Jazz Around the World gives incredibly smooth tour of the globe

November 21st, 2009 | By Joshua | No Comments »

Putumayo Records’ newest release, Jazz Around the World, was much smoother and more soft-spoken then I expected it would be; more exotic, quiet lounge than brash experimenting. Fresh takes on world classics like Chan Chan, and lots of soft high hat and samba. The album highlights jazz’s influence on local types of music as much as it provides new cuts, so you get a truly diverse yet coherent collection. My favorite track has to be the Malian version of an old standard: Summertime at Bamako performed by Keletigui Diabate with Habib Koite, but it’s a tough call. LISTEN TO A FEW SAMPLES to see what I mean.
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Disclosure: Putumayo provided me with a review copy of Jazz Around the World, but did not pay me to write this post.

Putumayo World Music takes a trip to España

October 1st, 2009 | By Joshua | No Comments »

It’s hard to keep track of Putumayo World Music’s frequent releases of incredible collections, but I found España entirely worthy of my attention. The music is a fresh, lively whiff of the country which I hope to visit one of these days. Here, listen for yourself.

“Spain’s contemporary musicians blend flamenco, rumba catalana and pop into a vibrant musical tapestry…. The featured songs were selected from hundreds of albums collected during several scouting trips to Spain by Putumayo’s A&R team. España also features the work of renowned photographer Peter Adams and a recipe by famed Basque chef Eva Arguinaño.” (more…)