Music to strike a chord with everyone - from Latin and Shanghai jazz to Indian gypsy songs
FROM THE OLD jazz haunts of 1930s Shanghai to the deserts of Rajasthan, India, this year's world music and jazz programmes promise to transport audiences to unforgettable cultural landscapes.
Mexican-American singer Lila Downs, famed for her performance at last year's Academy Awards and in Salma Hayek's film Frida, will deliver her unique blend of traditional Mexican tunes infused with contemporary influences of jazz, blues, hip hop and reggae.
With a voice that has been called 'spellbinding' and a presence described as 'captivating', Downs breathes life into the immigrant experience of Mexican Americans, singing songs in Zapotec, Mixtec, Mayan, Spanish and English.
From a neighbouring corner of the world comes the infectious music of conga king Poncho Sanchez, one of the most successful Latin jazz bandleaders in the world.
His trademark sound is a fiery brand of boogaloo, a foot-stomping brew of Afro-Cuban rhythms, rhythm and blues and soul.