It’s been more than three decades since my musical tastes went global. In that time I haven’t stopped being amazed at the diversity of music…
Getting Reacquainted With Old Friends and Making New Ones
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.
Voices of a Better World
In this era of harsh voices speaking know-it-all rhetoric from various political, religious, cultural and elitist viewpoints, the need for musical voices to tame the…
Tradition and Getting Around it
Being a self-styled traditionalist doesn’t mean my musical tastes are so staunch that I shun any sonic adventurousness that steps over traditional boundaries. Cross the…
Lovin’ Haiti
Despite the persisting perception that Haiti is a place most readily associated with brutal dictatorships, impoverished masses and natural disasters, it is more so a…
Drawing the African Line
Call me a traditionalist, call me a purist, call me a snob, call me a journalistic hack. (Okay, that last one is kind of beside…
Different Combinations of Latin Spices
I‘ve long asserted that Latin music was the first “world” music to make its way into the mainstream. Arguable though that may be, there’s no…
Sketches of Spain
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…
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…