Condensing four decades of Cuban dance hits onto two CDs, Havana S??! proves to be an appropiate showcase for the genius of Los Van Van.
Archive for the Caribbean: Reviews Category
On paper this is all wrong. A government funded programme in response to social unrest in Harlem, a group of mostly non-Latins making a Latin record, a huge cast of non-professional musicians. And what did they produce? Only one of the top 5 Latin records of all time
Continue reading Har You Percussion Group – Sounds of the Ghetto Youth
Original, soulful recordings that are fresh and and direct from Jamaica that have been hand picked by the one and only David Rodigan makes the second edition of Real Authentic Reggae as essential as the first.
Continue reading V/A – Real Authentic Reggae Vol.2 (Compiled by David Rodigan)
Soothsayers’ third album sees them teaming up with the The Red Earth Collective in an old skool reggae ‘Meets’ connection but delving into the roots ‘n’ jazz with loads of afro-funk that’s really FLY.
Continue reading Soothsayers Meet The Red Earth Collective – One More Reason
Anthony Joseph was called Bird Head Son when he was growing up in Trinidad. Now it’s the name of his second album with his mates from South London, the Spasm Band, that find all of them in a unity of poetry and music; and that means, album of the year candidate!
Continue reading Anthony Joseph & The Spasm Band – Bird Head Son
An awakened interest in the unique music of a small Central American community has led to this fascinating re-release of traditional Garifuna music from the Gulf of Honduras
Continue reading V/A – Ibimeni. Garifuna Traditional Music from Guatemala
Ten years ago, with the help of Juan de Marcos Gonz?°lez and support of Ry Cooder, a bunch of elderly Cubans dusted off their instruments, cleared their throats and, with seemingly effortless ease, delivered arguably the most acclaimed album in world music history
The first recording of the ongoing collaboration between the legendary drummer and the innovative Cuban group is a testament to the success of fusion music.
Continue reading Billy Cobham and Asere – De Cuba y De Panama
On his sixth solo album, the award-winning Wilson looks more towards commercial influences than previous work
Madera Limpia is a young Cuban band with a rhythmic groove sound inspired by hip hop and reggae; so how eager do you think Daniel Haaksman was to get the remix out?
Continue reading Madera Limpia – Loco (Daniel Haaksman Remix)
How hard can it be to pick 16 of your favourite reggae tracks for a compilation album? Well if your after a Primer 101, look no further than Ziggy Marley’s selction on this new CD for the near perfect choice.
Roberto Fonseca’s most recent album, Zamazu, grooves seamlessly from start to finish as his sound at once nods to his musical roots and speaks in the original voice he set out to find many years ago
Named after a hearty Cuban root vegetable stew, Ajiaco is itself a hearty stew of rootsy influenced remixes from a host of worldwide DJs and producers, each putting their stamp on the sound of Cuban ska.
The Garifuna communities of Central America’s Atlantic coast are beginning to seem like the new Cape Verde — there is so much good music coming out of there. The truth is that it has as much to do with the love of Belizean producer Ivan Duran for the music and the people as any one musician breaking it big
