world fusion
Album Review: Àbáse –‘Awakening’: Stunning spiritual jazz and beyond from the prolific producer/instrumentalist.
It doesn’t seem that long since Hungarian keyboarding producer whizz Szabolcs Bognár was premiering his ambitious Àbáse project with the extensive, celebratory ‘Laroyê’. Released at the end of 2021, it was assembled from jams recorded in collaborators’ lounges and apartments during a lengthy musical sabbatical in Brazil. Stoked with Bognár’s unflappable positivity, ‘Laroyê’ somehow came …
New Track/Video: The scorching, upbeat grooves of ‘Jão’ signposts a new album from Rio/London troubadour, MOMO.
It’s not often you get to hear about a ‘new’ artist on the London global beats scene who’s already stocked up a back catalogue of eight previous albums but that’s what’s happening with Marcelo Frota aka MOMO. From the dark-folk /Tropicalia fusion of his stark debut ‘A Estética do Rabisco’ in 2006 to his electronica …
Album Review : Forest Law –‘Zero’ : Bossa beats, international grooves and so much more on this globetrotting musician’s debut.
Sonic explorer, creative adventurer, soundscape navigator are all phrases you could apply to Alexander Burke a.k.a Forest Law. Romford born, now London based he’s taken a globetrotting route to the release of his debut album ‘Zero’, available now courtesy of a Bongo Joe/ Total Refreshment Centre collaboration. Coming through Giles Peterson’s ‘Future Bubblers ‘unsigned artists’ …
Album Review: L’Étrangleuse – Ambiance Argile : Rootsy influences and a post punk mindset make for a pulsating return from the Lyon-based outfit.
The fact that guitarist / n’goni player Maël Salètes and harpist Mélanie Virot have been releasing albums as L’Étrangleuse since 2012 is down to much more than endurance or stubborn self-belief. These dynamic, probing musicians have always got something new to say and invariably exciting ways of saying them. Their intertwining string tones, raw, bluesy, …
Album Review : Júlio Resende Fado Jazz – Sons Of Revolution : immaculate and moving fusion from the Portuguese quartet.
Portuguese jazz pianist and composer Júlio Resende has just released a fourth Fado jazz journey, ‘Sons Of Revolution’ through the indispensable ACT label and it’s another intriguing excursion. Resende first explored the alchemic potential of blending Fado music with the free spirit of jazz sensibilities on his 2013 album, ‘Amália por Júlio Resende’. A deep …
Album Review: Muito Kaballa – Like A River : a refreshing burst of inventive new fusion.
A transitional album or an album about transitions, well ‘Like A River’ by Muito Kaballa is both. It marks the Cologne based collective’s move from Belgian label Rebel Up to the equally dynamic but maybe higher profile Batov Records and meets the rising levels of expectation surrounding the band within the global beat world. Led …
Album Review : Huw Marc Bennett – Days Like Now : Folktronica, funk and global beats make inspired new connections
Welsh producer and bassist Huw Marc Bennett is one of those orbital artists who washes up on your essential listening zones with a tidal regularity. A global beats innovator and world music synergist, his inspired 2016 album ‘Kiera’ under the guise of Susso emerged from his trip through Gambia making music with Mandinka griot families. …
Album Review: Nickodemus – Soul & Science: flowing global beats for moving and messaging.
New York based sonic traveller, producer and DJ Nickodemus is one of those global beats’ touchstones. Motivating dancefloors across the continents since the mid nineties and founder of the world rhythm epicentre that is Wonderwheel Recordings, he is a devoted fusionist with a deep feel for all his influences. Latin, disco, Arabic, funk, soul, afrobeat, …
Album Review: ‘Yalla Miku’ – Yalla Miku : Gnawa rhythms, East African roots and post punk dynamism connect on this electric debut.
Every city has a true face, a side which, as Lydon said ‘the tourists never see” and revealing that real identity is what Yalla Miku are all about. Formed by the founder of Swiss label Bongo Joe, musician Cyril Yeterian and his band mate from the aptly named Cyril Cyril, percussionist Cyril Bondi, Yalla Miku’s …
Album Review: João Selva- Passarinho : Re-shaping samba soul, funk and pop with a fresh momentum.
The troubadour will travel but they always have roots. Brazilian song-crafter João Selva may have ended up in Lyon but those formative years in Ipanema and Rio is at the heart of his borderless grooves. Schooled in bossa nova and the traditions of Capoeira, steeped in the diasporic riches of Brazilian music and gifted with …