Tombak In The Spotlight On Between Hands
Kaveh Mahmudiyan — Between Hands (Global Sonics, 2025) Kaveh Mahmudiyan’s first solo album, Between Hands presents his own compositions with the tombak (Persian goblet-shaped drum).…
Artist Profiles: Mad Professor
Mad Professor wears his original nickname earned early in his preteen years due to his intense interest in electronics. Born Neil Fraser in Guyana, he…
Masterful Puerto Rican Percussion Labyrinth
Hector “Coco” Barez – “El Laberinto del Coco” (Hector “Coco” Barez, 2018) “El Laberinto del Coco” is the first solo album from virtuoso Puerto Rican…
Artist Profiles: Guto Pires
Guto Pires is a guitarist, singer and composer from Guinea-Bissau. He moved to Portugal in the late 1970s. Guto played in many bands such as…
Artist Profiles: Nino Galissa
Bubacar Galissa Kouyaté, better known as Nino Galissa, is a songwriter and kora player born in Gabu (Guinea Bissau) where he grew up steeped in…
Artist Profiles: Bidinte
Jorge Da Silva Bidinte – a multi-faceted musician: composer, vocalist, guitar player, percussionist – represented one of the most genuine voices coming from the mingling…
Artist Profiles: Keba Bobo Cissoko
Keba Bobo Cissoko was born and raised in a jali village in Guinea Bissau. He lived the traditional “Jali” life until he moved to Guinea-Conakry…
Koum Tara’s Sound Recipe Spanning Millennia
Koum Tara – Chaâbi, Jazz and Strings (Odradek Records ODRCD700, 2018) Jazz legend tells us that while the U. S. 369th Infantry Regiment (AKA Harlem…
Harmonious Debate
Chapter 1 Millenia before the invention of the screw, he screwed his perceptions down, tightening and focusing all the sensory pressure he could bring to…
Artist Profiles: Wofa
Wofa means ‘come together’ in the Soso dialect of Guinea. It also represents the combined energy of some of the finest young performers of West…
Artist Profiles: Mamady Keita
Born in 1950, master drummer Mamady Keita came from eastern Guinea, once a part of the vast Manding Empire. In pre-colonial times it also included…