Not sure why, but I’ve recently been receiving a steady stream of music from the Fol label out of Spain. Some I initially put aside…
Sketches of Spain
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.
Don’t Nix the Mix
Seems like a clear majority of releases coming my way nowadays are some kind of fusion music. It hasn’t been easy tearing myself away from…
African Legends Now, Then and Now
I must admit I’m not fully up on all the latest emerging musical artists out of Africa. I can, however, call your attention to…
How Far Out There?
Are world music fans (particularly those of us who are in, uh, a certain advancing age bracket) a bunch of stodgy purists that don’t…
Strange, Wonderful and Essential Reggae
Yabby You – Dread Prophecy (Shanachie Entertainment, 2015) My first encounter with the music of Yabby You was back in the vinyl days of…
A Classic for Your Reconsideration
Totó La Momposina y sus Tambores – Tambolero (Real World Records, 2015) Afro-Colombian music, in its variant forms, has come a long way toward…
Pulverizing the Parameters
Once you get to know or think you know a certain type of music, you can’t help but consider what makes it what it…
Fusions Without Confusion
Music that’s a mix of genres can be a good thing. Or not. And more and more it seems like artists who choose to…
So Many Ways to Get Your African Groove On
A jazz musician friend of mine once told me that he didn’t like African music because he found it unsophisticated. From that statement, I could…
Latest Latin Loves
I’m a Latin Lover. No, that doesn’t mean I go about charming women with Antonio Banderas-like charisma (that’ll be the day); it’s my recurring…