For 15 Years, Bosco Had Gained International Reputation with his Mixture of Afroobrazilian, African and Jazz-like Phrasing.
Afrocanto,Joao Bosco,Trop,World Music
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Djin Djin
Angelique Kidjo Manufacturer: Razor &Tie ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000MTOWSU Release Date: 2007-05-01 |
Tracks:
- Ae Ae
- Djin Djin featuring Alicia Keys and Branford Marsalis
- Gimme Shelter featuring Joss Stone
- Salala featuring Peter Gabriel
- Senamou (C'est L'amour) featuring Amadou and Mariam
- Pearls featuring Josh Groban and Carlos Santana
- Sedjedo featuring Ziggy Marley
- Papa
- Arouna
- Awan N'La
- Emma
- Mama Golo Papa
- Lonlon (Ravel's Bolero)
Amazon.com
Angelique Kidjo has four Grammy nominations, a mantel-full of international awards, several dance hits, and notable appearances on film and TV soundtracks to her credit (to say nothing of being a major style icon and a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador). So this Benin-born, New York-based singer-composer has long since gotten past having to prove anything to anybody--other than to herself. On Djin Djin (the title refers to a bell that sounds at daybreak in parts of Africa), she is self-indulgent in the best possible sense, shooting for a big, glossy, super-pop sound that nonetheless remains essentially, even devoutly, African in inspiration and execution. Produced by Tony Visconti (The Moody Blues, T. Rex, David Bowie, Boomtown Rats, and Morrissey), the release is a bewitching amalgam, with guest stints from Joss Stone, Carlos Santana, Branford Marsalis, Josh Groban, Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, Malian husband-and-wife team Amadou and Mariam, and noted reggae scion Ziggy Marley. Kidjo, her salty-sweet voice in top form, moves confidently from ballad to club track to homespun earthmover. She never for a second relinquishes control of the festivities, even during a hectic, Haitian-rara-influenced cover of the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" and "Lon Lon," in which she takes on--and takes over--French composer Ravel's "Bolero." --Christina RodenAlbum Description
With DJIN DJIN (pronounced "gin gin"), Angelique Kidjo returns to the soul of Benin - and, for the first time, shares it with a cast of all-star guests, in a marriage of cultures that has significance far beyond music alone. Inspired by the traditions and culture of Kidjo's native Benin in West Africa, the title of the album refers to the sound of the bell that greets the beginning of a new day for Africa.
The diversity represented by Alicia Keys, Peter Gabriel, Josh Groban, Carlos Santana, Joss Stone, Branford Marsalis, producer Tony Visconti, and the others who contribute to DJIN DJIN speaks to the lesson of this project: For all the differences in the music of our time, the river of Africa flows through it all.
The key was to build DJIN DJIN on a Beninese foundation. The heartbeat, then, comes from percussionists Crespin Kpitiki and Benoit Avihoue, both members of Benin's Gangbé Brass Band. Details of their country's rhythmic heritage, specific in some cases to individual villages, feed the rhythms they lay down throughout the album.
To this mix Kidjo welcomes players whose backgrounds complement the idea of DJIN DJIN: drummer Poogie Bell, known for his work with Erykah Badu and Chaka Khan; funk keyboard wizard Amp Fiddler, whose credits include Prince and George Clinton; Larry Campbell, whose multi-instrumental work has adorned the music of Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, and Paul Simon; Senegalese bass giant Habib Faye, a fixture with Youssou N'Dour; guitarists Lionel Loueke, from jazz legend Herbie Hancock's band; Romero Lubambo, a Brazilian wonder whose credits include Diana Krall and Dianne Reeves; Joao Mota, from Guinea-Bissau and kora master Mamadou Diabate.
Produced by Tony Visconti. (David Bowie, T. Rex, Morrissey)
Customer Reviews:
Maybe 4.5 stars, but still stellar.......2007-07-01
Soulful West African soul.......2007-06-22
The opening "Ae Ae" is anthemic;it's a power ballad in which Kidjo calls on her fellow Africans to be self-sufficient. The title track is a jazzy collaboration with Alicia Keys and Branford Marsalis. It's Benin meets the Big Easy. Kidjo does an amazing cover of the Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" with Joss Stone. The '60s British Invasion gets an African makeover,transforming it into a tribal rave-up. Kidjo and smoky-voiced Peter Gabriel complement each other in "Salala." A thumb piano gives "Senamou" a deeply African flavor. "Sedjedo", a duet with reggae heir Ziggy Marley, doesn't quite work. Marley is relegated to the sidelines. However, Kidjo's rousing singing saves the piece. The same goes for "Pearls." Josh Groban's operatic voice is unsuited to the style of the song. It's Afropop meets Latin rock (since Carlos Santana plays the guitar),not the Three Tenors or Il Divo. Kidjo's amazing singing again saves the song from becoming a novelty song. In "Papa","Arouna","Awan N'La","Emma" and "Mama Golo Papa" Kidjo shows she doesn't need collaborators. She's still going strong since her debut in 1990. She covers difficult issues such as marital conflict and divorce soulfully. Finally, in "Lonlon" Kidjo transforms Ravel's annoying and overplayed "Bolero" into rousing,toe-tapping Afropop. Instead of being filler or a song worth skipping, "Lonlon" serves as a grand finale.
Angelique Kidjo is accomplished,as a person and as an artist. She is a UN Goodwill Ambassador;she has her own charity,Batonga. In Bono's guest-edited issue of "Vanity Fair" about Africa, Harry Belafonte praises her activism. Angelique Kidjo's music is truly angelic. "Djin Djin" is a great introduction to her music, and is a perfect mainstream introduction to African music. It's as rousing and flavorful as a good hot cup of coffee.
First Introduction To Angelique Kidjo.......2007-06-20
After recently listening to "Djin, Djin" on a 4 hour road trip, I feel in love with the music & lyrics! The music is fantastic and varied from song to song.... Angelique Kidjo is phenomenal as an artist. I also enjoyed the musical guests performing on "Djin, Djin" too. This compact disc is perfect as background music while long distance driving, at home relaxing, during dinner parties, etc.
Not as good as Black Ivory Soul - but still enhoyable.......2007-06-11
Who Knows?.......2007-06-08
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Living Like a Refugee
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars Manufacturer: Anti ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000HDRARQ Release Date: 2006-09-26 |
Tracks:
- Living Like A Refugee
- Soda Soap
- Weapon Conflict
- Bull To The Weak
- Big Lesson
- Let We Do We Own
- Smile
- Compliments For The Peace
- Pat Malonthone
- Garbage To The Showglass
- Akera Ka Abonshor
- Kele Mani
- I'm Not A Fool
- Ya N'Digba
- Refugee Rolling
- Monkey Work
- Ma Fo Ya
Amazon.com
Made up of former displaced persons from the killing fields of Sierra Leone, members of the Refugee All Stars (a.k.a. R.A.S.) were forced to flee for their lives during the 1990s, fanning out into nearby West African nations. Through continued hard times, bandmates Reuben M. Koroma, Francis (Franco) Langba, and Abdul Rahim (Arahim) Kamara entertained and heartened their compatriots with truthful, gently satiric, liltingly infectious tunes. Filmmakers Banker White and Zach Niles made a prize-winning documentary about the band's courageous struggle, thereby bringing their story to an international audience. Backed by Keith Richards, Sir Paul McCartney, and other socially conscious celebrities, R.A.S. embarked on a rapturously received world tour and were at long last able to augment their earlier, but nonetheless invaluable, field recordings with professionally engineered studio tracks. The resulting seventeen songs travel through deceptively relaxed Sierra Leonean Palm Wine music, triple-rhythmed gbute vang and reggae-like sounds (complete with toasting), Nigerian Afro-Beat, and even echoes of Congolese soukous. Backed by sweet yet astringent vocal harmonies, sultry guitars, homemade percussion, and playfully retro-sounding organ riffs, each selection reveals still another facet of a bittersweet but ultimately triumphant saga of survival. At long last, Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars are poised to become the superstars they were always destined to be. --Christina RodenAlbum Description
This is a group of musicians who lived for years as refugees in the West African nation of Guinea. While living in a tent camp, they acquired a couple beat up guitars and a rusted out sound system and began playing. American documentary filmmakers made the band the focus of their movie, which received enthusiastic endorsements from the likes of Keith Richards, Paul McCartney, Angelina Jolie, Joe Perry, and Ice Cube. The film's success has allowed the band to tour internationally to ecstatic audiences. Born in the midst of a violent, decade-long civil war, the group and its music celebrate our ability to sustain hope, inspiration, and creativity - the best in us - even in a climate of rage, loss, and madness.Customer Reviews:
Rock to the rhythm of the Refugees.......2007-07-12
But, don't buy it because I'm getting misty eyed. Buy it because the music is inspiring and makes you want to dance. Buy it because you've never heard anything from Sierra Leone. And, when you've bought it, go out (or online) and find the album by Afro National.
I was lucky to live in Sierra Leone and I love this music. Now to try to find the tv program which goes with it...
ABOUT TIME! Bob Marley would be proud!.......2007-06-27
The rapper Black Nature has a lot to teach his American rap counterparts. Keep up the good work brother, your work far outstrips the US rappers who have inspired you!
To Grace, The Emperors, and all the other RAS, God bless you all. ZBob Marely is smiling somewhere.
Living Like a Refugee CD is excellent for both music and content.......2007-05-13
Passionate Sounds.......2007-01-19
Must have!.......2007-01-15
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Out Of Africa: Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack
Manufacturer: Mca ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000002O4X Release Date: 1990-10-25 |
Tracks:
- Main Title (I Had A Farm In Africa)
- I'm Better At Hello (Karen's Theme l)
- Have You Got A Story For Me
- Concerto For Clarinet and Orhestra
- Safari
- Karen's Journey - Siyawe (African Traditional)
- Flight Over Africa
- I Had A Compass From Denys (Karen's Theme II)
- Alone On The Farm
- Let The Rest Of The World Go By
- If I Know A Song Of Africa (Karen's Theme III)
- End Title (You Are Karen)
Amazon.com essential recording
The great irony of John Barry's Academy Award-winning score for Out of Africa (which also took the Oscar as Best Picture) is that it almost never was; director Sydney Pollack had originally envisioned the film with native African music, going as far as laying the indigenous score down as he was editing. But the weight of John Barry's arguments--not to mention his considerable track record and composing gifts--held sway, and the composer delivered on his intent: a lush, romantic masterpiece for the ages. --Jerry McCulleyCustomer Reviews:
Simply beautiful.......2007-01-11
CD has missing track.......2006-12-03
I was puzzled to learn that some time between my buying the LP record and the issuing of this CD, the track "The Music of Goodbye (love theme from Out of Africa)" was omitted. It's not that this song, sung by Melissa Manchester, is a must-have; it's more that it's sneaky to leave off tracks when you reissue a soundtrack in another format.
Disappointed.......2006-11-10
Worth Buying!.......2006-11-06
Great Album.......2006-11-04
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In the Heart of the Moon
Ali Farka Touré , and Toumani Diabate Manufacturer: Nonesuch ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000AQ69DG Release Date: 2005-09-13 |
Tracks:
- Debe
- Kala
- Mamadou Boutiquier
- Monsieur Le Maire De Niafunke
- Kaira
- Simbo
- Ai Ga Bani
- Soumbou Ya Ya
- Naweye Toro
- Kadi Kadi
- Gomni
- Hawa Dolo
Amazon.com
Ali Farka Toure fans expecting to hear another fiery electric blues effort from the African John Lee Hooker are in for a big surprise. Toure's first album after a six- year hiatus is mostly an acoustic duo with kora master Toumani Diabate that draws upon Malian and Guinean folk style from the 1950s and '60s called Jamana Kura, which grew out of the Mande griot music tradition. Both musicians were children at the time this music was popularized and a yearning sentimentality flavors many of the songs, particularly "Hawa Dolo," one of three Toure tunes rerecorded here in that older style. Other surprises abound as well: there are only two vocal tracks from the deep-voice Toure, and much of the soloing is actually handled by the flittering Diabate. Minus a few overdubs by guests like Ry Cooder, the music here were first takes from a jam session in which the two musicians would improvising over the basic structures. Nonetheless, this loose approach matched with the stunning beauty of the playing makes it a treasure worth holding on to. --Tad HendricksonAlbum Description
In the Heart of the Moon is a summit meeting between two world music giants, guitarist Ali Farka Toure and master of the kora-the 21-string gourd harp-toumani Diabate. It is the first newly recorded work from either artist in five years and their first album-length collaboration. More an eloquent, in-depth dialogue than a jam session, In The Heart Of the Moon was recorded during three unrehearsed, improvisatory two-hour sessions at the Hotel Mande, on the banks of the Niger river, in Bamako, Mali.Customer Reviews:
Another classic.......2007-06-27
Good Album very "West African".......2007-05-16
Refreshing change.......2007-05-13
Beautiful African Mali Masterpiece.......2007-05-04
sheer,rapturous beauty.......2007-05-04
This is music I want to spend eternity in.
It is Heaven to the ears.
Five stars aren't enough-5 million stars might not be enough to give this music the "rating" it deserves.
I feel like I have found the music I've been searching for all my life.
I understand how George Harrison felt when he discovered Ravi Shankar and Hindustani classical music in general-the rapture of his soul.
This music is the soundtrack of my DNA.
TO label it "essential" is like calling the air we breathe "essential".
Let God bless you and get this CD ASAP!
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Talking Timbuktu
Ali Farka Touré , and Ry Cooder Manufacturer: Hannibal ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00000062H Release Date: 1994-03-29 |
Tracks:
- Bonde
- Soukora
- Gomni
- Sega
- Amandrai
- Lasidan
- Keito
- Banga
- Ai Du
- Diaraby
Amazon.com
Talking Timbuktu is a groundbreaking record that vividly illustrates the Africa-Blues connection in real time. Ali Farka Toure, one of Mali's leading singer-guitarists, has a trance-like, bluesy style that, although deeply rooted in Malian tradition, bears astonishing similarity to that of John Lee Hooker or even Canned Heat. It's a mono-chordal vamp, with repetitive song lines cut with shards of blistering solo runs that shimmer like a desert mirage. Toure may be conversant with some blues artists, but it is unlikely that artists like Hooker or Robert Pete Williams ever heard these Malian roots, which makes the connection so uncanny. Ry Cooder, well versed in domestic and world guitar styles, is the perfect counterpoint in these extended songs/jams, his sinewy slide guitar intertwining with his partner's in a super world summit without barriers or borders. --Derek RathCustomer Reviews:
Cool music.......2007-05-13
AFT at his best.......2007-04-03
Fabulous Music.......2007-03-26
soothing and exciting sound.
Gorgeous, happy, relaxed music........2007-03-25
"Lasidan" - Gets in your head. It's possibly my favorite song on the album. Touré's voice resonates in the mind for days.
"Banga" - Ali Farka Touré is incredible here on the njarka. The combination of this beautiful instrument, the congo, and the calabash is breathtaking.
"Diaraby" - A fitting end. Lovely.
It's an all-around beautiful disc.
Side note: If you like this album, you should really check out Ali Farka Touré's son, Vieux Farka Touré.
Wonderful music.......2007-03-22
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Savane
Ali Farka Touré Manufacturer: Nonesuch ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000G1R3BW Release Date: 2006-07-25 |
Tracks:
- Erdi
- Yer Bounda Fara
- Beto
- Savane
- Soya
- Penda Yoro
- Machengoidi
- Ledi Coumbe
- Hanana Soko
- Gambari
- Banga
- Njarou
Amazon.com
Savane, the great African guitarist and bluesman Ali Farka Touré's final solo studio album, was recorded in his native Mali toward the end of his life, when the artist knew his days were numbered. He spent his last years in his home village of Niafunké, concentrating on farming and family matters, jamming with local musicians of an evening. This impassioned, roots-drenched, mostly acoustic valedictory finds the Maestro's stalking rhythms and high-noon-at-the-crossroads, dusty desert-to-delta vocals in no less than life-summing form. "Soya" (track 5) seems to stand still in a million directions, while "Hanana Soko" (track 9) features a searing njarka fiddle spinning delirious circles around its throaty accompanying percussion. Pee Wee Ellis (sax) and Little George Sueref (harmonica) each manage to make strong impressions while adhering to the groove at hand. Afel Boucoum, a talented younger musician who has been mentioned as Touré's most likely successor (as if such a thing were possible!), graces "Njarou," the last tune. The other players are also at the top of their game, as fluttering ngoni (a West African spike lute) riffs weave in and out and airy female vocals float like a breeze off the river Niger. There are reports that Touré senior sat in on his son's upcoming album and scads of archival material will undoubtedly materialize. But his unsentimental, voluptuously masculine, spirit-guided magic is captured at its best, for all time, in this magnificent farewell. --Christina RodenAlbum Description
Toure recorded Savane in the Malian capital of Bamako, as part of a three-disc project dubbed the Hotel Mande Sessions, after the studio in which the albums were cut. Savane is the last, perhaps most eloquent, installment. In concept and execution, the sessions recall teh magical combination of spontaneity and virtuosity that marked the debut releases from the Buena Vista Social Club. Toure offers reverberating, incantatory vocals to accompany his lean, hypnotically repetitive guitar lines.Customer Reviews:
Hard core Toure.......2007-05-28
A man at peace with himself.......2007-05-10
Probably His Best.......2007-04-30
Nice album.......2007-03-09
"It's my best album ever. It has the most power and it is the most different"........2007-03-06
Although we usually think of `fusion' as a mix between something traditional and something Western, one could argue that Ali was permanently engaged in the twin processes of fusing and distillation most of his life -- although his attention rarely wandered far from West Africa.
"Savane" was a work in progress for several years, but it was mainly recorded at the now legendary Hotel Mande sessions in Bamako, which saw the recording of his sensational collaboration with Toumani Diabate "In the Heart of the Moon" as well as Toumani's own "Symmetric Orchestra sessions", which has just been released.
Every note of Ali's guitar and every sung word on "Savane" could come from no other artist. And yet, this is an album unlike any of previous albums.
There is an unusually international ensemble of musicians including JB horn man Pee Wee Ellis (who has been on most World Circuit albums of late) and Fain S. Dueñas of Radio Tarifa plus ngoni musicians Bassekou Kouyate and Mama Sissoko and Dasy Saré.
Now let's be under no illusions, each piece is bent to the will of Ali Farka Touré but under his distinctive canopy all kinds of interesting and surprising things are going on.
The title song has a ska-like backbeat for the distinctive guitars to spring off and the opening track "Ewly" features bold bluesy guitar offset by harmonica making the blues connection even stronger.
Famously, Ali Farka Touré always maintained he was not influenced by American blues musicians, he was just playing his traditional music. Attempts by musicologists to untangle this tale of origins have mostly come unstuck. One could see this album as a way of stating the external influences in his music or even an attempt to reach out but I think both interpretations are wrong and completely out of character.
Carefully, meticulously and imaginatively Ali reclaims the entire African diaspora music for the people of Africa and in doing so he plants his flag on the entire 20th Century music catalogue.
It would be, in short, an enterprise of lunatic megalomania except that it works and can therefore be described as nothing less than genius.
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Watina
Andy Palacio & the Garifuna Collective Manufacturer: Cumbancha ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000LP4OPQ Release Date: 2007-02-27 |
Tracks:
- I Called Out
- Day By Day
- Miami
- Father
- Together
- Take Advice
- Go Away
- Worthless
- My Canoe
- My People Have Moved On
- Goodbye My Dear
- In Times To Come
Amazon.com
Palacio is from Belize and his music celebrates a culture called Garifuna, in which indigenous Arawak and Carib sounds, plus West African influences imported during the dark years of the slave trade are twisted around one another like a helix. Over the centuries, fiercely independent tribes-people maintained their identity even as European colonizers relentlessly pushed them from St. Vincent, where the Africans had been shipwrecked and intermarried with the local population, toward the Central American coast. But more recently, the culture had begun losing ground, especially in Nicaragua, a fact brought to Palacio's attention when he visited that nation as teenage literacy advocate. His impassioned espousal of his birthright began when he got involved with punta rock, a synth-and-drum-machine-driven dance style popular during the 1990s. The present album represents a return to his roots. Blended Native, African and Latin exhalations create softly pretty, simply constructed, yet indelible melodies while percolating, hypnotic rhythms, some of which are anchored by a prominent Afro-Cuban clavé, get everyone moving. The songs are sung exclusively in the Garifuna language and built around folkloric sources like the ritual-based dügü. There's not a false note anywhere in earshot but "Yagane", a seafaring tune composed by and performed with Paul Nabor, a septuagenarian buyei (spiritual healer), is one stand-out; the delightful title track is another. The CD is enhanced with videos and other extras. --Christina RodenAlbum Description
These soul-stirring melodies and vibrant grooves from the Garifuna community of Central America unite the musical legacies of Africa and the Caribbean to create a powerful saga of exile, longing, hope and celebration. Years in the making, Watina is infused with contemporary influences, yet firmly rooted in the rich musical traditions of this unique and inspiring culture. Belizean icon, Andy Palacio, leads an all-star, multi-generational lineup to deliver a monumental tribute to the Garifuna of yesterday and tomorrow.* 32-page booklet features full lyrics and stunning photographs.
* Deluxe enhanced CD includes "making of" video and a preview of the upcoming Garifuna women's project "Umalali".
* The third release from Cumbancha, the new label founded by the head of music research at Putumayo World Music.
"****. Endlessly satisfying." --Charlie Gillett, The Observer Music Monthly (UK)
"Brimming with Buena Vista-ish elegance and dignity." --The Boston Globe (US)
"A little bit Cuban, a little bit Brazilian, with a reggae lilt, a Cape Verdean melodic lushness and a whole range of African echoes that you can't quite put your finger on." --London Daily Telegraph (UK)
"A fascinating musical mash-up...Transcendent, infectiously rhythmic music." --Veryshortlist.com (USA)
"There's a full year worth of listening on Watina... It's a fantastic recording that makes me thirst for more..." --Bob Tarte, Beat Magazine
"Rampacked to overflowing with amazing music." --Dave Hucker, Beat Magazine
"Superb" --Mondomix (France)
"****. Will spellbind the most indifferent listener." --Irish Times
"Consider this the first must-have album of 2007." --World Music Central
"An immediate world music classic." -Folk Roots (UK)
Customer Reviews:
Cross-cultural wonderfulness.......2007-06-30
Not a great World Music album - just a great album.......2007-05-23
The growing number of people who listen to World Music will instantly recognise this as a classic. But it deserves to be heard much more widely than the World Music circuit. Songs like Weyu Lariga Weyu should be being played on the radio and in the shops.
I knew nothing of Garifuna and had never heard of Andy Palacio until a week or so ago. Now I can't get the music out of my head and I've fallen in love with a place I have never been to (and probably never will) and a people whom I have never met. That's how good this album is.
Andy Palacio's welcome return to his roots.......2007-05-17
Andy Palacio's return to his roots has led not only to a revival of Garifuna language and culture, but is a joy for world music fans who delight in earthy, powerful music. "Watina" is a savory blend of reggae-flavored music such as "Lidan Aban" (Together) and the bluesy laments of "Sin Precio" (Worthless), "Ayo Da" (Goodbye my dear) and the title track. There is the reverent sacred music of "Baba" (Father),"Weyu Larigi Weyu" (Day by Day) and "Aguyuha Nidudenu" (My people have moved on). The jazzy,frothy song "Miami" isn't about the Florida metropolis, but about injustice in that city in Honduras. The closing song, "Amunegu" (In times to come),is a hopeful gaze to the future.
There isn't a single weak song on this album. It's a perfect introduction to the music of Belize (too often overshadowed by Argentina,the tango capital of the world and Brazil with its sambas and bossa novas) and Garifuna culture. It's a must for any world music collection!
Life is a beach.......2007-05-06
Could this be the most enjoyable World CD since...Buena Vista?.......2007-04-10
Andy Palacio doesn't have Buena Vista's advantages. He's from Belize, the least-populated country in Central America. His music celebrates the Garifunan culture, which is known to maybe five American Caucasians. And although his record company couldn't be more distinguished in World Music circles --- Jacob Edgar, its founder, was head of A&R at Putamayo --- few of you have heard of him or his sparkling label, Cumbancha.
No matter. This musician you've never heard of, singing in a language spoken by no more than a few hundred thousand people, has delivered what could easily be the most enjoyable CD of the year.
What's it like? Everything. And that's the key to the music.
In the 1700s, West African slaves were shipwrecked on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. They intermarried with Arawak Indians and lived peacefully until the English forced them into exile on a small, resource-poor island off Honduras. They moved on to the mainland, but their identity has blurred over the centuries. Now there are just 11,500 Garifunans living in Belize --- and the Garifunan language, which is taught in only one village there, has been designated by the United Nations as among the "masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity."
Andy Palacio, a Garifunan from Belize, once modified his culture's music so it would have wider appeal. But the threat that it might become extinct encouraged him to return to his roots. And so he assembled all-star Garifunan musicians in a thatched-roof shack on Belize's Caribbean coast and spent four months with that band, playing endangered music deep into the night.
The musicologist in me wants to tell you about the richness to be found here: the sexy thrust you'll find in the Cape Verde songs of Cesaria Evora, the raw vocals reminiscent of the Peter Tosh era with The Wailers, the lyrics about life's everyday challenges that could have been written by Ali Farka Toure or Boubacar Traore --- and, of course, the joyous bounce of Buena Vista.
But it's the enthusiast in me that carries the day. Here are 12 songs, each radically different, that, taken together, form a classic mosaic. The electric guitar couldn't be more seductive, the drumming catchier, the lead vocals more urgent, the harmonies more subtle. This CD is as irresistible as Amadou & Mariam --- you will leave your chair.
As I write, the music industry in America is facing the greatest crisis in its history --- it can't find much to sell that you care about. Well, here are some poor musicians no one ever heard of, who made the recording of their lives without any thought of fame or fortune. And here's a guy in a Vermont farmhouse, lavishing beautiful packaging and energetic promotion on these nonentities.
And what's the outcome?
For one of the planet's smallest subcultures, a moment of bracing attention.
For you, satisfaction on the order of Buena Vista --- and maybe greater.
No kidding about that. Andy Palacio and his friends aren't just good, they're seriously great.
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Boulevard de l'Independance
Toumani Diabate Symmetric Orchestra Manufacturer: Nonesuch ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000FVHKFW Release Date: 2006-07-10 |
Tracks:
- Toumani
- Boulevard de l'Independance
- Ya Fama
- Mali Sadio
- Africa Challenge
- Wasso
- Mamadou Diaby
- Tapha Niang
- Single
Amazon.com
Toumani Diabate, scion of one of Mali's oldest hereditary musical dynasties, was born into a few-centuries-worth of hard-acts-to-follow. But his output continues his father Sidiki's life-long exploration of the manifold possibilities of the kora, West Africa's glorious 21-string harp-lute. Aside from folklore-based recitals, such as New Ancient Strings with fellow kora virtuoso Ballake Sissoko, he has also released a quiver-full of genre-bursting experiments. The flamenco-infused Songhai albums, Kulanjan, with American roots master Taj Mahal, and 2005's Grammy-winning In The Heart Of The Moon with the late, great Malian guitarist Ali Farka, are only a few highlights. The present project, featuring a 50-member big band hailing from Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Côte D'Ivoire, and Guinée, can best be described as neo-trad-with-attitude. Local xylophones, plucked instruments, and percussion abut drum kits and electric bass. The string arrangements sometimes recall Zanzibar's Taarab orchestras, while the brass charts have an aggressive yet tasty swagger; you might not imagine that the kora could work as a lead instrument in such company but it does. Further graced by the astounding vocals of Kasse Mady Diabate and a mixed chorale, this is a ground-breaking and soon-to-be-legendary release. --Christina RodenAlbum Description
Boulevard de l'Independance is an ambitious , big-band follow-up to In The Heart of the Moon; a bold synthesis of acoustic and electric, elegant and earthy, shimmering melodies and irresistable grooves, recorded in two weeks' worth of all-night sessions in the Malian capital of Bamako. It's a vivid recreation of the group's Friday night residency at Bamako's Hogon nightclub that retains the hot, lookse and live feel of the popular gig.Customer Reviews:
A Masterpiece.......2007-04-25
This CD belongs in any serious library of music and will certainly win over the descriminating listener who may not be very familiar with African music. A masterpiece!!!
Big band sound of West Africa.......2007-03-27
Great new music for an old hippie.......2007-03-09
An absoulutely wonderful piece and it is great for workouts at the gym.
One of the best albums I've ever owned.......2007-02-14
All in all, a great album: diverse, unique, traditional elements juxtaposed with modern sounds, inspirational, energetic, reflective: perfection. My only complaint is that I wish it had more tracks, but an album this good would never have enough tracks to satiate my ears - it would always keep me wanting more!
Give this album a Grammy!
Glorious and Lush.......2007-01-23
Strangely enough, I'm reminded of the big band treatment Frank Zappa's tunes have gotten recently; creative arrangements of complex material yielding an easy listening experience.
This recording embodies what I love about African music - superb musicianship playing complex rhythms, with contemporary sensibilty and traditional, timeless grounding.
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African Playground
Various Artists Manufacturer: Putumayo World Music ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000087DRR Release Date: 2003-02-25 |
Tracks:
- Battu - Angelique Kidjo
- Jambo Bwana - Them Mushrooms
- Mbube - The Mahotella Queens
- Hello Hello - Mose Fan Fan
- Sing Lo-Lo - Vieux Diop
- Kalimba - Dr. Victor
- Hendry - Tarika Sammy
- Munomuno - Samite
- Hoya Hoya - Seleshe Damassae
- Sangoma - Bakithi Kumalo
- Laba Laba - Baba Ken Okulolo
- Barco di Papel - Tete Alhiuho
- Lango Mo - Aura Msimang
Product Description
An entertaining and educational musical expedition to Africa for children and families! Putumayo's award- winning World Playground series of world music CDs for children travels to Africa, a continent that is exuberantly rich in music and culture. African Playground is filled with great songs by artists from Senegal to South Africa, including a previously unreleased track by world music superstar Angelique Kidjo. Children and their families will love the upbeat rhythms and appealing melodies on this musical tour. Parents and educators will appreciate the accessibly presented cultural information and musical fun facts. African Playground includes entertaining and informative multi- lingual liner notes, song lyrics, cultural information, a music glossary and colorful illustrations.Customer Reviews:
Kids love it!.......2007-05-12
Bought this for my son today, but I love it!.......2007-01-17
love the rhythm.......2007-01-10
Was OK.......2007-01-05
Great! It's the only thing that stops my son from crying in the car!.......2006-11-03
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Healing the Divide
Various Artists Manufacturer: Anti ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000F3AJTO Release Date: 2007-07-10 |
Tracks:
- Special Address - His Holiness the Dalai Lama
- Invocation - The Gyuto Tantric Choir
- Nivedan - Anoushka Shankar
- Peace Chants - Nawang Khechog and R. Carlos Nakai
- The Gambia - Philip Glass and Foday Musa Suso
- Way Down In The Hole - Tom Waits and Kronos Quartet
- God's Away On Business - Tom Waits and Kronos Quartet
- Lost In The Harbor - Tom Waits and Kronos Quartet
- Diamond In Your Mind - Tom Waits and Kronos Quartet
Album Description
This once in a lifetime event gathered musicians from wildly different backgrounds in a benefit for Richard Gere's Healing The Divide Foundation. Recorded live at Lincoln Center in NY, this CD features transcendental performances from Tibet's Gyuto Choir, India's Anoushka Shankar, genre-bending duets from Tibetan avant-garde musician Nawang Kechong with Native American master R. Carlos Nakai, and maverick composer Philip Glass with Gambian virtuoso Foday Musa Suso. The concert closer is a unique collaboration between musicians who personify the spirit of adventure in contemporary music, as Tom Waits performs four of his classic songs accompanied by Grammy winners the Kronos Quartet. Add a moving opening address by the Dalai Lama and you have the perfect musical embodiment of the Foundation's mission: to bridge cultural gaps and forge revolutionary new bonds between people around the world. Proceeds from sales will be directly applied to projects benefiting the peoples of Tibet and the Himalayan region.International Music: