Music: Brighton Fringe

A plethora of music to choose from at this year’s Fringe

The largest arts festival in England is back for another three week celebration of music, literature, theatre, comedy, cabaret, clubbing, film, art, dance and much else besides. Music has always been a big element of the fringe, with anything and everything on offer and over 100 events to choose from.

Fancy some early music? Check out After Our Fashion (12 May, Friends Meeting House), a concert that features lute, mandolin, and viols. Music Of Our Time (MOOT) is a non-profit group for the public benefit promoting contemporary music, arts, education, and during May they are presenting a number of mainly classical concerts and workshops around Brighton (www.themusiciansbody.co.uk). St. Michael’s Church is also host to a number of classical concerts, some at lunchtimes, other in the evening.

World music? As always the Fringe is host to number of high class world music events including Africa Unite 2012 (18 May, Komedia), Balkan Beat Box (18 May, Concorde 2), Quinto (27 May, Old Bank), Terry Seabrooks’s Cubana Bop (23 May, The Brunswick), fado singer Claudia Aurora (26 May, Komedia), or the Brighton-based afro-beat flavours of Kalakuta Millionaires (11 May, The Brunswick).

Jazz and blues are also genres that gets a special airing in may, with all sorts of flavours and styles including Boogie Woogie Troop (25 May, Brunswick), jazz singer Edana Minghella (13 May, The Brunswick), and Milestones (14 may, The Brunswick), a silent movie classic screened and accompanied by a new jazz score performed by the superb musicians that make up Milestones.

Old favourites of the fringe return year-on-year, and so there’s another opportunity to see the amazing tap-dancing singer Movin’ Melvin Brown (13 May, Komedia), The Brighton Beach Boys performing Pet Sound vs Sgt Pepper (11 May, St. George’s Church) and the 20-piece Ska Kestra (19 May, Concorde 2). What the fringe is also good at is introducing some unique, sometimes odd, style and sounds to people. Where else could you see reggae artist Peter Straker play tribute to Jacques Brel (14–19 May, Komedia), or witness Rocksteady Tea Party, where you can reminisce to the sound of rocksteady with a tea dance, film and DJs?

My choices? Check out the dark cabaret of Patti Plinko (5 May, The Warren), the interesting and entertaining old school/arcane instrumentation of Nick Pynn and Kate Daisy Grant (15 May, The Old Market), the crazy dapper dandies The Iron Boot Scrapers Speakeasy (16 May, The Old Market) and the utterly beguiling folk and bluegrass sounds of The Mountain Firework Company (16 May, Komedia)

Brighton Fringe, Saturday 5–Sunday 27 May. www.brightonfringe.org