Lindstrøm @ Santos Party House in New York City, The Vanguard in Los Angeles and San Francisco’s Mezzanine […]

Listen to the entire recording here On his fifth album, Courage, Mamadou Diabate carves out a new direction. […]

The Body Ecstatic: Master Afro-Latin Percussionist and Ifa Priest Carlos “Go Go” Gomez’s Elevated Smooth Electronica

Smooth Electronica artist and Latin percussionist Carlos “Go Go” Gomez is three things: master musician, priest, and martial artist. Now after decades as a sought-after rock, pop, and Latin player and as a spiritual seeker, he has found a groove-heavy way to merge these three paths on New Paradigm Global Music (Kidlat Records; February 01, , 2011), a richly layered, multi-faceted sonic journey designed to engage, inspire, and elevate.

“One of the reasons for creating this music was to integrate the various parts of my life into one,” Gomez explains. “I wanted to break down those barriers that exist between being a priest here and a musician there and a martial artist over there.”

Eloquent drones and elegant beats—punctuated by Gomez’s evocative and passionate percussion—reveal this newfound place of unity and an omnivorous musician at his best. Gomez has dug deep into his Afro-Latin heritage and played with Eartha Kitt, Tito Puente, Maxwell, Sade, and Mariah Carey, to name just a few. Yet this album reflects a new understanding, a new sense of unity and resonance after an amazing career and very full life.

Catalan Rumba Resurgence

In 2007 “Achilifunk”, a compilation and booklet selected and written by Txarly Brown, was released to much critical acclaim both in Spain and the rest of the world. “Achilifunk” was a surprise which opened the eyes of many, especially in Spain of the rich sounds of Catalan rumba, infused with ‘70s funk and disco.

Two years later Txarly paired the best rumba combos from Barcelona with international remixers for a new funky stew with rumba and electronica as the main ingredients. After the success of these two releases, Brown had to come up with something original for the third part. “Gitano Real” is that closing chapter of the Achilifunk trilogy. A musical evolution, an attempt to create a new rumba scene with what the predecessors have already accomplished. On “Gitano Real”, the best musicians from this new scene have come together to form a unique band. Disco, rap, funk, and soul blend with rumba and gypsy music on this incredible record.Together, they have all recreated, Achilifunk-style, a repertoire of rumba hits, funk classics, originals and the surprising eighties-style gypsy rap of “Bombéalo!”.

Txarly Brown co-ordinated and designed this project in his usual inimitable style, with deluxe packaging for the CD, consisting of a specially designed sleeve including a newspaper and digifile. It couldn’t be any other way: life is better when in it’s in style.

[soundcloud width=”100%” height=”325″ params=”” url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/447908″] Banda Achilifunk & Original Jazz Orquestra Taller De Músics – Gitano Real CD by Lovemonk

Purchase it here

BY CHRISTOPHER HARALL

No other place so embodies the idea of an earthly paradise than Jamaica. And no other place in Jamaica so epitomizes the fleetingness of that fantasy than Negril. This picture perfect town has it all, and it’s not just surf and turf.

I’m standing ankle-deep in  a puddle in the middle of a washed out road. One of the brief and refreshing rain showers oft-praised as a relief from the afternoon heat, arrived early this morning and refuses to leave. At breakfast, I watched the storm advance, roiling the sea and turning the sky to a dull New England gray. My feet are now lost beneath the muddy water, and tremendous raindrops soak me to my spleen. I wear only a pair of red swim trunks, which I haven’t taken off for several days. I think, if nothing else, that thhe rain might freshen them up a bit. In my hand is a soaked wad of Jamaican dollars. Soon joining me in the puddle is an old man wielding a machete. He speaks quickly, alternating between garbled English and Jamaican Patois, and wildly waves his blade in the direction of the wooden huts that line the road. He knows I’m a man in need of something. Why else would I be out here in the rain? “Red Stripe please,” I say. He hesitates.

“Red Stripe,” I repeat too loudly. “Three,” I add, holding up the same number of fingers. I place the money in his outstretched hand. He nods to indicate that we’re in business and then walks off down a narrow dirt alley.

“Too much of de white rum for him,” says a woman seated in the dim confines of one of the huts. “It make him mad.”

Time is now measured in units of “soon come”; there’s no need to worry about that which will certainly arrive.

“Mad,” I repeat, and then add, “crazy?” The woman smiles a big infectious smile. And as I wait in the puddle, a grin spreading across my face, it occurs to me that my current state might be what people call being ‘in the moment.’

“Soon come,” says the woman after several minutes pass.

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FESTIVALS

Arts Presenters conference
Friday 1/7 – Tues. 1/11
Over 5,000 arts professionals will be in New York City for the annual Association of Performing Arts Presenters (APAP) conference from January 7-11. This marketplace for the performing arts is the largest in the world and the destination for experiencing first-hand what’s next in the performing arts.
www.apapnyc.org/

Here Comes Trouble
Friday 1/7; 7PM; $15
92Y Tribeca, 200 Hudson St.
Six acts in one evening. Tradition can make plenty of trouble, as this year’s artists prove. Forward-thinking San Francisco agency Trouble Worldwide and the worldly New York label Barbès Records have teamed up for the third annual Here Comes Trouble showcase to present six groups that leap borders and continents with a single musical bound at 92YTribeca. A Bhangra dance party closes the night.

Winter jazzfest
Friday 1/7 – Sat. 1/8; Various venues
Jazz invades the West Village when the NYC Winter Jazzfest stages more than 60 performances showcasing the most ground breaking jazz and experimental music. Five venues will host events: Poisson Rouge, Zinc Bar, Kenny’s Castaway, The Bitter End and Sullivan Hall.
winterjazzfest.com/

globalFEST 2011
Sunday 1/9; 7PM; $40
Webster Hall, 125 E 11th St.
globalFEST throws one of the year’s best international music parties while expanding the horizons of musicians and audiences alike. 13 Artists from around the world converge on Webster Hall for this global sampler.  Artists performing include Bogotá’s La-33, Senegal’s Yoro Ndiaye and the string duo of Ballaké Sissoko and Vincent Segal.