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.
Javier Colina & Pepe Rivero: El Pañuelo de Pepa
Sometimes in music you enter through a door and discover that the room you are now in has no walls, no ceiling and no...
Dave Bass: No Boundaries
The title – and music – suggests there are no boundaries between Jazz styles of music and Latin ones. On the music of No...
Miguel Zenón: Sonero – The Music of Ismael Rivera
Although Miguel Zenón gave notice of his masterful musicianship long before his first recording, he really rose to eminence around 2005 when he released...
Jane Bunnett and Maqueque: On Firm Ground/Tierra Firme
Don’t let the title of this third recording by Jane Bunnett and (the new incarnation of) Maqueque fool you. Indeed the musicians of this...
Luis Muñoz with Lois Mahalia: The Infinite Dream
Luis Muñoz, one may recall, is a drummer who plays other instruments too. But that is only a part of the picture, as much...
Oscar Hernández & Alma Libre: Love the Moment
The celebrated composer, pianist and director of the award-winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Oscar Hernández has another incarnation and it’s called Alma Libre, a smaller...
Camila Meza and The Nectar Orchestra: Ámbar
Four years have brought with them two CD revelations about one of the finest young musicians to come from South America who has yet...
Bill O’Connell and The Afro-Caribbean Ensemble: Wind Off the Hudson
Devotees of the incredible vivacity of Afro-Caribbean music will be spoiled for choice of a favourite moment (or moments) on this inspired 2019 release...
Ann Reynolds Clave Gringa: Joy
On some discussion boards – both serious and frivolous – you’ll find a persistent debate about the word “gringa”; is it a pejorative or...
Patato: Masterpiece
Arguably the greatest Afro-Cuban percussionist that ever lived (bar Tata Güines, perhaps), Carlos “Patato” Valdés is, also one of the greatest showmen of the...
Carlos Barbosa-Lima: Delicado
In Brasil, a country in which its musicians are almost as famous as its footballers, the name of Carlos Barbosa-Lima is uttered in reverential...
Antonio Adolfo: Samba Jazz Alley
The celebrated Brasilian musician, composer, pianist and pedagogue Antonio Adolfo shows that it is possible to be nostalgic without having to be sentimental on...
Paul Austerlitz: Water Prayers for Bass Clarinet
The Jazz history of the bass clarinet has not had a musician like Paul Austerlitz since the great Eric Dolphy put his remarkable and...
Generoso “Tojo” Jiménez: Trombón Majadero
This 2007 reissue of two classic albums from the inimitable Cuban trombonist Generoso “Tojo” Jiménez bookends five years between 1969 and 1965. Entitled ...
Mario Alberto Silva: Pan-American Sonata
The trumpet of Mario Alberto Silva is one of the first sounds that comes through the speakers when you spin his recording Pan-American Sonata,...
Wayne Wallace Latin Jazz Quintet: The Rhythm of Invention
To the unsuspecting ear, this album The Rhythm of Invention from the Wayne Wallace Quintet (plus) might seem like just another Latin-Jazz recording, but...
Yuri Juárez | Jhair Sala: Lima
Yuri Juárez has been exploring music for the guitar in what he calls “música criolla”, broadly, the Afro-Peruvian cultural topography. Following his epic guitar...
Chucho Valdés & Irakere: A 2-CD Retrospective
While you might have to wait until “My Reverie” on Disc Two to experience the full virtuosity of leader and pianist Chucho Valdés, it’s...
Josean Jacobo & Tumbao: Cimarrón
The frequency and intensity of Afro-centric music being created and released across the African Diaspora born and bred among the erstwhile Spanish colonies within...
Remembering Jerry González on his 70th Birthday
Not long ago, I was interviewing two important contributors to the world of American music and letters – Eddie Palmieri and the other was...