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…
Tradition and Getting Around it
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.
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…
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…