Once, Benjamin Taubkin took his kids to a park near Sao Paulo to play music on the stalactites, and his daughter said she wished her grandma could have been there to see the fun they had. When he got home, inspired by his daughter’s lament, the Brazilian jazz composer, arranger and musician wrote a tune called Pena que a vovó não está aqui  (It’s a shame Grandma isn’t here).

On Tuesday, July 28^th at Dalston’s Vortex Jazz Club, an audience on the edge of their seats saw Taubkin play this and other work for the first time ever in the UK. A household name among musicians and music fans in Brazil, his distinguished career has led to collaborations with artists from all over the world, including the incredible Colombian singer Lucia Pulido.

From his home in Sao Paulo, Taubkin has travelled the length and breadth of his native Brazil, collecting traditional rhythms from the country’s complex variety of musical genres. In filtering them together through his original compositions- mixing ciranda, choro and maracatu with jazz and classical European rhythms- Taubkin paints a musical landscape, depicting glimpses of a vast cultural heritage of which he is, unsurprisingly, very proud.

As he played, Taubkin wove himself between each note, in an intimate conversation with his piano. Each audience member was swept along with him, on their own journey within the elemental and deeply atmospheric melodies. Some sat still, with eyes closed, looking out upon a dreamscape conjured up by the expansive, painterly chords and delicate top notes. Others hummed along to tunes they were yet to know, only pre-empted by Taubkin’s own soft murmuring above the piano keys.

When invited percussionist Adriano Adewale joined him to play O Sabiá Voou, another voice was invited into the dialogue, and the musicians’ obvious enjoyment spread to the audience. Adewale is an exhuberant and sensitive musician, whose own quartet – the Adriano Adewale Group – has just played at Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and is soon to appear in Corsica, Sofia and Ipswich! If you’re in any of those parts of the world, and you’re feeling a little disconnected from the sound of your own heartbeat, look them up.

The heartrending, earthy tones of singer Monica Vasconcelos, who joined Taubkin and Adewale on stage for the last two pieces, were almost too much to bear, and I found tears rolling down my cheeks as the last song ended.

Many thanks to Vortex Jazz Club- a vibrant and passionate venue at the heart of its own long nurtured, music loving community. You can catch live music there seven nights a week- everything from free improv jazz to folk and world- and their homemade lemonade is gorgeous!

This was Benjamin Taubkin’s first foray into the UK jazz scene, and if the crowd’s reaction at Vortex is anything to go by, we can expect to see much more of him here in the future. To find out more, visit Nucleo Contemporaneo, or buy Benjamin Taubkin’s work online at cd.ciao.co.uk.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          This beautiful, headachingly intricate piece by Mark Wilkinson is one of three to be displayed at the upcoming Wonderland exhibition, hosted by Inkygoodness. Wilkinson is, by his own admission, obssessed with drawing, cutting and sticking, and I for one am glad- if he weren’t, we wouldn’t get to see the wonderful shapes that ripple across his brain! Wonderland opens on September 11th at Vaad Gallery in the Custard Factory, and features work by artists and illustrators from all over the place- definately worth a gander. Check out Adi Gilbert’s work too- an unsettling mix of closely observed naturalistic drawing and comic book erotica, which could be, at times, torn from the pages of an anatomy textbook, were it not for the surreal contextual upsets caused by stray crows and skate garb.

Nick Griffin- Idiot in Chief of the BNP- plans to launch his own radio show playing his favourite folk tunes, and has already begun using folk music on his party’s website- notably the song ‘Roots’ by Show of Hands frontman Steve Knightley.

Now, I know what you’re thinking- how could lovely Mr. Knightley sanction such a horrific aligning of his music with white supremiscist fascism? It seems he was the last to know, and he’s not happy, as he explained to BBC Radio 4′s The World Tonight:

“We try to make music that’s inclusive. And when organisations like the BNP come along and say ‘this music is ours, this isn’t for black people or Jewish people or whatever’ – that’s a betrayal of what you’ve been working for.”

Griffin has been seen at Kate Rusby gigs, and has recently launched a range of CD compilations of traditional British folk music- proceeds from which go to the BNP- mostly without the songwriters’ permission. After recording some tracks for a compilation guitarist John Boden was told would be sold in gift shops, he found they were for sale on the BNP website.

When asked for the BBC report to respond to this, BNP Spokesman John Walker said, “We use a product to raise funds for our party. Whether the musicians like the BNP is irrelevant.” He went on to state that the more folk musicians complained, the more the BNP would use their music- “There’s absolutely nothing they can do about it.”

Really? Step forward Folk Against Fascism- a burgeoning group of folk musicians and fans founded “to take a stand against the appropriation of folk culture by the BNP.” The group is encouraging all folk musicians releasing CDs in the UK to include the Folk Against Fascism logo on their album covers. I can’t see Griffin and his ignorant, small minded henchmen waving those around for sale at their next BNP BBQ, can you?

Please join up to the groups below to show your support, and use your imagination- if more of us had gone out to vote this summer, the BNP would not have members in European Parliament. Having visited Nick Griffin’s Last.fm profile, I’ve changed his biography, have a look, and feel free to add your own thoughts .

Click here to join the Folk Against Fascism Myspace page

Click here to join the Folk Against Fascism Facebook group

Many happy returns to Mama Matrix frontman Daz Dolczech, who will mostly be 40 years old today. The birthday bash in Digbeth should go off in furious style-  instead of one cake with 40 candles, there’ll be 40 cakes with one candle each, and top of the bill are, you guessed it, Mama Matrix themselves.