Fred Jorge e os Mairorais (Afro Baile Records, 2012) Brazilian singer-songwriter has assembled a large cast of musicians to celebrate African-rooted music. His album Fred…
Fred Jorge Gets Funky
Category: Album reviews
Sheer Mastery and Expansive Grace
Anoushka Shankar Traveller (Deutsche Grammophon, USA release: 2012) Anoushka Shankar’s debut recording, Traveller, on the Deutsche Grammophon is a fantastical journey of going forward and…
Music Has No Borders
The Touré-Raichel Collective The Tel Aviv Session (Cumbancha, 2012) The rising star of world music, Vieux Farka Touré collaborates with Israeli pop star Idan Raichel…
Keeping the Emotion
Otis Taylor Contraband (Telarc, 2012) American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Otis Taylor continues his musical explorations on his latest recording. Although his music is deeply rooted…
African Americans Indeed
Zieti Zemelewa (Grigri Discs GRIGRI004, 2011) Back at the end of the last century, guitarist Michael Shereikis and drummer Alex Owre, both Americans, happened to…
Timeless Taaleem: A Tribute to Ustad Allarakha
Fazal Qureshi Timeless Taaleem: A Tribute to Ustad Allarakha (Ninaad Music) This album is a beautiful tribute to the late great tabla maestro Ustad Allarakha…
Hottest Grooves of Gambia
Karantamba Ndigal (Teranga Beat , 2012) One of the most exciting African albums of the year is Ndigal by Karantamba. This sizzling group is led…
Unforgettable Atahualpa Yupanqui
Gerard Edery Edery Sings Yupanqui (Sefarad Records, 2012) Guitarist and singer Gerard Edery is well known as a leading performer of Sephardic music. On Edery…
Zemelewa
Zieti Zemelewa (Grigri Discs, 2012) It only takes a brief look at the liner notes to know that there’s a story behind Zieti’s debut recording…
Truly Afrolicious
Afrolicious A Dub For Mali (Eighteen Street Lounge Music ESL187, 2011) This EP by San Francisco-based Afrolicious came out last year and nearly escaped our…