Khaira Arby Timbuktu Tarab (Clermont Music, 2010) Pooling a stellar group of musicians and committing herself to singing the praises and hardships of the people…
Timbuktu Tarab Showcases the Diversity of Malian Musical Influences
Category: Album reviews
English Folk Rock Pioneers Steeleye Span to Release New Album with Maddy Prior
Legendary English folk-rock band Steeleye Span has recorded a new album titled Wintersmith that will be released on October 28, 2013. Steeleye Span is one…
Enfolding the Sounds of West Africa, Jazz and Rock into the Riches of Gnawa Trance Music
Aziz Sahmaoui Aziz Sahmaoui & University of Gnawa (Naïve, 2011) It comes as no surprise that musicians like Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and bassist and…
The Relentless Energy of Brass Band Music
Boban & Marko Markovic Orchestra – Gipsy Manifesto (Piranha Musik, 2013) Raya Brass Band – This Train is Now (2013) Brasslands (Evergreene Music, 2013) The…
Andalusian-Arabic synergies
Hossam Ramzy and Jose Luis Monton Flamenco Arabe 2 (Arc Music) Volume 1 was great and Volume 2 is equally spectacular! Yes, Egyptian percussion prodigy…
The music of trance and possession
Wayo: Trance Percussion Masters of the South Sudan (Riverboat, 2013) The Rough Guide to Voodoo + Erol Josue: Hountu Legba (World Music Network, 2013) Trance;…
A Musical Wonderland Where Tradition Seeps Into Modernity and Vice Versa
Anoushka Shankar Traces of You (Deutsche Grammophon, 2013) The late and much revered musician and composer Ravi Shankar has gifted music fans an extraordinary legacy.…
Fabulous Fusions
The musical application of the word “fusion” handily predates the phrase “world music” and was as much a stepping stone toward the latter term as…
Deeply Seductive Bombay Dub Orchestra
Bombay Dub Orchestra Tales from the Grand Bazaar (Six Degrees, 2013) With previous recordings, the self-titled Bombay Dub Orchestra and 3 Cities, under their belts…
Uniquely Flavored TriBeCaStan Stew
TriBeCaStan New Songs from the Old Country (Evergreene Music, 2013) The New York world music collective TriBeCaStan returns with another serving of cross-cultural sounds, blending…