tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-236910422011-12-15T11:55:47.200-05:00cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.comBlogger1531100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-41205327597753205532011-09-28T14:10:00.000-05:002011-09-28T14:10:10.979-05:00

"Never before have I heard this lyrically powerful a fusion of Jewish and jazz souls on fire.” So says Nat Hentoff and I can’t agree more. For most of the past decade the Afro-Semitic Experience has played the midnight Selichot service with Cantor Jack Mendelson at his synagogue in White Plains, NY. Theey have, in the process, created a new way to accompany cantorial music and they document it

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-16653492170549367132011-05-27T10:09:00.000-05:002011-05-27T10:09:29.747-05:00

We are working on a new on-going series of hour long programs called The Global Radio Workshop, produced by Cliff Furnald and RootsWorld in cooperation with WPKN Radio in Bridgeport, CT. You can hear some of the programs in archive at the new GRW web site. This week, we heard from Canadian improvisation trio Three Metre Day

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-86034014276332045322010-12-10T12:33:00.002-05:002010-12-10T12:34:29.767-05:00

Yes, we all need more intermedia interaction, don't we? We'll be using Facebook as a (nearly) daily link farm to great music, news and reviews, so join us if you can! RootsWorld on Facebook!  

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-31406669846147363632010-12-10T12:32:00.000-05:002010-12-10T12:32:31.034-05:00

"There is a old tradition in Norway to sing and play at the same time, like talking together." - Annbjørg Lien Norwegian musician Annbjørg Lien is more than just a great Hardangar fiddler. RootsWorld's Greg Harness chats with the artist and reviews some of her recent recordings. Read more and listen.

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-48006303388177175802010-08-01T10:03:00.001-05:002010-08-01T10:05:21.616-05:00

  The "bridal room" at Savannah's historic Trinity Methodist Church offers a glimpse into the clichéd world of the Southern belle. Overstuffed sofas, heavy drapery, straight-backed chairs, and an ornate full-length mirror with golden trim dominate the main room, while shelves loaded with hairspray, lotions, gels, pins, nets, and formulas used to tame the wild manes of brides and debutantes

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-82991939405278435602010-06-14T14:43:00.000-05:002010-06-14T14:43:10.916-05:00

Three Score & Ten - A Voice to the People recounts the story of 70 Years of the Oldest Independent Record Label in Great Britain, and the origins of Topic Records are particularly fascinating. Initially, the organization from which Topic would take root was the Workers' Music Association (WMA), founded in 1936 as "an educational offshoot of the British Marxist Party." The Workers' Music

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-69278252505937487982010-05-26T10:46:00.000-05:002010-05-26T10:46:09.790-05:00

Cliff Furnald: Thursday mornings, 6 AM to 9 AMLive playlists and audio archives (well, as live as I can handle in the morning) will be online during the show Thursday, May 27th, at 8:00 AM, WPKN Radio will feature a special English-language edition of "Folk Danmark, 2010," a program of music from the little Nordic country with the big musical heart. The program is produced and hosted by Danish

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-28436307933549026212010-05-25T10:35:00.000-05:002010-05-25T10:35:11.177-05:00

A little over a year ago after storm surges from Ike and Gustav almost washed away Terrebonne Parish, Delta bluesman Tab Benoit took the mic in defiance as wisps of wind snaked through the scrim draping the backside of the stage. Friday's early evening crowd stayed put as Benoit offered reassurance that this, the sixth annual Voice of the Wetlands Festival, would continue come hell or high

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-39683944181683655322010-05-24T15:42:00.000-05:002010-05-24T15:42:10.665-05:00

Dirty Linen Magazine was where I first started writing about music in a serious way. In fact, my column, Radio Planet 3, was in the first edition of the magazine to appear under that name (it was called "Fairport Fanatics" before then). So it is a shame to see that, after so many years of working so hard to maintain a magazine of great musical and writing standards, Paul and Sue Hartman have

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-42037006044957550732010-05-12T16:46:00.002-05:002010-05-12T16:46:50.913-05:00

Etoile de Dakar featuring Youssou N'Dour Once Upon A Time In Senegal: The Birth Of Mbalax 1979-1981 (Stern's Music) 2 CDs There are not many African artists whose names are as well-known as Youssou N’Dour’s. And it’s not just his ‘7 Seconds’ duet with Neneh Cherry, or his frequent collaborations with Peter Gabriel and others. No, you don’t reach his status just by who you hang out with, you

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-77194764689355393212010-05-04T18:06:00.001-05:002010-05-04T18:07:07.584-05:00

I know, this is not the usual RootsWorld fare, but bear with me and maybe just humor me a bit. Norah Jones has released new video for the song "Young Blood" from hew CD 'The Fall' this week! Jones is experimenting with different sounds and some new collaborators, including Jacquire King, a noted producer and engineer who has worked with Kings of Leon, Tom Waits, and others, and a new group of

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-22848584425657270632010-04-30T08:34:00.000-05:002010-04-30T08:34:04.756-05:00

“Valravn is testing the extremes of Nordic roots music and its application here and now; in that process we are open to outside influences. The point of departure is on the cusp of something very ancient and something brand new." – Juan Pino, Valravn The Danish folktronica band Valravn grew out of the acoustic medieval music ensemble Virelai, which had specialized in performing traditional

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-91694285866327029712010-04-23T08:18:00.000-05:002010-04-23T08:18:02.044-05:00

The public face of Italy today is una brutta faccia. Silvio Berlusconi's regime is a riotous carnival of corruption, abuse of power, and sexual sleaze; organized crime wields enormous economic power throughout the peninsula and in Sicily; the Vatican intrudes with an ever more heavy hand into Italian politics; and racism, xenophobia, and homophobia are surging. The civil society organization

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-32214733820672094802010-04-23T08:11:00.000-05:002010-04-23T08:11:20.279-05:00

Here's the official word: "It is with great sadness that we announce the cancellation of the entire April/May 2010 North American tour for King Sunny Ade and his African Beats. On March 26th 2010 a tragic car accident took the lives of two members of the African Beats, talking drummer Gabriel Ayanniyi and percussionist Omo Olope, who were en-route to a video shoot for a forthcoming recording.

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-82210046972260434802010-04-15T10:49:00.000-05:002010-04-15T10:49:48.647-05:00

Chicago based Afropop ensemble Occidental Brothers Dance Band International has scored a major coup with the signing of legendary Kenyan/Congolese singer Samba Mapangala as their new lead singer. A chance meeting last year, followed by a few gigs - and a recording session with Orchestra Virunga of Mapangala's tribute to Barak Obama - has led to the union of the two, the Chicago reader reports

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-79004065543135626462010-03-26T11:15:00.000-05:002010-03-26T11:15:44.967-05:00

For those who have kept up with the Buda Musique series, the otherworldly novelty of the earliest volumes released in the late 1990's has perhaps worn off. But they have also been rewarded with everything from solo pianists, King David's Harpists, historic recordings of orchestras as well as classic, 1970's-era Ethiopian soul as interpreted by Cambridge, Massachusetts' Either/Orchestra live in

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-14984725217168423972010-03-25T10:54:00.001-05:002010-04-15T13:12:57.375-05:00

Like those 70s-era Electra/Nonesuch LPs, Africa: Shona Mbira Music and Music of the Shona People, The Kankobela of the Batonga Vol. 1 features music played on the kankobela (commonly referred to as the thumb piano), and like those records, the music contained here is a thing of lullabye-like guilelessness. In fact, this disc can be seen as the long-awaited companion to the recordings South

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-88528396298102069332010-03-12T15:01:00.000-05:002010-03-12T15:01:21.749-05:00

Saharaui singer Mariem Hassan releases her new CD this month, in collaboration with with the poet Lamin Allal and the guitarist, Lamgaifri Brahim. A highlight of the CD is the innovative title track “Shouka,” a cantata developed by using all scales and rhythms of the traditional vocal style, the haul. A full review will be coming in RootsWorld soon. Listen! More audio and Biography of the

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-75219669135007248372010-03-04T11:50:00.002-05:002010-03-04T11:56:48.732-05:00

Think what you may of the Grammys, but the Academy got one thing (partially) right this past year: Omar Sosa's 2009 recording Across the Divide: A Tale of Rhythm & Ancestry was nominated for Best Contemporary World Music Album. While Béla Fleck took home the statue, the nomination introduced many people to the music of Omar Sosa. For these new listeners, this is good timing. The most recent

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-91469060679915253532010-02-19T15:07:00.003-05:002010-02-19T15:11:56.241-05:00

Marta TopferovaTrovaWorld Village (www.worldvillagemusic.com)I had to pull out her previous discs for some comparing and contrasting in order to be sure, and now I am: Marta Topferova has got her groove back. After her impressive 2005 debut La Marea, this young Czech woman who makes Latin music went a trifle soft, though still charming, with the next year's follow-up Flor Noctura. Now on Trova,

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-50758097401451994952010-02-10T13:08:00.001-05:002010-02-10T13:11:37.431-05:00

Various ArtistsPanama! 3: Calypso Panameño, Guajira Jazz & Cumbia Típica on the Isthmus 1960-75Soundway RecordsThe narrow waist of the Americas (as Pablo Neruda once put it) was a major transshipment point between the Atlantic and Pacific long before the Panama Canal's construction claimed the lives of thousands of black English-speaking Caribbean immigrant laborers in the early twentieth century

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-16133017152488713062010-01-07T12:39:00.000-05:002010-01-07T12:41:11.920-05:00

New website helps unsigned African artists “crowdfund” music recordingsPRESS RELEASE www.AfricaUnsigned.com launches an alternative way of producing African music. Unsigned artists record their music, funded by fans. A selection of up and coming artists from Kenya, Senegal, Mali, Zimbabwe and South Africa were hand picked by a music panel consisting of music experts like Baaba Maal, Tony Allen,

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-35186996112437646392010-01-04T08:12:00.002-05:002010-01-04T08:15:54.019-05:00

From an e-mail from Lhasa de Sela's manager, David-Etienne SavoieIn Montreal, Canada: Sunday January 3rd, 2010The singer Lhasa de Sela passed away in her Montreal home on the night of January 1st 2010, just before midnight.She succumbed to breast cancer after a twenty-one month long struggle, which she faced with courage and determination. Throughout this difficult period, she continued to touch

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-70025970229928819682009-12-10T13:28:00.002-05:002009-12-10T13:35:10.796-05:00

The pithy, witty and acerbic John Storm Roberts has passed on. He died on November 29, but I just read about it in the NY Times today.His 1972 book, Black Music of Two Worlds, was essential reading for anyone into the connections between Africa and the Americas, in jazz, blues, folk and what is now the ubiquitous 'world music'. His retail company and record label, Original Music (which folded

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-51610476909279188212009-12-09T14:02:00.001-05:002009-12-09T14:05:19.069-05:00

"These are the songs folk use for fun, to have a laugh at their own problems. There are horrifying stories like "That's Capitalism For You" or the song about Bombardine who has a child out of wedlock. We know they are real tales of misery but they are told in a humourous way, so we can laugh at ourselves. That's OK, but you have to show solidarity with the people you are singing with, you mustn't

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-48759243930694186422009-12-05T15:07:00.002-05:002009-12-05T15:13:39.794-05:00

The 24th Annual fRoots Critics Poll New Albums Of 2009 winners1. Staff Benda Bilili - Très Très Fort (Crammed)2. Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba - I Speak Fula (OutHere)3. Oumou Sangare - Seya (World Circuit)4. Martin Simpson - True Stories (Topic)5. The Unthanks - Here’s The Tender Coming (EMI/Rabble Rouser)6. Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara - Tell No Lies (Real World)7. Tinariwen - Imidiwan (

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-3430397311232845752009-12-04T16:28:00.000-05:002009-12-04T16:29:13.063-05:00

The Irish singer and cultural icon Liam Clancy has died. He was 74.Liam was the youngest of the four Clancy brothers. He was born in Co Tipperary and emigrated to the US in 1956, where he joined his brothers in singing in the clubs of Greenwich Village. With Tommy Macken, they got on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1961 when they filled in for a guest who failed to show up. From there, it was records

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-20709798122676478262009-11-24T10:40:00.001-05:002009-11-24T10:42:56.126-05:00

It's safe to say that renowned Tuareg guitar band Tinariwen have arrived. After a string of acclaimed recordings, they offer us Imidiwan:Companions, recorded in a temporary studio in the Saharan oasis village of Tessalit and some of the surrounding wilderness. It has the same brooding power while recalling the best aspects of what gave Tinariwen's first album the spontaneous feel of a field

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-7964748317270131112009-11-18T13:42:00.002-05:002009-11-18T13:45:21.378-05:00

Fotefar & Håvard Lund are Swedes who take a skewed view of their traditional music on their recording, Fest. They do loopy things with the rhythms, crash sonorities up against one another, and splatter timbres up against a wall with Pollock-esque abandon. They'll pull you into a tune thinking it's going to be all traditional and sedate, then they'll twist the harmony up into something

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-49912214026674320382009-11-18T13:37:00.001-05:002009-11-18T13:41:59.558-05:00

Trio Ifriqiya comprises the compelling talents of Fayçal El Mezouar (vocals, violin, oud, percussion, trained at Algeria's El Kordobia conservatory), French jazz pianist-composer Didier Fréboeuf, and Congolese drummer-percussionist Emile Biayenda (a founding member of Les Tambours de Brazza). Inspired by the traditions of the Maghreb, yet invested with a collective improvisatory genius that

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-60683243400160390412009-10-09T12:24:00.001-05:002009-10-09T12:26:56.149-05:00

LuraEclipseI saw Lura onstage for the first time when she was touring in support of her second album M'bem di Flora. My concert-going companion and I agreed that Lura's live performance had a magic that her studio recordings, good though they were, lacked. To me it was the almost entirely acoustic sound of her ensemble that accounted for the warmth, along with the fact of having the barefoot,

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-54397084538390250542009-10-09T11:18:00.000-05:002009-10-09T11:19:28.216-05:00

John Jones, the inimitable lead singer of the Oysterband, launches his first solo outing with the superb album Rising Road. Members of the Oysterband have, over their thirty plus year history, been given the latitude to pursue other projects: guitarist Alan Prosser has released albums under his own name, and longtime drummer Lee Partis recently left to pursue his therapeutic counseling work in

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-74225834449599412192009-10-09T11:15:00.000-05:002009-10-09T11:17:11.763-05:00

Jāņi is an ancient pagan summer solstice ritual that is observed into the present day in Latvia.So it's a no-brainer that Latvia's premiere folk-rockers Iļģi would put out an album of songs celebrating the rite. Their last few albums have been ritual-themed, using Christmas and marriage as jumping-off points for their explorations of ancient Latvian songs. They get a little crunchier on Īsākās

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-84826397301859074422009-09-11T11:10:00.002-05:002009-10-09T11:20:17.552-05:00

Boris Kovac and The LaDaABa OrchestThe Last Balkan TangoSeptember 14, 2001:What do you say about music or art at these times? Strangely, just a few weeks ago, this recording came in and sat on my desk, awaiting my response. Last week I found myself listening to the mournful, almost plodding opening track, a sound both tearful and weirdly hopeful. These eight minutes of dark despair suddenly burst

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-24849503370074125032009-09-02T08:07:00.002-05:002009-09-02T08:09:46.595-05:00

LuraEclipseFour Quarters Entertainment (www.fourquartersent.com)I saw Lura onstage for the first time when she was touring in support of her second album M'bem di Flora. My concert-going companion and I agreed that Lura's live performance had a magic that her studio recordings, good though they were, lacked. To me it was the almost entirely acoustic sound of her ensemble that accounted for the

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-16991385582564336352009-08-26T10:28:00.003-05:002009-08-26T10:31:55.512-05:00

Daniel Kahn & The Painted BirdPartisans & ParasitesOriente MusikI first encountered Daniel Kahn's music from his participation in 'The Unternationale' project, a group comprised of avant-klezmer musicians with a penchant for punk and cabaret music. The Unternationale's 2008 CD was a multi-lingual affair, with songs alternating between lyrics sung in Yiddish, Russian, and English: often within

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-76781383228333080862009-08-19T07:14:00.000-05:002009-08-19T07:15:43.693-05:00

Kaila Flexer & Gari HegedusTeslimNext Village Music (www.kailaflexer.com/teslim.htm)Kaila Flexer plays the violin and viola, and Gari Hegedus knows his way around more instruments than I'm about to list here. Along with a few guest players, the duo have put together an album of instrumental pieces inspired by the Arabic, Balkan, Greek, Jewish and Turkish music they've embraced and put their own

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-16403764024349105012009-08-17T07:53:00.002-05:002009-08-17T07:56:31.620-05:00

The longstanding presence and continuous growth of the Mexican-descent population in the United States has fostered an autonomous and dynamic sphere of cultural expression in which the folk music traditions of Mexico play a prominent role. For those seeking more than liner-note lite, Mariachi Music in America draws upon decades of field research, extensive knowledge of mariachi history, and

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-16234245571544220352009-08-10T08:21:00.001-05:002009-08-10T08:23:48.444-05:00

Ferran Savall is the son of the renowned early music conductor, composer, and musician Jordi Savall and revered singer Montserrat Figueras. Mireu el nostre mar marks a bit of a departure for the Savall family's Alia Vox label, as the focus is not on the interpretation of early music or classical masterworks in the traditional sense. Instead, Ferran Savall presents a program of folk songs, many

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-14897740761478881872009-07-22T08:42:00.001-05:002009-07-22T08:45:18.305-05:00

…nostalgia gleams with the dull brillianceof a chrome airplane on the rusted hoodof a '56 Chevy..daydream's of walking bare footon the soft grassdown by the riverwhere dragonflies buzzed all dayhave now decayedlike the fallen cottonwoodsalong the gnarled pathsof the Rio Embudowhere free form poetrymixed with cheap beeron warm nights by the riverbanksand stories of lowered '49 Fleetlineswith flame

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-73570422282073594672009-07-21T10:40:00.001-05:002009-07-21T10:43:08.131-05:00

There must be multitudes of world music fans who are pleased that Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara only waited about a year to follow up their first collaboration. Their new Tell No Lies retains the refreshing jolt of the previous collaboration, offering up Bo Diddley-infused jams, meditations with a lighter swing) and even a blistering excursion into Latin rhythms that the first album left

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-34450484078747881882009-06-21T16:20:00.009-05:002009-06-21T17:00:51.907-05:00

The WPKN "Live From Where? / Sunday Brunch" concert series continued today with some great Balkan music from right here in CT. Live on the air and at the Kasbah Garden Cafe in New Haven - The Harris Brothers Balkan BandArchive of the show:More pics on FlickrHarris Brothers Balkan Band on Myspace

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-30807846126817064182009-06-17T08:55:00.002-05:002009-06-17T09:10:15.950-05:00

June 17 is National Day (Þjóðhátíðardagurinn) in Iceland (Lýðveldið Ísland). This is the birthdate of Jón Sigurðsson, a noted Icelandic independence figure.Like most places, it is celebrated by community parades.But I prefer to commemorate it with musical art, of course:Anna Palina and the band Draupner sing the traditional "Ásu Kvædi." Listen!Klakki is a contemporary ensemble led by Icelandic

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-4539261740333515172009-06-15T16:14:00.002-05:002009-06-15T16:18:36.700-05:00

Touareg desert rockers Tinariwen release their latest CD the end of June, but The Guardian in London is offering a free track from it today. ListenFind out more about the new CD at the band's web siteGet the rest of the recordings at cdRootsRead a review of their live concert DVD in RootsWorld

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-17017320243574265802009-06-09T14:32:00.004-05:002009-06-09T14:37:04.814-05:00

Take a look at the Danish folk music scene and you will find a wide variety of subspecies. Folk musicians throughout the country specialize in many different types of folk music, so, though it's a small country, an unusually broad selection of musical styles is represented. Some musicians travel around with bands designed specifically to play concert series in Danish schools, others are so

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-31260475341729664672009-06-09T10:54:00.002-05:002009-06-10T09:20:28.638-05:00

Rione JunnoTaranta Beat ProjectRai Trade/CNI (www.cnimusic.it)Listen: http://www.rootsworld.com/audio/rionejunno.htmlMimmo EpifaniZucchini FlowersFinisterre (www.finisterre.it)Listen: http://www.rootsworld.com/audio/zuchinni.htmlIt's amazing that the pizzica, a centuries-old folk music from an obscure part of southern Italy, not only has survived but now thrives, as both a living tradition and as

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-73948569727084518682009-06-01T07:55:00.002-05:002009-06-01T07:59:19.425-05:00

Mulatu Astatke/The HeliocentricsStrut Records (www.strut-records.com) You can hear the creative sparks flying on this self-titled collaboration between renowned Ethiopian instrumentalist and bandleader Mulatu Astatke and The Heliocentrics, an innovative musical collective from the UK. The Heliocentrics backed Astatke on a rare live appearance in London in 2008 and joined him a few months later

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-53113484643240610942009-05-25T13:00:00.001-05:002009-05-25T13:02:14.902-05:00

Read a review of the new CD in RootsWorld

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-61451946557200941422009-05-22T13:31:00.001-05:002009-05-22T13:34:14.014-05:00

Enzo Favata Tentetto, featuring Tenores di BittiThe New VillageManifesto (www.ilmanifesto.it)Composer Enzo Favata plays multiple woodwinds (saxes, bass clarinet, and an array of wind instruments from his native Sardinia and beyond), combining a foundation in free jazz and European classical music with elements from around the Mediterranean and the African diaspora. He joins forces with the

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-62614947788435968102009-05-20T13:09:00.000-05:002009-05-20T13:10:10.540-05:00

Culture Musical ClubShime!World Village (www.worldvillagemusic.com)The opening drumbeats sound like the heart of Africa, but soon an accordion, oud and qanun are adding an Arabic grace. Strings, a chorus of female voices and subtle shifts in rhythm emerge, hovering somewhere between Nubia and the Indian Ocean. Such is the beauty of taarab music, which originated on the spice island of Zanzibar,

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-36862772690701009282009-05-20T13:04:00.002-05:002009-05-20T13:07:22.879-05:00

The first release on the new Cumbancha Discovery world music line will be from Kimi Djabaté, a guitarist, percussionist and balafon player from the West African country of Guinea-Bissau who lives in Lisbon, Portugal. Djabaté's sound is acoustic and melodic with a bit of an Afro-Latin swing, reminiscent of Habib Koité. Djabaté's album Karam will be released in July. Watch for a review in

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-80753409540647477512009-05-15T07:56:00.000-05:002009-05-15T07:57:45.179-05:00

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-45948873392454515882009-05-13T14:51:00.003-05:002009-05-13T14:55:13.195-05:00

Kicking off an accordion album with "Sous le Ciel de Paris" would seem like either an exercise in post modern irony or a display of total lack of imagination. When Esprit Follet does it, however, they give the Paris metro staple a spaciousness and generosity of spirit that immediately makes it your new old favorite song. Indeed this whole album of Franco-Italian music flows weightlessly on the

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-19956643123759164272009-05-13T09:20:00.000-05:002009-05-13T09:21:48.799-05:00

A 1966 video feature about South African performer and activist Miriam MakebaThanks to The Roots Cause for tipping RootsWorld to this one.

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-10676071996936577872009-05-13T06:55:00.006-05:002009-05-13T07:11:15.256-05:00

Evgenios Spatharis, a Greek master of shadow puppet theater, died Saturday at the age of 85.He was well-known throughout Greece for his puppet theater stories revolving around the hunchbacked character Karagiozi, who came to represent the virtues and vices of the average Greek. Cunning and rebellious, Karagiozi was often shown as a liar and petty thief who wormed his way out of difficult

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-2135493250986985062009-05-09T09:43:00.001-05:002009-05-09T09:46:14.432-05:00

Video FeatureJulian Kytasty plays the bandura on LinkTVMore recently featured videos

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-18763211527577458342009-05-06T09:03:00.004-05:002009-05-06T09:09:58.931-05:00

Well, Twitter and such led RootsWorld down an interesting world music path this week. A friend in Berlin posted a video on her blog of a NYC pop band called Vampire Weekend doing a song, with a Congolese guitar riff, called "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"Further pecking on the keyboard uncovered this little gem:Esau Mwamwaya from Malawi doing the same song, in a full trans-Atlantic turn around.And of

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-29978551181823994292009-04-21T11:15:00.002-05:002009-04-21T11:17:58.491-05:00

My friend and co-fanatic in music, Andrew Cronshaw, has been writing for many years about the world's musical gems, and at long last, he has taken all of the reviews he has done in fRoots Magazine and put them online in an archive. It's all neatly arranged and cleanly presented, in typical Cronshaw style. 1500 recordings, primarily from northern, central and eastern Europe and Iberia, with

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-22954245111620132042009-04-16T10:14:00.003-05:002009-04-16T10:22:15.139-05:00

RootsWorld needs your help to surviveBack in 1992, the dawn of time by internet reckoning, I decided to do something unheard of, and create an online global music resource. As it grew, I began to call it a "sharezine," an hommage to my many years as a volunteer DJ at various non-commercial radio stations, who share the music for free, and then ask you to voluntarily support it after the fact -

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-39792969034059586192009-04-15T08:51:00.001-05:002009-04-15T08:54:53.950-05:00

Daniel Malavergne, Patrick Vaillant and Manu ThéronChin Na Na PounDaqui (www.daqui.fr)I have been following mandolinist Patrick Vaillant's career for pretty much its entirety (well, its recorded entirety, anyway), from his folk and avant garde work in various ensembles with Riccardo Tesi through remarkable ensembles like the mando-centric Melonious Quartet. Of late he has been exploring songs

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-20130791956063943282009-04-01T07:44:00.001-05:002009-04-01T07:46:27.793-05:00

Toubab KreweLive at the Orange PeelUpstream Records (www.toubabkrewe.com)Detractors no doubt dismiss North Carolina-based Toubab Krewe as a bunch of white guys trying to Africanize jam-band music. Then again, that's probably exactly why their fans (of which I am one) love them. Whatever led them to visit Africa multiple times to discover and embrace the sounds of Mali, Guinea and Ivory Coast,

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-66874051094985535662009-03-31T09:31:00.002-05:002009-03-31T09:39:26.197-05:00

BrownoutHomenajeFreestyle (www.freestylerecords.co.uk)Austin, Texas, long a pace-setter, has more recently broadened its horizons to boast a growing contingent of Latino bands. Tapping its South Texas roots, Brownout serves up a sizzling, mostly instrumental repertoire heavy on guitar, sax, brass, and congas, recalling but never imitating precursors like Joe Bataan, Santana, Tower of Power, Dr.

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-90732688000901483282009-03-30T07:55:00.001-05:002009-03-30T07:57:24.624-05:00

The 1930s brought recording technology to Argentina, which sparked local exposure to jazz via the big-band recordings of Ellington, Basie, Goodman, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw and others. In rough chronological order, guitarist Oscar Alemán (who backed Josephine Baker and played with Django Reinhardt), bandoneon master Dino Saluzzi, Juan Carlos Cáceres (piano, trombone, voice), saxophonist Gato

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-3369798056514656382009-03-23T11:13:00.002-05:002009-03-23T11:18:13.727-05:00

UxiaEterno NavegarWorld Village/ Nordesia (worldvillagemusic.com)It's -6° F in Cleveland as I write this. Eterno Navegar gave me a little over an hour's holiday from the bone-biting cold here on America's North Coast. It's a breezy collection (just try writing a review of an Uxia CD without using the word breezy; it can't be done) of beach-warmed songs with elegantly light-handed arrangements. A

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-9819139893803183202009-03-20T08:59:00.005-05:002009-03-20T09:04:55.826-05:00

Genticorum is a band of trickster conjurers, performing rhythmic sleight-of-hand on the dance music of their native Quebec. They have the wry, slightly skewed attitude of a cabaret emcee, dropping the occasional naughty joke into their songs just to watch the audience titter in guilty delight. Even the band's name is nonsensical, evoking what? A quorum of gentle folk? A gentleman's forum? Who

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-74257835585162971372009-03-18T08:53:00.002-05:002009-03-18T09:00:43.819-05:00

Tuareg roots-rock band Tinariwen tour the U.K. and U.S. in March and April 2009MARCH - UK18 De La Warr Pavilion Bexhill 19 De Montfort Hall Leicester 20 Manchester Academy Manchester 21 Edinburgh Picture House Edinburgh 22 Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Liverpool 23 Leeds Irish Centre Leeds 25 Komedia Bath 26

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-81878722495421582612009-03-17T09:09:00.001-05:002009-03-17T09:11:28.232-05:00

From the RootsWorld archives, some words to remember for St Patrick's Day.1997 marked the 150th anniversary of the worst year of the Great Irish Potato Famine. 1847 was the nadir of a natural calamity that could have easily been reversed. Instead, it was crafted via human agency into a holocaust. Descendants of the victims world-wide still refer to it as "Black '47" Farm By the middle of the 19th

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-9983344988212972032009-03-17T08:12:00.001-05:002009-03-17T08:14:40.786-05:00

Randy NewmanHarps and AngelsNonesuchHarps and Angels reprises a droll, garrulous, heartfelt Crescent City gospel-blues sensibility that longtime Newman fans will happily recognize. The good old boy-struck down by a heart attack, hearing the angel band before copping a pearly gate reprieve-might be the singer himself, or anyone who's confronted the inexorable finality of life as we know it. Newman

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-11031211016005758262009-03-14T13:49:00.000-05:002009-03-14T13:50:26.846-05:00

AmparanoiaSeguire caMinandoVia LacteaSpain's Amparanoia have reportedly called it quits, with singer Amparo Sanchez's solo career already mapped out and set to commence soon. The band's blend of flamenco roots and global sounds never had the same go-for-the-throat intensity as Ojos de Brujo or the eclectic finesse of Radio Tarifa, but it's still damn good and will be missed. And as long as

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-77178916229637927132009-03-14T13:47:00.000-05:002009-03-14T13:48:36.038-05:00

Twittering into the new centuryOne of our younger contributors is constantly trying to drag me into the current century of technology, with much resistance on my part. But she might have something with Twitter, and odd little bit of social networking that allows people to "twitter" on about what they are doing. In my daily rounds of searching for audio and video I often find myself e-mailing

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-50288316665076994032009-03-13T09:37:00.003-05:002009-03-13T09:39:36.451-05:00

A Malian proverb says that a woman in labor has one foot on earth, and one foot in the grave. The proverb is all too true: a woman in Mali has a 1 in 15 lifetime chance of dying from childbearing complications... For most Malian women, auxiliary midwives, or matrones, are first and only health care provider they will ever see. Mali Midwives facilitates continuing education opportunities for

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-83962711460966549152009-03-13T08:52:00.000-05:002009-03-13T08:54:18.226-05:00

Coro BajoleseO Maria béla MariaFolkClub Ethnosuoni (www.folkclubethnosuoni.com)While the tired old concept that music is a "universal language" is open to debate, the fact that the timeless human drive toward choral singing is a near global phenomenon cannot be argued. From gospel choirs in the United States to Bulgarian women's choruses to Slovenian singing societies to South African

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-78363217455721881962009-03-10T07:18:00.001-05:002009-03-10T07:21:17.899-05:00

Since 1993, singer Savina Yannatou and Kostas Vomvolos (qanun, accordion, musical direction) have stood at creative core of Primavera en Salonico (nay, oud, guitar, violin, viola, double bass, percussion). While rooted artistically in Thessalonica, for Yannatou and Primavera, their Greek and Sephardic roots are only a jumping-off point in a project that covers the Mediterranean waterfront and

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-47978958904793686292009-03-09T13:00:00.002-05:002009-03-14T13:52:29.162-05:00

Chango Spasiuk - Pynandí (Los Descalzos)Argentinean accordion virtuoso and composer’s 2009 release is Pynandí -- Los Descalzos (Barefoot, from an indigenous Guaraní word, referring to the rural poor) Like American blues, Portuguese fado and Argentina’s own tango, the sunny, lilting chamamé was at one time considered too lower-class to be of interest to educated listeners. This recordin is a love

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-84659934391677375722008-12-30T08:20:00.004-05:002009-01-05T14:54:32.375-05:00

It is with some sadness that I pass on the news of the passing of Lars Hollmer, a long time friend of RootsWorld, and a regular contributor to our past Free Reed Festivals. Listen to Lars' contribution to one of our festivals, including a little talk about his piece "Sudaf". So, Lars, "this is it, OK. Have a good time. Goodbye." - CFFellow musician Guy Klucevsek sends this tribute to his friend

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-24452307969816086732008-12-18T11:58:00.003-05:002008-12-18T12:01:49.866-05:00

Les Amazones de GuinéeWamatoSterns Ahmed Sékou Touré, the leader of Guinea’s liberation struggle against French colonial rule and president of the independent African nation from 1958 until his death in 1984, remains a controversial and polarizing figure. Revered as a freedom fighter by revolutionaries in Africa and elsewhere, he later was reviled as a dictator who trampled on human rights and

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-4526228762634321342008-12-02T10:22:00.002-05:002008-12-02T10:24:27.861-05:00

Amán Amán (L'Ham de Foc)Música i cants sefardis d'orient i occidentGalileoAl Andaluz Project (L'Ham de Foc and Estampie)Deus et diabolusGalileo (www.galileo-mc.com)From Valencia, L'Ham de Foc approaches the Sephardic repertoire by turning east, exploring how the traditional repertoire changed as it moved from the Iberian Peninsula in the post-1492 diaspora, taking on new life in the exile

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-24131847021440658582008-09-09T12:31:00.000-05:002008-09-09T12:32:01.621-05:00

Huong Thanh & Nguyen LeFragile BeautyACT Music (www.actmusic.com)I am not familiar with a lot of Vietnamese music, so it is nice to ease into it with this set of fusion-minded songs by vocalist Huong Thanh and guitarist Nguyen Le. There's a fair number of traditional pieces interpreted here, though the arrangements incorporate African and Latin rhythms, jazz structures, Japanese splendor and

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-9328430870518061692008-03-12T09:42:00.001-05:002008-03-12T09:43:44.175-05:00

Kristian Blak & YggdrasilRisastovaTutl (www.tutl.com)Danish pianist-composer-producer Kristian Blak has been integral to propagating and promoting music made in the Faroes Islands since founding Yggdrasil in 1980. The Norse "World Tree" of destiny, Yggdrasil is a powerful mythological ash whose three roots reach into the underworld, devoured by serpents even as the tree reaches for heaven, while

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-90364034863912511222008-02-27T08:05:00.002-05:002008-02-27T08:08:36.065-05:00

I Tarantolati di TricaricoU'SquatasceCNI (www.cnimusic.it)This dynamic band has been a driving force in Southern Italian culture, interpreting and performing their music with an incredible dynamism. There is no shortage of groups resuscitating the ancient music of tarantism in the South of Italy these days, but I Tarantolati di Tricarico have been involved in this endeavor since the 1960's (the

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-71153477045132610962008-02-20T10:29:00.000-05:002008-02-20T10:30:53.134-05:00

BévindaOutubroFelmay-Dunya (www.felmay.it)Fado interpreters can range from the more traditional to the experimental. In the latter realm is Portuguese-born, French-raised Bévinda (Bévinda Ferreire). Outubro, her tenth release, presents the singer in a live set from the January 2006 Suoni Migranti Festival (hosted by the Comune di Riccione, Assessorato alla Cultura, which collaborated in this CD's

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-12825948516686262082008-02-11T11:40:00.000-05:002008-02-11T11:42:21.857-05:00

Gabriele Coen and Atlante SonoroAlhambraCNI Music (www.cnimusic.it)A household name in Italian jazz, Gabriele Coen (clarinet, soprano and tenor sax)is the founder of the noted ensemble Klezroym. On this 2007 recording he reunites Atlante Sonoro (Sound Atlas), with Pietro Lussu (piano), Marco Loddo (double bass) and Luca Caponi (drums) and guest guitarist Lutte Berg. Alhambra continues in the vein

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-89189683923635522322008-02-02T10:27:00.000-05:002008-02-02T10:29:40.840-05:00

AbyssiniansSatta MassaganaHeartbeat/RounderComposed in 1968, "Satta Massagana" featured the vocal trio that helped to define the most devout strains of Jamaica's then-emergent reggae sound. Producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd brought the Abyssinians (Bernard Collins and the Manning brothers, Donald and Lynford) into the studio to record the song, whose Old Testament inspiration and Ethiopian

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-33329135903812689922008-01-31T09:02:00.000-05:002008-01-31T09:03:54.784-05:00

Lee "Scratch" PerryThe End of an American DreamMegawaveComes off as Karaoke night in a futuristic post-apocalyptic Jamaican rest home, where some guy on stage babbles endlessly about poo poo and doo doo, interspersed with animal impressions, and an occasional shout out to Haile Selassie and Marcus Garvey, while machine gunfire and riots go on in the background. Maybe it's the CD buyers trying

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-54894052026378161022008-01-30T09:03:00.000-05:002008-01-30T09:06:01.658-05:00

KlezRoymVinticinqueaprile: Live in FossoliLaFrontiera (www.cnimusic.it)The Italian band KlezRoym must be recognized as one of the top Jewish music ensembles in the world. This live CD captures them at Fossoli, near Modena, at a commemorative concert for the 60th Anniversary of the Liberation from Nazi-Fascism. Fossoli served the Nazis as a concentration camp, through which thousands of Jews and

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-14845380634585424202008-01-24T08:32:00.000-05:002008-01-24T08:38:19.789-05:00

Linking the world through sound and vision: Marty Lipp turns on the tubeWhen I was growing up, you would never be caught dead listening to your parents' albums, but at least their music was recorded on the same medium as ours. Since then, the CD pushed out the LP and now the young'uns go for the new initials on the block - MP3 ­ at least for now.Being an old, cranky techno-boob is no fun, but I

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-66889738074453035772008-01-23T15:15:00.001-05:002008-01-23T15:15:37.850-05:00

Piccola Bottega BaltazarIl disco dei Miracoli (The Disc of Miracles)Azzurra Music, ItalyPiccola Bottega Baltazar present their 2007 recording, a song cycle about miracles. Inspired by "I miracoli di Val Morel," a book and paintings by Dino Buzzati, this disc of miracles records the everyday fantastic, the banal bizarre and the craziness of the routine.Musically, it's a bit different from their

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-32538700244090178182008-01-20T17:34:00.000-05:002008-01-20T17:37:10.644-05:00

Belizean Musician Andy Palacio Passes AwayJanuary 19, 2008 - Andy Palacio, an iconic musician and cultural activist in his native Belize and impassioned spokesperson for the Garifuna people of Central America, died today.Palacio, 47, was a national hero in Belize for his popular music and advocacy of Garifuna language and culture. Belize is in the midst of a heated election, but the local news

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-67541829015727300162008-01-20T12:20:00.000-05:002008-01-20T12:22:55.324-05:00

Authenticité: The Syliphone Years, Guinea's Orchestres Nationaux and Federaux, 1965-1980Stern's Bokoor Beats: Vintage Afrobeat, Afro-Rock and Highlife from GhanaOtrabanda Malian desert blues, Nigerian Afro-Beat, South African mbqanga and kwaito, Senegal's mbalax, Congolese rumba and soukous - these and a few other African styles have established niches in the global music marketplace. Two

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-14878895679871444402008-01-19T12:24:00.000-05:002008-01-19T12:26:05.415-05:00

TranssylvaniansFe les EgeszWestpark (www.westparkmusic.com)The sixth album for Berlin-based players of "Hungarian speed-folk" the Transsylvanians, Fe les Egesz ("Half and Whole") is a double-disc affair. As such, Fe les Egesz addresses the problems and decisions that many bands who work within the folk-rock genre are prone to: when do you pump up the volume, and when do you give yourself over to

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-40554333768091279762007-11-16T13:05:00.000-05:002007-11-16T13:07:00.663-05:00

Ambrozijn10Home Records (www.homerecords.be)This record came together on the occasion of the Ambrozijn's tenth anniversary and reworks a selection of the Belgian ensemble's 70 or so songs using a string orchestra and a rhythm section and utilising a number of guest vocalists including Sylvie Berger, Vera Coomans, Soetkin Collier, Ludo Vandeau and Gabriel Yacoub. Tom Theuns, nowadays also a member

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-61329346276392062972007-11-16T13:01:00.000-05:002007-11-16T13:03:01.915-05:00

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-8084095196519336962007-08-17T08:06:00.000-05:002007-08-17T10:28:34.125-05:00

Songs of the African Coast: Cafe Music of Liberia A collection of unique popular music recorded in 1948 in Liberia by ethnomusicologist Arthur Alberts. The music is a mix of genres echoing Calypso and early jazz (and includes songs made famous during the folk scare of the 60s like "Chicken is Nice," "Gbanawa," "Woman Sweeter Than Man" and "Hold Me Tight"), played by small ensembles (usually piano

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-23793353387235790152007-02-16T09:12:00.000-05:002007-02-16T09:42:59.990-05:00

There's not a lot of music from the island she calls home that's readily available to the rest of us, so Izaline Calister is seeing to it that the often-lively, sometimes-reflective music of Curaçao in the Dutch Antilles gets a fair hearing. The first two tracks on Kanta Helele swing feverishly like salsa, but by the time the title song rolls around, the acoustic guitar is at the forefront, a

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-54372391385272874272007-02-14T19:26:00.000-05:002007-02-14T19:38:45.959-05:00

Norwegian percussion Terje Isungset settled into various locations near the Arctic Circle, built all of his instruments out of ice, and has been recording unique and beautiful works, accompanied on some tracks by the wordless vocals of Sidsel Endresen and horn player Per Jørgensen. On two of the most unusual recordings to cross my desk in quite a while, these artists show just how 'cool' music

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-74641041667618466372007-02-12T09:09:00.000-05:002007-02-12T09:12:33.418-05:00

At the really big shoe last night, the little statue of sales went to a lot of artists or recording projects, including a few that might be of interest to you folks: Wonder Wheel by The Klezmatics Polka In Paradise by Jimmy Sturr Lost Sounds: Blacks And The Birth Of The Recording Industry 1891-1922 (various) We Shall Overcome — The Seeger Sessions by Bruce Springsteen Modern Times by

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-1171043270019443162007-02-09T12:43:00.000-05:002007-02-09T12:48:07.980-05:00

Fans of Cuban jazz may think first of pianist, composer and producer Chucho Valdés, who presides over the Havana Jazz Festival and the steady flow of North American jazz artists to the island. Those who've traveled to woodshed, network and sometimes record in Cuba include Jane Bunnett, George Benson, Terence Blanchard, Steve Coleman, Roy Hargrove, Antonio Hart, David Murray, Nicholas Payton and

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-1168798196141199882007-01-14T13:06:00.000-05:002007-01-14T13:09:56.150-05:00

Sri Lanka juke jointIf you need to burn a few more minutes of your life online this week, might I suggest The Sinhala Jukebox? This web site is devoted to spreading the music of Sri Lanka to the global audience via Real Audio. You can choose individual tracks, or complete streaming programs by artist or style. The navigation is a bit confusing, but it's worth a few minutes to figure it

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-1168698041467898792007-01-13T09:19:00.000-05:002007-01-13T09:20:41.483-05:00

Mats Hellberg died unexpectedly on September 17th 2006. He was a drummer and record producer who found himself cast as one of the great apostles of traditional music in Sweden.Since the 1980s, he was the driving force behind Giga Records, founded in 1976 by musicians Per Gudmundson and Magnus Backström. In the following 30 years the label has provided the world with a look at some of the

cliffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05779184166920967986noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23691042.post-1168524293692150182007-01-11T08:57:00.000-05:002007-01-12T16:40:23.533-05:00

Nigerian comedian and actor Nkem Owoh stars in a rootsy spoof on victims of the infamous internet "419" schemeWatch the videoI done suffer no be smallUpon say I get sensePoverty no good at all, noNa im make I join this business419 no be thief, it's just a gameEverybody dey play emif anybody fall mugu,ha! my brother I go chop emChorus:National Airport na me get emNational Stadium na me build

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