Legendary producer and record label boss Joe Boyd has spent a lifetime travelling the globe and immersing himself in music. He has witnessed first-hand the growing popularity of music from Africa, India, Latin America, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe since the 1960s and was one of the protagonists of the ‘world music’ movement of the 1980s. He will be joining us to discuss his new book And the Roots of Rhythm Remain: A Journey Through Global Music where he sets out to explore the fascinating backstories behind these sounds and this sweeping history documents a decade of encounters with the most extraordinary musicians and producers who have altered the course of music for us all. The resulting book shows how personalities, events and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston and Rio are as colourful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon.

Joe Boyd is the legendary producer of Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, R.E.M., Fairport Convention, ¡Cubanismo!, Toots and the Maytals, Toumani Diabaté, Taj Mahal and numerous others. He founded and ran the Hannibal label for twenty years. His film productions include ‘Jimi Hendrix’ and Aretha Franklin’s ‘Amazing Grace’. His memoir, White Bicyles: Making Music in the 1960s, was published in 2006 to wide critical-acclaim.