This
album's title seems to have thrown a monkeywrench into
some music stores' labeling, but whether you call it (R)Evolución or
Revolucion or Evolucion, Jose Conde is
onto something marvelous. What it is exactly is hard to
say, but his blend of traditional Afro-Cuban music with
a bit of this and that makes for a modern sound with deep
roots. Flawless rhythms and tight arrangements follow the
tracks from the son-flavored funk of "Ritmo y Sabor" to
the catchy Haitian/son closer "Pititi Y Titi" (which appears
in both French and Spanish).
Conde's
parents fled Cuba following the rise of Castro, raising
Jose in Miami. "I feel en Cubano and I think en Americano,"
Conde says. "That's the core. Growing up in south Florida,
I came into daily contact with the mix of sounds: son,
funk,
rock,
rumba, Haitian compas, cumbia, guaracha. And to me, it's
all one thing and can be intermixed at will and with taste."
(R)Evolución is
Conde's third release, following two albums of more traditional
Cuban tunes, Esencia in 2001 and Ay! Que Rico in
2004. ©2007
Scott Allan Stevens, Earball Media
|
Various
Artists: Healing the Divide (Anti)
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"With
the purchase of this CD you have provided one year of urgently
needed health insurance to a Tibetan monk or nun living
in exile."
Recorded
live at New York's Lincoln Center, Healing the Divide is
not only funding a good cause (channeled through Richard
Gere's
organization
of the
same name),
it also features some top notch performances by the likes
of Foday Musa Suso & Philip Glass, Anoushka Shankar,
Nawang Khechog, R. Carlos Nakai,
and the Gyoto Tantric
Choir. It all starts with words from the Dalai Lama, and
ends with four growly, cynical tracks by Tom Waits
and the Kronos Quartet. The collection of artists may be
puzzling (and remains unexplained in the liner notes)
but
individually
the tracks
are fairly engaging.
Pharaoh's
Daughter: Haran (oy!hoo)
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CD | watch video
Haran is
" a musical journey from Hasidic Brooklyn to ’70s
psychedelia, from an Israeli seminary to smoky bars in
Turkey, and street
scenes
in Morocco and Zambia. Band leader and vocalist Basya Schechter
has invented her own identity, still rooted in the words,
sounds, and experiences of her childhood, but using her
global curiosity to launch a reformulation of Judaic musicality.
Haran marries the Hebraic and Biblical texts that
orthodox children memorize with a modern, globally-informed
Jewish
sound." band website: pharaohsdaughter.com
Kenge
Kenge: Introducing Kenge Kenge (World
Music Network)
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We're
truly living in golden age for "world music." Where the
1980s and 1990s saw bad synthesizers and over-reaching
cultural mashups, the new century is awash with acoustic
roots music. Kenge Kenge is one such band. the group's
Luo name translates, I'm told, as "fusion of small, exhilarating
instruments." The Luo language is truly concise, no? And
the music -- Kenyan benga -- is real dance music, with
a driving beat, powerful vocals, cyclical patterns by the
orutu (one-stringed
fiddle,
which
at times sounds like a Brazilian cuica), and assorted other
instruments. Don't expect Afro-pop, but do expect another
fine introduction to a musical tradition you might not
have known about.
Pape
Armand Boye: Xareba (IaROmusic)
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Senegal-rooted
acoustic soul/hip-hop/pop music? Labels fail to capture
the contemporary sound of Pape Armand Boye, whose CD Xareba
(The Struggle) reflects his African roots and his
bouncing between Germany, Paris, and the USA. The sound
often is more like Cameroonian Afro-jazz (Gino Sitson,
Richard Bona) than other Senegalese music. Then there's
the rap by Mojo the Cinematic on the title track, and the
reggae beat of "Innocent Blood," further mixing
things up. The
keyboards sound a little cheesy here and there, as on "Yayoo,"
which manages to be both wandering and brief. My favorite
so far is "Li nga Wessu," the lone live recording
on the album, which features some very tasty flute playing
and
more energy than the studio recordings. An ambitious release
from a promising artist.
Hugh
Masekela: Live at the Market Theater (Times
Square)
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Johannesburg's
Market Theater has its roots in liberation theater, and
from its stage have come many of South Africa's great musicians,
playwrights, and actors. Hugh Masekela's Sarafina began
there, and for the theater's 30th anniversary party, the
world-renowned vocalist-fluglehornist graced the stage
with a performance that is preserved on this two-CD set.
Masekela performs some of his best-loved and most powerful
pieces, including "Stimela," "Mandela," "and "Up Township."
Anyone who's seen Masekela live knows how he can relax
into a piece, and here you get him unabridged, stretching
some songs to 15 minutes or more. From his laid-back
love song "Market Place" (including a bad joke about the
South African space program) to his cover of Fela Kuti's
"Lady," Masekela is in top form
on
this
album.
Papa
Noel: Cafe Noir (Tumi)
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CD/hear samples | Listen
to Cafe Noir (popup)
The
influences ping-pong across the oceans: music from Africans
formed the roots of Cuban music, which returned to central
Africa in the 1930s and caught fire. Papa Noel was born
amid this Afro-Cuban musical movement, on Christmas Day
in 1940 (thus his stage moniker). A veteran of this golden
age of Congolese music, he's been
giving
the
world
Afro-Cuban
musical
gifts
ever since. For
this album went back to the New-World roots: Cuba. Recording
with Cuban musicians in Havana, Noel still injects clear
African
influences into the music, from the African-pride message
of "Africa Mokili Mobimba" to the saxophone of
African great Manu
Dibango on two cuts. Simply delicious.
©2007
Scott Allan Stevens, Earball Media |
