Sekou Bembeya Diabate Guitar Fo (Discorama WVF 497016 [distributed in the U.S. by World Village/Harmonia Mundi]) As lead guitarist and point man for longtime Guinean…
Diamond Fingers Mines a Gem
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.
Mama Africa Still Radiates
Miriam Makeba Reflections (Heads Up International HUCD3087, 2004) Miriam Makeba is a global music legend who certainly doesn’t need the endorsement of a hack like…
Sky’s the Limit
Kayhan Kalhor and Ali Akbar Moradi In the Mirror of the Sky (World Village 468030, 2004) Presumably for reasons of strict adherence to musical decorum,…
Pleased to Meet Them
Shiyani Ngcobo – Introducing Shiyani Ngcobo (World Music Network INTRO101CD, 2004) Vakoka – Introducing Vakoka (World Music Network INTRO102CD, 2004) Sukke – Introducing Sukke (World…
Bala-bing
Keletigui Diabate Sandiya (Contre Jour CJ012, 2004) The balafon (or simply bala, if you prefer the non-Francophone name) is a West African gourd resonator xylophone…
Pods and Ends
Afro Celt Sound System Pod (Real World 7243 597526 0 0, 2004) Afro Celt Sound System were and are trailblazers in the ethno-techno movement that…
Paragons of Plena
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…
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.…