Marta Topferova La Marea (World Village 468040, 2005) The former Czechoslovakia wouldn’t be very high up on anyone’s list of Latin music hot spots, but…
View More Czech These Latin SoundsAuthor: Tom Orr
Brazil Plugged Out
Various Artists Acoustic Brazil (Putumayo PUT 234-2, 2005) Putumayo’s 1999 release Brasileiro was also mostly acoustic though more upbeat, and the label has presented other…
View More Brazil Plugged OutThe Who and What of Rachid Taha
Rachid Taha Tekitoi (Wrasse Records WRASS 126X, 2004) The title of Rachid Taha’s latest album translates as “Who Are You?”, though “what are you?” might…
View More The Who and What of Rachid TahaAfrican Beat, Amerind Soul, Indomitable Spirit
Various Artists Garifuna Music – Field Recordings From Belize (ARC Music EUCD 1913, 2005) The music on this disc, raw and fiercely non-commercial though it…
View More African Beat, Amerind Soul, Indomitable SpiritThey Were Some Very Good Years
Bembeya Jazz National The Syliphone Years (Stern’s Africa STCD 3021-22, 2004) The West African nation of Guinea pretty much had to start from scratch after…
View More They Were Some Very Good YearsReggae’s Poetry Man Releases Concert DVD
With his suit, spectacles and fedora, Linton Kwesi Johnson looks more like a dapper West Indian sleuth than one of the most renowned figures in…
View More Reggae’s Poetry Man Releases Concert DVDGet Yer Fra Fra’s Out
Fra Fra Sound Kulembanban (Munich Records BV BMCD 443, 2004) Recording a tribute to a long-deceased man considered the father of Afro-Surinamese music isn’t likely…
View More Get Yer Fra Fra’s OutCentral Asian Persuasion
Various Artists The Rough Guide to the Music of Central Asia (World Music Network RGNET 1129 CD, 2005) The countries represented on this CD- Kazakhstan,…
View More Central Asian PersuasionKeeping the Peace
R. Carlos Nakai Quartet People of Peace (Canyon Records CR-7069, 2004) R. Carlos Nakai, Native American flute master, is one busy guy. He’s put out…
View More Keeping the PeaceWelcome to the Family
Boubacar Diebate My Family (Boubacar Diebate [no number], 2004) It’s got to be tough enough to be a Senegalese kora player and singer based in…
View More Welcome to the Family