It’s a vast country where a lot of music is made, so the laws of probability dictate that a healthy portion of CDs coming into…
Bossa and Beyond
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.
Iberian Jamaican
Ska, rocksteady and reggae are known the world over and most certainly going strong in Spain. That country’s premiere label when it comes to such…
Refrigerated Reggae
Alific – Echoes From the Soul (Rootfire Records, 2013) Gaudi – In Between Times (Six Degrees Records, 2013) Combining reggae and its spacey subgenre dub…
Fabulous Fusions
The musical application of the word “fusion” handily predates the phrase “world music” and was as much a stepping stone toward the latter term as…
Ay, Calypso
Lord Mouse and the Kalypso Katz – Go Calypsonian (Piranha Musik, 2013) Kobo Town – Jumbie In The Jukebox (Stonetree / Cumbancha, 2013) Like reggae,…
Grinding a Few African Axes
Some musical instruments are unique to Africa, some Western instruments are derived from Africa and some instruments have seemingly nothing to do with Africa until…
Prime Puente Packaged Perfect
Tito Puente Tito Puente – Quatro: The Definitive Collection (Sony Music Latin, 2013) It’s become shopworn to describe any worthy experience as an honor and…
Tradition and What to do With It
Iarla O Lionaird – Foxlight (Real World CDRW184, 2013) Spiro – Kaleidophonica (Real World CDRW188, 2013) The Creole Choir of Cuba – Santiman (Real World…
Ever Rougher
World Music Network’s prolific Rough Guide series continues to put out so many titles that it’s becoming hard to remember which ones are followups to…
Finding Fusion
Mixing and matching musical styles can often be a good thing and sometimes be a great thing. It can help global music listeners discover new…