The birth of a legend – a set that brings together all the important early recordings that made Ravi Shankar such a key ambassador for Indian music in the 60s – long tracks that mix his sitar with really incredible percussion, all spun out with pulsating modal energy that went on to ... read moreCD
One of the wildest albums ever recorded by sitar genius Ravi Shankar – a set done for the Dark Horse label of George Harrison – who also plays guitar and autoharp on the record too! Yet Harrison is just one of many friends hinted at in the title – as Shankar brings in a host of ... read moreCD
Paul Shapiro on tenor sax and vocals, Stevn Bernstein on trumpet, slide trumpet and vocals, Peter Apfelbaum on tenor sax and vocals, Brian Mitchell on piano, Booker King on acoustic bass, and Tony Lewis on drums. (Jazz, Global Grooves)CD
Ches Smith on drums, Miguel Zenon on alto sax, Matt Mitchell on piano, Nick Dunston on bass, and Daniel Brevil, Fanfan Jean-Guy Rene, and Markus Schwartz on percussion – plus Sirene Dantor Rene on vocals. (Jazz, Global Grooves)CD
Dele Sosimi & The Estuary 21 —
Confluence ... CD Wah Wah 45s (UK), 2023. New Copy ...
$6.9913.99
Dele Sosimi was raised in the shadow of Fela Kuti, literally – as he spent part of his youth in Fela's commune – yet his music is nicely free of some of the overdone Afro Funk modes of the 70s, and instead really finds a fresh way forward with all sorts of wonderful criss-crossings of ... read moreCD
Idrissa Soumaoro —
Ampsa ... CD Mr Bongo (UK), 1978. New Copy ...
$11.9913.98
A beautiful album from Idrissa Soumaoro and L'Eclipse – one recorded during a time of great political unrest in Mali, and a set that was never commercially issued – but just originally given away by the Malian Association for the Blind! The album's got all the power of earlier albums ... read moreCD
A huge amount of work from a reedman we'd never heard before – Martinique-born Alexandre Stellio – a hell of a clarinet player, and one who effortlessly weaves together island rhythms and early strands of jazz! All of the recordings here were done in Paris during the mid 30s, and ... read moreCD
Tinariwen —
Amatssou ... CD Wedge, 2023. New Copy ...
$9.9916.99
A record that marks an unusual chapter in the career of this legendary group, yet one that also fits very strongly into their wonderful run of albums in the 21st Century! The set's got a unique approach – recorded in a tent in Algeria, but with long-distance production from Daniel Lanois ... read moreCD
Waaju —
Grown ... CD Olindo (UK), 2020. New Copy ...
$8.9913.99
A really great combo from the contemporary London scene – one who work with jazz instrumentation, but in ways that echo a variety of rhythmic styles – elements of North and West African modes, and touches of Caribbean as well – but all done with a lean, instrumental style! The ... (Jazz, Global Grooves)read moreCD
Music from Southern Journeys, the Caribbean Collection, the English, Scottish and Irish Recordings, the Spanish Collection, the Italian Collection, the Columbia World Library, Deep River Of Song, and Portraits. (Folk/Country, Global Grooves)CD
(Includes 70 page booklet, outer slipcover is not included.)
A stunning companion to the first Angola Soundtrack set from Analog Africa – and a record that's filled with tunes that are rhythmically feverish, soulfully sung, and tremendously addictive! The music here is from the period soon after the electric guitar began to make a huge impact on ... read moreCD
Very cool sounds from the 60s scene in Italy – music that's clearly inspired by the best British female pop of the period, and also a bit by Detroit soul – with maybe just a touch of French "yeh yeh" modes thrown in for good measure! Yet because the sounds come from a scene ... (Rock, Global Grooves)read moreCD
The "nuggets" in the title is very well placed here – as all the cuts here have every bit as much freak and fuzz as the American garage and pre-punk work chronicled famously on the lengendary Nuggets series! Yet these tracks are all even more obscure, and all come from African ... read moreCD
Coco Maria hosts a mighty cool radio show on BBC Worldwide – one that showcases all sorts of unusual Latin music hybrids that have come up over the years – including a good range of contemporary music, such as the tracks featured on this really well-done compilation! The music here has ... (Latin, Global Grooves)read moreCD
A completely different side of Colombian music than you'd know from Discos Fuentes and some of the other mainstream outlets from that scene – as the tracks here are all from the contemporary underground, and represent a really rich flowering of creative grooves and soulful modes! In truth, ... (New Grooves, Global Grooves)read moreCD
The brilliant follow up to the first Congotronics album – and a set that goes even deeper than the initial groundbreaking work by Konono! This album follows in a very similar spirit to Konono's Congotronics set – and like that one, focuses on musicians with a unique electro/acoustic ... read moreCD
(Comes with a DVD featuring footage of 6 of the groups on the set!)
We really loved the first volume in this series, and this second entry maybe goes even deeper into the unique territory of the collection – a genre that's maybe all its own, with a really cool blend of older tracks and contemporary numbers, all served up with a laidback sort of vibe! There's ... (Funky Compilations, Global Grooves)read moreCD
A set with an unusual sort of flavor – one that looks at the influence of Spanish culture on modern music during the postwar years – brought together here in a mix of jazz and classical recordings with some very different styles! CD1 is all jazz – and showcases some key Spanish-th ... read moreCD
Maybe one of the most mindblowing sets ever put together by the Dust To Digital label – a set that follows on their long-running exploration of 78rpm music from around the globe, and one that presents all these rare tracks in a really incredible format! The set's got a box for the package, ... read moreCD
An overstuffed package of classic work from the Caribbean – most of it from midcentury, at a time before reggae and other styles would bring even more exposure to the scene! The music here is in a nice mix of modes – separate by island identity, but drawn together in a good way by the ... read moreCD
A set of merengue tracks, but from a very focused source – as the package features all numbers recorded in the Dominican Republic during the 60s and 70s – often with a groove that sets them apart from the rest! The rhythms here are often blindingly fast – so much so, you might be ... (Latin, Global Grooves)read moreCD
A really ear-opening set – one that introduces us to a world we'd never have heard otherwise – filled with music that's maybe even groovier and more evocative than we could imagine! There's loads of very trippy styles going on here – almost as if the whole Mongolian scene had ... read moreCD
A stunning blend of soul, Latin, jazz, and Brazilian numbers – and a set that may well be our favorite entry in the Mr Bongo Record Club so far! If you know the Mr Bongo label, you'll know that for decades, they've turned us on to the sort of rare gems we might not have heard otherwise ... (Funky Compilations, Global Grooves)read moreCD
A really deep dive into the world of electrified Peruvian music – one that's put together not only with a killer collection of tracks, but also some really detailed notes that expand on this wonderfully unique hybrid of styles! Rhythms are often in the territory of cumbia from slightly ... read moreCD
Music from Mr. Dale, Peter Ram, Rupee, Rameses Browne, Monsta Vibes Crew, Nahtalee, Kamouflazh, Full Force, Spida, Kamouflazh, Rupee, and more. (Reggae, Global Grooves)CD
A stunning collection of psychedelic funk from all over the world – incredible material that mixes the free spirit of the psychedelic scene and the furious sense of groove learned from the funk movement! The collection is a bit of a genre-starting compilation – as it brings together ... (Funky Compilations, Global Grooves)read moreCD
A deep dive into the world of Puerto Rican music in the years before salsa and Latin Soul – overflowing with the sounds and styles that also helped forge a huge new wave of expression on the New York scene as well! The package does a great job of pulling together tracks that really get at ... (Latin, Global Grooves)read moreCD
A really fantastic look at a scene we might never heard otherwise – served up here in a selection of cuts that have a really surprising vibe! Forget everything you know about Indonesian music, as the work here seems to draw most heavily from the European scene at the time – ... read moreCD
The Nigerian scene might be best-remembered as a hotbed of Afro Funk in the 70s – but during the same key stretch, the nation also gave rise to a heady rock underground, too – one that often mix psychedelic inspirations with some of the soul and funk that were coming from the bigger ... read moreCD
It's easy to wake up with grooves this great – a searing back of 70s Afro Rock gems that are also surprisingly funky, too! The tunes here do a wonderful job of mixing psych currents and headier rhythms – a great blend of the burning Afro Funk trends that were happening in Nigeria at ... read moreCD
Music as lively and colorful as the image on the cover – upbeat work from the second half of the 80s scene in South Africa – music that has a very positive vibe overall, and a sound that's perfect for the mix of keyboards and beats used in the rhythms! The styles here are those which ... read moreCD