Best Foot Music
Best Foot Music is an ongoing project which documents and promotes musicians who have come to the UK from other regions in the World .
In the left hand column you can see the bands we are working with.
Click on a band to see their album and listen to them on this page. Click the top right "Profile" button to go to a bands individual page for information and downloads. Some are free, some you have to pay for (all money goes directly to the bands) It would really help us if you added us as friends or "like" on our face book pages.
If you have a similar or related project, send us a link and we will post you on here - its all about sharing!
Thanks from everyone involved at Best Foot Music.
London Hidrellez Festival- Refugee Radio Poetry
- Pollacky
- Miscek, Robert & Artek
- Lithuanian Recordings 24/11 - 2/12/12
- Gypsy Stars & Johnny Roma, Live
- Marysia Band_Dom/Home
- Free sampler album
- Anielskie kolędowanie
- Anna Lazareva
- Brighton Hove Russian Choir
- Gypsy Stars
- Heval Akram
- J.B.Band
- Joanna Dziecielska
- Jo Ema (Violin & Accordion duet)
- Marysia Band
- Nadie Somos
- Piwnica pod Aniolami
- Planet Gnawa
- Roma Johnny Band
- Robert Gabor
- Roma family (Poland 1980s)
- Romanian Brass Band
- Band Interviews
- YouTube
- SoundCloud
- Flickr
- Twitter
- Like / follow us on Facebook
- Freind us on Facebook
- Best Foot Gigs
- Contact/Join Mailing list
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BuyThese recordings are from a poetry evening organised by Refugee Radio. The introduction is by Steve Sillwood, chief executive of the project. The poets are; Jade Amoli Jackson (Followed by Tom Green, reading some of her work. For more information on Toms work; www.counterpointarts.org.uk) Jade is about to publish her first book. She is a poet from Uganda and a long-time volunteer with the Refugee Council. Kate Adams Kate has recently published her collection, The Cheering Rain, about her work visiting refugees in detention for Kent Refugee Help: http://conversationpoetry.co.uk/pamphlets/the-cheering-rain/ Osama Ahmadani Osama is a peace campaigner and volunteer with refugee charities in Brighton. His work has been featured on Refugee Radio Zewa and Heval Zewa and Heval are two young Kurdish musicians. Heval was a member of the legendary Refugee Radio Orchestra. Al Saddiq Al Raddi Al-Saddiq Al-Radd has published several collections and is best known for Poem of the Nile. He has been featured in the Times Literary Supplement, the London Review of Books and Poetry Review: http://www.poetrytranslation.org/poets/al-saddiq_al-raddi For more information on Refugee radio visit https://www.facebook.com/pages/Refugee-Radio/154218564646974 http://www.refugeeradio.org.uk/ Thanks to everyone involved in the evening and at Refugee Radio for an excellent evening.
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BuyPollacky are two musicians with lots of years onstage experience. Originally from Poland, now living in Crawley UK. Norbi Halicki (Vocals) and Marcin Szymczyk (Piano) play popular Polish songs and some international hits. Norbi is a professional singer who has truly grabbed the attention of listeners when they play live. He has studied vocals for several years and sung with some well know Polish stars, his voice is warm and full of positive vibrancy. Marcin is a professional musician, who has taught music for over 6 years in primary and secondary schools in Crawley. He has an MA in Piano and Jazz vocal. Together the duet make fantastic music under the name Pollacky.
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BuyThese recordings where made in February 2013. Miscek and Artek are brothers. Miscek lives in Manchester and Artek in Poland. He was in the UK to play a Roma wedding and visit friends and family. Robert is a regular Violin player with Gypsy Stars as well as having his own act. I'd been with Robert and some of Gypsy Stars recording on Saturday. On Sunday Miscek and Artek turned up having played the wedding the night before. They'd come straight from the wedding in high spirits, having not slept and partying for a couple of days. We had some food, topped up the Vodka and made these recordings. The guys where at the tail end of a long party; but their musical skill and enjoyment of playing shines through.
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BuyThis is the band Dainava - a folk music and dance group from Alytus, Lithuania. They where established by Danute Plytnikiene in 1977. There are around 100 members - dancers, instrument players and vocalists. this recording is made with a portable hand held recorder at their 35 anniversary concert in Alytus. They are still run by Danute. It was a really special evening, the concert was followed by dinner and everyone dancing. the next day I went with Valerijus to see Danute in her office, and we discussed bringing the band to the UK in Summer 2013. She also filled us with delicious cake and was a pleasure to meet. For more info go to; - 24 tracks
BuyOne evening in Alytus we went with Tomek and Valerijus to visit their friend Rimus. All three had known each other since they where kids and had grown up in the same block in one of Alytus's Soviet era housing estates. Since the collapse of the Soviet union, Rimus has set up his own leather goods company and sells all over Lithuania. Tomek works in politics and Valerijus moved to the UK, where he started Eastern Stream Association (An umbrella organisation in Crawley for the various East European communities in the area). The songs are a mixture of old and new - some traditional, some modern - for example some are about time spent in the Russian army. Some are sung in Russian and some in Lithuanian. I'd never intended to make any recordings when we went to visit - originally we where invited to see Rimus and his family's new private house. As is often the case when visiting a lot of East European homes, the hospitality was generous - the table was piled with sausage, breads, biscuits, pickles and later in the evening fried Carp. All washed down with various spirits - including some of Rimus's home made vodka and brandy. After a bit of chatting and a tour of the house and Rimus's leather workshop, the guys sat down and had an impromptu sing - these are the results.
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BuyBoth these bands are Romani (Gypsy) musicians originally from Poland, now living in the UK. The bands have existed and played together in different guises for several generations, as the older musicians have retired, new younger members have joined, they are all family and friends. The music and culture is passed down through generations. This is a live recording from St Ethelburgas Centre for Reconciliation and Peace. The Music concerts at the venue are organised by Wallee McDonnell. We've included his introduction to the bands and a short chat he has with them as part of the recording, so as to give some background information about the band, and the venue itself. For more information on this beautiful and unique venue, and all the work that goes on here, please visit;
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BuyThis album is a live recording of Marysia Band playing in Brighton May 2011. It was a fun night, lots of people dancing and singing along - 1 tracks
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DownloadThese recordings are field recordings; that means they are not the usual professional studio recordings on the artists individual pages. These recordings aim to capture the less formal situations, for example a band rehearsing, the energy of a live performance, having a jam, or simply a sing along for the fun of it! These recordings are made in a variety of ways, sometime with basic, lo fi equipment; what is important is that they differ from the studio recordings and offer an insight into informal, personal music. Click on the links for more information. Thanks to Polski show for making some of these recordings.
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DownloadRecording made 5th February in St Mary Magdalene Church, Brighton. The first ten songs are Christmas Carols, the last two are Devotional songs. The song titles are in an old Polish dialect, sometimes there is no direct English translation. Marysia and myself worked together to make the best effort we could - if anyone has any suggestions/more accurate translations, please get in touch. The most important thing is that this was a unique and very special occasion, after the Sunday Mass. Some of the Choir are based in Brighton, and some came down from St Ignatius Polish Catholic Community friends organisation in London.
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- 5 tracksAnna is a Russian musician, who lives in India, and South East Asia. She lived in England for 4 months during 2009, when these recordings where made. The songs are a mixture of traditional folk and some Russian Romance tunes, which is a genre of songs mostly written by Russian nobility during the 18th and 19th centuries................................................
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- 5 tracksThese recordings are made during a rehearsal of the Brighton Russian Choir. The choir is run by Polina Shepherd. The choir is run as an amateur project, and encourages Russians and none Russians to come together and learn traditional folk and classical songs from Russia. Not everyone in the choir speaks Russian, but as they learn the songs, a lot of effort is made to translate everything and learn the correct pronunciations. Also time is spent learning the cultural context of each of the songs. Polina also runs the Chutzpah choir in Brighton. We had the pleasure of going to see them play in The Reform Synagogue in Hove in April - a great evening, the music was excellent,and quite a few people in the audience sang along. They play a mixture of different Jewish music from around Europe and the context of each song was explained during the evening. As with the Russian choir, you do not need to be Jewish or have previous knowledge of Jewish music to join the choir. For Polina Shepherds professional work as a Russian and Jewish musician go to
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BuyThis album features music played by Gypsy Stars. The songs are traditional and modern Gypsy songs, which have been adapted and changed to become new versions by the band. Gypsy Stars play live regularly, and depending on the size of the event can be from 5 - 15 members-
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- 4 tracksHeval plays the Bouziki, which is a member of the Lute family. It is a popular instrument throughout the Middle East and Balkan region The 4 tracks recorded here are old Kurdish Folk songs, recorded in one afternoon. They are not recorded in a studio. Heval is also in Refugee Radio Orchestra
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- 2 tracksJoanna Dziecielska is a classical trained violinist, and also folk lover. She has played numerous gigs across Europe with polish-ukrainian band BURAKY (2005-2008.) She moved to Brighton 3 years ago joined Marysia Band. Together they have recorded 2 albums and play regular gigs. Also improvise jazz, funk ocasionaly, very fond of busking also...
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BuyJo Ema, Ochi Chornya (Dark Eyes.) This recording was made for inclusion in a film soundtrack. Jo Ema feature in the film playing in a cafe in Brighton. This is an instrumental version, however there are many versions with lyrics. The lyrics of the song were written by the Ukrainian poet and writer Yevhen Hrebinka. The first publication of the poem was in Literaturnaya gazeta on 17 January 1843. The words were subsequently set to Florian Hermann's Valse Hommage (in an arrangement by S. Gerdel') and published on 7 March 1884.-
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BuyFour songs from a studio session in April 2012. They are a mixture of east European folk songs - Czardasz is Hungarian, Dudziarz Polish, Ajde Jano is Serbian - it means C'mon Jane and is an old dance tune. We are not sure about Babushka. - 5 tracks
BuyThis album is from duet Jo Ema. Joanne plays violin with Marysia Band, and Ema plays Accordion with JB Band, and occasionally with Marysia Band. Together they play a wide range of folk, modern and classical music from a variety of eastern European regions. They are based in Brighton, and are available for any gigs, functions and events.-
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BuyThis album is a live recording of Marysia Band playing in Brighton May 2011. It was a fun night, lots of people dancing and singing along - 1 tracks
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- 4 tracksThis album is mixed and mastered by Mariano Tolendano. The first song is written by Marta Adan, the rest by Mariano. Mariano is currently also producing new studio recordings for Marysia band and JB Band. If you are interested in his production, please contact us via the main page of the Bestfootmusic.net website.
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BuyPiwnica pod Aniolam (Angels under the Cellar) is a tribute to Piwnica pod Baranami (Rams under the Cellar). A Polish Literary cabaret established by Piotr Skrznecki in Krakow, Poland in 1956. The cabaret became a renowned political cabaret in Poland during the Communist era. For more information on Piwnica pad Baranami see the link below http://www.piwnicapodbaranami.krakow.pl/flasz.html This music project was started by Marysia Nowinska, with friends from the Polish community church in Tottenham, London. This is the first time the whole band have played together, and is a rehearsal session recorded in the same Church. Some of the songs are not full versions, on some you can hear the musicians still working out how best to play them. The songs are partly originals written by Marysia, and some are sung poetry (sung poetry is popular in Poland). The recordings where made in a large hall, with just two microphones. The hall had a natural reverb, so we've done very little processing with the original takes. What comes across here is the beauty of the music, and the sound of people playing together just for the enjoyment of the occasion. Instruments include; Piano, Violin, Acoustic guitar, Bass, Male and Female vocals.
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BuyPlanet Gnawa are a Gnawa fusion band, with musicians from France, England Morocco and Burkina Faso. They mix sacred Gnawa music, which is a traditional form of spiritual trance music from Morocco, with Reggae, Blues, Rock and Afro Beat. They are led by Simo Lagnawi, a master of Gnawa music. This album is a live recording of a concert in Brighton April 2011. We have made the first track available to listen here. The full album is 50 minutes long and contains 5 tracks-
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BuyThis is a live recording from a party at The Unicorn Theatre, London. The party was held after a play "Dr Korczak's example." The play is based on a true story from WW2, set in an orphanage in the Jewish ghetto of Warsaw. For more information on the Unicorn Theatre - 3 tracks
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BuyWe posted this for its historical interest, the recordings are old and have a bit of tape hiss on them. The tracks are taken from a cassette originally recorded in the early 80s in West Berlin. To make the recordings, the musicians involved had to smuggle themselves from Poland, via East Germany into West Berlin (this was in the days of Communism and the Iron Curtain) Originally recorded using a portable studio set up, the tapes where given to us by a member of Gypsy Stars - they are of his Uncle (violin) and other family members. Many of the songs are popular old/traditional songs performed by Roma musicians in the region. Some are still performed today, although maybe slightly differently.
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- 7 tracksThis album is a bit of a mystery. The band where split into pairs or individual musicians, and busking at different points along Western Road in Brighton throughout Summer of 2010. The leader of the band was a young guy called Abel. He explained they where not really interested in doing any recording as they had already made a demo CD in London, but they where happy to sell me a copy and for it to be posted on this site.
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- 4 tracks (49:50)In the late 1990's, early 2000's I made some electronic music and had a release with a label called Irdial Discs (http://www.irdial.com/). It did quite well, and we planned a second album. Then the label got involved in a court case with U.S. band Wilco over copyright infringement of Irdial material and the album was never released. This is some of the material, which i recently managed to salvage from an old hardrive .
- 3 tracks (13:33)These are early demos from Marysia Band recent studio session. They are not yet mixed.
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Gypsy Stars Multi Faith Childrens Parade July 13 2011
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Tweets
- A new favorite: Jeene Laga Hoon - Ramaiya Vastavaiya by @noman_uddin http://t.co/bFOupV8gaT on #SoundCloud
- London Hidrellez Spring Festival 5th May 2013 https://t.co/1zkf1FcNpvApr 28, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- @pwholder_paul now then Paul!
- https://t.co/Qx1SzpWs Brighton based film, violin an accordion from Jo Ema; you can hear the music on our site.Feb 16, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- My new sounds: Roma Czardasz http://t.co/khSiiVZC on #SoundCloud
- https://t.co/EFzvVM5B Czardasz; recorded round my flat yesterday..Feb 11, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- My new sounds: Roma Czardasz http://t.co/1CLs5SgM on #SoundCloud
- A new favorite: Romany Diamonds-Monti Cardas- Marek Ricardo Czureja by ROMANY DIAMONDS http://t.co/qazxtpUZ on #SoundCloud
- A new favorite: BIRELI LAGRENE ''IMPROMPTU'' ''FLECHE D'OR'' (live 2007) by RAREGUITAR http://t.co/3XRFfRPL on #SoundCloud
- A new favorite: Amrit Bani - Dipps Bhamrah, KS Bhamrah & Jati Cheed by @thehyperlab1 http://t.co/j5JRVIHu on #SoundCloud
- A new favorite: Äl Jawala - Backstabbers (Gypsy Hill Remix) by @Gypsy_Hill http://t.co/RLZZAdmd on #SoundCloud
- My new sounds: M Over Y and E.Gnatiuk_Untitled_2002 http://t.co/VFVTg2QG on #SoundCloud
- A new favorite: Le Petit Noel 2012 George's Christmas Annual 2012 by George McWilliams http://t.co/sd8JyPKN on #SoundCloud
- A new favorite: Dzansever / Ce Aysunu from "PRINCES AMONGST MEN" by AsphaltTangoRecords http://t.co/C6zWPJXz on #SoundCloud
- A new favorite: Russian song. Tomek, Rimus, Valerijus. by @Bestfootmusic http://t.co/iBNmgk6s on #SoundCloud
- My new sounds: Russian song. Tomek, Rimus, Valerijus. http://t.co/iBNmgk6s on #SoundCloud
- http://t.co/5uNfwSrO This is an article i wrote about Best Foot for Folk RadioDec 05, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Romani music from eastern Europe. Live in London, tomorrow night. http://t.co/ik8x4GhiNov 08, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Polish gypsy music concert in London on November 9 Polska muzyka cygańska w Londynie koncert 09 listopada https://t.co/DXqOAgBKNov 05, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
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- Just had a Skype chat with the woman who runs this excellent web page; I'm going to be making regular contributions about life with Polish Roma musicians and their families and friends living in the UK. The first one will be online by early June. http://thegypsychronicles.net/ To hear some of the musicians I'll be writing about, have a listen to our show every Tuesday at 7pm on www.radiofreebrighton.org.uk. Tomorrows show features music from Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Russia. The majority of it recorded in the UK, either around peoples houses, live performances or occasionally when we're lucky in a studio.
- One random conversation, 4 years ago, with a Polish woman outside a cafe in Brighton lead to all this and more; get to know your neighbours, who knows where it will lead.. http://lithuanianrecordingsnovdec2012.bandcamp.com/track/006 http://miscekartekandrobert.bandcamp.com/track/006-ochi-chornya-dark-eyes http://joema.bandcamp.com/album/jo-ema-studio-session-january-2012 http://hidrellezfestivallondon2013.bandcamp.com/ http://www.bestfootmusic.net/
- https://soundcloud.com/bestfootmusic/roma-czardasz This is what we did this afternoon. I first met Jerzy and his family and friends early 2010 and have been recording with them ever since, we've become friends. Today they came to my flat, this is one of the recordings from todays session. Blanko the violinist is only 11, Beata his mum is singing, Miscek plays Guitar and Bass, Artek; Accordion (He came over from Poland last week to play a Wedding, and decided to stay for a while). Other than the music and the odd joke, one thing I really like is we communicate in bits of English, Polish and Romani; which we've learnt from each other; life is good with these guys around.
- Some music and chat with Caroline Waters about Best Foot Music on Brighton and Hove Community Radio http://www.mixcloud.com/lina37913/caroline-interviews-phil-minns-of-best-foot-music-on-eastern-european-music-and-more/ all the tunes are from our website www.bestfootmusic.net
- If your around 12.45 - 13.45 tomorrow, I'm being interviewed about Best Foot Music by Caroline Waters on Brighton Hove Community Radio. Music from Gypsy Stars, Marysia Band, Jo Ema and more. http://www.bhcr.org.uk/
- If your around 12.45 - 13.45 tomorrow, I'm being interviewed about Best Foot Music by Caroline Waters on Brighton Hove Community Radio. Music from Gypsy Stars, Marysia Band, Jo Ema and more. http://www.bhcr.org.uk/
- Toni Iordache plays cymbalon on this, Cerys Matthews played him on 6 music this morning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDzFDR-oFRg
- Toni Iordache plays cymbalon on this, Cerys Matthews played him on 6 music this morning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDzFDR-oFRg
- Happy New Year all, First new Radio Show of 2013 including music from Ceza (Turkish Hip Hop), Rona Hartner, Stumped (Indian film soundtrack) a beautiful piano version of Silent Night, Robert Gabor and more - tune in 19.00. www.radiofreebrighton.org.uk. Its a DJ mix one tonight as I been too busy, but loads of new tunes for New Year :) http://www.radiofreebrighton.org/
- Polski Sylwester/ Polish New Year 2013.Ouch Bar Brighton £20 - including food and music.
- https://soundcloud.com/bestfootradio11/russian-song-tomek-rimus This is from a recent trip to Lithuania with my friend Valerijus. One night we went with his friend Tomek to visit a mutual friend Rimus. All three had been friends since they where kids, and had grown up in the same Soviet era tower block. When Lithuania broke away from Russia in the early 90s, Rimus set up his own Leather goods business and now lived in a very nice private house. Tomek now works in politics and Valerijus lives in the UK, where he set up Eastern Stream Association. As always when visiting people in the region hospitality was generous and we ate carp, sausage, pickles, bread and drank some home made spirits. Will post all the recordings soon.