BCUC + Meridian Brothers

BCUC + Meridian Brothers

BCUC (ZA)

Jovi, lead vocals – Hloni, backing vocals – Kgomotso, backing vocals – Luja, bass drum, backing vocals – Skhumbuzo, marching/bass drum – Cheeks, congas – Mosebetsi, bass

DG veterans will have their own best-of lists, some of which might run to several pages – after all, the festival has been running for more years than many care to remember. But we’re betting that more than one or two will have BCUC in 2019 at the very top. Coming a month before a career-defining appearance at Glastonbury, it was quite simply the fiercest, most musically committed gig many of us had ever seen. This seven-piece from Soweto have been called a punk band, which probably covers about half of it; you’re just as likely to groove on their singular take on South African community acapella, their clear love of hip hop, Kgomotso’s gorgeously soulful voice, Mosebetsi’s brilliant bass (equal parts Tina Weymouth and Bootsy Collins) or the heavy psychedelic funk that engulfs the whole. With a growing number of people wondering whether they might currently be the best live band in the world, we can’t wait for a repeat. For Maribor 19 read Tabor 23. Let’s go again, people.

MERIDIAN BROTHERS (CO)

María Valencia, woodwind, percussion, keyboards – Eblis Álvarez, vocals, guitar, bandleader –Alejandro Forero, keyboards – César Quevedo, bass – Mauricio Ramírez, drums – Alejandro Larrahondo, sound

The musical career of Meridian Brothers is a textbook example of how to bring music to a global audience ­– and how to become a cult band that does not seek to make music by genre but by putting originality and a bold, inventive stage presence to the fore. For that you need to know what you’re doing; happily, bandleader Eblis Álvarez, whose knowledge of the history of traditional Caribbean music is second to none, certainly does. After completing his studies in Bogota in 1998, he soon found himself at the centre of the ‘neo-tropicalista’ movement. Twenty-five years on, such beacons of good taste as The New York Times and The Guardian are lining up to sing Meridian Brothers’ praises. Álvarez, who will also be familiar to Druga Godba audiences from his appearance with Los Pirañas in 2018, has helped birth a maverick experimental music that is equally welcomed by mainstream audiences. Little wonder, then, that he has attained god-like status on the wildly adventurous Colombian scene.

39th International Druga Godba Festival | 22–30 May 2023, Ljubljana

BCUC (ZA) / DAMON LOCKS & KEN VANDERMARK (US) / ESINAM & SIBUSILE XABA (BE/ZA) / FAIZAL MOSTRIXX (UG) / HARI VIDERCI (AT) / HARMELOGIC (SI) / KADINELIA (GR) / KIKI (SI) / LA CHICA (FR/VE) / LILIANE CHLELA (CA/LE) / MARIZA (PT) / MERIDIAN BROTHERS (CO) / RAÜL REFREE & MARIA MAZZOTTA (ES/IT) / POIL UEDA (FR/JP) / SPIRAL MIND (SI) / SUDAN ARCHIVES (US) / TARTA RELENA (ES) / TEIS SEMEY QUINTET (DK/NL) / VIEUX FARKA TOURE (ML) / ZAJTRK (SI)

Festival ticket: EUR 48