I’ve long fancied myself a reviewer of albums and not individual songs. But times change, and resources at my disposal have necessitated my acquiring more of a (if you’ll forgive the dreadful pun) one track mind. So here is a year-end roundup of tracks that prompted me to recently prick up my ears and keep them pricked for repeated listens.
Some are not brand-spanking new and thus might not fit everyone’s definition of music for here and now. Please forgive my small degrees of retro sensibility wherever applicable, because 2022 was the year these selections first moved me, whenever their initial emergence may have been.
I plan to cover many more single tracks in the future, so consider this the first in a series, as well as a summation of the year’s highlights.
Najib Maftah – “Dwaya”
A Moroccan based in Lyon, France, Maftah has here created a mix of Arabic and Western influences that recall Algeria’s Souad Massi. String, flute and percussion textures flow forth, well produced and effortlessly compelling.
Daniel Bellegarde – “Non au Racisme”
Message music with a sweetly grooving, pure dynamite combination of Haitian, Celtic and Brazilian sounds. Bellegarde lives in Montreal- a great city that I spent a lot of time in as a kid, little knowing that music as fine as this would one day emerge from it.
John Finbury – “Filha”
Finbury is an American pianist and composer with a passion for, among other things, the sounds of Brazil. That passion is obvious on “Filha,” which melds music by Finbury, lyrics and beautifully crystalline vocals by Thalma De Freitas and a crew of players that includes legendary percussionist Airto Moreira. The song is somewhere between samba, bossa nova and pure heaven. If this piece doesn’t move you, check to see if you’re half past dead.
Nomad Stones – “Salitou”
French cabaret mingles with North Africa in a swaying, zesty combination that’s irresistible.
Nouveau Fou – “IST-DET vol sans escale”
Also French, this band mixes jazz, funk and just enough modern electronics to sound contemporary without sounding robotic. It’s tight, and it moves, with great playing all around.
Sanguebom featuring Kashito Kasai – “Capitaine Papillon”
Congolese vocals meet West African kora atop a mix of real and mechanized percussion. Another blend of traditional and anything but, this one scores large with an instantly engaging feel that’s sustained throughout.
Samer Fanek – “The Old Arabic Shop”
A Jordanian keyboardist elegantly and expertly glides his way through a jazzy instrumental evoking childhood memories. Could have jammed on a while longer, but what’s here is first-rate.
Elektronines Sutartines – “Kukal Roze Ratilo”
Though I’ve not been exposed too much Lithuanian music, let alone music that combines traditional Lithuanian polyphonic female singing with cutting edge rhythms, I like this very much. Layers of vocals and percolating grooves share sonic space in a kind of dream dance that mystically draws the listener in.
Dan West – “The Teal Forest”
A hip swaying, Latin flavored guitar instrumental by an American picker who not only knows his way around his axe, but knows exactly how to slip it in and out of a conga-driven arrangement without excess or indulgence. Very satisfying.
Rapasa Nyatrapasa Otieno – “Jopango”
He’s based in the UK and his East African sound is centered on the double-necked string instrument called a nyatiti and propelled by a backdrop suggestive of soukous but more acoustic-tinged. Think of it as a perfect meeting of rawness and sophistication. The song is danceable as well as seasonal, touching upon the difficulties faced by city dwellers at Christmas time.
And now, because I’m an old dog who can’t entirely embrace new tricks, here are closeups of full length albums that came my way in 2022 and need to be spotlighted as highlights of the year even though they were overlooked or set aside initially. I trust it’s not too late to give them the nods they deserve.
Momi Maiga – Nio (Segell Microscopi, 2022)
A young kora player from the musically rich Casamance region of Senegal, Maiga combines his instrument with players and sounds from Cuba, Mexico and Catalonia (Spain) to create a disc that combines the grandeur of West African griot tradition with a finery often similar to classical chamber music. Splendid.
Tradifusio – Empeltant Arrels (Segell Microscopi, 2022)
Flamenco is their foundation and, as their name suggests, they’ve got other things in mind. At times their fusion recalls the brilliance of Radio Tarifa, but their combination of guitar, bass, percussion, accordion, reeds, harp and soaring vocals has a full-blooded zest all its own, and it’s marvelous.
Plasticine – The Most Beautiful Skies (Republica Portuguesa, 2022)
They handily blew me away at Festival MED in their homeland of Portugal. This CD mixes R&B, brassy funk, spacey jazz fusion, global rhythms and more, with expert playing, arranging and composing skills evident from start to finish.
Author: Tom Orr
Tom Orr is a California-based writer whose talent and mental stability are of an equally questionable nature. His hobbies include ignoring trends, striking dramatic poses in front of his ever-tolerant wife and watching helplessly as his kids surpass him in all desirable traits.