Plena Libre Estamos Gozando! (Times Square Records TSQCD 9039, 2004) Ten years and as many albums down the line, Puerto Rico’s Plena Libre continue to…
Paragons of Plena
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.
The Many Faces of Roots
Various Artists – Reggae Pulse, Vol. 3: Love Songs (Sanctuary Records Group 06076-80446-2, 2004) Sly and Robbie – The Dub Revolutionaries (RAS Sanctuary 06076-89917-2, 2004)…
Kenya Feel the Spirit?
Various Artists – The Rough Guide to the Music of Kenya (World Music Network RGNET 1137 CD, 2004) The tightly syncopated, guitar-percolating style known as benga…
Shacking Up
Aphrodesia – Shackrobeat Vol. 1 (Flatbed Lamborgini Records FLR808, 2003) Though they’ve been pegged as part of the current Afrobeat revival, San Francisco’s Aphrodesia go beyond that.…
Life in the Vas Lane
Vas – Feast of Silence (Narada 70876-18497-2-1, 2004) Vocalist Azam Ali and percussionist Greg Ellis began making music as Vas in 1995, both bringing to the…
Music For a Global Gathering
Hamsa Lila – Gathering One (BRG/In The Pocket BRG 1268 2424701262 2, 2003) If a good fusion band is one that knows how to combine the…
The Eyes Have It
Ojos de Brujo – Bari (Europe: La Fábrica de Colores/USA: World Village 468024, 2004) Flamenco ain’t what it used to be, and if the purists want…
It’s the Thought that Counts
Think Of One – Chuva Em Po (Zonk Records LCM 100036, 2004) After three album’s worth of cleverly mixing their eccentric Euro-jazz with Moroccan music, Belgium’s…
Ever Steady
Monty Alexander with Ernest Ranglin Rocksteady(Telarc CD 83581, 2004) Two longstanding icons of Jamaican popular music, pianist Monty Alexander and guitarist Ernest Ranglin, have been…
Stoked
William Eaton Ensemble Sparks and Embers (Canyon Records CR 7061, 2003) “File under new age” states the fine print on the back of this double…