Regional Music

Latest Articles

Kasai Allstars | Congotronics III: In The 7th Moon, The Chief Turned Into A Swimming Fish And Ate The Head Of His Enemy By Magic

Crammed Discs (2008)
The Congotronics franchise has succeeded in making the rawest of African traditional music hip.
By BANNING EYRE | November 11, 2008

Various Artists | Tom Feminino/Tom Masculino

Universal (2008)
These two compilations of female and male singers addressing the Jobim songbook span five decades of idiosyncratic interpretations by a galaxy of mostly Brazilian stars.
By GUSTAVO TURNER | October 22, 2008

Basic elements

The international and roots-music scene heats up
Boston was a world-music stronghold even before the “world music” genre existed.
By TED DROZDOWSKI | September 08, 2008

Festival casualties ’08!

A grim reminder that rock can still maim you
A young man died of meningitis, which doctors believe he contracted by sharing joints with contagious hippies at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival.
By DAVID THORPE | July 21, 2008

Hybrid rhythmic engine

Nation Beat is a gas
Fusions are the lifeblood of music, but too often they come with a whiff of high-concept gimmickry.
By JON GARELICK | July 15, 2008

Sharp accents

Forro in the Dark and Marta Topferova talk the talk
Boston has its own vital scene of pan-American jazz and folk (hey, Mili Bermejo, Alex Alvear, Sergio Brandão, and everyone at Ryles on Wednesday nights!).
By JON GARELICK | June 30, 2008

Highland Kitchen

Won’t you be our neighbor?
It's a restaurant with a menu that goes from diner to bistro without missing a world beat. There’s some pretty good American roots music on the jukebox, too.
By ROBERT NADEAU | June 18, 2008

Arts slashed at the University of Rhode Island

Shockwaves hit the arts community
On Tuesday, the University of Rhode Island informed Judith Tolnick Champa, who runs the URI Fine Arts Center Galleries, and Roxana Tourigny, who runs the school’s “Great Performances” program, that they will be laid off, effective July 4, and that the galleries and performance program will close.
By GREG COOK | June 06, 2008

Starting over

Johnny Maguire is back on track
The news that one of our homegrown talents, guitar hero Johnny Maguire, is jumping back into the music business should warm the hearts of many on the local scene.
By BOB GULLA | May 20, 2008

Portland Phoenix Best Music Poll local winners 2000-2007

By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | May 14, 2008

Celtic tigers

Interview: the Chieftains at Symphony Hall — again
At 69, Paddy Moloney is still the world’s foremost uilleann-pipes player.
By JIM SULLIVAN | March 12, 2008

Shiko Mawata

Kimbanda Nzila | iMak
Featuring Congolese rumba tinged with Afro-Cuban rhythms, Shiko Mawatu’s debut CD is compelling enough to transcend the oft-dubious distinction of “world music.”
By BEN WESTHOFF | March 12, 2008

Sushi-Teq

Perfect sushi, imperfect concept
PerSushi-Teq starts with a really mediocre idea — pairing sushi with tequila and salsa music — and drops it into a glass cube with a two-wall color organ.
By ROBERT NADEAU | February 13, 2008

Personal code

Rudresh Mahanthappa’s Indo-jazz connection
The connection between jazz and India is at least as old as John Coltrane’s composition named for that country.
By JON GARELICK | February 12, 2008

Country for old men

Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, BMOP, Marc-André Hamelin, and Sasha Cooke
A youthful 80-year-old Sir Colin Davis was back in front of the Boston Symphony Orchestra last weekend with one of the pieces he loves most.
By LLOYD SCHWARTZ | January 29, 2008