18:45 20th September – The Tower Festival – The Tower Music Festival –

17:45 20th September – The Tower Festival – The Tower Music Festival –

16:45 20th September – The Tower Festival – The Tower Music Festival –

18:45 19th September – The Tower Festival – The Tower Music Festival –

17:45 19th September – The Tower Festival – The Tower Music Festival –

16:45 19th September – The Tower Festival – The Tower Music Festival –

21:00 20th September – The Tower Festival – The Tower Music Festival –

The Bays have already established a huge following from Glastonbury to Tokyo for their own particular take on improvisation. For The Bays don't write songs, rehearse or make records, instead it's the performance which is the product. They now want to take their work further into the realm of the orchestral ensemble and The Heritage Orchestra is the ideal partner for this creative voyage of discovery. Originally commissioned by Fresh Festival, Music Beyond Mainstream is now taking this special project out on the road. The performance kicks off with The Bays laying down improvised electronic music while John Metcalfe (Duke Quartet / Durutti Column) and Simon Hale compose live parts on laptops for the orchestra in response to what they hear. Conductor Jules Buckley then sends these new scores, via a custom built touch screen network, to the orchestra who will pick up the newly written work and play them instantly, on the fly. Neither the Bays nor the Orchestra know what to expect - in short the whole ensemble is improvising.

The network of screens specially built by AV designer Adam Seaman (Big Chill / Protein Dance Company) extends to a big screen where the audience will be able to witness this ambitious work being created in front of their very eyes, never to be heard or experienced in the same way again.

19:45 20th September – The Tower Festival – The Tower Music Festival –

19:45 19th September – The Tower Festival – The Tower Music Festival –

21:00 19th September – The Tower Festival – The Tower Music Festival –

13:45 24th July – The Saddlespan – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Artist links

• Mim Suleiman on MySpace

14:00 26th July – Taste The World – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

14:45 24th July – Taste The World – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

18:00 26th July – World of Kids – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

15:00 26th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Beatroots, Samba Band and The Fallout Marching Band will be leading this session rehearsing the music for the procession. Anyone who plays a brass instrument should bring it along to this rehearsal and join in with the WOMAD Procession!

19:00 23rd July – Open Air Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

The students of schools in nearby Malmesbury once again grace the big stage to unveil the fruits of their collaborative work with professional musicians, this time Colombia's Colores De Mi Tierra and these shores' best-known beatboxer Shlomo. See page 10 for more on this project.

21:15 23rd July – Open Air Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Ska royalty in the house! Be the envy of your late-arriving pals by skanking the night away to the true ska pioneers. Don't forget, this is the band that, back in ska's most golden years, gave us such big-hitting classics as Guns Of Navarone, Phoenix City and Eastern Standard Time.

Artist links

• The Skatalites on MySpace

20:15 23rd July – Big Red Tent – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

The original Penguin Café Orchestra played at WOMAD's 1985 gathering at Mersea Island and we're delighted that their hypnotic, expansive tunes will once again be echoing across our fields, this time faithfully delivered by this group led by Arthur Jeffes, son of the late founding Penguin Simon Jeffes.

16:00 25th July – The Saddlespan – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Join Oumou and her musicians for an introduction to the traditions of Wassoulou. A journey back to her roots from the outspoken and charismatic 'star of stars' as she is known locally. Not to be missed.

Artist links

• Oumou Sangare on YouTube – Oumou Sangare
• Oumou Sangare on MySpace

16:00 26th July – The Saddlespan – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Sit back, relax and meet renowned soul man of Addis Ababa, Mahmoud Ahmed in conversation with Francis Falceto, creator of the Ethiopiques series on Buda Music, plus guest musicians. An insight into the world of music in Ethiopia, then and now. Host Andy Morgan.

19:15 26th July – Open Air Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Artist links

• Youssou N'Dour et le Super Etoile de Dakar on MySpace

22:00 25th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Put those dance steps to work in some storming Brazilian beats.

22:00 24th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Freestyle Latin dance with a Cuban twist.

11:00 25th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Young and old are invited to join forces in this powerful form of percussion.

22:00 26th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Last chance to check out 'Baille Latino' and dance till you drop.

09:30 26th July – Big Red Tent – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Prepare to meet whatever the day has in store for you with this session of co-ordination and relaxation.

09:30 25th July – Big Red Tent – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Calm moves to head into the second day of the festival.

09:30 26th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

09:30 25th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

09:30 24th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Limber up for the weekend with Edgar and Lydia and their first Iyenger Yoga session of the weekend

17:00 26th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Find out how politics and music combine to produce this powerful and subversive brand of Latin Punk and Ragga-Reggae.

17:30 26th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

The UK's world music godfather presents…

It would be fair - nay, undeniable - to say that Charlie Gillett is no Johnny-come-lately when it comes to the multi-limbed beast that is world music. Way back in 1973, he was spinning Manu Dibango records on his Radio London show and the intervening three-and-a-half decades have seen him cement his position as both broadcasting legend and éminent grise when it comes to the music of distant shores. For today's slot, Charlie will be spinning his favourite discs of the moment, as well as sharing the stage with a number of special guests, including a handful of members of Australia's Black Arm Band and a slimmed-down incarnation of raggle-taggle Euro-folkies 17 Hippies. The latter are a real favourite of Charlie's, a band about whom he's been "getting increasingly anxious that WOMAD audiences should have the chance to share my pleasure and I'm thrilled that the moment has arrived at last".

(Biography by Nige Tassell 2009)

Artist links

• Charlie Gillett on MySpace

18:30 26th July – The Saddlespan – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

20:40 26th July – Siam – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Legendary vibes player and acid jazz icon

Not many of those thousands of performers who've trod the WOMAD boards over the past 27 years can claim to have had three of their songs adopted by a best-selling computer game. Roy Ayers can, a trio of his top tunes being used in various incarnations of Grand Theft Auto. Of course, he's made many much more impressive contributions to popular culture over the years - he's put out in excess of 50 albums in his name; created classic jazz-soul tunes like Everyone Loves The Sunshine and Running Away; was one of the spiritual heroes of the acid jazz movement; has collaborated with everyone from Fela Kuti to Kanye West; and has, of course, been sampled heavily by the hip-hop and R&B generation, most memorably by Mary J Blige, Erykah Badu and A Tribe Called Quest. Now in his late sixties, Roy Ayers retains a very special aura. Come bathe in the glow.

21:40 26th July – Open Air Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

All-star revisiting of Ethiopian music's golden age

In the 12 years since the Buena Vista Social Club record first slipped us a gaze over the parapet, no one world music record has come remotely close to emulating its extraordinary success. A couple of years back, The Very Best Of Ethiopiques compilation gave it a decent go. A double-disc distillation of the impeccable Ethiopiques series devoted to reissuing classic recordings from Addis Ababa's swinging '60s/'70s heyday, it received universally glowing reviews and chalked up none-too-shabby sales figures. Pleasingly, many of those artists featured in the Ethiopiques series are not only still with us but they also needed little encouragement to return to the stage. Artists like Mahmoud Ahmed, the bluesy soulman who tore up WOMAD back in 2005. He's back again this weekend for this mouthwatering revue show, along with fellow luminaries such as Alèmayèhu Eshèté (Ethiopia's answer to James Brown) and super-cool jazzer Gétachèw Mèkurya. Theirs is among the greatest music you'll hear in your entire life. Come give thanks and praise to the creators.

18:00 25th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Catch the charismatic chemistry that this exuberant young troupe bring to the stage. Percussion, vocals, circus skills and fast and furious dance steps tare all on offer.

12:00 25th July – The Saddlespan – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

An introduction to the Caribbean coast of Colombia - two generations of Totó la Momposina's family present cumbia, garabato and rich rhythms with tambores, gaitas, vocals and guitar.

01:15 26th July – Siam – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Super-smooth township jazz from Bulawayo's elder statesmen

"In spite of war, poverty, disease, corruption, cynicism and indifference, there is always a bit of blue sky somewhere." In the light of the country's continually troubled, often bloody recent history, Zimbabwe's music has frequently crackled with optimism and hope - see here those first two impeccable, impossibly bright Bhundu Boys records from the mid-'80s. The Cool Crooners, the celebrated vocal group from Bulawayo, also refuse to dwell on the darkness often engulfing their homeland. Having formed back in the 1950s, these musical elders have always stayed true to the sunshine grooves of township jazz and mbaqanga, the buoyant music that ruled the southern African airwaves in the latter half of the last century. With their enthusiasm for the musical styles of their youth remaining undimmed, the Cool Crooners possess a freewheeling, smooth-cornering sound that can't fail to melt even the coldest, blackest hearts.

(Biography by Nige Tassell 2009)

Artist links

• Cool Crooners on MySpace

16:00 26th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Artist links

• Sarah Savoy & The Francadians on MySpace

19:00 26th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Pick up the pounding rhythms of the classic double headed 'dhol . Johnny will share technique and history of this awesome percussion.

13:00 26th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

11:00 26th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Flex those fingers for some fast and furious rhythms on the djembe.

20:00 26th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Back to the dance floor and a chance to perfect those salsa moves.

18:00 26th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Stunning vocals that are deeply rooted in the Corsican landscape. Immerse yourselves in these ancient polyphonies.

16:00 26th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

High energy dances from the Mandinka people, powered by the pulsating rhythms of the djembe.

14:00 26th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

More sassy moves from the queen of the dance. Take to the floor for a fantastic workout worthy of Brazilian carnival at its best.

Artist links

• Mariana Pinho on MySpace

12:00 26th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Egyptian dance. Explore the skill and technique needed to perform the exquisite moves inherent in this fabulous dance form.

18:45 25th July – Taste The World – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

13:30 25th July – Taste The World – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

19:00 25th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Spend time with this remarkable guitarist and songwriter as he shares the inspirations and influences of his rich Mandingo heritage.

17:00 25th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

15:00 25th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

21:00 25th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Samba Dance - throw yourselves into this flirtatious and exuberant Brazilian dance style circa 21st century.

Artist links

• Mariana Pinho on MySpace

20:00 25th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Egyptian Dance with live percussion- irresistible sensual hip and body movements.

16:00 25th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Rhythm and dance from the master himself. Step up for some serious instruction in these traditional arts of the Mandinka people.

14:00 25th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Explore traditional throat singing of Mongolia with Enkh and amazing mouth harp techniques with Wang Li.

16:45 24th July – Taste The World – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

19:00 24th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Raise your voices in celebration of the rich vocals, music and dance representing the rich Haitian cultural legacy, to be found in Cuba today.

17:00 24th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

15:00 24th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Take up your sticks and enter the world of 'Taiko' drumming. An ancient Japanese art form, bringing together its powerful blend of music and movement.

11:00 24th July – World Rhythms – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Energetic and entrancing music and dance of the Buganda & Busoga people. Engoma, ensaasi, amadinda and endingidi all contribute to this fantastic music.

21:00 24th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Take your partners for some spicy salsa routines.

20:00 24th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

18:00 24th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Classic dance forms from the mandinka culture, driven by the insistent rhythms of the djembe.

16:00 24th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Discover the ancient origins of Kandyan dance, one of the foremost dance forms of Sri Lanka and how it is performed today.

16:00 24th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Discover the ancient origins of Kandyan dance, one of the foremost dance forms of Sri Lanka and how it is performed today.

12:00 24th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Fiery flamenco moves to bring out the gypsy in you (dance)

14:00 24th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

An introduction to Amari traditional singing and dancing. Expect impassioned singing, Massinko playing, shoulder dancing and hand clapping.

Artist links

• Dub Colossus on YouTube – Dub Colossus B & W interview
• Dub Colossus on Twitter
• Dub Colossus on MySpace
• Dub Colossus on iTunes

20:15 25th July – The Saddlespan – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

The delightfully cross-bred sound of Extremadura

Halfway down the border between Spain and Portugal is the autonomous region of Extremadura, homeland of the folk fusion band Acetre. That the region (the location of WOMAD's longstanding Caceres festival, incidentally) is drenched in the culture of both sides of the border is readily apparent from Acetre's music - on songs like Mae Bruxa, the mournfulness we've come to expect from Portuguese fado music is writ large; elsewhere, flamenco's fiery passion heats up tracks like La Danza Del Mostrenco. And from further afield are echoes of North Africa and France, discernible in the respective flourishes of oud and accordion. Atop these splendidly cross-bred creations are the powerful female vocal harmonies, as formidable and undulating as the Extremadura landscape while also strangely reminiscent of those Bulgarian choirs that so thrilled us back in the late '80s.

20:00 24th July – The Saddlespan – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Jazz guitarist retains the local accent

Not too many of this weekend's performers can claim to be qualified architects; Kuwait-born Kamal Musallam can. But the world of balustrades and buttresses failed to hold sufficient allure and led Kamal to trade in his rulers and set squares for the tools of his other clear talent - jazz guitar. Sceptics need not worry, though. Jazz guitar might have attracted something of a reputation for self-indulgent noodling, but Kamal creates propulsive soundscapes that stretch out with ambition. They also avoid being blandly multinational - this isn't a sound that's from everywhere but nowhere in particular. Having recently captivated audiences at WOMAD's inaugural event in the Emirati capital, Kamal makes music that gratifyingly speaks with a local accent with plenty of Arabic and Emirati flourishes. This will be a notably busy performance with 25 musicians on stage, including two other groups - Emirati folk band Sokoor and the soul/jazz/R&B fusion of Abri.

23:00 26th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Traditional Scottish folk of the highest order

In among all the huff and puff about planet-shrinking musical fusions, Deaf Shepherd come at us with all the freshness of a stiff Highland breeze. Never ones to be distracted by the shiny 21st century, this six-piece folk outfit from various nooks and crannies across Scotland keep things unerringly traditional. Not that this is redolent of a lack of ambition, of course. Utilising a near-full gamut of traditional Celtic instruments (bagpipes, whistle, fiddles, bodhran, bouzouki…), they vividly fill a broad canvas, effortlessly shifting up through the gears from the slow majesty of a calming air or ballad to the foot-to-the-floor fury of a hot-octane gig or reel. Despite forming in 1993 and being described by The Scotsman as "quite simply the best folk band Scotland has produced in many a year", south of the border Deaf Shepherd seem to have slipped under the radar somewhat. Now it's time for the secret to be shared.

(Biography by Nige Tassell 2009)

15:00 26th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

The fantastically groovy, cross-bred gypsy sound

The next time you hear a Euro-sceptic politician question just what the EU has ever done for us, point them in the direction of Mec Yek. For the European Community's value isn't merely economic; the free and frank exchange of culture has been much welcome too. Twenty years ago, Mec Yek simply wouldn't have existed - their personnel, spanning the continent's western and eastern reaches, would have been unlikely to have crossed each others' paths. Fronted by a pair of spirited Roma sisters, Mec Yek is the brainchild of Piet Maris, frontman with past WOMAD faves Jaune Toujours. His fascination with Eastern European gypsy culture has culminated in forming this tradition-savvy yet musically adventurous combo, one powered along by accordion, clarinet, double bass and drums. Along the way they've picked up an ever-increasing gaggle of admirers, including fRoots who praised the combination of "earthy traditionalism and hot jazz". Exactly the kind of mongrel sound that the isolationist politicos would hate.

Artist links

• Mec Yek on MySpace

13:00 26th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Anyone for 'Chinagrass'?

Stephen Fry isn't renowned for his appreciation of top-notch music (this is a man who picked Meat Loaf among his Desert Island Discs, after all), but recently he's been regaling his Twitter followers with tales of the pleasure he's had listening to Mamer's debut record, Eagle. "Wonderful" and "astounding" were among the polymath's superlatives. He's absolutely right, of course. It's a record made by a singer-songwriter from the north-west Chinese province of Xinjiang that proves rock'n'roll's renegade spirit has reached the far-flung steppes - indeed, one critic has quite perceptively labelled Mamer "the Lou Reed of the grasslands". Narrated by a deliciously gravel-rough voice, there are still plenty of local touches in there ¬- the Jew's harp, the two-stringed dobra lute - but they've been beautifully matched with echoes of Western folk and bluegrass. Combining traditional and original compositions, the art of Mamer is a bold statement of rural life in 21st-century China. Stephen Fry's cottoned on. Now it's your turn.

23:00 25th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

English folk music's young radical

"If folk song is the music of the people, then it's surely wrong to treat it as 'high art' that should be preserved unchanged. Folk music is low culture." Jim Moray has always caused a stir. When he first appeared on the folk music radar eight or so years back as a self-styled 'techno-traditionalist', he got the goat of the scene's more conservative elements. But then the records began to match the hyperbole - 2003's Sweet England was described by Uncut as "the most significant new development in English folk music since Fairport Convention's Liege & Lief", while last year's Low Culture scooped the uber-prestigious Album Of The Year gong in folk bible fRoots. But it's never radicalism for radicalism's sake. Jim picks his moves carefully, updating the tradition with restraint, whether it's transforming XTC's All The Pretty Girls into a multi-voiced sea shanty or delivering the first folk/grime crossover in Lucy Wan.

20:15 25th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

The ecstatic sound of Rajasthan's deserts

The music that blows in from desert lands is often slightly detached but, at least to ears that live under grey northern European skies, thrillingly exotic. While never remotely aloof, the sound of the Dhoad Gypsies, residents of Rajasthan's wild Thar Desert, really does provide those exotic thrills. Due to play at last year's Charlton Park gathering before they were entrapped by unforgiving red tape, the gypsies' performance this weekend will surely prove to have been worth the 12-month wait. A whirling, swirling exposition of the region's traditions, it promises to be an aural and visual feast. Tablas are tickled, harmoniums are caressed and mouth harps show their remarkable and surprising versatility, while several of the collective demonstrate they're no slouches in the dancing department either. Their songs praise their ancestors' heroic and selfless deeds, ensuring their music reaches glorious heights. Ecstatic, exuberant and rarely less than excellent.

17:30 25th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Baaba Maal sideman claims his share of the limelight

Sometimes the loyal foot soldiers can rise up through the ranks and earn a stripe or two for their own sleeve. So it was for Malick Pathé Sow, for many years the faithful sideman to Senegalese icon Baaba Maal but who, on moving to Belgium, stepped up the mic himself. Ever mindful of the traditional musician's responsibilities as both caretaker and librarian of centuries-old oral traditions, Malick's songs resonate with the theme of preservation - of language, of culture, of the environment. His music, particularly that showcased on his last, all-acoustic record Maayo Men, has a calm, timeless presence about it. Indeed - issues of technology aside - the soothing ensemble sound of guitar, hoddu lute, kora and nianiooru violin could surely have been recorded at any point in the last few centuries. As The Observer so rightfully called it, Malick "weaves a web of acoustic entrapment so subtle that it's a pleasure to get trapped in it".

Artist links

• Malick Pathé Sow on MySpace

15:00 25th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Azerbaijan's singing star-in-waiting

There's no doubting that the collective gaze of Europe's world music aficionados favours certain countries and regions of the world over others. West Africa, for instance, has enjoyed prolonged time in the sun - being able to tell our Tourés from our Diabatés is a pretty straightforward task. Other places remain largely cloaked in musical mystery, among them Azerbaijan. The Kronos Quartet-collaborating singer Alim Qasimov is the country's most visible musical export and another singer, Gochaq Askerov, seems sure to follow. A generation younger than Alim, Gochaq was featured heavily in the Radio 3 documentary Lucy Duran made last year on Azerbaijani music. Backed by centuries-old instrumentation, his voice makes a plaintive and lonesome sound. Indeed, despite the distance between their homelands, it rides the undulating air currents in a manner that recalls the late, great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Over the past 27 years of WOMAD, we've encountered plenty of truly astonishing singers. Add one more to the list.

12:00 25th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

West Africa's next folk-hero-in-waiting

If the name of Victor Démé has yet to register on your cultural radar, that's not your fault - it's more to do with the limited hand dealt to this singer-songwriter. Now, at the age of 45, he's finally got around to cutting his first-ever record and the world's ready to listen. Imbued with a clean yet mournful guitar style, it's Victor's voice that makes the deepest impression, a bluesy rasp pulling with it a seriously soulful undertow. But, despite the proximity of his native Burkina Faso to the musical powerhouse of Mali, he doesn't sound remotely close to his brothers across the border; the discernible Latin tinge would otherwise suggest he was from one of the Lusaphone African nations. There are even audible echoes of another late-blooming troubadour, Ted Hawkins. Victor Démé, in his modest, unobtrusive way, could well be one of the hits of this weekend. Just don't forget who sent you in his direction.

23:00 24th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Welcome a 24-carat bhangra icon

It's the equivalent of welcoming Paul McCartney or BB King to the WOMAD stage. Channi Singh is a bhangra music godfather, not only a man whose voice is instantly recognisable to hundreds of thousands of fans in both the UK and India, but a singer who - fronting the mighty band Alaap - played a sizeable role in advancing bhangra from its origins as the music of Punjabi farmers. During the '80s, Alaap were one of the bands in the forefront of modernising bhangra by introducing synthesizers and drum kits, in the process connecting second- and third-generation British Asians to the culture of their forefathers. Alaap were astonishingly successful, achieving six-figure sales but avoiding chart exposure, largely because these sales weren't made through the mainstream high-street chains. No matter - their cultural impact was huge nonetheless. As Radio 1's Bobby Friction tells us, the music of Alaap was "the soundtrack to my youth".

20:00 24th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

The fast and furious massed strings of rural Colombia

It's Stetson o'clock! As well as being the preferred headwear of other artists playing today (specifically Eliades Ochoa and Solomon Burke), the Stetson is also favoured by the male members of Cimarron, ensuring it's not just the preserve of them there country singers. Cimarron wear theirs with authority too; hailing from the cattle-rearing region of Llanos Orientales, they're ambassadors for joropo, festive dance music that's long on energy and intensity. Recent collaborators with the wonderful Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, their virtuosity is dazzling, their combined fingers a blur as they fiercely pluck and strum a variety of stringed instruments, among them harp, bandola and cuatro. Topped with delightful female vocals, Cimarron offer a rare glimpse into the music of Colombia's rural heartland, sounds that so often get drowned out by the country's more familiar cumbia and salsa. And hats off to them for that…

17:45 24th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Legendary reggae producer takes centre stage

Even though he's never achieved household-name status, you'd need to chop down several trees to print out Dennis Bovell's CV. Barbadian by birth, he's simply one of the most significant figures in the history of British reggae, a producer/bandleader whose achievements are great and many. He was co-founder of Matumbi, the grossly under-rated band who once knocked spots off the band they were supporting (some outfit called The Wailers). He was an early adopter of dub and his sound-system would become a big influence on the likes of Adrian Sherwood and Mad Professor. He was the long-time musical ears behind Linton Kwesi Johnson, producing many of the poet's albums, including the classic Forces Of Victory. And he's been the knob-twiddler of numerous records from beyond reggae's boundaries - those by The Slits, The Pop Group, Fela Kuti, Orange Juice, Madness and (whisper it) Bananarama. Dennis Bovell is a tragically under-acknowledged legend. Now make up for lost time.

Artist links

• Dennis Bovell Dub Band on MySpace

15:45 24th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Fabulously agile Malagasy guitarist

Such is the abundance of unique flora and fauna to be found on Madagascar that ecologists have referred to the sizeable Indian Ocean island as the 'eight continent'. Musicologists might well agree. The island's distinctive musical identity separates it from both mainland Africa and the rest of the planet, even when its musicians are playing an instrument as familiar as the acoustic guitar. This is Nogabe Randriaharimalala's weapon of choice and he makes it sound unlike it does anywhere else. Its spotless, bell-clear tone is matched by a dazzling agility and liquidity that a million bedroom singer-songwriters could only dream of. But, however distinctive his sound, Nogabe doesn't feel the weight of protecting Malagasy music from outside influence. He's spent a large amount of time in various Asian countries and currently calls London home, where he's collaborated extensively with the capital's community of ex-pat African musicians. Never mind what those ecologists say - Nogabe Randriaharimalala sees the world as one big continent.

Artist links

• Nogabe Randriaharimalala on MySpace

14:15 24th July – BBC Radio 3 Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Your next favourite folk-jazz chanteuse

Spoiler alert! We firmly predict that, in a matter of a few short months, a large portion of the Western world will know all about Hindi Zahra. Why? Because the music of this young Parisienne just screams 'crossover', a dinner party-friendly union of easy-squeeze folk and jazz. Its appeal is in the combination of uncluttered arrangements and Hindi's gorgeous voice, an instrument in itself that's hushed and mellifluous, prompting obvious comparisons with Billie Holiday. But this light and summery sound mustn't be underplayed; Hindi also occasionally draws on hip-hop and her North African Berber roots to give her music extra depth. There's the odd shot of tango in there too - indeed, her most famous tune thus far is Beautiful Tango which may have seeped into your consciousness via an NFU Mutual TV ad. Not that she's in need of an insurance policy herself - her future success is a given.

13:00 26th July – Big Red Tent – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

All-singing, all-dancing celebration of the southern African spirit

Back in 1980, the BBC series Great Railway Journeys devoted an episode to tracing the steps of Cecil Rhodes by putting historian Michael Wood aboard the Zambezi Express as it puffed its way north from Cape Town through the newly independent Zimbabwe up to the mighty Victoria Falls. Almost three decades on, the Zambezi Express gracing Charlton Park this weekend is a somewhat more boisterous expedition. Featuring 30 performers from the Siyaya dance and circus company from Bulawayo, this performance will be a distillation of the highlights from the longer Zambezi Express live show currently touring the UK. Focusing on the story of a young footballer who attempts to avoid a life in Zimbabwe's mines by becoming a global soccer star (first stop: South Africa aboard the titular train), this is an exuberant and joyful exposition of Zulu dancing, township jazz and exceptional circus skills.

13:00 25th July – Big Red Tent – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

All-singing, all-dancing celebration of the southern African spirit

Back in 1980, the BBC series Great Railway Journeys devoted an episode to tracing the steps of Cecil Rhodes by putting historian Michael Wood aboard the Zambezi Express as it puffed its way north from Cape Town through the newly independent Zimbabwe up to the mighty Victoria Falls. Almost three decades on, the Zambezi Express gracing Charlton Park this weekend is a somewhat more boisterous expedition. Featuring 30 performers from the Siyaya dance and circus company from Bulawayo, this performance will be a distillation of the highlights from the longer Zambezi Express live show currently touring the UK. Focusing on the story of a young footballer who attempts to avoid a life in Zimbabwe's mines by becoming a global soccer star (first stop: South Africa aboard the titular train), this is an exuberant and joyful exposition of Zulu dancing, township jazz and exceptional circus skills.

21:30 26th July – Big Red Tent – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Right about now, the Scottish funk-soul brother

When the DJ Keb Darge announces that "there's nothing better than playing a classic soul track and knowing that half the people in the room have never heard it before", he's not in the slightest being elitist. For Scotsman Keb is the opposite - someone who takes a machete to bullshit and one-upmanship. The delight for him is that he's spreading the word to the uninitiated, opening up new musical horizons rather than allowing it to become the preserve of a snobbish elite. Keb's formidable worldwide reputation has been forged through his much-respected compilation series and club night, both rejoicing in the name Legendary Deep Funk. "I generally play 50% deep funk, 30% soul, 10% Northern soul, 5% bopping blues and 5% new releases," he declares, "music that enriches the soul. Things that give people the experience of music which the soul scene takes for granted."

21:30 25th July – Open Air Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

17:00 26th July – Big Red Tent – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

The Spanish funk soul brothers (and sister)

In the annals of soul and funk, there's no index listing for the city of Madrid. That may just be about to change - if its authors cup their collective ear southwards in the direction of The Sweet Vandals, that is. The Spanish equivalent of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, this is a band who despite - or perhaps because of - nationality, work hard at authenticity, at channelling that classic sound of vintage soul and funk. Language barriers aren't an issue. As they themselves declare, "we speak music". And what music. Operating at the end of the soul spectrum that's far from squeaky clean, their sound is greasy, gritty and raw as an uncooked two-bit steak. Unapologetically retro, the band are fired along by elastic basslines, limb-shifting rhythm guitar and streaky Hammond organ. And then there's Mayka Edjole, a frontwoman whose vocals take total, total command as they sweep and soar, leaving not a soul unmoved.

14:00 26th July – Siam – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Live jazz-rock meets urban dance moves

If ever there was an outfit that upheld WOMAD's original creed (the 'M' is for music and the 'D' is for dance, after all), it's France's Styl'O'Styl. Divided equally between musicians laying down improvisational jazz-rock grooves and loose-limbed hip-hop dancers, their performances are always feasts for both ear and eye, as avant-garde as they are acrobatic. Their turn at Breakin' Convention, Sadler's Wells' recent celebration of urban dance, prompted The Independent's dance correspondent to praise their stylish brand of "Left-Bank existentialist hip-hop". While geographically incorrect (they hail from the Alpine city of Grenoble rather than Paris), it's a description that still serves them very well. There are certainly some very Gallic qualities about their performance, from the effortlessly cool and tidy grooves the three musicians set down to the dancers' rather impeccable choice of sweaters. Vive la difference!

12:00 26th July – Siam – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Top-drawer Cajun sounds - with added rockabilly swagger

The Cajun music tradition is one of the most protected species in American roots music, a heritage handed down through generations and along the branches of the family tree. It was therefore something of a given that Sarah Savoy would follow the family trade - Pop is Marc Savoy, the eminent musician and the leading accordion maker in Louisiana, while Mom is Ann Savoy, another acclaimed musician and the author of Cajun Music: A Reflection Of A People. Not that young Sarah is merely the current caretaker of a trapped-in-amber tradition. Although her band is undeniably a Cajun outfit (plenty of mournful fiddle and wheezing accordion), she also occasionally injects her sound with the twang of Western swing and the strut of rockabilly. The result is a winning lesson in how to freshen up a tradition while keeping a firm grasp of its roots.

Artist links

• Sarah Savoy & The Francadians on MySpace

21:30 25th July – Big Red Tent – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Latin percussion don on the wheels of steel

He bills himself as "the UK ambassador of Afro-Cuban jazz" and, quite frankly, he's right - no-one else comes close to Snowboy. And his approach has always been two-pronged, whether as the hard-palmed conga player leading his own band or as the club DJ armed with both a record box full of goodies and an encyclopaedic mind crammed with black music history. We're getting the latter incarnation this weekend and, not to put too fine a point on it, it'll be a bloody treat. Drawing from his 30,000-strong vinyl collection, Snowboy's sets behind the decks are wide and plentiful, dipping into jazz, Latin, funk, soul and all points in between. As Blues & Soul magazine so neatly said it, the man is "so interwoven into our black music scene, it would take micro-surgery to remove him". Having filled dancefloors from Singapore to Sweden, Belgium to Bangkok, right now it's the turn of our particular corner of north Wiltshire to welcome the bequiffed one.

17:00 25th July – Big Red Tent – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Indie supergroup reach for dub and hip-hop

"I was feeling disillusioned with the music industry. It is inevitably controlled by rich privileged white men whose taste in music is very conservative and it's hard to progress." Having announced his retirement from music in 2008, Reverend And The Makers frontman Jon McClure made a dramatic U-turn at the start of this year when he unveiled his new project Mongrel. Featuring half-Iraqi rapper Lowkey as well as alumni from both Babyshambles and Arctic Monkeys, their album Better Than Heavy was something of a departure, not only in its means of distribution (it was given away free with The Independent), but also in its stylings. A politically acute missive drawing heavily from hip-hop and dub, it tackled the iniquities and dislocation of post-millennial life while never forgetting that a decent tune is still king. "We are a band making true rebel music at a time when it's needed most," McClure declares with customary bravado. "We are the brave ones."

18:00 25th July – Siam – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Gotan Project man pops over the Andes

As one third of the splendid Gotan Project, Christoph H Müller helped jumpstart the tango tradition for the 21st century by marrying it to smooth-cornering electronica, in the process gaining seven-figure success for their La Revancha Del Tango masterpiece. Having swapped the music of Argentina for that of Peru, his new project Radiokijada could go some way to repeating the feat. In collaboration with the Peruvian musician Rodolfo Muñoz, a man who wields all manner of indigenous percussion (the kijada of their name is an instrument fashioned from a donkey's jawbone), it's another unlikely but winning amalgam of the organic and the electronic. Müller's programming is sturdy yet unobtrusive, the folk sounds of Peru's under-exposed traditions always allowed to take centre stage. The pair's debut long-player, Nuevos Sonidos Afro Peruanos, has been on the receiving end of a slew of rave reviews, its joyful qualities causing The Observer's Charlie Gillett to praise its "uninhibited and celebratory" attributes.

16:00 25th July – Siam – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Wintry ballads, divine harmonies and a little tap dancing. What's not to like?

As the planet-shrinking 21st century gathers apace, you wouldn't have thought that four young women from the wintry depths of Northumbria - singing in undisguised Geordie accents and backed simply by piano and violin, with rhythm provided by a tap-dancing member - could possibly hope for even the slightest success. Yet success is what's arrived by the tonnage over the past couple of years for Rachel Unthank & The Winterset. Although their ascending star received a turbo boost after their last record - the utterly divine The Bairns - was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, the list of those beguiled by their spare, austere ballads was already lengthy, among them Robert Wyatt, Kate Rusby and Phill Jupitus. But... this is quite possibly the last time they will be performing this material in their current incarnation. With a new record imminent, the four-piece will not only expanding significantly, they're also changing their name and bringing their sound in the cold. So, this is - sort of - the last chance to see. Don't miss it.

12:00 25th July – Siam – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

The sunshine sound of steel-pan

There are a few instruments that, within a single note or two, transport you to a particular location on this spinning globe of ours - the flickering strings of the kora take us to West Africa, while the desert-dry oud is the signature sound of the Arab world. The steel drum (or pan) delivers us directly to the island of Trinidad at the Caribbean's southern tip, specifically a couple of days before Ash Wednesday - carnival time! Of course, the steelpan tradition isn't just an island thing; it's upheld far afield, including the rather more prosaic Thames Valley. RASPO are the region's steelpan ambassadors, their massed - and youthful - ranks an energetic, open-eared bunch who are as likely to beat out a medley of Jackson 5 hits as they are to revisit a more obvious repertoire of Trinidadian calypso tunes. Prepare to shake your body down to the ground...

17:00 25th July – Open Air Stage – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

The fresh prince of Algerian chaabi

The offspring of the musically famous often suffer greatly by comparison with their celebrated parents. Just ask Julian Lennon. Kamel El Harrachi is a man with some big boots to fill. His father was Dahmane El Harrachi, the much-loved chaabi singer whose lasting legacy following his death in a car crash in 1980 was the song Ya Rayah, the North African anthem later adopted with great purpose by Rachid Taha. The absolute spit of his father, young Kamel hasn't shirked the challenge of upholding the family name, nor has he opted to take a markedly different road to that of El Harrachi senior. The purveyor of lean, spirited chaabi, Kamel's debut record - released this May - is an unashamed homage to his Pop as well as being a rootsy showcase for his unshowy yet gripping vocals. Recently touring France in support of the mighty Khaled, Kamel El Harrachi has got the chaabi throne in his sights. Dad would be most certainly be proud.

14:45 24th July – Big Red Tent – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

Cuban by name, Haitian by style…

Don't let their name deceive you. Yes, their vocation is choral music and, yes, they arrive here on wings of song from the musically abundant island of Cuba. But these massed voices are largely recalling and celebrating the musical traditions of the neighbouring isle of Hispaniola, in particular the half known as Haiti. It's estimated that close to a million people living in Cuba are actually of Haitian descent, their ancestors having migrated there either to flee slavery back in their homeland or to work the Cuban sugar plantations. And, of course, they brought their culture with them - for the purposes of the Creole Choir Of Cuba, this means the Haitian music and dance traditions of the past few centuries. Faithfully reproducing the moves and melodies that have been bequeathed from generation to generation (and accompanied by authentic percussion), the choir will be giving a seriously stirring history lesson.

13:45 24th July – Siam – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

The fast and furious massed strings of rural Colombia

It's Stetson o'clock! As well as being the preferred headwear of other artists playing today (specifically Eliades Ochoa and Solomon Burke), the Stetson is also favoured by the male members of Cimarron, ensuring it's not just the preserve of them there country singers. Cimarron wear theirs with authority too; hailing from the cattle-rearing region of Llanos Orientales, they're ambassadors for joropo, festive dance music that's long on energy and intensity. Recent collaborators with the wonderful Welsh harpist Catrin Finch, their virtuosity is dazzling, their combined fingers a blur as they fiercely pluck and strum a variety of stringed instruments, among them harp, bandola and cuatro. Topped with delightful female vocals, Cimarron offer a rare glimpse into the music of Colombia's rural heartland, sounds that so often get drowned out by the country's more familiar cumbia and salsa. And hats off to them for that…

12:00 25th July – All Singing, All Dancing – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

21:30 24th July – Big Red Tent – WOMAD Charlton Park – Europe

One half of Smith & Mighty, plus Tricky-approved MC

In Bristol - a city where music is a major occupation - there can't be a musician with a longer, more impressive CV than Rob Smith. One of the founding fathers of the bass-heavy Bristol Sound that would bequeath the likes of award-bothering outfits like Massive Attack, Portishead, Tricky and Roni Size, as one half of the Smith & Mighty production tag team he can probably be recognised the most influential musical character the city has ever produced. Moving with the times through dub and drum & bass, in recent years the arrival of dubstep has created a new avenue for his sonic creations that come out under his RSD moniker. "Dubstep is comparable to the excitement of the jungle movement in the early '90s," he enthuses, "but with a broader scope of styles, sounds and attitudes." For this weekend, he's joined by Joe Peng, a much-admired Bristol MC who's signed to Tricky's Brownpunk label.