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.
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...
David Sánchez: Carib
The words “profoundly beautiful” are often used to describe works of art, but often some works appear to give new meaning to those words...
Michel Camilo: Essence
Following his success with his solo album Live in London Michel Camilo returns to revisiting his music on a very large palette – his...
Chiemi Nakai: Ascendant
Chiemi Nakai displays her remarkable piano chops with the heavy left hand tumbao while still managing to be delicately eloquent. Even when she is...
Cristina Morrison: Impredecible (Voces de Mujer)
When Cristina Morrison released Baronesa she may have been considered an vocal artist of boundless promise, but since then and with the advent of...
New Bojaira: Zorongo Blu
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Jesús Hernández and Alfonso Cid (one half of New Bojaira – the others...