Discography:
"Flamenco Chill" (2002) - a double CD by various artists that was released by Sony. "Endorfinas en la mente" (2003) - Endorphins in the Mind, the band's first record on their own. It sold over 80,000 copies in 20 countries and received the Premio Ondas music award.
"Pokito A Poko" (2005) - Little by Little; original member Dani contributed to eight of the songs on this album before leaving the band. The album is believed to have sold approximately 90,000 copies.
finally got this album too and it's great as well, but i think i like pokito a little more, i'll have to give it more listens of course, but this band is great overall and highly recommended
Angélique Kidjo is a four-time Grammy nominated Beninese singer songwriter, noted for her diverse musical influences and creative music videos.
Kidjo was born in Ouidah, Benin. By the time she was six Kidjo was performing with her mother's theatre troupe, giving her an early appreciation for music and dance. Continuing political conflicts in Benin lead Kidjo to relocate to Paris around 1982. She started out as a backup singer in local bands, before establishing her own band, and by the end of the 1980s she had become one of the most popular live performers in Paris. She is married to musician and producer Jean Hebrail with whom she has daughter Naïma (born 1993), and is currently based in New York.
Kidjo is fluent in Fon, French, Yoruba, and English and sings in all four languages and also her own personal language which includes words that serve as songtitles such as Batonga. Malaika is a song sung in Swahili language. She often utilizes Benin's traditional Zilin vocal technique and jazz vocalese.
Her musical influences include the Afropop, Caribbean zouk, Congolese rumba, Jazz, Gospel, and Latin styles; as well as her childhood idols Bella Bellow, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Miriam Makeba and Carlos Santana. She has made her own renditions of George Gershwin's Summertime and Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child and has collaborated with the likes of Dave Matthews and the Dave Matthews Band, Kelly Price, Branford Marsalis, Robbie Nevil, Carlos Santana, and Cassandra Wilson. Kidjo's hits include the songs Agolo, Aye, and Batonga.
In February of 2003, she performed a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" at the famed Radio City Music Hall in New York City alongside Chicago blues guitar legend Buddy Guy and New York rock guitarist Vernon Reid (of Living Colour) in what would become part of Martin Scorsese's "Lightning In A Bottle: One Night In The History Of The Blues", a documentary about blues music that features live concert footage of other rock, rap and blue greats.
She is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Angelique Kidjo will be releasing a brand new album titled Djin Djin on May 1st, 2007. Many guests appear on the album including Josh Groban, Carlos Santana, Alicia Keys, Joss Stone, Peter Gabriel, Amadou and Mariam, Ziggy Marley, and Branford Marsalis. The title, Djin Djin, refers to the sound of a bell in Africa that greets each new day. The album is being produced by Tony Visconti, who is known for producing David Bowie, Morrissey, and T. Rex, among others - wikipedia
another higly recommended album of course, and a pretty big name and speaking of big names, here's another one and wow is he good:
Hugh Masekala - Still Grazing
Hugh Masekela (born Johannesburg, April 4, 1939) is a South African flugelhorn and cornet player. In 1961, as part of the anti-apartheid campaign, he was exiled to the United States where he was befriended by Harry Belafonte. He has played primarily in jazz ensembles, with guest appearances on albums by The Byrds and Paul Simon. In 1987, he had a hit single with "Bring Him Back Home" which became an anthem for the movement to free Nelson Mandela. After apartheid ended, Masekela returned to South Africa where he now lives.
Hugh Masekela was an old collaborator of Abdullah Ibrahim. He is reported to have been initially inspired in his musical growth by Trevor Huddleston, a British priest working in the South African townships who financed Masekela's first trumpet. Masekela played his way through the vibrant Sophiatown scene with The Jazz Epistles and to Britain with King Kong, to find himself in New York in the early 1960s. He had hits in the United States with the pop jazz tunes "Up, Up and Away" and the number one smash "Grazin' in the Grass".
A renewed interest in his African roots led him to collaborate with West and Central African musicians, and finally to reconnect with South African players when he set up a mobile studio in Botswana, just over the South African border, in the 1980s. Here he re-absorbed and re-used mbaqanga strains, a style he has continued to use since his return to South Africa in the early 1990s.
In the 1980s, he toured with Paul Simon in support of Simon's then controversial, but highly critically acclaimed, album Graceland, which featured other South African artists such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Miriam Makeba, Ray Phiri, and other elements of the band Kalahari, which Masekela recorded with in the 1980s. He also collaborated in the musical development for the Broadway play, Sarafina! He previously recorded with the band Kalahari.
In 2003, he was featured in the documentary film Amandla!, about how the music of South Africa aided in the struggle against apartheid. In 2004, he released his autobiography, Grazin' in The Grass: The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela, which thoughtfully details his struggles against apartheid in his homeland, as well as his personal struggles against alcohol addiction from the late 1970s through to the 1990s, a period when he migrated, in his personal recording career, to mbaqanga, jazz/funk, and the blending of South African sounds to an adult contemporary sound through two albums he recorded with Herb Alpert, and notable solo recordings, Techno-Bush (recorded in his studio in Botswana), Tomorrow (featuring the anthem "Bring Him Back Home"), Uptownship (a lush-sounding ode to American R&B), Beatin' Aroun' de Bush, Sixty, Time, and most recently, "Revival".
review of still grazing:
Released to coincide with Hugh Masekela's autobiography of the same name, Still Grazing picks up the Masekela story from Verve's summary of the best of the MGM albums, The Lasting Impression of Ooga-Booga, and runs through the Uni and Blue Thumb material. The 1966 tracks are from The Emancipation of Hugh Masekela, where the trumpeter mixes his florid horn calls and vocals with variations of the boogaloo, township jive, soul-jazz, and in Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Felicidade," a slight pinch of bossa nova into a hip, brightly colored cuisine that no one else was attempting at the time. As in the MGM days, Masekela is obliged to cover the hit tunes of the day, although "Up, Up, and Away" has more life and jazz licks than those earlier attempts. 1968's "The Promise of a Future" was the real commercial breakthrough -- thanks to the out-of-the-blue success of the cowbell-beating "Grazing in the Grass," which improbably rose to the number one slot on Top 40 radio in those enlightened times. That triumphant track would be Masekela's last trip to the Top 40, whereupon he promptly used the exposure to shine a harsh light on what was going on in his homeland ("Gold") and America in 1968 ("Mace and Grenades"). The CD then jumps to a percolating, Echoplexed "Languta" from a 1973 session in Lagos, Nigeria, before concluding with a withering account of the South African coal-mining trains ("Stimela"). The package is given extra credibility by the original producer of these tracks, Stewart Levine, who compiled the album and also wrote a fond set of reminiscences. Many of these premonitions of today's world music scene have been gone for decades, and it's good to have at least some of them back in circulation again. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
ok, i must've listened to her non-stop for the past few weeks and she is quickly becoming one of my top artists on last.fm, at any rate check out the brazilian singer...
Tita Lima - 11:11
from her site:
Tita Lima: Brasileira, paulistana, singer and composer brings us her mixture of MPB (Brazilian Popular Music), Samba-Jazz, Bossa Nova, Hip-Hop and Dub. Born into a family of musicians, music came to Tita Lima naturally. She learned to play the piano with her grandmother and later the bass with her father, the bass player for the 70s rock band "Os Mutantes". Tita also studied in Los Angeles’ MI (Musician’s Institute) and has paid her dues in São Paulo’s musical scene playing bass, singing and sharing the stage with widely-recognized artists such as Bocato (Metalurgia, Elis Regina, Gal Costa, Maria Rita), João Donato, Luz de Caroline, Núcleo and Dori Caymmi, among many others. She now joyously embarks on this, the journey of her first solo recording titled "11:11", one in which she gathers a host of excellent musicians and producers from Brazil and the United States including Apollo 9 (ex-Planet Hemp, producer for Otto and Seu Jorge), Andre Caccia Bava, Kassin, JJ (Jorge Ben, Beto Cascales and Bryan Velasco among others. Tita’s music has been a favorite amont DJs worldwide, including Patricia Palumbo and Rafael Moraes (Brazil), Garth Trinidad (US) and Gilles Peterson (UK), who included her song “A Conta Do Samba” in the upcoming compilation “Brownswood Bubblers” to be released on his Brownswood Recordings label in September 2006. In addition, two of Tita’s songs from “11:11” will be featured in LEXUS’ Sampler CD (featuring Sergio Mendes and others) to be distributed worldwide in Fall 2006. Armed with a great band whose members have played and/or recorded with Sergio Mendes, Airto Moreira, Flora Purim, Jurassic 5, Keb Mo and Celia Cruz among many others, Ms. Lima is ready to take her music to audiences around the world.
i know there are a lot of 'female vocal' people on this site and her voice is nothing short of amazing, yet again another highly recommended album
Willie Colón is one of the giants of modern salsa, a popular trombonist and bandleader since the late 1960s. Born and raised in the Bronx, he hasn't shied away from incorporating R&B and rock influences into his music, without compromising his Latin identity; Sal Cuevas, his bassist during the late 70s and early 80s, played unusually far-forward - his funk-inspired slapping gives a distinctive flavor to songs like "Casanova," "Juanito Alimaña" and "Tiempo Pa' Matar." As time has gone by, Colón has expanded his musical palette still further, drawing on Brazillian influences and even flirting with hip-hop. Initially cultivating a rather stereotypical gangster image, he has become an articulate and responsible public figure - even running for US Congress in 1994 - clever at injecting political messages into his music without becoming overbearing.
Rubén Blades brought the lyrical sophistication of South American "nueva canción" and Cuban "nueva trova" to salsa, telling acidly-rendered stories of devastated lives, but with an everpresent message of hope. After 1980, Blades wanted out of his contract with the exploitative Fania label, but was contractually obligated to record several more albums; these were generally toss- offs and Blades himself tells his fans to avoid them. After signing with Electra, Blades assembled a top-notch band (known variously as Seis Del Solar or Son Del Solar). Then he fell in with a set of West Coast liberals (Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt), started making movies, ran for president of his native Panama (although he hadn't lived there for two decades) and in between still manages to make some excellent music. - some website
Sonora Ponceña - Tiene Pimienta
Papo Lucca ("Papo" being common Puerto Rican slang for "junior") is a famous Puerto Rican multi-instrumentalist (knowledgeable in at least eleven instruments), but is best known as a pianist. Main musical genre focus are Salsa and Latin Jazz. Papo is considered one of the best Salsa pianists of the 70's through the millennium. He ranks with another great pianist, the late Charlie Palmieri, as one of the best piano instrumentalists in Latin Jazz and salsa.
He is the co-founder with his father Don Enrique "Quique" Lucca Caraballo of the famous Puerto Rican band Sonora Ponceña. He has also played and recorded with the Fania All Stars, Willie Colon, Celia Cruz, Johnny Pacheco, Bobby Valentin, Ismael Quintana, Gloria Estefan, Adalberto Santiago, Andy Montañez, Pablo Milanés and is also a great music arranger. - wikipedia
discography:
Al Compás de las Sonoras Felipe y Davilita (1954)
Hacheros Pa’ Un Palo (1968)
Fuego En El 23 (1969)
Algo de Locura (1971)
Navidad Criolla (1971)
De Puerto Rico A New York (1972)
Sonora Ponceña (1972)
Sabor Sureño (1974)
Tiene Pimienta (1975)
Conquista Musical (1976)
Sonora Ponceña 1970s poster
El Gigante Del Sur (1977)
La Orquesta De Mi Tierra (1978)
Explorando (1978)
La Ceiba with Celia Cruz (1979)
New Heights (1980)
Unchained Force (1980)
Night Rider (1981)
Unchained Force (1980)
Determination (1982)
Future (1984)
Jubilee (1986)
Back To Work (1987)
On The Right Track (1988)
In To The 90 (1990)
Merry Christmas (1991)
Sonora Ponceña's Fuego En El 23 back cover (1969)
Guerreando (1992)
Birthday Party (1993)
Apretando (1995)
On Target (1998)
45 Aniversario (2001)
Back To The Road (2004)
50 Aniversario, En Vivo (2007)
i doubt she needs an introduction, but here goes anyways and another one to look out for:
Anoushka Shankar (b. June 9, 1981) is a sitar player and composer in the United Kingdom. She is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player, and Sukanya Rajan. Through her father, she is the half-sister of Grammy winner Norah Jones.
Shankar was born in London. When she was nine years old, her father began training her in the sitar. She gave a public performance at the age of thirteen; since then she has become a world famous sitar artist.
After her mother reunited with Mr Shankar, from age seven on she lived in Encinitas, CA, USA where she gave several charity performances as a teenager and graduated from the local public high school.
In an hour-long special on the US public TV network PBS she once explained that this is how she picked up her American accent, which according to her, her Indian fans find "cute".
In 1998, Shankar played at a gala dinnner for guests including British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, in recognition of which she was presented with a House of Commons Shield. In February 2000, Shankar became the first woman to perform at The Ramakrishna Centre in Calcutta. The Indian Television Academy, Asmi, and India Times chose her as one of four Women of the Year in India in 2003. In 2004 she was chosen as one of twenty Asian Heroes by the Asia edition of Time magazine.
Her album Rise was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary World Music category. This was Shankar's second Grammy nomination. She also became the first Indian woman to perform at the Grammy Awards when she performed during the pre-telecast ceremony of the 48th awards.
She played sitar at the Concert for George, a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death. The concert was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on November 29, 2002.
I listened to this CD in the shop once... It was called "Ceasefire" and I think it was kinda middle east rap. I don't normally like rap, but this CD was really cool lol!
I've just discovered this thread and I think it's great. I'll eventually have many suggestions. The first is a group I heard a few months ago on Afropop Worldwide (alas no longer aired in DC).
Linear Mode
