lighthearted

Sometimes music can be played (and taken) too seriously. There are exceptions, though, like this cut by Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava.

Clip: Art Deco

bon temps roulez

Clifton Chenier - Boppin' the Rock

afroperuano

I love Afro-Peruvian music, though my taste runs toward the "roots" style favored by singers like Lucila Campos. Listen to her version of Tio Goyo and you'll understand why.

rogiephone

It's difficult to describe the charm of palm wine music in words, so I won't try. Here's one of the styles' greats, S.E. Rogie, singing My Lovely Elizabeth

zoot suit

The Zoot Suit Riots. Los Pachucos. La Raza swings.

Cut: Pachuco Boogie, by Don Tosti's Pachuco Boogie Boys

dry

From Kenya, the Nairobi Shoeshine Boys - Mtoto Analia Mama Yuko Wapi?



* Photo by Michel de Nijs

solo

You know, anybody can play a composition and use far-out chords and make it sound wrong. It’s making it sound right that’s not easy. - Thelonious Monk, 1961


Clip: Pannonica

eastern swing

Godwin Kabaka Opara's Oriental Brothers International produced some of the most driving, danceable highlife in Nigeria - even after the beginning of the disastrous Biafran war.

Today's cut - Oh Dear Jesus

dans le bal musette

Accordion master Tony Murena's original composition, Caprice musette



(More info. here)

la ilusión de tu vida

Cuban trova seems (to my mind) to be one of the most resonant and enduring genres of music ever created. The combination of melancholy and lush romanticism is a big part of the appeal - and the music of Maria Teresa Vera shows why.


Song: Veinte Años

lost on the river

C.J. Chenier - The Desperate Kingdom of Love

coco de roda

Where would I rather be today? That's easy - dancing the coco on a beach in Brazil! And who better to lead the dance than Dona Selma do Coco?

Song: Coco para Barreiros



* Photo by Manu Galindo

for ray

Last February we lost one of Latin jazz's best - and most beloved - bandleaders, Ray Barretto. Murmullo, from his next-to-last album, says more about his work than words ever could.

sand

Tinariwen - Chet Boghassa (Women of Boghassa)

trombón melancolico

The trombone is one of my favorite instruments, though for some inexplicable reason it's largely absent from Anglo pop music. So I go to my Cuban and Brazilian collection for fixes, like this one - from Cachao's Dos.

reina

Lydia Mendoza - Aunque Me Odies

memorável

Marcos Sacramento - Cai Dentro

moresco

Bassist John Patitucci and guitarist Adam Rogers play Nana, by Manuel de Falla

no count

The Kansas City Six (sans Lester Young) - Good Mornin' Blues. (More here.)

more dollars

More highlife, featuring Eric Akaeze and his Azagas

danzón cubano

Bassist Cachao and pianist Enrique Chia play a Cuban classic - Isora Club

soul

The O'Jays hit Love Train, performed by The Holmes Brothers. (From Speaking in Tongues.)