Global Beat Fusion

By Derek Beres

Bluegrass Grows in Brooklyn

[21.Oct.09] :. The Five Deadly Venoms are leading the charge of a thriving bluegrass scene in Brooklyn.
 

Brazilian Funk and Cuban Soul Heat Up the Northern Climes

[22.Sep.09] :. A killer samba beat and an irresistible Cuban Sway: Brazil's futuristic Otto and Cuban expat Alex Cuba deliver soulful sounds.
 

Tuva Meets Technology

[26.Aug.09] :. From the ‘non-existent’ land of Siberia comes the long-existing sound of Tuvan drumming and throat singing.
 

Bob Holroyd Re:Turns

[15.Jul.09] :. “Writing music is often like assembling a collage, and I think this is why a lot of my tracks have a sort of cinematic quality to them,” says Holroyd.
 

For Summer Dancing in the Streets

[22.Jun.09] :. Six spectacular world beat albums that will have you dancing through those sweet summer nights.
 

Novalima: Peru’s Hidden Treasure

[14.Apr.09] :. Friends and band mates since high school, these Peruvian electronistas all moved to different countries; Novalima was made via emails and zip files.
 

A Transcendental Evening at Alice Tully Hall

[24.Mar.09] :. After the first piece, my friend leaned over and whispered that if you close your eyes, you are easily taken away.
 

Beyond the Bubble of the Grammys

[11.Feb.09] :. The Grammys suffer from the same problem as the rest of the recording industry: thinking America defines culture.
 

Across the Universe, for the Sixth Time

[4.Feb.09] :. This year's globalFEST was punctuated by performances from Occidental Brothers Dance Band International, La Troba Kung-Fu, Kailash Kher, Watcha Clan, and others -- a brave journey through the world of sounds, guided by open minds and big hearts.
 

Visions of the World

[20.Jan.09] :. Three world-music documentaries deserving of your attention detail the unity of Islam through music, the convergence of South Asian folk with modern technologies, and the plight of Saharan desert dwellers.
 

The Ubiquitousness of Ubiquity Records

[1.Dec.08] :. There is no clear-cut definition of what Ubiquity Records produces, unless we go for universal terms like "good" and "dope".
 

Forty-Nine Hours at T-Dot Town’s Annual Small World Music Festival

[10.Nov.08] :. Today's global music is an extension of the culture that has been emerging over the last century, when airplanes and vinyl recordings made social exchanges possible to an extent previously undreamed.
 

Fela! Here Comes the Black President

[22.Sep.08] :. Great art such as Fela! inspires us to make the choices we need to make, and not give up our responsibilities because it is easier to allow someone else to make decisions for us.
 

The Dusty Foot Philosopher Kicks Up America

[28.Aug.08] :. K'Naan stood on stage, drum in hand, focused on the two instruments that comprise and compose the totality of African storytelling: the voice and the drum.
 

A Walk Through the Medina

[4.Aug.08] :. It's fascinating to think that a culture that produces such deep and soulful bass music could also contact its spirits via the shrieking, grating sounds of this flute, yet such is the nature of Moroccan music.
 

Ten Years Dancing on the Hudson

[16.Jun.08] :. For the last decade, Turntables on the Hudson has held gatherings of positive music -- funk, hip-hop, soul, dance; African, Latin, and Balkan beats -- that thrive on human connection.
 

Three Nights in France

[12.May.08] :. Beres hits Paris and Bourges to take in the eclectic sounds of Transglobal Underground, Les Primitifs du Futur, Watcha Clan, and Fat Freddy's Drop, and gets pulled into the "sacred space" that solders the connection between sound and human.
 

Women of the (Music) World

[14.Apr.08] :. There is little in this world as beautiful as the female voice. Sometimes it’s necessary to stop and remind ourselves of this.
 

Classical Egypt in America

[18.Mar.08] :. By shining the light on the vast, rich cultures of the Middle East, these musicians are bringing misconceptions and misunderstandings out of the darkness of the past, not to mention the dark corners of our present.
 

Devotion Through Music

[20.Feb.08] :. Global spiritual traditions are being evolved by artists fusing the best of many worlds, electronic and traditional, into forms of devotion applicable to us all.
 

Bass Makes the World Go ‘Round

[24.Jan.08] :. As Hamsa Lila knows, the heart and soul of trance lies in the passionate intensity performed by its players.
 

The Redistribution & Revival of Roots

[19.Dec.07] :. Like the roots of old and those of new, music flows stream-like from the hearts of these artists into an ocean of humanity.
 

Big Brass at the Disco

[21.Nov.07] :. Shantel has accomplished the most daunting task imaginable in this genre: making an accessible pop record with tubas, trumpets and dumbeks, and our response remains among the greatest of human pleasures: we dance.
 

Bachata: Generations Apart and Together

[15.Oct.07] :. Bachata grew up in the barrio. Servants would turn trashcans and fences into instruments in their nighttime escapades, and the words would tune hearts to a frequency unheard during daytime hours.
 

Passport to the Future

[24.Sep.07] :. Once you get past the initial groove that Manu Chao lays, and become accustomed to his fast-paced nature, you recognize a passionate soul as devoted to music as he is to political and social justice.
 

New Ways to Breathe

[31.Aug.07] :. Breathing Under Water, a collaboration between sitarist Anoushka Shankar and tablist Karsh Kale, is not only where music is going, it's where it's at.
 

The Evolution of Africa and Hip-Hop

[6.Aug.07] :. Pharoahe Monch's new album, Desire, is a complete surround-sense experience, but it's also a reminder that as much as our technologies have improved, what we are communicating is not necessarily the most righteous of information.
 

Journeymen

[9.Jul.07] :. Gypsy Caravan, a new documentary about a six-week tour featuring some of modernity's top Gypsy musicians, is an exceptional peek at life on the road, entwined with the history, and current state, of Gypsy culture.
 

The Evolution of Vintage

[31.May.07] :. One of the glaring paradoxes of technological evolution is its ability to reconnect us to history. And if we know anything about human nature, it's that as we step into the future, we always look back.
 

Emerging Ideas in Global Distribution: An Interview With Six Degrees’ Bob Duskis

[30.Apr.07] :. "If you don't embrace your buying base, you're going to go out of business." Beres talks with the electronica label's co-founder about digital distribution and independent music.
 

The Marleys and Mind Control

[5.Apr.07] :. The efforts of major corporations to disarm their consumers is a reminder that music used to be judged by how it made the listener feel, not how many times it was downloaded.
 

Rumi-nating on a New Axis

[27.Feb.07] :. The Sufi poet formerly known as Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi is celebrating 800 years, and the entire spectrum of Persian culture is throwing a party.
 

Ali in the Family

[1.Feb.07] :. Vieux Farka Touré continues his late father's musical legacy with a weathered voice, poetic passion, and a new debut album.
 

A World Shares the Stage

[12.Jan.07] :. Beres inspects the 'major guitar and string theme' at this year's globalFEST event in New York, which will host music from Brazil, Cape Verde, Paris, and beyond.
 

Desert Trance

[8.Dec.06] :. These are the sort of flowers that bloom in the Sahara Desert: thumb pianos, distorted amps, muddy blues, and traditional chants.