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).…
Elegant Intimacy and Brilliance
Ravi Shankar – Ravi Shankar In Hollywood (East Meets West Music, 2016) Like doling out single pieces of candy to a greedy child, the world…
Tradition and Getting Around it
Being a self-styled traditionalist doesn’t mean my musical tastes are so staunch that I shun any sonic adventurousness that steps over traditional boundaries. Cross the…
The Ultimate Guide to English Folk
Various Artists – The Ultimate Guide to English Folk (Arc Music EUCD2671, 2016) A nation’s folk music is not merely a hodgepodge of tunes from…
The Thirtieth Anniversary of the Klezmatics in Warsaw
“Yiddish culture as it existed in Eastern Europe can never be revived as it was. Luckily, enough of the culture has been preserved in books,…
Carnatic Violin Maestro Ganesh Rajagopalan to Perform in New York City
South Indian classical violin master Ganesh Rajagopalan (of Ganesh-Kumaresh duo fame) is set to perform on October 7th at Roulette in New York City. This…
Adriana Varela and Piano
Adriana Varela – Y piano (Sony Music Argentina, 2014) An intimate album featuring exclusive vocals and piano album by acclaimed Argentine tango singer Adriana Varela.…
The Talented Gaelic Sounds of Bywater
Elias Alexander, Eamon Sefton, Kathleen Parks and Patrick Bowling Bywater (Fresh Haggis Music, 2016) Bywater is the debut by an American Celtic music band inspired…
Singer’s Warsaw Festival 2016: An annual celebration of music and culture in Warsaw
Yiddish culture returns by way of pre-war films and contemporary performances, workshops of dance and song, Jewish paper cutting, ceramics, and Hebrew calligraphy ……
Length & Time: Sevana Siren
I will be writing a column on Length & Time in music, in each presenting an album and its strategies that pertain to addressing Length & Time. The…
Mei Han and Red Chamber’s Globe-trotting Enchantment
Mei Han and Red Chamber – Classical & Contemporary Chinese Music (ARC Music, 2016) Dipping into the wonderful world of Chinese music, ARC Music is…