Brassed Off the Map: Balkan Voodoo Orchestra Rewrites the Rules
Haris Pilton & The Balkan Voodoo Orchestra – Soon in Your Village (Asphalt Tango Records, 2025) The Balkan Voodoo Orchestra is a genre-defying ensemble led…
Heavenly Chorus: McCourys and Lewandowski Revive “She’s No Angel”
C.J. Lewandowski and Del McCoury, joined by Ronnie McCoury, have released a new version of the Osborne Brothers and Red Allen’s 1957 classic “She’s No…
Remon Nakanishi’s Hinano Iezuto Rewrites the Japanese Folk Canon
Remon Nakanishi 中西レモン – Hinano Iezuto ひなのいえづと (DOYASA! Records, 2022) Remon Nakanishi ‘s Hinano Iezuto album’s title, drawn from an archaic Japanese phrase meaning “a…
Tom Ricci Reimagines a Tango Classic
Tom Ricci presents a contemporary live reinterpretation of “Naranjo en Flor,” one of Argentina’s most iconic tangos, recorded at Buenos Aires’ historic Estudios ION. This…
Soundplaces Weaves a Bowed Dialogue Across the Aegean
Derya Türkan & Sokratis Sinopoulos – Soundplaces (Seyir Muzik, 2020) Soundplaces, the 2020 release by Derya Türkan and Sokratis Sinopoulos, offers a contemplative, transcultural conversation…
Crown Jewels Anthology Celebrates Koko Taylor’s Legacy
Alligator Records is set to release Crown Jewels, a new compilation that features some of the finest performances by the legendary Koko Taylor, known worldwide…
A Parting Song: Mike Vass Sets Sail With “Leaving St. Kilda”
Scottish composer Mike Vass draws inspiration from history in “Leaving St. Kilda,” a solo tenor guitar piece rooted in his time as artist-in-residence at the…
Kolintang: The Wooden Wonder of Minahasa
(headline image: Kolintang class in middle school. As a regular curriculum in some schools in Indonesia, it is a way to pass the technique of…
Gaelynn Lea’s Haunting Macbeth-Inspired Album Takes the Stage
Gaelynn Lea – Music From Macbeth (self-released, 2025) Gaelynn Lea, the American violinist, composer, and disability rights advocate, rose to prominence after winning NPR Music’s…
It Begs the Question
With immigration being the hot button issue it is nowadays, Cuba’s Yeisy Rojas brings her own take on it into focus via “Inmigrante y qué?”…