Putumayo Presents: Jazz Around the World (Putumayo PUT 296-2, 2009) I can’t define jazz any more than I can define world music, so the many…
Jazz Planet
Category: Album reviews
The Chicken Scratch of Cisco Band and the Joaquin Brothers
The Cisco Band and The Joaquin Brothers Popular Dance Music of the Natives of Southern Arizona (Canyon Records, 2009) This CD reissue combines the 1975…
Markovic Brass Funk
Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar Devla (Piranha Musik, November 10, 2009) Few Eastern European brass bands can match the vitality and innovation of Serbian band…
In the Biguine-ing
Tumbélé: Biguine, Afro and Latin Sounds from the French Caribbean, 1963-1974 (Soundway SNDWCD017P, 2009) While the slickly produced sounds of zouk became wildly popular in…
A Wink to Quebec’s Musical Future
Le Vent du Nord La Part du Feu (Borealis Music, 2009) Canadian band Le Vent du Nord’s recording La Part du Feu is a winner.…
Rich and Warm as the Finest Liqueur
Cesaria Evora Nha Sentimento (Lusafrica, 2009) With thousands of adoring fans, six Grammy Award winning recordings to her name and a voice as rich and…
Desirable Tea
Tea Dreams (Teajuana Music, 2009) Tea is a Los Angeles-based group formed by French guitarist Franck Balloffet and American drummer and keyboardist Phil Bunch. Their…
We Three Strings
Les Triaboliques rivermudtwilight (World Village 468088, 2009) Justin Adams, Lu Edmonds and Ben Mandelson could have all been content in their careers as successful UK…
Fine Plena Indeed
Miguel Zenon Esta Plena (Marsalis Music, 2009) If Marsalis Music signs you, it means you are above average in the world of American jazz. Puerto…
Keeping Colombian Tradition Alive
Toto la Momposina La Bodega (Astar Artes, 2009) Toto la Momposina is a national treasure in Colombia. She has spent most of her life researching…