World London

The Southbank Centre by Waterloo Bridge is holding the first of what it says will be an annual series of festivals celebrating the cultural roots of London’s different communities. Called World London the season starts today, here’s what’s on.

17 July – Miso Soup Japanese electro-punk band play the Purcell Room at 7.30pm. Tickets £5.

17 July – Oki and Kila Kila are a traditional Irish folk band and Oki is a leading figure in North Japan’s Ainu folk scene. They combine for this gig at the Queen Elizabeth Hall with words sung in Ainu, Irish and English. Tickets cost £15 and the show starst at 7.45pm.

18-19 July – Kampala Nights Leading Ugandan musicians perform new, Africanised scores for classic Western silent films. On 18 July its the 1929 Russian silent film Man With a Movie Camera, while on 19 July its the Academy award winning film Sunrise by German director F W Murnau, also from 1929. Taking place in the Purcell Room and tickets are £15.

20 July – The Nicolas Meier Group Guitarist Nicolas Meier blends jazz, Turkish and oriental music rhythms in this free show in the Southbank’s Front Room starting at 5.15pm.

20 July – Goksel Baktagir’s Dream of Istanbul Goksel Baktagir is one of Turkey’s leading players of the difficult Middle Eastern harp known as the kanun. He’s joined here by other musicians to perform an energetic contemporary take on Turkish classical music. Tickets are £15 for the show in the Purcell Room.

20 July – Sabahat Akkiraz, Smadj and Orient Expressions Sabahat Akkiraz, one of Turkey’s best-loved singers of the folk style known as türkü, presents traditional material with her own group as well as with Orient Expressions, a popular ethno-electronic group. The gig is at the Queen Elizabeth Hall starting at 7.45pm and tickets are £12.50-£25.

21 July – Free Turkish Music Starting at 2.30pm Davul & Zurna, London Saz School, Emrah & Serkan, Ozkan Gezen & Eser Ebcin and the Djanan Turan Band perform in the Front Room of the Queen Elizabeth Hall for free.

21 July – Ayse Tutuncu Trio Combin eJazz, Classical and World Music at 7.30pm in the Purcell Room. Tickets are £15.

21 July – Muslum Gurses One of Turkey’s leading singers of Arabesque music, Muslum Gurses plays the Queen Elizabeth Hall at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £15-£35.

22 July – A Tribute to Ustad Alla Rakha Ustad Alla Rakha was the world-renowned master of the tabla. Here his son Zakir Hussain pays homage to his father’s musical legacy, together with other soloists and ensembles including Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, master of the bamboo flute. This is in the Queen Elizabeth Hall from 7.45pm with tickets £15-£25.