La Musgaña – 20 (Mad River Records) Although Castilian music is not as well known as flamenco or Spanish Celtic music from Galicia and Asturias,…
La Musgana Celebrates 20th Anniversary
Category: Album reviews
Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara Tell No Lies
Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara Tell No Lies (Real World Records, 2009) The sinewy strains of the riti, Gambia’s one-string spike fiddle, stretched tight over…
Revolutionary Afrobeat
Fela Kuti Alagbon Close / Why Black Man Dey Suffer (Wrasse, 2007) Two of Fela Kuti’s classics, Alagbon Close and Why Black Man Dey Suffer,…
Salsa’s Mr. Feeling
Cheo Feliciano El Señor Sentimiento (Fania, 2009) All right all you Latin fans, have I got the goods for you. Overflowing with 30 tracks of…
The Prism of the Kings of the Tsugaru Shamisen
Yoshida Brothers – Prism (Domo, 2009) Japan’s Yoshida Brothers have become very popular in their native Japan and abroad because of their fiery performances on…
Gracious Spirit of the Ethiopian Soul
Invisible System – Punt – Made In Ethiopia (Harper Diabate Records, 2009) How an aid worker, who spent eight years in Mali and Ethiopia,…
Mariachi Real De San Diego’s Songs of Old Mexico
Mariachi Real De San Diego – Mariachi Classics (Mardi Gras Records, 2009) Last March I taught a Latin music appreciation class in Bellingham, Washington. The…
When the Eagle Flies
Mamer – Eagle (Real World USCDRW165, 2009) This hypnotic little daydream of a CD is going to be a revelation for anyone who believes they…
Cumbancha’s Craft
Various Artists Hear Globally: A Cumbancha Collection (Cumbancha, 2009) Regular World Music Central readers will recognize many of the artists on the clever sampler Hear…
A Tavares Triple
Sara Tavares Sara Tavares – Alive in Lisboa (Times Square Records/World Connection TSQCD 9068, 2008) Portuguese-born Sara Tavares has a new release coming out soon,…