Safa Alight (Songlines) Safa (Farsi): means inner purity, sincerity and sincere affection. The Vancouver ensemble Safa comprised of Puerto Rican percussionist Sal Ferreras, Quebecois jazz…
Persian poetry & spiritual intoxicants
Category: Album reviews
Quantity and Quality
Wasis Diop Everything Is Never Quite Enough (Mercury France/Universal 077 396-2, 2003, distributed by Triloka Records) The 1990s albums of Senegal’s Wasis Diop–Hyenes, No Sant and…
Drums of the North
GaPa Imaginaria (independent release, 2004) The Canadian duo GaPa, Patrick Graham and Ganesh Anandan have been exploring various percussion techniques, specializing in improvisation and finger…
The Rough Guide to Gypsy Swing
Various Artists The Rough Guide to Gypsy Swing (World Music Network RGNET 1138 CD, 2004)The Rough Guide to Gypsy Swing is so crammed with such…
Everywhere You Want to Be
Lucky Dube – The Other Side (Heartbeat 11661-7770-2, 2003) Nasio – Living in the Positive (Higher Love Music, 2003) Mounia Sahara – I’ve Got A…
Tango ’til you’re sore
Various Artists The Rough Guide to the Music of Argentina (World Music Network RGNET1119CD, 2004) When it comes to Latin music, tango ranks number one…
Songs of the sea & beyond
Aaron English All the Waters of the World (Independent release, 2004) Seattle-based world traveler and musician Aaron English brings his life experiences and poetic talent…
The Belgium/Brazil axis strikes again
Think of One – Chuva em po (LC MUSIC LCM100036 , 2004) Think of One’s David Bovée, Eric Morel, Tomas de Smet & Tobe Wouters…
The Chieftains Go Further Down the Old Plank Road
The Chieftains Further Down the Old Plank Road (Victor/BMG Music 82876-52897-2, 2003) Imagine just for a moment that Paddy, Seán, Kevin, Matt or Derek called…
Sweet Angola
Bonga – Kaxexe (Europe: Lusafrica 627325, 2003 / US: Times Square, 2004) Since the early 1970s, Bonga has been one of Angola’s biggest singing stars…