Some African-music purists complain about Samite’s polish and Western pop leanings, but the Ugandan-born singer and multi-instrumentalist is simply searching for connections with people of all kinds. Here he shares stories (the liner notes explain his native lyrics) about the ravages of AIDS in Africa and its effect on the children while somehow still […]
Born in London, raised in New York City, and of Indian descent, Karsh Kale’s life has always been a mix of cultures, so it should come as no surprise that his music reflects that. His debut, Realize, quickly proved that he could mix it up gracefully and organically with the best of them. Here, […]
Recreating the ambience that made his 2002 outing, Pas de Chat Noir, so evanescent yet indelibly memorable, Tunisian oud master Brahem continues his by-now-well-established collaboration with François Couturier (piano) and Jean-Louis Matinier (accordion.) The trio’s improvisations are miracles of weightless precision; while sounding like nobody else, they also evoke chanting medieval monks, Keith Jarrett’s […]
“I felt the necessity to create an album of secrets, letters and notes, and photos. Something like an aural diary,” writes Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba in the liner notes of Solo, his first proper solo effort in two decades. Indeed, much of the disc plays like a hushed homage to moods, thoughts, feelings, and […]
As impressive as Charlie Hunter’s mastery of his eight-string guitar is, it may not be as strong a mark of distinction as his success in devising an original jazz-funk sound in a genre long ruled by guitarist John Scofield. Since arriving on the scene from San Francisco in the mid-’90s, Hunter has gotten stuck […]
The Gotan Project literally took the world by storm in 2003 with its million-selling La Revancha Del Tango. Skillfully mixing the heated passion of tango with the cool insistent beats of dance music, the group kept the best of both genres as it offered up an unheralded fusion. This time around, the production team […]
This 2-CD, 21-track compilation shows how keyboardist/composer/bandleader Herbie Hancock successfully crossed the boundaries of jazz and pop for four decades. Compiled from five record labels, from 1962 to 2000, tracks like “Circle” showcase his legendary stint in Miles Davis’ mid-’60s acoustic combos, and “Maiden Voyage,” and “Cantaloupe Island” are but two of his historic […]
This is Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Florez’s first non-classical CD. He brings to the popular music of Latin America and Spain the same scrupulous musicianship, bright tone, and charm with which he approaches Donizetti and Rossini. Some of these songs are accompanied by full orchestra and some (such as “Ella” and “Mexico lindo y […]
The story of Cossack Stepan Razin, who, in the 17th century, led a bloody peasants’ revolt against the Tsar, is perfect fodder for Shostakovich. This rarely performed cantata is an exciting, violent work. Composed in 1964, with Shostakovich free of Stalin’s repression, it shows the composer at his most angry, bitter, and sorrowful. Razin’s […]
In 2005, Putamayo’s A&R man, Jacob Edgar, traveled to Turkey, a country that straddles Europe and Asia, hung out in its exotic nightclubs, and produced this compilation. If you were expecting to hear some belly-dancing, snake-charming tunes, this CD’s 11 tracks will quickly disabuse you of those cliches. These selections exhibit a funky fusion […]
Even though it’s immensely likable, there’s a demo-ish quality to hotshot Brazilian producer Apollo Nove’s Res Inexplicata Volans. In 12 tracks that trickle through nostalgia-tipped tropicalia to a backward-reaching brand of electronica, he paints himself as something of a sound savant; trot out a hot beat or an expressive voice, he seems to be […]
Hot off two critical successes (Pride & Prejudice and The Brothers Grimm), Dario Marianelli went all dark and moody with his score for James McTeigue’s dystopian thriller V for Vendetta. Marianelli occasionally bursts out with powerful cues such as “Governments Should Be Afraid of Their People,” but he mostly focuses on building a sense […]
The third solo album by the former V-Roys frontman combines the storytelling of a Tennessee troubadour with the reckless soul of a diehard rocker. It’s been a long time since even Bruce Springsteen has recorded an anthem as Springsteenesque as the opening “Freedom’s a Stranger,” with a hard-twanging cover of Neil Young’s “Hawks and […]
As the centerpiece and thematic heart of Radney Foster’s mix of rock and reflection, “Half of My Mistakes” sounds like an instant classic, a celebration of how the missteps can lead you places you wouldn’t have gone otherwise and make you who you are. Similarly, the closing “Never Gonna Fly” reinforces the sense that […]
