Before the Cuban pianist came to fame, there were trovadores. Depending on which province a Cuban listener resided, one trove was greater than the other. But...
The great adventures of Marco Polo are not known to rival those of Odysseus, but they are every bit as beguiling and wondrous. Between 1271 and...
There might be a gentleman’s argument as to whom the pianist Monty Alexander belongs to; Jamaica, where he was born, or New York where he resides....
It may have taken almost 1000 years for the troubadour tradition of 12th Century Occitan to reach Cuba, via Spain; there to be substantively transformed and...
"Caja Musical" is a veritable panoply of celebratory music. The entire recording is deeply rooted in the folkloric music principally of Argentina, but cuts a rather...
The release of Clarice Assad’s Imaginarium puts her in contention for some major recognition, for with this recording, Ms. Assad has created a veritable museum of...
The drum—first the stone and later the hollowed log drum—are probably among of the oldest of instruments, after the human voice, that is. Given that a...
María Cangiano is an amazingly talented folk singer from Argentina. Actually she is unclassifiable although her heart is in the folkloric tradition of that country. The...
It is fulfilling to attend a Carmen Souza concert just to listen to her breathtaking version of “Donna Lee” alone. However, there is much more to...
The banjo in any other idiom of music—other than bluegrass, or country and western, that is—is such a novelty that the numbers of practitioners in the...
Throughout the ages great composers have found inspiration in folk music and dance; in spirituals and ghost trance music; this because they have been specially enamoured...
The master musicians of Jajouka have existed in the southern Rif Mountains of Morocco for over 4000 years; their music celebrated largely by the populations around...
In the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church Psalm 109 Dixit Dominus--“The Lord said unto my Lord” has actually been set to music more times than...
Solo instrumental performances can be solitary pursuits, but not for Romero Lubambo and here is why. More than most guitarists, Mr. Lubambo has an uncanny knack...
Busoni—Late Piano Music—Elegies/Sonatinas/Toccata/Klavierübung (excerpts)/Indianisches Tagbuch/Fantasia after J.S. Bach—Marc-André Hamelin: piano (Hyperion) Ferruccio Busoni might well have been one of the earliest avant-garde composers of the late...
The minor revolt that brought back opera seria, reviving and recalling epic Greek drama, its incumbent sense of theatre—complete with the finery of its costumes, stage...
The Montreal-based flutist, Sylvain Leroux is a peripatetic traveller. When he is not in Montreal, or Chicago, or New York, he might be in Toronto or...
I waited for his concert with bated breath. The tickets were purchased about a year ago. Then Kuwait was invaded by Iraq and suddenly it was...
The Europeans have almost always been adventurous first. After all, it was the Europeans who sailed to the New World and not the other way around....
Hanns Eisler was the Austrian-born composer who is better known as the composer of the national anthem of the German Democratic Republic (erstwhile East Germany), and...
