Various Artists Salsa (Putumayo PUT 289-2, 2009) Any salsa compilation is likely to cause a few grumbles as to whether its selections truly fit the…
More Than One Kind of Sauce
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.
Expanded Band of Brothers
Occidental Brothers Dance Band International Odo Sanbra (Occidental Brothers, 2008) The term “short but sweet” seems to have been tailor-made to describe Occidental Brothers Dance…
Africa to Jamaica to Africa
Various Artists African Reggae (Putumayo PUT 287-2, 2009) Africa has always been celebrated as the spiritual home of roots reggae, so it’s no surprise that…
Getting Chummy With Chamame
Chango Spasiuk Pyandi – Los Descalzos (World Village 468083, 2009) If it’s Argentinean and involves a squeezebox, don’t instantly think tango. Think also chamame, an…
Counting Blessings
Blessings Nqo Mbube and Gospel from Southern Africa (ARC Music EUCD 2199, 2009) I suppose a guy with a name like Blessings Nqo is pretty…
Under Observation
Dennis Brown The Best Of Dennis Brown: The Niney Years (Heartbeat, 2008) While Bob Marley is considered the King of Reggae, Dennis Brown (who Marley…
Franco From The Beginning
Franco & Le TPOK Jazz Francophonic (Stern’s Africa STCD3041-42, 2008) Franco Luambo was certainly the greatest guitarist in all of Congolese music. As to whether…
Mali’s Greatest In-House Band
Super Rail Band De Bamako Belle Epoque, Vol. 2: Mansa (Sterns Africa STCD 3039-40, 2008) The Buffet Hotel de la Gare, opened in 1961, was…
A Joyous Return
Oumou Sangare Seya (World Circuit WLWCD081, 2009) It’s been a long time since new music by Mali’s Oumou Sangare has been heard outside her home…
Enduring Cuban Legacy
Omara Portuondo – Gracias (World Village/Montuno WVF 479021, 2008) Buena Vista Social Club – At Carnegie Hall (World Circuit WLWCD080, 2008) Ah, the Buena Vista…