The Whole Music Experience

Cesaria Evora   Mãe Carinhosa   Lusafrica (Reviews of artists who passed away are the hardest to write, especially posthumous recording reviews.  I want every word to count and every word to honor the performer.  I put so much pressure on myself that I end up procrastinating instead of writing the review.  Not only that, but it’s hard to write anything objective when music journalists and researchers are also fans of the musicians we review and we’re only human). After the Cape Verdean vocalist Cesaria Evora died in 2011, her producer Jose da Silva felt reluctant to release a posthumous album, but according to the press notes that accompanied my media copy of Mãe Carinhosa , he was moved by tribute albums produced by other artists and he wondered what to do with unreleased tracks from Evora’s previous albums.  I think that Evora’s fans and colleagues will embrace this posthumous CD which possesses Evora’s warm and effervescent spir...

If you’re reading this blog then you’re not the average music listener.  I imagine that you prefer that music bolster some area of your life or bring healing to you on some level.  Or perhaps, you enjoy listening to music with substance composed by musicians with the intent of bringing beauty, power, and grace to the world.  As each of us grows our consciousness we need music to support us and musicians as well.  This begins with our music diets. A few years ago, I gave up eating gluten then eventually I also eliminated cow dairy from my diet.  I’m already a vegetarian so people around me asked the question, “Well, what will you eat now?”  I noticed a similar scenario when I stopped listening to pop and rock music.  People asked, “Well, then what will you listen to now?”  They asked this question because they prefer a life of limited options and ones that are spoon fed to them by the media and large corporations.  Little thoug...

Putumayo Presents Vintage France Putumayo World Music The folks at Putumayo World Music love France and ever so often, the label releases a delightful compilation of French music, ranging from nostalgic fare to contemporary folk-pop performed on acoustic instruments.  Vintage France features nostalgic French music from the 1950s and 60s or the Post War Generation music performed by contemporary artists.  Chansons about love mingle with gypsy jazz rhythms and swirly accordion wafts through the air like a summer breeze.  It’s the kind of music you would expect to hear at touristy cafe and what many people imagine when they think of Paris --de bonair e male vocals and restrained Parisian women who's vocals barely raise a bove a whisper .  However, there is also hearty female vocals. The songs hang together, but a few famous ones stand out such as Martijn Luttmer’s instrumental cover of Les Parapluies de Cherbourg from the 1960s movie starring C...

photo by Patricia Herlevi Prelude Just like we wouldn’t try wearing shoes we wore as a child, as adults, our musical tastes and experiences evolve over time.  We might even discard genres of music in the wake as we evolve spiritually and our minds and bodies mature.  Certain songs will bring only sad memories and hanging onto those memories or songs no longer serves us.  Other types of music provide bridges from one genre to the next. For instance, when I began evolving from alternative rock to world music, I discovered the new tangos of Astor Piazzolla, African pop, and archival fados.  I began hearing my first strains of jazz and Cuban music, such as Perez Prado’s mambos ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NjERL5oZrc ).  When I first began listening to world music I listed to global pop music as opposed to field recordings or traditional music played on traditional instruments.  Then over the following decade, I embraced global j...