With their instrumental track “Baraúna,” a French band called Sapocaya expertly captures the point where Africa, Brazil, and jazz converge.
View More Sapocaya’s Multicultural Array of Afro-Rooted JazzAuthor: Tom Orr
Superb Song by Cameroonian Artist Princess Vinia
I don’t know if she’s actual royalty, but Cameroon’s Princess Vinia has a dandy of a track called “Barbasin” that starts with a beat tapped…
View More Superb Song by Cameroonian Artist Princess ViniaSuperb Jamaican-American Roots Reggae Collaboration
Clinton Fearon, formerly of the Gladiators and a longtime resident of Seattle, gives an added roots reggae boost to ‘Come with Us’ by the U.S.’s…
View More Superb Jamaican-American Roots Reggae CollaborationMariah Parker’s Highly Satisfying Mix of Jazz and Samba
There’s been many a meeting between jazz and the rhythms of Latin America, and “Espiritu Samba” by American pianist Mariah Parker is a prime example…
View More Mariah Parker’s Highly Satisfying Mix of Jazz and SambaGreat Music, Format Notwithstanding
Admitting with utmost candor that I liked it best when compact discs were the norm, I just as freely admit that the march of time…
View More Great Music, Format NotwithstandingClassic, Timeless Reggae from First Born
An early reggae feel combined with the kind of harmonies that defined the era vocally, “And Not Another” by British/Guyanese collaboration First Born sounds like…
View More Classic, Timeless Reggae from First BornPulsating Funky Reggae from Babylon North
Swedish reggae band Babylon North expand the parameters of their genre with “Everything I Can (Flames).” The reggae pulse is suggested rather than fully present,…
View More Pulsating Funky Reggae from Babylon NorthCheerful Caribbean Mizik from Abondance
A Montreal-based band called Abondance brings just enough contemporary flavor to “Mizik,” a song with French Caribbean foundation and a feel that’s lighthearted but certainly…
View More Cheerful Caribbean Mizik from AbondanceEssential Beninese Roots Music by Duo Landry+
As Benin twosome Duo Landry+ ably demonstrates, African roots music is often best left in a purely traditional state or at least modernized to only…
View More Essential Beninese Roots Music by Duo Landry+Horn-Fueled Reggae by The Resolvers
American reggae band The Resolvers have much to say about the gap between the haves and the have nots with their song “They Don’t Know.”…
View More Horn-Fueled Reggae by The Resolvers