This is Narasirato from the Solomon Islands, an all-panpipes (plus singing and dancing) group. They actually had a much fuller sound than that description might suggest, as some of the big pipes are played as percussion.
I'm pretty sure those are mini panpipes on his headdress.
French group Lo'Jo were at my first Womadelaide in 2005, though they didn't even get a mention in my long, enthusiastic post. I think at the time I found them more low-key and less exciting than my big new infatuation, Les Yeux Noirs. But since then I had listened to a few Lo'Jo songs and was keen to hear more. I really loved them this time and I loved photographing them too.
I even went to their workshop in addition to their evening set, in order to take more photos. It was mid-afternoon and quite a hot day, so the audience were all in the shade. This meant that even though it was a sit-down only gig, there was heaps of space right in front of the stage where I could take photos and not block anyone's view. I got a mild sunburn for my troubles though.
One group we call came home pretty excited about was Frigg, an ensemble of young Finnish and Norwegian folk musicians. Wait, let me show you....
FOUR fiddles! Need I say more?
OK, I am quite easy to please, but not THAT undiscerning - these guys are really good. The CD was hardly out of the player for the last few weeks. Absolutely tickles my brain in the right way. (When it comes to music, I prefer to say that I like something rather than definitively 'It is good and you should think so too' - because music, like all art, speaks to different people on different wavelengths - so what makes my brain feel happy and my feet jiggle just might not work for yours, and it doesn't mean one of us is right or cleverer. Am I stating the obvious?)
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