Monty Alexander Concrete Jungle: The Music of Bob Marley (Telarc CD-83635, 2006) This isn’t the first time Jamaican pianist Monty Alexander has jazzed up reggae…
Alexander’s Reggaetime Band
Category: Album reviews
Early Music Branches Out
Rolf Lislevand Nuove musiche (ECM/Universal Classics, 2006) Rolf Lislevand’s Nuove musiche (music of 17th century Italy adapted and arranged by Lislevand), grabs listeners from the…
Back in Fighting Form
UB40 Who You Fighting for? (Rhino R2 73305, 2006) I wasn’t ready to write off UB40. True, they hadn’t made a really good album in…
Good to See Ya, Tanzania
Various Artists The Rough Guide to the Music of Tanzania (World Music Network RGNET 1158 CD, 2006) A quick scan through my hopelessly disorganized collection…
Taarab of Ages
Zanzibara 1 – Ikhwani Safaa Musical Club: A Hundred Years of Taarab in Zanzibar (Buda Musique 860118, 2005) Zanzibara 2 – Various Artists: Golden Years…
Brazil Chill Thrill
Various Artists Brazilian Lounge(Putumayo PUTU 247, 2006) This collection might be seen as the flip side of Putumayo’s Acoustic Brazil from last year, continuing a…
More Cuban Music Despite the Embargo
The amount of Cuban music releases has decreased considerably in the United States, especially after the hardliners in the White House tightened the embargo. However,…
Haitian Music, Alive and Well
Lataye – Tou Manbre (Dadisound Productions, 2005) & Mozayik – Haitian Creole Jazz (Zoho, 2005) Some of the best Haitian music is being produced…
Chants Encounter
Vocal Baobab Yoruba Dream: Afro-Cuban Chants (ARC Music EUCD 1965, 2005) The Yoruba pantheon of deities forming the basis of the Santeria religion have their…
Songs of the Lark: Folk Sounds from the Past
The Lark in the Morning (field recording, 1955), folk songs and dance from the Irish countryside (Tradition Records) The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem (1959),…