Voices of the World
World Music Reviews by
Brian Grosjean, host of Sunday morning FM On Toast
The Culture Café
“World Peace Through Cultural Celebration”

Don't Miss This Music . . .

Dear Friends: Here we are back after a few months hiatus for a change in email address and change in website but continuing the great music. The Culture Cafe website will be back online soon. Here is some great music recently heard on the show.

Madredeus / Fado das Duvidas / EMI - Madredeus returns with a far ranging, folky showcase of singer Teresa Salguero backed by the restrained acoustic band. The bluesy longing of Fado is tempered somewhat by hopeful enjoyable melodies.

Ali Farka Toure / Red & Green / World Circuit - He's back with a more acoustic and blended sound, the organic music of early years on Red and more recent music on Green.

Various
Rough Guide to the Balkan Gypsies / World Music International - It's intriguing to realize how influential the Balkan Gypsies have been in European music. You will hear the beginnings of Hungarian folksongs on the cimbalom, lovely French accordion tunes and the awesome Balkan women's choir music, all with an organic Roma taste.

Various
South Pacific Islands / Putumayo - A surprisingly varied and very entertaining guide to the music of the South Pacific people due to their penchant for melody and close harmonies. Favorites are OK! Ryos and Whirimako Black from New Zealand. Includes a video on the enhanced CD.

Various
Rough Guide to Madagascar / World Music International - Includes new stars of this island continent such as Hazolany, Jaojoby and Ny Antsaly. Their roots in the music of their neighbors include Arab, Chinese, Persian and African music.

Baubacar Traore / Kongo Magni / World Village - Great guitar based music will remind you of Mississippi bluesmen and African Kora storytellers.

Amadou et Mariam / Dimanche a Bamako / Nonesuch - Produced by the French/Spanish pop star Manu Chao and including a rich stew of danceable melodies, this is one of the best of the year from Africa.

Lebeha Boys Garifuna Youth / Lebeha Drumming / Innova - Teach kids to drum and they will learn their culture. Here the boys from the country of Belize show off their mastery of local drumming tradition from the Garifuna people.

Various
Atlante di Musica Tradizionale (Roots Music Atlas) / Italia 3 / Dunya Records - The best of recent developments in the Italian folk heritage scene. There is roots music from just about every region of Italy. Included are Riccardo Tesi's jazzy takes on local folk roots with Banditaliana and the Napoli Mandolin Orchestra's experimentation.

Various
Putu Presents Mali / Putumayo - Well produced and edited, liner notes in Fr, Eng and Span, includes live video clip of Habib Koite doing Batoumamben music by all the major like Boubacar Troare, Iss Bagayoyo, Tinariwen, and Mamou Sidibe

Various
Putumayo Presents North African Groove / Putumayo - Whodathunkit? - Algerians with Cuban son beats, Moroccans with Euro flavors, and the indominatable Rai from Khaled and Cheb Mami - expect the unexpected today from this part of the volatile world.

Warsaw Village Band / Uprooting / World Village - With even more attitude than their first release, these young musicians from Poland crank their hurdy gurdies, fiddles, and trumpets to new highs. Focus on rhythms more this time. Just a lot of fun. worldvillagemusic.com or jaro.de.

Jason McGuire / Distancias / Bolero - Very nice flamenco guitar from this US based artist. Technically he shines, but it is in the feeling for the music that he excels. Light percussion on some tracks help break it up.

Various
Where the World Meets / Times Square - I usually don't put compilations from a label in here, but this one is much better than most includes tracks by Mariza, the Peruvian legend Eva Ayllon, Tet Alhinho, all of which have their own great albums out, but gathered here for your convenience. Mostly latin and Caribbean.

Jack De Johnette & Foday Musa Suso / Music From the Hearts of the Masters / Kindred Rhythm - Percussion from two masters, one of the drums and one of the kora. They make straddling cultures look easy. With bonus video footage. jackdejohnette.com and fmsuso.com.

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The Electronic World Of Music
  Independent music labels have been quick to jump onto the internet. Email, web sites, and the like offer inexpensive ways of communicating with record stations and the general public. In addition, this also helps level the playing field by providing equal access to labels no matter what their size. An email or web site for the smallest independent label is as accessible as is Sony, Capital, or any of the major brands. I try to give a website for each label, when available. For more information, try browsing for World Music Links at Rootsworld.com/rw . Or contact me at via email (see above).

Brian Grosjean, World Music Director
"World Peace Through Cultural Celebration"
WWUH Radio 91.3FM
University of Hartford
200 Bloomfield Avenue
West Hartford, CT 06117
(860) 768-4703
www.wwuh.org
email: culturecafe913@yahoo.com

Visit my website at:
http://home.earthlink.net/~abgrosjean/Culture_Cafe.htm

More World Music Reviews at
http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/

WWUH: Jan/Feb Program Guide 2006 ©