WOMAD

Malmesbury schoolchildren

19:00 23rd July on the Open Air Stage

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.

Shlomo and the Vocal Orchestra Biography

Shlomo and the Vocal Orchestra are an incredible 8-piece beatbox troupe. They make jaw-dropping music using nothing but their vocal chords - combining intricate beatbox artistry with uncanny vocal renditions of classic tunes, 8-way improvisations and floor-wobbling basslines. In short, a live show the likes of which you will never have seen before

Shlomo is Artist in Residence at London's Southbank Centre, and one of the world's foremost beatbox performers, known for both his solo work and collaborations with stars like Jarvis Cocker, the Mighty Boosh and Martha Wainwright. He can make music with his mouth that you cannot begin to imagine. He has recorded music for the Olympic Games with Björk, appeared on 'Later... with Jools Holland' and performed live on BBC2's coverage of Glastonbury.

In 2007 Shlomo founded the Vocal Orchestra as an experimental choir crossing beatboxers with choral singers to create a new sound. Since its formation, the choir has featured some of the UK's foremost vocal talent, including Grammy-winning a cappella outfit the Swingle Singers, 2008 UK Beatbox Champion MC Zani, leading female beatbox artist Bellatrix, and the Bassment Jaxx front-woman Vula.
In June 2008, Shlomo and the Vocal Orchestra wowed a crowd of over 10,000 at Glastonbury Festival in a unique two-hour collaborative show featuring a guest artists including DJ Yoda, GetCape.WearCape.Fly, Reverend and the Makers, Portico Quartet and Ed Harcourt.
The Vocal Orchestra have developed unique performance techniques referred to as human looping, circle jamming and vocal scratching. Expect a vast range of styles including jazz, funk, Latin, dance music and hip hop.

The show combines spine-tingling vocal harmonies with the heavier, almost inhuman bass sounds of these world class beatboxers - uncanny vocal renditions of classical tunes with intricate improvisations.
It's a sound you won't have heard before. It's pioneering, beautiful, and extremely entertaining.
(Biography supplied by artist management-2009)
The Vocal Orchestra
Shlomo
http://myspace.com/shlomizzle]Click here to sample their sounds

Colores De Mi Tierra Biography

Rhythms, dances and melodies from the Caribbean coast of Colombia ......
sounds of tambores, voices, flutes and guitars that have been passed down
through the generations:

As a small child in Colombia, Euridice learnt the songs and dances of her homeland from her grandmother and, later as a young woman, she toured the world performing with her mother, the Cantadora Totó la Momposina. She now lives in the UK and has founded a family group, Colores, with three of her children, Maria, 19 yrs, Paolo, 15 yrs, and Oriana, 13 yrs - who in turn have learnt from their grandmother Totó, at first as babies listening to her nursery rhymes and percussive workouts, and later performing with her onstage.

Colores also features Colombian musicians Anthar Kharana (voice, flutes and drums) and Camilo Menjura (voice and guitar). Together they seek to preserve and develop the music and dance they have inherited - respecting and caring for a rich culture which has its roots in a mixture of African, Indigenous Indian and European influences, whilst adding a twist of their own. As such, this is a living tradition performed from the heart with energy and joy.
(Biography supplied by artist management 2009)