Raul da Gama
Canadian writer. Based in Milton, Ontario, Canada, Raul is a musician and an accomplished writer whose profound analysis is reinforced by his deep understanding of music, technically as well as historically.
Bobby Ramirez: Yo Soy Ritmo! Danzón – Homenaje a Miguel Faílde
The celebrated Spanish composer Manuel de Falla posited that “in popular song the spirit is more important than the letter”, but sometimes –especially in...
Duende Libre: Drift
All but two of the songs heard on Drift have been composed by Alex Chadsey. They are attractive, alluring miniatures, often written in a...
Sebastian Schunke | Diego Pinera: Elusive Beauty
The album Elusive Beauty by Sebastian Schunke and Diego Pinera – together with reedsmeister Benjamin Weidekamp, violist Yodfat Miron and cellist Boram Lie –...
Cabanijazz Project: Infrasonic
With heat from the blue part of the flame – suggesting fire and, at times, ice – in ensemble and solo passages of Infrasonic...
Dave Chamberlain’s Band of Bones: Picadillo? Yes, Madly!
Of all the myriad ensembles out there few sound as powerfully alluring as the trombone-driven ensemble, Dave Chamberlain’s Band of Bones. Part of the...
Alex Conde: Origins
When Alex Conde turns up the power at any given time, he’s like an orchestra all by himself. Now magnify that several times on...
Alfredo Chacón: Caliente Corner
Everything about Caliente Corner suggests that the multi-instrumentalist Alfredo Chacón is on his way to the pinnacle of his powers – both as a...
Adrien Brandeis: Euforia
Of course you can learn to keep “clave” time, but if you don’t “feel “ it the way Adrien Brandeis does then you cannot...
Michael Simon: Asian Connection
It’s easy sometimes to forget that the extraordinarily-gifted trumpeter and flugelhorn-player Michael Simon came from Venezuela. He has been making a living out of...
Phil Marucci: Next Stop Brazil
You would be forgiven if you thought you were listening to a Brasilian while playing Next Stop Brazil by Phil Marucci. The Portuguese is...
Coro Del Mundo
L. Peter Deutsch - 1: Dance to the Revolution, 2: Where Everything is Music; Conrado Monier - 3: Canto del Bongó; Adalberto Álvarez -...
Spanish Harlem Orchestra: Anniversary
For the last fifteen years few music ensembles have dominated the world of salsa like the Spanish Harlem Orchestra. So, it was only fitting...
Elio Villafranca: Epic Journey in search of Cinque
There has always been a healthy restlessness to Elio Villafranca. When I spoke to him in February 2015 he was about to debut a...
Elio Villafranca: Cinque
The record package itself for Cinque is modest, but oddly impressive; its black cover has the title and Mr Villafranca’s name hand lettered across...
Bobby Sanabria: West Side Story (Reimagined)
Jerome Robbins’ seminal story of danger and the triumph of love, West Side Story inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet has been...
Orquesta Akokán – Canta José “Pepito” Gómez
It takes more than academic proficiency in music to arrive at the source of its splendour and few American musicians know that better than...
Bobby Valentin & The LJs: Mind of a Master
One of the most iconic images of the Tropical/Salsa genre has been the fiery fingers of Bobby Valentin attacking the fret board of his...
Spanglish Fly: Ay Que Boogaloo
Jonathan Goldman is a proverbial renaissance man who has a doppelgänger -like kinship with James Joyce, but his specialisation is even more unique. He...
Adam O’Farrill’s Stranger Days: El Maquech
Perhaps the best raison d’être – albeit in a wonderfully twisted sort of way – is that it is “tethered to nothing”. This is...
Chano Domínguez: Prism of Duende
Some twenty-eight minutes into our conversation Chano Domínguez lets me go gently. “Raul, I have to let you go,” he tells me, “But you...
