Commonwealth Connections

The Hon. Dolores Balderamos Garcia is a politician, lawyer and broadcaster. The only woman of the 31 members of Belize's House of Representatives, she is particularly interested in improving the rights of women and children and in supporting those living with HIV and AIDS . Before she became so involved in politics she hosted her own jazz show on the radio and owns an enormous jazz collection of well over 1,000 CDs. Here, she chooses the music of the Lord Rhaburn Combo to express her deep love of the close-knit communities of Belize and to give us a sense of the Belizean zest for life.

Within these small Islands, steelpan orchestras are an integral part of daily life. The Pamberi pan yard on the outskirts of Port of Spain is a meeting place for the whole community whether they turn up to play cards, have a sociable drink together or learn many artforms from painting to dance to music. For the young people in the steelpan orchestra, this is a passion and the way they choose to spend several evenings of their week and although they play all kinds of music it is still their native Calypso which gathers the largest crowd wherever they go.

Measuring eight square miles with a total coastline of eighteen and a half miles and a population of just over nine thousand, the Pacific island of Nauru is arguably the least populous actual sovereign country in the world, although officially the Vatican State and then Monaco occupy the first and second spots. Situated in Micronesia, Nauru lies 2,800 miles north east of Australia, and used to be called Pleasant Island before independence in 1968. Itte Detenamo is a super heavyweight lifter, and his chosen music is of Nauruan songs composed by Baron Waqa, a songwriter who is currently the nation's President.

Kala Ramnath is one of the leading Hindustani musicians of her generation. Born into a dynasty of violin players who championed the instrument in Indian classical music in the 20th century, Kala has developed the instrument still further with a mixture of traditional and improvisational repertoire. In her home in Mumbai, Kala demonstrates just how closely the violin is modelled on the human voice.

Saxophonist Manu Dibango brought the sound of Cameroon to the world but also brought a bit of the world back into Cameroon, creating a glorious fusion of African Funk and Jazz. Weightlifter Vanatius Njuh is going for Gold in the 69 kilo class at the Commonwealth Games and through a computer at his training camp in Cameroon he's been talking about his hopes for the competition and how music fits into it.

Seven kilometres from the world heritage site of Victoria Falls, in the Southern Province lies the rural Mukuni village, the main village of the Mukuni Chiefdom. It was founded in the 13th century by the Leya Tribal Matriarch and is today presided over by both a male and female leader. The Leya people keep alive their heritage in simple surroundings with dancing, singing and drumming for particular occasions and to communicate certain messages. The women of the village perform for us a traditional brewing dance complete with 12ft long poles for crushing grain while elsewhere in the village, the highly polished senior students at the secondary school in Mukuni village embrace the new modern Zambia with traditional, spiritual and rousingly patriotic songs.

Kiribati is an archipelago of 33 islands in the central Pacific, with a population of just one hundred thousand people across more than a million square miles of Ocean. Formerly the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati gained independence from the UK in 1979, and has participated in the Commonwealth Games since 1998. Weightlifter David Katoata became the first person from the country to formally qualify for the Olympics, and came 17th in London two years ago. His favourite Kiribati group is called Ruff Dogs with their song Salute.

On a rooftop beside Gulshan lake, above the bells of tuk tuks and sounds of the call to prayer, a group of musicians have gathered in the late afternoon in Dhaka. Baby Dewan sings Bhatiyali songs of the lonely boatmen who ply the waters here for a living and Baul musician Rob Fakir shares the mystical music and philosophy of one of the legendary Bauls of Bangladesh, Lalon Shah.

Writer and poet Philip Nanton chooses Credentials by Shake Keane, the well-known Vincentian jazz musician and poet, and explains how the story Shake tells encapsulates for him certain key aspects of life in St Vincent and the Grenadines, including migration and the welcome awaiting those who choose to return.

In the midst of the Seychelles Carnival, Latroupe Nasyonal Sesel, a ceilidh-style band of seven players and several young dancers are preparing their traditional music and dances for the celebrations. The music and dances of this Creole culture grew from the European traditional dances such as Quadrille and Waltz but the Seychelles people have made it their own with African rhythms and movements and a real love and joie-de-vivre of their Islands. Singer-songwriter Jean-Marc Volcy shares this passion for their fragile heritage and works to keep it alive in his own contemporary songs.