Khasi-Cymru Collective - Sai-thaiñ Ki Sur (The Weaving of Voices
)

The Guardian 0

(Naxos World)
Gareth Bonello (the Gentle Good) and musicians of the Khasi hills explore messy missionary history in this beautiful album

Also known as the Gentle Good, Gareth Bonello is a Welsh musician and singer who engages in far-reaching cross-cultural collaborations. Ten years ago, he released Y Bardd Anfarwol (The Immortal Bard), working with musicians in Chengdu to tell the story of the 8th-century Chinese poet Li Bai, aligning the Taoist master’s life with druidic storytelling, in Welsh.

Sai-thaiñ Ki Sur (The Weaving of Voices) was made with musicians from the Khasi hills of Meghalaya state in north-east India, an area dominated in the mid-19th century by a Welsh Methodist mission, against which an indigenous folk culture movement fought back. Some Welshmen helped them print Khasi literature and fight the British empire, having fled a country where their language and culture was also suppressed; this messy legacy is explored by a collective of contemporary musicians, poets and academics, led by Bonello, whose deep, lilting voice has never been more moving.