Sara Tavares Sara Tavares – Alive in Lisboa (Times Square Records/World Connection TSQCD 9068, 2008) Portuguese-born Sara Tavares has a new release coming out soon,…
A Tavares Triple
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.
Kind of Blue
Music from the Blue Nile (ARC Music EUCD 2212, 2009) Most mentions of Sudan nowadays are likely to be about the ongoing conflict there and…
Last of His Kind
Mamane Barka Introducing Mamane Barka (World Music Network INTRO114CD, 2009) Will every instrument originating on African soil eventually be heard by the rest of the…
Colombian Coastal Fire
Pacifico Colombiano: Adventures in Afro-Colombia (Otrabanda Records OTB09, 2008) The Colombian port city of Buenaventura is an entry point for many goods into the country’s…
Get On Board
Empty Boat Waitless (Poo Productions PPLCD002, 2006) I came late to Poo Productions other CD release, the superb 2006 album Bumping by Mozambique’s Massukos, so…
Offbeat Yet Spot On
Nation Beat Legends of the Preacher (Modiba MP 0007, 2008) Brazilian bluegrass? Country candomble? Okay, I’m either generalizing too much or not specifying enough, but…
Samba, Strictly Speaking
Various Artists Far out: Strictly Samba (Far Out Recordings FAR0137, 2009) Samba is truly Brazil’s signature sound, but even a collection like this, with a…
Tailor Made
Victor Deme Victor Deme (Chapa Blues/Makasound, 2008) Growing up in Burkina Faso, Victor Deme dabbled in his father’s tailoring business and more seriously pursued his…
Nigeria’s Definitive Golden Age Revisited
Nigeria 70 – The Definitive Story of 1970s Funky Lagos (Strut Records STRUTO35CD/LP, 2009) Strut Records is one of those labels that have a knack…
A Welcome Introduction
Dozan Introducing Dozan (World Music Network INTRO112CD, 2008) Music from Jordan is something I don’t have a lot of. In fact, I’m almost certain I…