The rhythms of Haiti remain unknown to many in America, even in Miami. But one new band from the island nation would like to change that. Jacky Ambroise, founder of Strings (which also includes guitarists Phillipe Augustin and Ralph Blanchard), describes his trio’s sound as a mix of troubadour music,…
The year 1999 was originally pegged to be the point when rock officially was pronounced dead. All Detroit was supposed to be remembered for was launching white rapper Eminem, while Woodstock’s attempt at countercultural revivalism left little more than a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. Every hard-rock act worth its…
It was the most unlikely reunion — and, perhaps, a most empty one, because it would lead to absolutely nothing at all except more hard feelings, more regret, and more pain. There they were only last April at the San Francisco Film Festival, together for the first time since their…
Various Artists Bob Marley: Chant Down Babylon (Island/Def Jam) They say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but it can still be fun to fiddle. In the case of the Stephen Marley-conceived-and-produced Bob Marley: Chant Down Babylon, the fiddling may not improve on the perfection of his father’s music,…
In the living room of David Font’s Little Haiti house, a poster of Kali, the Hindu god of destruction, hangs above a music stand that displays the centerfold of a reclining Michael Jackson from the album Thriller. Idol meets icon; sacred meets pop. Inside Font’s production room, an Akai sampler/sequencer…
In Northern India instrumental music has traditionally been considered a male domain. Fathers pass on both their technical prowess and their acquired lore to their sons or closest male relatives. Until recently, women have been left out of the loop. “The one instrument where females have made some inroads is…
Hell’s Kitchen is a neighborhood in flux. Despite the recent arrival of Starbucks and gleaming new office towers fulfilling Mayor Giuliani’s Disneyfied vision of New York City, Hell’s Kitchen still retains plenty of eclectic grit. So it seems fitting that the DJs known as Ming & FS have called the…
Eric Dolphy The Illinois Concert (Blue Note) “When you hear music, after it’s over, it’s gone in the air. You can never capture it again.” The vitality of Eric Dolphy’s own music disproves his most famous quote. Little-known and never-before-released sessions by Dolphy have continued to emerge since his death…
Clubland has some treats for trick week. Perhaps the most provocative gathering is the Beach Witch Project, taking place Sunday in the Botanical Gardens behind Miami Beach’s convention center. That’s where club staples Alan Roth, Sean Saladino, and Michael Tronn, along with Ocean Drive magazine, will try to re-create the…
Along with Amos Milburn’s “Chicken Shack Boogie” and Eddie Cochran’s “C’mon Everybody,” Koko Taylor’s “Wang Dang Doodle” is among the greatest party records every committed to wax. A huge R&B hit for the Chicago-based singer back in 1966, “Wang Dang Doodle” is a vivid, almost surreal snapshot of a particularly…
Marc Ribot is best known for contributing a singular guitar racket to several Eighties-era Tom Waits albums put out by a major label, Island Records. In the years since, though, the record industry has grown so conservative that it’s now something of a surprise when a Goliath firm signs anyone…
The Drug Czars perform at 9:00 p.m on Friday, October 22, at FuBar, 909 E Cypress Creek, Fort Lauderdale. Also appearing are the Crumbs, Corky, and Man Scouts of America. Tickets are $4 to $6. For more information call 954-776-0660…
To those saddened by the news of fado queen Amalia Rodrigues’s death earlier this month, consolation comes with this CD. Rest assured the soul of Portuguese blues will be transported into the next millennium by stalwart Cape Verdean chanteuse Cesaria Evora. Fado and Cape Verde’s mournful morna — sung in…
Lest ye, the hippie-come-lately, forget: Guitars begin their lives as plants. Ancient, wise, and mystical plants. Living, breathing, and towering plants. Then chop, cut, plane, sand, form, set, shellac. Add simple strings and … voilˆ! Place one in the proper hands and the tunes write themselves. Some players can even…
While Shadow Lounge (1532 Washington Ave., Miami Beach; 305-531-9411) is preparing for its hallowed music fest next week, where you’ll hear almost as many big-name DJs as beats per minute, this weekend offers a bevy of activities. Following last year’s enormously successful Tranceport compilation featuring DJ Paul Oakenfold, Tranceport Vol…
Jazz is a word currently being thrown around techno circles, primarily as a way of defending the merits of the form to incredulous critics. For sneering rockists who dismiss techno as either disposable Muzak or numbingly abstract because of its largely instrumental nature and failure to revolve around easily digestible…
At last month’s Technics DMC World Finals DJ competition held at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom, the atmosphere was more charged than in past years. It was the first time the world finals had been held in the United States. Maybe the electricity could be attributed to the presence of…
Considering that the worldly Afro-soul duo Les Nubians raps in French and cooks up a tasty sonic bouillabaisse on its debut album, Princesses Nubiennes, it truly is a wonder that the often parochial American urban scenesters who run the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards chose these gals as the…
Zap Mama A Ma Zone (Luaka Bop/Virgin) Afro-European group Zap Mama has always refused to submit to the control of categorization: all the better to reimagine musical, as well as human, possibilities. A Ma Zone, Zap Mama’s fourth album, continues a progression that began with the group’s 1993 self-titled debut…
It is not every weekend that you can see an Austrian marching band and then walk a few blocks to hear a 70-year-old North Carolina bluesman. But on Sunday you can catch just such a combo by sauntering from the Oktoberfest block party in front of Mozart Stube restaurant (325…
The 1000 people in the audience last Thursday night at the Flynn Theater in Burlington, Vermont, didn’t know much about the Cuban band Los Van Van. “Everybody here who speaks Spanish raise your hand,” singer Roberto Hernandez called from the stage (in Spanish). “Uno, dos, tres, cuatro … uh, okay…
Both Brian Setzer and the Royal Crown Revue crow about sparking the swing craze that threatens to survive into the new millennium. Props, though, are more than overdue for Roomful of Blues, the little big band with the big horn section that got its start more than three decades ago…
