Reviews
The Fairest Flower of Womankind
A native of Montana, a graduate of Berklee College of Music and a traditional balladeer, Lindsay Straw infuses familiar and...
Reviewed by Doug Deloach in issue: October/2017
Banquet of Boxes – A Celebration of the English Melodeon
Lots of jokes come my way because people know I like squeeze box music. Recently someone sent a cartoon showing...
Reviewed by Julian May in issue: Aug/Sep/2011
I Like it Like That (A Mi Me Gusta Asi)
Pianist Pete Rodriguez is one of the pioneers of Nuyorican music – Puerto Rican musicians in New York City –...
Reviewed by Garth Cartwright in issue: November/2020
The Shaigiya Sound of Sudan
Abu Obaida Hassan & His Tambour
The Shaigiya people claim lineage from the Arabian Peninsula but grew as a culture in Nubia. The music of the...
Reviewed by Jim Hickson in issue: Aug/Sep/2018
Where the Soul Never Dies
Mike Block is one of the bravest, most intriguing musicians on the American fusion scene. A cellist and member of...
Reviewed by Robin Denselow in issue: July/2021
Hedûr: Solace of Time
If you have seen Aynur in Crossing the Bridge, the successful 2005 documentary by Fatih Akin about music in Istanbul,...
Reviewed by Francesco Martinelli in issue: July/2020
Devil’s Tale
Adrian Raso & Fanfare Ciocarlia
You don’t expect an album from Fanfare Ciocarlia, the Balkans’ most fiery brass band, to open with reverb-drenched electric guitar,...
Reviewed by Simon Broughton in issue: March/2014
Classical & Contemporary Chinese Music
Growing up in Maoist China, Mei Han had to undergo numerous hardships to study her chosen instrument, the guzheng (21-stringed...
Reviewed by Charlie Cawood in issue: December/2016
Prince of the Violin
Sami al-Shawwa (1885-1965) introduced the Western violin to Cairo, devising new techniques for it and reinvigorating the art of modal...
Reviewed by Martin Stokes in issue: Jan/Feb/2017
