• Music

    Baklava – From Skopje With Love

    July 18, 2023 - By 

    Our friends over at the indomitable CPL-Music have released a charming disc of traditional music from my second homeland of Skopje, Macedonia!  Baklava, the subject of today’s listening, work with folk music and does sterling work reinterpreting it for a more modern, updated sound.  Speaking of that sound, the band develop it with a wealth of instruments, including ancient local ones like the tambura, the kaval and the daf, as well as bagpipes, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, accordion and (the very much non-Macedonian) ukulele.  The music is upbeat, fun, and shines a good light on the wonders of (North) Macedonian music.

  • Music

    Lucy Khanyan Quartet – Komitas Through the Eyes of Lucy Khanyan Quartet

    July 11, 2023 - By 

    Soghomon Soghomonian, the priest, ethnomusicologist and arranger who would be later known to millions of Armenian music aficionados as Komitas (Vardapet), is a figure who looms large in the history of the country’s music scene.  Avant-garde pianist Lucy Khanyan does great justice to some of the works of Komitas, interpreting them in more of a jazz setting which sounds completely natural.

  • Music

    Mariana Ingold – Cara A Cara

    December 28, 2022 - By 

    Uruguayan vocalist and musician Mariana Ingold has a storied reputation for her albums of children’s songs, environmental work and collaborations with the indigenous communities of her native country, but in 1986, she started recording some rather fine pop music as well.  She mixed candombe music with synthesizers to make a fusion which caught on in the country’s capital, Montevideo.  She is still quite active as a performer, but it’s quite a treat to see some of these recordings see the light of day after several decades of being out-of-print.

  • Music

    Gui Duvignau – Baden

    February 4, 2022 - By 

    Bassist and composer Gui Duvignau was born in France, but raised in Brazil.  In his latest album, he interprets some classic work by the legendary Brazilian guitarist Baden Powell, whose work left an indelible mark on the samba and bossa nova scene worldwide.

  • Music

    Bester Quartet – Piazzolla Angels

    October 25, 2021 - By 

    Poland’s For-Tune Records have been consistently releasing high-quality jazz and improv music for some time now, but their latest has a special place for me. This collection, with the exception of Por Una Cabeza (composed by Carlos Gardel) was composed by the inimitable Ástor Piazzólla and arranged Bester Quartet leader and accordionist Jarosław Bester.  It’s remarkable to hear how fluidly tangos by the masters can be translated so well into jazz and improvisational music.

  • Music

    Various Artists – NYP Records: Mukambo presents Global Afrobeat Movement 2

    October 22, 2021 - By 

    The first time I had the pleasure of hearing Afrobeat was in Skopje, Macedonia, of all places.  There isn’t a lot of variance to the music on this comp, though there are a few gems on this comp, but I have to be honest – how do you better Fela Kuti and Tony Allen?  It’s a tough sell. This is the future of Afrobeat you’re listening to on this compilation, and the best part is that the genre is exploding everywhere.  You will find bands from Nigerian diasporas in places like France and Spain, but it was interesting to see…

  • Music

    Enji – Ursgal

    September 3, 2021 - By 

    Enji Erkhem is a jazz singer who is originally from Mongolia, but who currently calls Munich, Germany, home.  She has quite an interesting personal story, growing up in a yurt to a working-class family, traveling to Germany to study music pedagogy, and getting utterly inspired by jazz singers like Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald and Nancy Wilson, while adding folk elements into this framework. Though vocal jazz fans will find much to enjoy in this album, the track which most piqued my interest was the track Aya, which swings and sways in a way that reminded me of Björk’s jazz album,…