Brazil’s homegrown reggae scene is long-established and ever-robust, with “Lua” by André Ayel a recent example of how well Jamaica’s signature sound fits with the…
Reggae Roots Planted Brazilian Style
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.
Well Connected
With so many connection options available nowadays, a title like “To Connect” could have whatever meaning one chooses. But one thing’s for sure, this piece…
Getting the Party Started
New Cool Collective, a band out of Amsterdam, makes it clear that they’re in a celebratory mood with “The Party,” a funk-filled, Latin-tinged dance track.…
A Reggae Win for a Finn
One never knows where an authentic-sounding reggae track might come from nowadays. Federal Dee, whose home country is Finland, exemplifies as much with “Good Dayz,”…
Reggae Time for Bonzo
Reggae from Italy is no longer a novel thing and if what I’ve heard of it is any indication, it rings true in comparison to…
On the Spot and Spot On
Freestyling in a completely off-the-cuff, improvised manner, Caleb Hart (a Trinidadian based in Canada) displays a knack for Jamaican deejay chanting as well as wrapping…
Stepping Forward
Mexican saxophonist Gerry López gives an Afro-Cuban jazz twist to John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps,” taking a classic to new heights by keeping the melodic essence…
88 Keys Plus Natural Beats
Greece’s Yiorgos Bereris seasons his own expert touch on the piano with jazz drumming, Cuban and Brazilian-inspired percussion and melodic interplay to spare on “Cruza,”…
Warming Warning
Addressing a worldwide problem in a true roots reggae style is exactly how it ought to be done, and Minna LaFortune does so on “Global…
A Word to the Unwise
I’ve spotlighted the work of America’s Naya Rockers previously, and their “Long Way Down” gives me another reason to do so. It’s a melodic but…