BBC Radio 3 presenter Petroc Trelawny has shared his passion for music from all parts of the world with our sister magazine Songlines. Trelawny has chosen five tracks which demonstrate the breadth of his musical interests. The tracks, which range from music for Vietnamese zither to contemporary Kazakh artists are included on a free cover-CD included with the January/February 2020 issue. 

The issue also includes a revealing interview with Trelawny, an extract from which we are pleased to include below:

Trelawny’s final choice is from Zimbabwe, where he was arrested in 2012. He became fascinated by the Zimbabwe Academy of Music in Bulawayo, the Ndebele capital, and with friends set up a charity to aid it. “Unfortunately, I got arrested as I addressed the audience from the stage of Bulawayo city hall. They said I had broken the terms of my tourist visa so I was a couple of nights in prison sharing a cell with 18 people. The people were so warm and mystified why I was there. I had friends involved with the MDC opposition who were used to dealing with people put into prison cells. They knew they had to turn up with not just one sandwich but with 18 so everyone could have one... Then I managed to dislocate my shoulder and got moved to a hospital and spent the first couple of days with my feet chained to the bed before they decided I wasn’t a flight risk. Then we went to court and I was cleared and assured my record was clean. But I tried to go six months later and was sent straight back on the plane on which I’d arrived.”

“Thomas Mapfumo is one of the great voices of Zimbabwe. Although he’s Shona, he’s one of the artists that cuts through that division and you’d hear his music in bars, cars and market stalls. He tells a bigger Rhodesia/Zimbabwe narrative from mid-70s to the present day. It’s a sad story of what could have been in what should have been the most successful country in Southern Africa with the best agricultural land, a well-educated population and good infrastructure. Zimbabwe could be a dynamic leader in Sub-Saharan Africa, but has been blighted by corrupt leaders. He charts that, but never giving up hope.”

The January/February 2020 issue of Songlines is available now. Individual copies can be purchased from Amazon.

If you would like to subscribe to Songlines, please visit: https://www.magsubscriptions.com/music-songlines