Australian multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Xavier Rudd is releasing his fourth album, Koonyum Sun April 20th.  “Koonyum Sun” is his first recording with a South African rhythm section comprised of Tio Moloantoa on bass and Andile Nqubezelo on drums formerly of the late Lucky Dube’s band.
 
 Xavier, Tio and Andile formed a bond that extended beyond their musical respect for each other in the summer of 2008 at Austria’s Nuke festival. This relationship, like their musical tastes, reflects a passion for unifying culture, sound and understanding.

Honest Jon's has released Africa Boogaloo: The Latinization of West Africa, a collection of music from '60s and '70s West Africa that is heavily influenced by Latin sounds from the era, representing a mutual cultural exchange that would have a permanent impact on the evolution of each region's trademark sound. Much of what makes modern Latin music so irresistible came from Africa in the first place. When the first waves of African rhythms, reconstituted in the Caribbean, returned home on radios and records, Africans - especially in West and Central Africa - received them with great enthusiasm.

Staid dance bands that replicated European music soon began to swing as Caribbean accents settled in their rhythm sections. By the 1950s, Africa had produced its own Calypsonians, and more than one African musician changed his name to give it a Latin flavor. Some even composed songs in Spanish, while others wrote nonsense lyrics that only sounded like the real thing. No band mixed local and Latin styles more successfully than Orchestre Baobab and its leader Balla Sidibe. The mesmerizing "On Verra Co" finds Baobab leaning in the direction of the stuttering mbalax sound that Youssou N'Dour carried to great popularity.

Renowned Jordanian composer and pianist, Zade’s new project One Night In Jordan: A Concert for Peace is airing on PBS this month (see schedule below). The monumental concert television event filmed in HD, was one of the biggest concerts ever staged in Jordan. Set at one of the world’s largest remaining Roman Amphitheatres in the world, built nearly 2,000 years ago, the composer’s epic cinematic music blending East and West draws inspiration from the anthems of the great film composers, his homeland’s natural beauty and the efforts of the late King Hussein of Jordan to make peace in the Middle East.

Upbeat, entrancing and intoxicating Zimbabwean dance music. With more guitar licks than the Bhundu Boys and full drum kit, turn this music up loud and dance dance dance whilst celebrating 13 years of music from Chartwell Dutiro, Max De Wardener and Chris Morphitis who together form Sweet Talk Mbira.
 
 I first met Chartwell in the green room at the Musicport Festival in 2006 Chartwell and Sweet Talk Mbira were honored with being the festival opener. We talked later in the dressing room, beads of sweat still breaking on his skin as he was “coming down” from the performance, drawing me in to the secrets and the spiritual significance of the mbira in his life. Stories of how he would play for hours and hours even until his fingers bled, without ever feeling any pain.

The Soundway label has released a second volume in their Nigeria Special series. Nigeria Special 2: Modern Highlife 1970-6 features tracks that have been forgotten or out of print for nearly 35 years, but have since been tracked down and documented by Miles Cleret. The fruits of this arduous labor has taken over 10 years of dedication, research and travel to Nigeria, now culminating in the final part of Soundway's extensive survey of Nigeria's forgotten musical history.

The range of styles on Nigeria Special Volume 2 vary from highlife to Juju and Nigerian blues in the languages of Yoruba, Igbo, Bini and Ijaw. With a peppering of "Afro" experimentation, the same musical stew pervades volume 2 as its predecessor - some artists appear again alongside some new artists as the emphasis continues to focus on the laid-back and mid-tempo feel found on volume 1. It includes the bluesy guitar band style of The Otarus and The Peacocks International Guitar Band, sitting opposite the more uptempo sound of highlife legends Stephen Osita Osadebe (here bringing his Igbo version of the Cuban standard "Peanut Vendor") and Paulson Kalu.

Wedeli Köhler

Swing and Folk (Jazzpoint Records, 2010)

Lingering over that second pot of coffee while brushing the croissant crumbs from your chin and smudging your fingers with Sunday newspaper print just got cooler with Wendeli Köhler's Swing and Folk CD on the Jazzpoint Records. Warm and sumptuous, Swing and Folk dips heavily into the Django Reinhardt swing, as well as Mr. Köhler's background in French swing valse or musette and the darkly mysterious Eastern European Gypsy czardas tradition. Faultlessly recorded, Swing and Folk captures the bright and breezy swing of a Parisian cafe, the lyrical sweetness of Gypsy folk and the passions of a scorned Hungarian lover.

British world music radio presenter, rock historian and record producer Charlie Gillett died this morning, March 17, in London. He was 68. In recent weeks he had a stroke and later a heart attack outside his home.

Charles Thomas Gillett was born February 20th of 1942 in Morecambe, Lancashire. He was an essential figure in the area of world music. He is credited with introducing Cajun and other types of roots music to the U.K. Later, he was one of the pioneers of world music programming in British radio with his "A Foreign Affair" program on Capitol Radio throughout the 1980s, followed by his Radio London BBC program than ran up until recently, as well as other programs like World of Music on BBC World Service and a show on Radio 3.