ALEXANDER BISLEY looks forward to another WOMAD this year in Taranaki, March 13-15.

IS THERE a better live music venue than New Plymouth’s Brooklands Park? WOMAD 2009 once again harnesses the Brooklands Bowl’s spectacular acoustics. The atmosphere is most inviting. The Bollinger interviews at the Pinetum elicit intriguing yarns. The kai is delicious. Taha Maori is out in force. In 2008 the manager of Russia’s Terem Quartet was one enthusiast. On Whangara’s kapa haka supremos: “We must bring them to Russia. I have never seen so many good looking men on a stage in my life.” And then there’s the music. Damn fine. My local 2009 picks include Fat Freddy’s Drop, the innovative and original Pacifika fusion of soul, dub, funk, jazz, roots reggae and blues. This national taonga is scorching live. As DJ Mu told me: “The key to it for us is having fun... People can tell how good a time we’re having on stage and that definitely translates to the audience.” The same can be said about ex-Dropper Warren Maxwell’s Little Bushman. My international picks include the sublimely soulful Gurrumul, dynamic Dengue Fever and Seun “son of Fela” Keuti’s Afrobeat. Keep an eye on The Lumière Reader for upcoming interviews, including WOMAD musical director Roger King and the effervescent Madeleine Sami, performing with the Sami Sisters.

PERSPECTIVE: Music Editor BRANNAVAN GNANALINGAM on WOMAD 2007 and 2008, plus interviews with Billy Cobham, Mr. Scruff, An Emerald City and Beirut; ARJUN HARINDRANATH on WOMAD 2007; ALEXANDER BISLEY on WOMAD 2008, plus profiles of DJ Mu and Warren Maxwell; CATHERINE BISLEY’s images of WOMAD 2007 and 2008, plus her recollection of WOMAD 2007 in words.