Etran Finatawa Desert Crossroads (Riverboat Records, 2008) As world music fans, you might have noticed something in the air or perhaps a subtle shift in…
Saharan Intersections
Category: Album reviews
The Music of the Three Musketeers
Arabesque Music Ensemble The Music of the Three Musketeers (Xauen Music, 2008) “Softly, sweetly, softly, sweetly Sing from me; I’ll give you anything.” Those lyrics…
Celebrating Rumi
Mercan Dede – 800 (Doublemoon DM0042, 2008) Mercan Dede’s 800 isn’t what was expected, that is to say what it’s not is the proposed fourth…
Dolores Gets Real
DJ Dolores 1 Real (Ziriguiboom/Crammed Dics, 2007) DJ Dolores’s latest offering, 1 Real, is a delightfully raucous romp, full of unexpected twists and turns. 1…
Newgrass from the Crooked Road
Blue Highway Through the Window of a Train (Rounder, 2008) Contemporary bluegrass band Blue Highway recorded Through the Window of a Train (Rounder) in Big…
Iberian Remembrances
Cañizares Suite Iberia (Sony BMG, 2007) Flamenco guitarist Juan Manuel Cañizares ventures again into classical music with his adaptations of Albeniz’s Suite Iberia. Albeniz and…
Cosmopolitan Acoustic Music Variations
Compass Rose Quintet Cosmopolitango (2007) The Compass Rose Quintet is an acoustic ensemble that features four stringed instrument players and one percussionist. The mandolin, violin…
Bump Around
Massukos Bumping (Poo Productions PPLCD001, 2006) I sought out Bumping after seeing it reviewed in the ever-trusty UK magazine Songlines. Being entirely unfamiliar with the…
Hungarian Atmospheres
DJ Bootsie The Silent Partner (Ugar Records, 2004) DJ Bootsie is a musician from Hungary. His CD The Silent Partner presents edgy electronica where trip…
Vincent at Her Prime
Rhonda Vincent Good Thing Going (Rounder, 2008) One of the finest bluegrass mandolinists in the United States is musician and songwriter Rhonda Vincent. She is…