] A comprehensive list of books, articles, theses and other material covering the brass band movement, its history, instruments and musicology; together with other related topics

Travelling musicians and entertainers had been a part of European life for centuries. In the German speaking countries of Europe during the German Empire there arose a large number of “Damen Kapellen”, troupes of musical and variety entertainers consisting largely of women, usually led by a man, and occasionally including males as players. Thi…[Read more]

Review of ‘The History of European Jazz: The Music, Musicians and Audience in Context’, ed. by Francesco Martinelli (Sheffield: Equinox, 2018), SAMPLES – Online-Publikationen der Gesellschaft für Popularmusikforschung, 17 (June 2019).
Published online 12 June 2019.

Based on ethnographic research that is part of a larger project on the role of music and sound among migrant Moroccan men in Italy, this article focuses
on ‘L-ḥərraga’, a song that narrates the voyage and the experience of undocumented migration that ends with the tragic death of a young
Moroccan man crossing the Mediterranean. Through ‘L-ḥər…[Read more]

‘L-ʿalwa’, a sung poem whose text recounts the pilgrimage to a saint’s shrine in Morocco, is celebrated for its ability to convey images and emotions stirred up by the sacred journey. As part of the repertory of ʿaita—a genre of sung poetry from the Moroccan plains and plateaus traditionally performed by professional female singer-danc…[Read more]

ʿAiṭa–a genre of sung poetry from the Moroccan Atlantic Plains and its adjacent territories—is regarded as the quintessential expression of the identity of the region. If it is possible to analyse the poetic language of ʿaiṭa in order to understand its significance among these populations, it is also critical to examine how the affective power of…[Read more]

Panorama of scholarly work on women and music in Morocco

The article explores why a particular group of Moroccan musicians conceives of different performances of a sung poem titled “Kharbusha” as unchanging despite variables arising from the dynamics of performance practices. To this end, I explore the seeming discrepancy between discourses about “Kharbusha” and its performance, and what this discrep…[Read more]

The article examines Moroccan professional female singer-dancers (shikhat) in relation to other professional female performers . An analysis of the role that women have as entertainers, and in particular of their behavior in the course of performance, will show how they affect the status of each class of performers. Sketching a panorama of the…[Read more]

‘Aita is a sung poetry practiced by professional female singer-dancers known as shikhat along the Moroccan Atlantic plains and plateaus. By focusing on the discourses and politics employed in the revalorization of the ‘aita, this ethnographic investigation will show how the official incorporation of the ‘aita into the Moroccan heritage has…[Read more]

The article examines Moroccan professional female singer-dancers (shikhat) in relation to other professional female performers . An analysis of the role that women have as entertainers, and in particular of their behavior in the course of performance, will show how they affect the status of each class of performers. Sketching a panorama of the…[Read more]

American college football features an enormous amount of music woven into the fabric of the event, with selections accompanying approximately two-thirds of a game’s plays. Musical selections are controlled by a number of forces, including audio and video technicians, university marketing departments, financial sponsors, and wind bands. These b…[Read more]

Der Artikel behandelt das Dissertationsprojekt des Autors, welches die archäologischen Besiedlungsaktivitäten in einem genau definierten Untersuchungsgebiet im nördlichen (heute niederösterreichischen) Hinterland der ehemaligen römischen Provinz Noricum behandelt.

Robert Kennedy proclaimed, “Except for war, there is nothing in American life which trains a boy better for life than football.” While the sport’s governing bodies are presently distancing themselves from violent connections—altering rules in order to make the game safer for players—football culture remains firmly connected with militaris…[Read more]

Taking the idea of a “radical ethnomusicology” from Ed Emery (2017), I want to expose that the fact there is not a normal academic situation for ethnomusicology in the Balearic Islands it is also an opportunity to develop a radical and transforming scholar field, and I also rise some questions that I believe a radical Catalan ethnomusicology…[Read more]