Carlos Dafe, born in Vila Isabel, Rio de Janeiro, grew up surrounded by music and poetry. His father, a chorinho player, and his mother, a poet, nurtured his talent from a young age. By four, he was correcting notes in his father’s rehearsals; by eleven, he was studying at the Conservatory of Music, and by fourteen, he was performing with ensembles and orchestras. In the 1970s, Dafé became a pillar of Brazil’s Black music movement, alongside Tim Maia, Cassiano, Wilson Simonal, and Banda Black Rio. Known as “The Prince of Soul,” a title bestowed by Nelson Motta, Dafé brought samba, soul, and funk into harmony, creating enduring hits like ‘A Beleza É Você Menina’.
Dafé’s career spans decades of collaborations, accolades, and cultural…
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The Greek duo of lyra player Sokratis Sinopoulos and pianist Yann Keerim’s first studio statement is a deep well of inspired musical dialogues that cross the idiomatic space between European folk tradition and chamber-jazz seamlessly.
…Soul Jazz Records delve into the vast vaults of Discos Fuentes, one of the oldest and largest record companies in Latin America, known as ‘the Motown of Colombia’. Discos Fuentes played a major role in spreading Afro-Latin sounds both to Colombia and around the world and this album explores that legacy.
Designed in 1962 by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, the concrete dome in Tripoli, Lebanon was intended to be one of 15 structures that housed a permanent International Fair, expected to welcome over two million annual visitors. By the time civil war broke out in 1975, construction had not yet been completed, leading to the suspension and eventual abandonment of the project. 
The cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of colonialism should be widely recognized by now. The almost schizoid cultural distortions and developments it led to are impressively illustrated by 
Though he announced his retirement in 2018, few were convinced 
As a musical curator, Coco Maria has an ear for color. The third compilation in her Club Coco series, 
To listen to a new release from Geneva-based label Bongo Joe is to have a twofold reaction. On the one hand, the Bongo Joe catalog is so eclectic that each new direction it takes is a surprise. On the other hand, the albums that come out of it tend to be so good that it seems only logical for the latest interesting release to be a Bongo Joe production. An inarticulate harmony and a tasteful eclecticism hold their discography together.
In 2019, New York-based multi-instrumentalist 
They started as a neighbourhood group, 
The late-career success of legendary Ethiopian musicians Mulatu Astatke and Hailu Mergia have brought new audiences to classic Ethio-jazz. The surge of attention has been aided by reissue labels that have made it their business to preserve decades-old recordings of snaking horn play, elegant vibraphones, and mesmeric grooves. But right in the Bay Area, you’ll find a contemporary artist in the same lineage, recording music with a rhythm and style that honors these righteous predecessors.
If only one name comes to mind when you think of Ethio-jazz, it’s almost certainly that of 
…Known as Zambia’s first pop star – he’s even got a road named after him in the country’s capital of Lusaka – vocalist and guitarist 
Born in Peru but currently based in Buenos Aires, 
In a world that incessantly pressures artists to be “productive,” 
Even by Lebanon’s standards, the period from 2019 to 2021 was a turbulent period in the country’s history. In October 2019 protests against political corruption and the government’s poor handling of the stagnating economy erupted across the country. A new government was formed, yet this too crumbled in the wake of the huge explosion that rocked Beirut’s port area in August 2020. Rolling blackouts, shortages of fuel and medicines and general economic woe kept the protests – many of which were driven as much by women as men – continuing well into 2021.
Seattle-based Polyrhythmics are celebrating 15 years of sonic exploration with the release of their highly anticipated new album,