Muzika 6 puka - Srpska himna (gramofon HIS MASTERS VOICE 101)
Loreena McKennitt - Nights From The Alhambra [2LP Limited Edition] (2014)
Field Report: Rainforest World Music Festival 2017
The 20th annual Rainforest World Music Festival, held in Sarawak, the Malaysian part of the island Borneo, was one of the most memorable in the history of this great event. This year’s edition, which took place July 14-16, offered a lot of musical discoveries and unexpected collaborations. The real star of this festival however was the amazing crowd, which for two nights was struck by hours of monsoon-like rain that did not keep die-hard fans from celebrating this joyful, exuberant and intoxicatingly colorful festival.
With its magical jungle setting, the Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) is one of the most scenic music festivals on the globe. This three-day gathering is held every summer at the Sarawak Cultural Village, located some 45 minutes by car from the city of Kuching, the laid-back capital of Sarawak. The festival not only showcases music from all continents, it also offers daytime music workshops, homa therapy, cultural and craft displays, food stalls, and main-stage evening concerts. And a lot of cool vibes. The atmosphere is very chilled out and everybody is friendly to each other, reminiscent of the hippie days in the late 1960s-early ’70s. This year’s edition attracted an audience of 20,000, a mix of world music aficionados, backpack travelers, and young Malaysian kids, who were open to all kinds of music. The two stages in the equatorial rainforest of the Sarawak Cultural Village featured 27 bands from around the planet. The program varied from traditional sapé (Borneo lute) music, and folk music from Myanmar, to early American music by singer-guitarist Dom Flemmons, Tahitian dancers and singers, and the Galician folk formation, Radio Cos.
The goal of preserving local cultures and indigenous instruments is what all the bands and artists had in common. The musicians interpret their cultures for modern times, and the festival also brings them together in interactive workshops and jam sessions.
This report focuses on the African bands on the festival. One of the highlights was the performance of Abavuki, a powerful South African outfit from Langa, Cape Town with infectious Afrobeat grooves and influences from kwaito, samba, jazz and traditional rhythms which they translate within a more modern format. All the musicians are multi-instrumentalists, using marimbas, percussion and brass instruments. The Xhosa name abavuki means “Wake up, early birds!,” a perfectly chosen name for this energetic, uplifting group, whose performance included a great cover version of Fela Kuti’s “Lady.”
The Guinean band Ba Cissoko features two band members who play the traditional kora harp; the other two members play percussion and bass. The sound of the band has been described as “West Africa meets Jimi Hendrix.” Ba Cissoko, son of the famous kora player M’Bady Kouyaté, founded his own band in 1999 that includes his cousins. He is a multi-instrumentalist and sings in Malinke, Wolof, Pulaar and French. His music mixes Mandingo tunes with salsa, rumba, funk, jazz and rhythm & blues without diluting the rich tunes and flaming harmonies of the thousand-year old culture from which he hails. When their show started it was raining cats and dogs. They faced the almost impossible task of entertaining the crowd, but they succeeded, simply giving all the energy they had.
The veteran Cape Verdean accordion player, Bitori (AKA Vitor Tavares), is one of the pioneers of funaná, a rousing, accordion-based style that evolved from the music of African slaves in rural communities. This great dance music was banned before independence in 1975 because the Portuguese colonialists considered the songs to be ”too wild, too African.” Two years ago the label Analog Africa rereleased his only album, Bitori Nha Bibinha, recorded in 1997 in Rotterdam. Now Bitori is making a great comeback and is touring the world. Like Ba Cissoko, Bitori and his tight band featuring bassist Danilo Tavares, singer Chando Graciosa, and drummer Miroca Paris, ignored the weather and played like this was their last concert ever. It worked: everybody on the muddy field was dancing like mad . Because of the heavy rainfall everybody had to leave their comfort zone, resulting in exuberant mud dance scenes.
The South African eight-man band Kelele uses incredibly beautiful voices as their primary instrument, keeping alive the oral tradition of telling history, stories and folk tales. The melodic storytelling was accompanied by traditional instruments like the mbira dzavha dzimu (finger piano), the uhadi (the traditional bow instrument of the AbeXhosa people), the umrhubhe (another bowed instrument) and the talking drum of the Nigerian Yoruba people. Combining vocal skills reminiscent of Ladysmith Black Mambazo with great dancing, turned it into a memorable performance on the Rainforest Theater Stage.
With a challenging music program, interesting workshops, extreme friendly staff and delicious Sarawak cuisine, the RWMF is one of the finest music festivals in the world. Looking forward to the 2018 edition.
Terima kasih ( Malaysian for “thank you very much”)
Bastiaan Springer is producer for Radio 5 and The Concert Radio in the Netherlands, and a world music journalist.
Photos courtesy of the Rainforest World Music Festival.
Herb Alpert and Lani Hall, Back in NYC in September
You might not think of 82-year-old trumpet maestro, pop music mogul and philanthropist Herb Alpert as a pioneer of world music, but there’s no doubt he is. With Jewish roots in Ukraine and Romania, Alpert burst on the scene in 1962 with a sultry pop take on mariachi music, “The Lonely Bull,” a song that came out of nowhere to rival sales of the then-emerging Beatles. Alpert’s evocation of Mexico made his band The Tijuana Brass—which he described as “four lasagnas, two bagels and an American cheese”—a popular sensation, winning six Grammys and releasing 15 gold albums before disbanding in 1969. And Alpert was just getting started.
In the ‘70s, he championed as well as recorded and performed with fellow trumpeter Hugh Masekela during his exile from apartheid South Africa. (For more on that story, check out Afropop’s program “San Francisco: Afropop by the Bay.”) Afropop’s own Georges Collinet used the intro to Alpert’s “A Taste of Honey” as the theme to his Voice of America broadcast Bonjour L’Afrique. And of course, post-Tijuana Brass, Alpert went on to demonstrate legendary music industry savvy and to engage in generous charitable activities, mostly focused on music education through his Herb Alpert Foundation.
Early on, Alpert signed Sérgio Mendes and Brasil ‘66 to his label, A&M, and he went on to marry that group’s singer, Lani Hall, in 1973. They now perform together with a small ensemble, clearly for the sheer pleasure of it. They return to their favorite New York haunt, Café Carlyle, for a residency from Sept. 5-16. Afropop has twice attended this event and it is a memorable experience. Alpert’s lively wit, loose and easy rapport with his band and loving chemistry with Hall are disarming and delightful as they ramble freely through vivid remembrances and hits past and present.
Yes, present. Alpert’s newest album Herb Alpert Music Vol. One is currently topping Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz chart, driven no doubt in part by his winning new video “I’m Yours,” a love song with a twist. It’s the work of a man in love with the world, with music and with love itself. Don’t miss it!
For more on the maestro’s global doings, check out Banning Eyre’s 2015 interview with Herb Alpert.
América Libre - El Pais De La Verdad (Vinyl, LP)

Toumani Diabaté - Discography [19 Albums, 1 EP] (1987-2017)
Musicformessier - Constellations I (2017)
330 Música sin usura 28-08-2017 (102 SLUM’S ECLECTIC SESSIONS)
(Alt. Country) Wild Ponies - Galax - 2017, MP3, 320 kbps
Eguana - Invisible Civilization (2017)
Makia Blue - The 13. Apostle (2017)
(Country, Country Pop) Anne Kirkpatrick (& Slim Dusty)- Коллекция 1974-2014 (15 релизов), MP3, 192-320 kbps
Billboard Top 50 Latin Songs August (2017)

Title: Top 50 Latin Songs
Label: Hollywood Reporter - Billboard Media Group
Style: Bachata, Mariachi, Reggaeton, Dancehall, Ranchera, Bambuco, Champeta, Cumbia
Release Date: 28-07-2017
Format: Top, Compilation
Quality: VBR Kbps/Joint Stereo/44100Hz
Tracks: 50 Tracks
Size: 327 Mb / 02:53:56 Min
Best of The Beat on Afropop: Soca Star David Rudder
To highlight the upcoming New York appearances by soca master David Rudder, this week’s “Best of The Beat” will fill you in on the story of this much-beloved Trinidadian Calypso Monarch. African music historian Gary Stewart interviewed the articulate singer for The Beat in 1988.
David Rudder began in the mid-‘70s with the Charlie’s Roots soca band, and burst into international renown with his 1986 hits, “The Hammer” and the samba-flavored “Bahia Girl,” that won that year’s Calypso Monarch competition at Trinidad Carnival. He has released at least 16 albums to date.
Notable for his pan-Caribbean and African consciousness, Rudder paid a tribute to the history and resilience of the people of Haiti with this song:
“The Hammer” is a tribute to the inventor of the steel drum, Rudolph Charles.
He is slated to perform along with Calypso Rose and the Kobo Town band on Aug. 30 at Stage 48 in Manhattan, and at the Brooklyn Carnival Dimanche Gras concert on Sun., Sept. 3 at the Brooklyn Museum, where Calypso Rose and the legendary Mighty Sparrow, Calypso King of the World—and many more—will also take the stage.
READ OR DOWNLOAD PDF: Beat7#6DRudder
MORE ON TRINIDAD CARNIVAL FROM “BEST OF THE BEAT ON AFROPOP”
Within Temptation - Hydra (Deluxe Box Set) (2014) FLAC

Artist: Within Temptation | Album: Hydra (Deluxe Box Set) | Released: 2014 | Genre: Metal | Duration: 00:49:37+00:36:50+00:49:37
Francis Cabrel - Hors-Saison (1999) FLAC (image+.cue)

Artist: Francis Cabrel | Album: Hors-Saison | Released: 1999 | Genre: Chanson
Paramore - After Laughter (2017) FLAC (tracks+.cue)

Artist: Paramore | Album: After Laughter | Released: 2017 | Label: Fueled By Ramen | Catalog #: 561588-2 | Genre: Pop, Alternative Rock
Sting - Fragile (1988) FLAC (tracks+.cue)

Artist: Sting | Album: Fragile | Released: 1988 | Label: West Germany | Catalog #: 390 307-2 | Genre: Pop Rock, Blues, Jazz
DMC Essential Hits Vol. 146 (2017)

Title: DMC Essential Hits Vol. 146
Label: DMC Records
Style: Electronic, Hip Hop, Soul, Swing, Folk, World, & Country, Synthpop, Latin, Tropical
Release Date: 11-05-2017
Format: CDr, Compilation, Promo
Quality: 320 Kbps/Joint Stereo/44100Hz
Tracks: 22 Tracks
Size: 191 Mb / 01:19:22 Min