Tinariwen's Tuareg Blues
Tinariwen, the Tuareg group, is back on tour in the U.S. They perform here in LA as part of the Ooh La La Festival organized by the French government.…
Two Groovy New Cd's from Miguel Migs and Mocean Worker
Two cool new cd’s have just come out from Miguel Migs and Mocean Worker. The thing that distinguishes these two albums from a lot of house music is that they…
Classic Bollywood–Mohammed Rafi in Gumnaam–We Need to Know More About Bollywood Cinema than Just Slum Dog Millionaire!
Just like there’s more to Cuban music than The Buena Vista Social Club, there is more to Bollywood cinema than Slum Dog Millionaire. My friend Jesus Naranjo, a music industry…
Waldemar Bastos: The Voice of Angola
A new album has just come out from this storied Angolan singer/songwriter. It’s called Classics of My Soul. While not a household name, Bastos has created a singular and…
Jazz Guitarists Deserve More Recognition! Respect!!
Why is it that when a rock and roll guitarist smashes his (or her) guitar into bits, they get all the credit credit for being creative musicians? Yes, the guitar…
Vince Mendoza and his Wonderful Music
Vince Mendoza isn’t exactly a household name, but he is a composer worth knowing more about. Top jazz musicians like John Scofield, Joe Lovano, the late Michael Brecker and the…
9/11, My Show, and the Caller Who Didn't Like the Music or the Actualities……
It just so happened that 9/11 fell last year on a Sunday, last Sunday, and this was the 10th anniversary to mark the terrorist attacks on America. Because of this…
Ibrahim Sylla, The Quincy Jones of West Africa & Afro-Latin via Cotonou
A wonderful series of West African reissue compilations have recently been released: Afro-Latin Via Dakar (Senegal), Kinshasha (Congo), Conakry (La Guinée), and most recently, Via Cotonou (Benin, formerly Dahomey). All…
What Music to Mark the 10th Anniversary of 9/11?
Tomorrow I’ll be on the air during a milestone: the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. I’ve been on the air before when tragedy struck: I was doing Morning Becomes…
Getting Free Records and the Curse that Follows
Like most KCRW dj’s, I’ve bought records all my life. This is sometimes referred to as a “record habit”. Harvey Pekar wrote a piece about this perilous syndrome, with illustrations…
