Rhythm Connection

After a prince, how about a king? Long before Sunny Ade became the music industry hope for a successor to Bob Marley, he was constructing h...

Sunny Ade Judgement Special was nearly the last record released by NYC-based Makossa International Records, a reissue of a Nigerian 1976 re...

Well, friends, here we are. It turns out life does not settle down, but gets crazier by the day. Yet music is central in my life, and I cont...

I am alive, and this blog is very dormant. Since I last posted I moved thousands of miles and built a new life, despite challenges including...

Reflecting on the nearly thirty years that have passed since this record was issued, it is shocking to realize how profoundly the world h...

The first Haitian record I posted remains one of the most popular grooves on this site, and I expect this dynamic record to equally excit...

The confluence of popular music and religion has been a fecund terrain around the world, but nowhere as danceable as in African music, an...

The talented trombone player and band leader Al Lirvat was born in Guadeloupe in 1916, but spent most of his life in France. Immersed in...

Last May I had the luck and privilege to be in Seattle to see the wonderful musical Fela! , during its short run there and, indeed and alas...

Rounder Records first foray into African music came with this record, released in 1973 to coincide with Bai Konte 's concert tour, th...

One of the most distinctive voices in roots reggae was that of iconoclastic deejay  Big Youth . Before its deep submergence in Studio One...

Zeca Afonso continues as one of the most beloved Portuguese singers, decades after his death in 1987. During his long career, Zeca's...

Full Steam Ahead! describes my life pretty well at the moment, and this album from Tchico is one that fits the rhythm of activity that ...

My knowledge and appreciation of African music has been tremendously enriched over the past few years by comrades in the blogosphere who ...

After fronting the successful band Ilanga, Comrade Chinx went solo for a short time before fading out of Zimbabwe's music scene, as ...