For his latest video Seun Kuti and his Egypt 80 took a trip to Brazil, for a song that celebrates black women around the world, with nods to Nina Simone, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Maya Angelou and Angela Davis. Seun... Read Article
The 13 or so musicians who make up the Abayomy Afrobeat Orchestra’s dizzying array of saxophones, brass, keyboard and percussion first met back in 2009 when they assembled for a gig at the inaugural Fela Day in Rio... Read Article
It’s beautiful to see how artists come together and make an international community from a musical style taken out of a humble region of the world, especially when the sound is fuelled with rebellious attitude and search for unity.... Read Article
Julio Montero came to New York from Ecuador when he was eight. His boyhood in the borough of Queens, perhaps the most culturally diverse nesting ground in the US if not the world, along with his earliest years... Read Article
It takes a certain level of self-confidence to name your band The Afro Beat Collective, as is the case with Puerto Rican drummer Henry Cole. Bracketing oneself under a particular musical style can be a risky move, one... Read Article
As any student of Columbian music will tell you, in the 1970 and 80s, the hot sound systems of Barranquilla and Cartegena were not into disco but were looking to their African roots and mixing it up with... Read Article
Two years ago Gilles Peterson ventured to Cuba in search of Havana-based musicians. Suitably impressed with what he found he decided to record an album of these musicians, which he would entitle Havana Cultura. He speaks a little... Read Article
Right now’s an exciting time for Lucas Silva and his label Palenque Records. Palenque Palenque! (Champeta Criolla & Afro Roots in Colombia, 1975-91) was released in May in conjunction with London’s Soundway Records.
