Raymundo Sodré Dengo Ropeadope Listening to the uplifting music of Raymundo Sodré for the first time evoked two references. His Brazilian music hails from the Nordeste (Northeast) and resembles the juju music from Nigeria. Casual listeners may in fact think that it is African music. Also, Charlie Musselwhite once explained to me in an interview […]
The Delerium Trees “Tales From The Western Isles” Today I would like to invite you to discover the new album by The Delerium Trees. I’ve already written a few reviews of this band and I’m always thrilled, but I have to say that “Tales From The Western Isles” is something very special. After the debut […]
Tim Motzer Many Ways Around the Sun Ropeadope Tim Motzer’s Many Ways Around the Sun is a true solo album with the multi-instrumentalist who has made nine solo soundscape albums now adding vocals to his compositions for the first time. Playing mellotron, guitars, bass, prophet synth, optigan, wood flute, cymbals, drums, reed organ, electronics, drum […]
Kane Mathis Geminus Nyaato As we’ve commented before, the kora is one of the most beautiful sounding instruments of any, string or otherwise. It’s not often that we find an accomplished player of the instrument that didn’t grow up in Africa where the instrument is passed on through generations and it’s a testament to the […]
Various Artists Cumbia 1 & 2 World Circuit World Circuit Records is re-issuing from their celebrated catalog the music and dance associated with Colombia, that’s been with us since the 17th century – Cumbia 1 & 2 performed by a variety of artists and compiled by the label’s world music expert Nick Gold. They will […]
W. Ed Harris The Foggy Dew Independent Ed Harris has just released album number nine and again he managed to add another masterpiece to his vita. Based in North Carolina, Ed started making music at the tender age of 5 and then discovered his love for Celtic music, which has been his focus for over […]
Michael Wimberley Afrofuturism Temple Mountain Afrofuturism is an ambitious project from percussionist, keyboardist, and composer Michael Wimberly. With the full album due this week, followers will have already heard the first five tracks which were released in December and four tracks released a month ago. Those and the final three make up the full album […]
Karen Matheson Still Time Vertical/Compass Widely recognized as the compelling voice of Celtic super-group Capercaillie, vocalist Karen Matheson began performing as a child in her local village hall in Argyll on the west coast of Scotland, where she was brought up immersed in the deep well of traditional songs that have been her inspiration for […]
Greg Murphy Cool Water Whaling City Sound Master keyboardist and composer Greg Murphy delivers a very inspirational project, Cool Water, based on his trip to Africa. “The inspiration for the concept of the album and title track, ‘Enkare Nairobi,’ (which means ‘cool water’ in Maasai and refers to the Nairobi River which flows through the […]
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol The Rise Up: Stories of Strife, Struggle and Inspiration Dunya Prolific composer and multi-instrumentalist Mehmet Ali Sanlikol delivers his ambitious project: THE RISE UP: Stories of Strife, Struggle and Inspiration with his dynamic jazz orchestra Whatsnext, written for and featuring NEA Jazz Master Dave Liebman as soloist, The Rise Up is an epic three-part artistic masterpiece that combines traditional Middle […]
Orpheus Visions Visions is an album by Orpheus which is a beautiful, bewitching, viby brew of acoustic & electronic elements, featuring lush, soulful vocal textures and elegant melodies featuring the talents of Jarrod Lawson on all instruments and programming along with some guest artists on a few tracks. This twelve track album on orange colored vinyl features such […]
Pacific Mambo Orchestra The III Side Self-released The Grammy-winning Pacific Mambo Orchestra (PMO) was founded in 2010 by Mexican-born pianist Christian Tumalan and German-born trumpeter Steffen Kuehn. The 20-piece ensemble is the only active Latin Big band on the US West Coast, comprised of some of the Bay Area’s top talent. In addition, this aggregation […]
Yasser Tejeda & Palotré Kijombo Self- released Surely, you’ve already identified this as Latin music and possibly Latin jazz. Yet, that’s only partially right. it’s broader than either one. Yasser Tejeda’s music on Kijombo is, at least in the U.S. and many countries, the seldom heard roots music of the Dominican Republic, here re-imagined by […]
