Världens Band
Album: Transglobal Roots Fusion
Label: Nataraj
Tracks: 7
Website: http://varldensband.com/

The Världens Band were my highlight of Musicport 2014 and, judging by the (thankfully!) answered pleas for their return to the festival in 2015, many other people's too. Fourteen musicians from 7 countries across three continents would usually flag up a warning in many music lovers' minds, including my own. Such is the skill, enthusiasm and sheer joyfulness of these young musicians, however, that they manage to transcend their national boundaries to create a cross cultural whirlwind that simply has to be experienced.

Getting this energy and inventiveness down onto a studio based CD was never going to be easy. Unfortunately I haven't yet heard their earlier live CD so I can only compare this to the sets I have seen them perform. Whilst the visual element and frisson of excitement associated with their live performance is inevitably missing there remains much here to enjoy. Inspired combinations of instruments, voices, rhythms and melodies hold the interest throughout.

From guitar accompanying Indian classical songs to Galician pipes playing Eastern European tunes to African/Mediterranean mash ups there is a breathless succession of ideas delivered with commitment and passion. Unsurprisingly, given that the band is based in Sweden, there is a strong Scandanavian feel to some of the tracks but that is certainly something I don't have any argument with!

The highlight of the CD though, is the medley of the beautifully contemplative Govan and Kevin O'Neill's Superfly. The first tune and the start of the second are played fairly 'straight' but as the track progresses Eastern vocals provide a new dimension to the previously exclusively Celtic soundworld. Magnificent!

My one disappointment with this CD is that it feels, at forty minutes, just a little too short. I am, however, prepared to overlook that on the basis that forty minutes of outstanding music is better than an hour of something much less engaging.

Perhaps as important as the quality of the music, however, is the lesson that the band, by its very existence and the quality of what it creates, teaches us. Great things can be achieved when we work together rather than against each other. Perhaps some of our own and other nations' politicians should listen to, and learn from, the Världens Band?

Joe Grint