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Brighton Dome hosts a performance with plenty of Mediterranean flair by innovative Spanish musicians Chambao

A ray of Spanish sunshine for our British February, platinum selling purveyors of ‘flamenco chill’, Chambao, are surfing a wave of musical fusion that is doing for the traditional Spanish guitar sound what Gotan Project did for tango. Blending the organic passion of Andalucía’s Los Barrios and the electro vibe of Ibiza, this highly accessible Latin style has crossed over well beyond world music circles into the chilled environs of Café Del Mar, Café Mambo and on to the stages of festivals and concert halls across Europe.

Their brilliant synthesis of old and new has brought them great acclaim at home and the British public are just beginning to wake up to Chambao’s Iberian musical alchemy. Their new album Con Otro Aire has topped the Spanish charts and confirmed the status of charismatic singer/songwriter La Mari as a major player on the thriving Mediterranean music scene. It also includes collaborations with genre bending flamenco legend Enrique Morente and his daughter Estrella that have infused more rootsy authenticity into the mix. Chambao’s autumn 2006 tour saw them sell out shows on word of mouth alone, and, with another great album under their belts, this year’s UK shows are sure to win them a lot of fans. If Ojos de Brujos and Amparanoia tickle your musical palate then this is one not to be missed.

Transport yourself to the sunbaked beaches of Malaga for the evening with a draft of Chambao’s flamenco electronica at Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Friday 29 February.

Tickets available from Brighton Dome Ticket Office on 01273 709709 or via www.brightondome.org, price £16, standing/seated.

Dan Higgins talks to Morgan Freeman about his role in The Bucket List

I know we shouldn’t keep talking about this but how do you feel about the sad news regarding Heath Ledger?
I worked on The Dark Knight with him but Heath and I never met. We were never on the same set. So, this is as much news to me as it is to anybody and it affects me in the same way. What’s sad is how similar it is to River Phoenix not in the circumstances of what happened but just the fact that they were so young and it’s really tragic when somebody who is as gifted and talented is cut down at the early part of their career, because we always think about what more they could have offered the world in terms of their talent. So, it’s very, very sad.

What would be on your list of things to do before you kick the bucket?
I’ve recently taken up golf so most of the things on my list have to do with golf and I’m very enamoured with a light business jet and I would like to get one before it’s too late. I don’t think there’s anyone left that I didn’t meet. I really wanted to meet Princess Diana and get to know her. I liked something about her. As for my fixation with golf let me ask you a question. Are you involved with the game of golf? Do you understand the joy of hitting the golf ball? It’s always more frustration than anger. If I was angry I’d hit myself with the club.

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Katie cuts her hair as catharsis for a problematic period in her life

A bottle of vodka later I have let Laila cut off all my hair. “I’ll film it,” drawls Johnny Gateaux. He pulls himself up from the sofa, leaves the joint he was rolling and slopes towards the bedroom, moving in a glide like he’s riding an escalator. Gateaux is from New York – Brooklyn. That’s not his real surname – it started as some joke about a cake – but now no one knows what it really is.

Laila goes to the kitchen to find the scissors and comes back looking nervous. I’m pleased. If you’re going to let a friend chop your hair off for drunken catharsis then best not choose one with a gung ho attitude.

Snip. A chunky lock falls to the floor. It’s not been a good week. The worst thing about being a journalist is smiling all the time. The guys over on the news desk shuffle about in shabby suits with bristling faces looking angrily into their black coffees. But funnily enough celebrities don’t like that kind of thing.

“Meanwhile my hair’s falling, in silky, wet lengths, to the floor”

To meet celebrities you have to look glossy. You need to be happy, and sweet and smiley and keen. This week I’ve felt none of these things.

I spent all week interviewing and smiling, asking questions and smiling, writing and smiling. My face is aching with all the bloody smiling, while behind the scenes my life is splintering apart.

Smiling and smiling and smiling. And then I got the tube on Friday night and cried all the way home.

Gateaux wanders back into the room without the camera; he’s so stoned he’s forgotten what he was looking for. Meanwhile my hair’s falling, in silky, wet lengths, to the floor.

On Wednesday I interviewed Jack Nicholson at the premiere for his new film, The Bucket List. He talks to me about Heath Ledger’s death; how he knew those sleeping pills were dangerous and how he’d tried to warn the younger star.

“I warned him,” he said. “I told him so. I took Ambien once. I fell asleep and then got a call and almost drove off a cliff 50 yards from my house.”

I’m thinking about Ambien as he talks into my Dictaphone. The film is about death. I stay 20 minutes and, when I can’t stand it any more, I wander off home.

Fergie, the ex-Duchess of York, is at The Dorchester hotel promoting some charity but I have as little idea why she’s there as I suppose she does. We talk organ donation. She’s all for it.

“Yes, I think it’s very important,” she says about the government’s move to presumed consent. “Presumed donation allows people to opt out but it makes them decide either way – they have to choose. It makes them take responsibility for what they want to do and stops them sitting on the fence.

“You’ve got to take responsibility – especially when it comes to your heart,” she adds in a flourish. It occurs to me that this means little or nothing. She’s cleverly conflated two ideas into a nonsensical emotional pulp.

I’m drinking vodka on Laila’s sofa and I don’t have to smile now. I feel happier than I have all week. Next week I will be back at work and my problems will not have vanished, but the more I cry the clearer I start to feel.

It’s getting better. It’s getting worse.

My family is in chaos and I’m hurting. My mother is ill and there’s nothing I can do. I think of Fergie, I think about how much I love being a journalist. And I think of how little control I have over the things that matter.

“Laila, I want you to cut my hair off,” I said. You’ve got to take responsibility. Especially when it comes to your hair.

Sandra Omo finds life is sweet, when you are in the know

A few days back, I got a call from a choreographer friend of mine who I have not seen or spoken to in four months. He called to ask me to attend a casting for a fashion show he was choreographing for a very successful Asian designer launching his clothes in London for the first time. Therefore, he thought that if he was going to do a show this big, I had to be in it. Boy, I felt flattered. I mean, I know him and have worked with him on different projects and fashion shows, but I did not think he was one of those people who would keep a particular person in mind, because he is very busy.

As far as fashion show choreography is concerned, he is one of the best, and has worked with many celebrity designers and Miss England, as well as working at London Fashion Week, Black History Month and numerous others. According to him, all I needed to do was show up for the casting and I would be in. “The show needs a great walk like yours,” he said as he hung up.

“As I left the audition, I knew the result already – I had the job. In fact, I knew the result before I went”

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