From Hallingdal To Homs: Spove’s Folk Flight
Spove, Nawara Alnaddaf, Silje Risdal Liahagen, Inger Hannisdal, Adrian Myhr – Spove (Fiol, 2025) Norwegian-Syrian quartet Spove has released its debut album, Spove. The exquisite…
The Maytones: Their Greatest Hits
The Maytones Their Greatest Hits (Heartbeat 11661-7575-2, 2002) For whatever reason–maybe because they didn’t sport dreadlocks or have a militant name–the Maytones tend to be…
South African Choral – Songs of the Alexandra Youth Choir
South African Choral Songs of the Alexandra Youth Choir (Naxos World 76025-2, 2002) Even in the darkest days of apartheid, some of the most defiantly…
Zouk: Rhythm of the Lesser Antilles
They are two small islands of that Caribbean Sea, reminiscent of lost paradises. Dreams of rum, white sand beaches and transparent waters, of available bodies…
Vallenato
This article appears courtesy of the Fundación Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata. Edited and translated by Angel Romero. Vallenato is the name of those born…
Qawwali, the devotional music of the SufisQawwali: A Vibrant and Passionate Form of Islamic Mystic Music
Qawwali, an Arabic word denoting “utterance,” is a form of devotional music practiced by Islamic mystics, or Sufis, as they are known in their respective…
Kawina
A type of Creole folk music from Surinam, related to winti. Kawina arose at the end of the 19th century after the abolition of slavery…
Kaseko
While kaseko music often used to be heard on the radio and at parties in the Netherlands, it seems to have been forgotten in recent…
The Transfixing Sounds of Gnawa Music
Gnawa is a term used to define both a Moroccan music style and a Muslim religious brotherhood that invokes God and many prophets. The patron…
Introduction to Ghazal, An Ancient and Expressive Form of Poetry and Music
The ghazal, a love poem or ode, traces its origins back to Arabic poetry in the 7th century. Initially, the ghazal dealt with themes of…
Welsh Music
A revival of traditional folk music and a renewed interest in the use of its native Welsh (Cymreag) language took place in Wales in the…