New Nigeria 70 Collection on Strut Records
Strut Records announced the third edition of Strut’s long running series Nigeria 70, compiled again by series curator Duncan Brooker. Sweet Times continues to spotlight…
Smooth World
The Rippingtons Cote D’Azur (Peak Records, 2011) The great challenge for the exponents of “smooth jazz” is to manage to be different while maintaining the…
Persian Vocal Explorations
Sussan Deyhim City of Leaves (2011) Sussan Deyhim’s City of Leaves is an intimate effort in collaboration with keyboardist and composer Richard Horowitz. Deyhim’s musical…
Steelpan Goes Reggae
Steelpan virtuoso Mighty Jamma returns with a second volume of lively pieces that fuse Trinidad and Tobago’s steelpan music with Jamaican reggae, ska and Caribbean…
Video of the Week: Sanam Marvi’s Manzil-e-Sufi
This week’s video features Sanam Marvi, the superb Pakistani folk and Sufi singer. At her young age she is considered among the finest performers in…
Bomba Estéreo to Perform at Blaze Festival 2011 in London
Bomba Estéreo will perform Tuesday 21 June 2011 at XOYO in London. Electro tropical outfit Bomba Estéreo, led by the mighty voice of Li Saumet,…
Fado on a Grander Scale
Ana Moura Coliseu (World Village 468103, 2011) The pure, aching intimacy of Portuguese fado music is a perfect fit for the small venues (called fado…
Dancing in the Tropics or Elsewhere
Sofrito Tropical Discotheque (Strut STRUTO70CD, 2011) The DJ team of Hugo Mendez, Frankie Francis and The Mighty Crime Minister, collectively known as Sofrito, can reportedly…
An Even Fuller Belly
The Rough Guide to Bellydance (World Music Network RGNET1249CD, 2011) The folks responsible for World Music Network’s very extensive Rough Guide series must be too…
Hot From the Land of Fire
Azerbaijan – Traditional Music / Lok-Batan Folklore Group (ARC Music EUCD 2318, 2011) I don’t have much Azerbaijani music in my collection, so this CD…