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).…
Les Moncada Chats with Bongo Legend Chucky Lopez
I met Chucky Lopez in 1973. Eddie Palmieri had moved to the City by the Bay San Francisco, California. Eddie has family there and felt…
Mehmet Polat Trio Play Songs of Connection
Lincoln Center’s David Rubenstein Atrium is a cool and welcome relief from the 85F heat of Manhattan. The room is crowded with more than a…
“I see myself as a world citizen” – Asian Underground Pioneer Karsh Kale
Award-winning musician and composer Karsh Kale performed in India recently for the launch of the Art Bangalore Festival. The British-born, New York City-raised producer and…
Harold Lopez-Nussa’s Sheer Coolness
Harold López-Nussa – El Viaje (Mack Avenue Records, 2016) Composer and pianist Harold Lopez-Nussa’s El Viaje, out September 9th on the Mack Avenue Records label…
The Remarkable Travels of the Cavaquinho
Júlio Pereira Cavaquinho.pt (Tradisom, 2014) Acclaimed Portuguese multi-instrumentalist Julio Pereira released an album titled Cavaquinho 30 years ago. This was a tribute to the small…
Artist Profiles: Foday Musa Suso
Foday Musa Suso is an internationally recognized musician and a Manding griot from the West African nation of Gambia. Griots are the oral historians and…
Artist Profiles: Seleshe Damessae
Seleshe Damessae (also known as Sileshi Demissie and Gashe Abera Molla) is an extraordinary singer and musician from Ethiopia. He uses a complex vocal styling,…
Length & Time: Chouk Bwa Libete
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. Most…
Artist Profiles: Wu Man
Wu Man is an internationally renowned pipa (Chinese lute) virtuoso. Born in Hangzhou (China), Wu Man studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing…
Artist Profiles: San Chuan
San Chuan (“Three Rivers”) is a trio of three young and energetic women, Wang Yao, Sang Ka and Liu Yu, who play the Chinese zither…