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Current Projects
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Alex Cuba, Agua Del Pozo (Caracol Records), It was a symbolic moment that year when Alex Cuba walked into a second-hand store and for some reason a pair of flair cut jeans jumped out at him. “I tried them on and they were my exact size; they were just right,” remembers Alex, who wears his hair in an unabashed afro, with sideburns to match. “I realized those pants represented a lot of my musical influences. I put on those pants and that look was very in tune with my sound." 12/04/07 >> go there
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Babylon Circus, Dances of Resistance (Mr. Bongo Records), In Syria, Muslim women clad in full-length, black garb dance in a carnival procession. In Dublin with instruments in hand, band members chase policemen chasing a band member, Benny-Hill style, through the streets. In Russia, a near death experience coins the phrase “hospital tourism” when a lead singer visits five hospitals in five days. These are the surrealistic but real-life stories of Babylon Circus. 02/12/08 >> go there
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Bio Ritmo, Bionico, An era of re-definition and experimentation, the seventies had a burgeoning fascination with science-fiction as the age of technology began to blossom. It was also a time of great musical innovation with the dawn of the remix, disco, and hip-hop DJ’s borrowing from all over the musical map and meshing new sounds—many of them influenced by technology—to create music that made the Me generation dance. 03/04/08 >> go there
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Center for Traditional Music and Dance, Age-old enemies play side by side on stage at a Bronx festival. An elderly clarinet player sparks a nationwide craze for a forgotten music. A group of young African émigrés open at a major concert hall for an international star. These moments all came about thanks to the unique approach and unflagging efforts of an organization committed to long-term creative collaboration with the city’s immigrant artists and activists. 04/24/08 >> go there
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Chicha Libre, Sonido Amazonico (Barbès Records), While the Internet has claimed credit for much of the shrinking of the planet, the wah-wah pedal and electric organ may still be a quicker path from the Amazon Jungle to the Concrete Jungle. 01/22/08 >> go there
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Donald Cohen, Tango Voices: Songs from the Soul of Buenos Aires & Beyond, They say that every fifteen minutes, somewhere in the world, someone is playing "Tango Jalousie", one of the most beloved of all tangos. Dizzy Gillespie jammed to it. The British blockbuster film “The Full Monty” includes it. Tenor Placido Domingo recorded it, as did the Boston Pops Orchestra. Forget the dance shoes, there’s enough behind-the-scenes drama here for even the most ardent of lovers. 03/13/08 >> go there
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Drom Nightclub, NYC - Monthly Events, “We are all nomads here,” exclaims Serdar Ilhan, one of the founders of Drom, the new global East-Village venue for, music, art, libations, and food. 03/18/08 >> go there
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Justin Adams, Soul Science (World Village), Justin Adams explains: “I often find some cool and intelligent people who get put off African music because they think it is just people dancing around in semi naked costume, singing ‘Oh mama Africa.' But if you play them the right stuff they realize it’s very powerful. You can’t help it. It can take you. It’s like a shared culture that has some technique, a scientific technique almost, that can enter your body.”
04/16/08 >> go there
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Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu (Heads Up), Shaka Zulu is regarded as one of the greatest leaders in African history. His combination of warrior discipline, visionary leadership, innate creativity, and unshakable belief in a united nation continues to resonate to this day in South Africa. He is revered as the single figure that gave birth to the indomitable fighting spirit of the Zulus. 10/03/07 >> go there
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Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares (Eye for Talent Booking), The true mystery of their vocal prowess lies in the romance, magic and celebration that have long fired traditional music in Bulgaria.... 11/09/06 >> go there
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Le Vent du Nord, Dans les Airs, Peek in a kitchen window on a Saturday night in some Quebec villages, and you’ll see French, Irish, and Native American roots intertwine. You’ll hear the sound of a land where instruments were once scarce, the mouth music and foot tapping that makes Quebecois music unique. You may glimpse a later arrival, too: the button accordion that an enterprising 19th-century potato company helped spread across rural Canada. 12/20/07 >> go there
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Mariana Sadovska, Borderland, High up in the rugged Carpathian Mountains spanning Ukraine, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, an old woman sits in front of her house, singing to herself over the slopes. Far to the east, a group of nine widows in their seventies sit around the kitchen table, laughing, drinking, and singing the raunchy songs accompanying the spring rituals when women wander around the village at dawn, leaping lustily onto the men, to encourage fertility. You have just stepped into a world where spirit and magic are never far from people’s minds.
04/03/08 >> go there
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Sidestepper, The Buena Vibra Sound System (Palm Pictures), Usually there are just two places you can go to hear a five-hour, slammin’ DJ set of Afro-Colombian electronic-meets-roots dance music: Bogota and London. And in both cases the outfit behind the sound system is Sidestepper. 10/22/07 >> go there
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Sones de Mexico, Esta Tierra Es Tuya, Mexican music can be as bold as rock and roll and as revered as Bach. Anyway you look at it, mariachi is only the tip of the cactus.
05/11/07 >> go there
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The Wilders, Someone's Got to Pay (Free Dirt Records), “This ain’t sitting on the front porch rocking chair music. We play hillbilly music and we play the shit out of it.” 12/17/07 >> go there
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Yusa, Haiku (Tumi Music), Finding balance and peace between past and present is an ongoing challenge as Cuba faces a new era. But singer-songwriter Yusa looks to the future with great hope for her country’s burgeoning music scene 04/15/08 >> go there
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