Eyes Wide Out (Ropeadope Records, 2014)
New York band Karikatura celebrates the city’s diversity on its debut album titled Eyes Wide. Afro-Latin music plays an important role with a series of pieces inspired by tropical Caribbean music. But he band’s vision goes beyond Latin music. Karikatura also incorporate the ubiquitous hip-hop, reggae, klezmer, afrobeat and rock.
Highlights include the opening cumbia “Eyes Wide”, Afro-Latin “Bailarina”, afrobeat piece “NYC Hustle” and Latin-rock “Soy Quien Soy. The radio-friendly modern R&B style vocals take you by surprise at times.
Karikatura was envisioned in South India in 2009 by Ukrainian-born, Brooklyn-raised former heavy metal guitarist, Dima Kay, at the end of a life-changing journey across three continents. He returned to New York City to make the group a reality and recruited musicians with a similar vision: vocalist Ryan Acquaotta, bassist Eric Legaspi, saxophonist Joe Wilson, drummer Morgan Greenstreet, and trombonist Ric Becker.
Buy the album from http://karikaturanyc.com
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
