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BANNING EYRE

Latest Articles

Bruce Cockburn | Slice o Life: Bruce Cockburn Live Solo

Rounder (2009)
This two-disc live set — just Bruce Cockburn and his guitars — may qualify as his one indispensable offering.

By: BANNING EYRE | March 30, 2009

Dub Colossus | A Town Called Addis

Real World (2008)
This one-of-a-kind project connects the real-life fireworks of old and new, urban Ethiopian music with the Rastafarian mythology

By: BANNING EYRE | November 18, 2008

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

Love during wartime

J.B. Mpiana brings his Congolese party machine to…Lynn?
J.B. Mpiana, one of the reigning stars of contemporary Congolese music, brings a 25-strong stage show to Memorial Auditorium in Lynn this Friday, November 7, at 9 pm.

By: BANNING EYRE | November 11, 2008

Pan-African

Made In Dakar | Nonesuch
Far more than a nostalgia act, Baobab are one of the freshest and most exuberant African bands on the road today.

By: BANNING EYRE | June 17, 2008

Carrying on

Andy Palacio’s gang regroup
Last year was an important one for the Garifuna musicians of Central America.

By: BANNING EYRE | April 01, 2008

Debashish Bhattacharya

Calcutta Chronicles: Indian Slide Guitar Odyssey
The maverick stylist plays a variety of slide-guitar variants here, in musical styles reflecting his experiences in the culturally rich Calcutta milieu.

By: BANNING EYRE | April 01, 2008

Famoro Dioubate’s Kakande

Dununya | Jumbie
The inventive instrumental and choral arrangements add freshness without denaturing the music’s inherent roots appeal.

By: BANNING EYRE | February 12, 2008

Aphrodesia

Lagos by Bus | Cyberset
The band are tight and fluid, and their command of far-flung languages and musical genres is sure-footed without being reverential.

By: BANNING EYRE | January 23, 2008

Ladysmith Black Mambazo

Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zula | Heads Up
It’s been two decades since Paul Simon ushered this South African a cappella group onto the world stage.

By: BANNING EYRE | January 14, 2008

Middle man

Youssou N’Dour bridges the gap
As Senegal’s pre-eminent pop singer, Youssou N’Dour has mastered the art of pleasing diverse audiences.

By: BANNING EYRE | November 19, 2007

Habib Koité and Bamada

Afriki | Cumbancha
That and his velvet voice complement the introspective mood here.

By: BANNING EYRE | October 15, 2007

Konono Nº 1

Live at Couleur Café | Crammed Discs
This band’s amped-up likembe (thumb piano) trance music put the trendy world-music subgenre known as Congotronics on the map.

By: BANNING EYRE | September 24, 2007

Party and prayer

Andy Palacio rescues the sound of the Garifuna
For Palacio, the road from a rural Garifuna childhood to the recording studio was not an easy one.

By: BANNING EYRE | July 24, 2007

De-colonized

Francophone acts bring it home on Bastille Day
For the 32nd consecutive summer, the French Library’s Bastille Day Street Dance promises to be a world-music highlight.

By: BANNING EYRE | July 10, 2007

Tcheka

Nu Mondo | Times Square
The latest talent to emerge from the Cape Verdean archipelago adds new power and sophistication to an alluring national genre.

By: BANNING EYRE | June 19, 2007

Bokoor Beats: Vintage Afro-Beat, Afro-Rock & Electric Highlife from Ghana

Bokoor Beats: Vintage Afro-Beat, Afro-Rock & Electric Highlife from Ghana | Otrabanda
Pop music in 1970s Ghana was a collision of lilting highlife.

By: BANNING EYRE | June 05, 2007

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