World Music has expanded as a category so much in the past ten years that at this point it is harder to say what it isn't, than what it is. The Peruvian band Novalima manages to pack a world's worth of musical influences into what they do, including working the turntables as "Coba Soundsystem", and their sound is, to my ears, as refreshing and pop-oriented as any band out there. But they are very conscious of where they come from, and when I interviewed them, they were quite specific about their efforts to modernize and revive the Afro-Peruvian musical heritage.

They were all checking their cellphones when I walked over, which I thought was a fun place to start.

The light was kind of dreadful at the bar but it was the quietiest place I could find to interview the guys. So I boosted the color and contrast for a kind of comic-book effect...it's fun to experiment! But of course, I have to tell you the guys are much cuter than this makes them look :-) 

I got the chance to catch Cape Verdean diva Lura performing at the party for her latest CD "Eclipse." She gave a terrific show -- a kind of survey of the many kinds of song and dance rhythms from the island. I wish I could have gotten better footage (had to use the awful "zoom" on the Flip) but I think you'll get the idea. She's a great dancer and her singing, which was uniformly excellent, communicated her love of the Cape Verdean heritage. The band was as solid as it gets, and played a wonderful lilting version of "Mascadjon" from the new CD.  We end with a snippet of the very sexy "Vazulina."  Enjoy. 

For those of you who love Desert Blues, that loping, hypnotic guitar music that we associate with the Tuareg and the Saharawis, consider this: The electric guitar has reshaped traditional Saharawi music, but the situation in the refugee camps grows more dire every day, with fewer and fewer guitars for young people to play, thus further endangering an already endangered cultural legacy.   
Got an electric guitar that is gathering dust somewhere?  Want to put it to truly good use? Check this out!

Okay, if you've gone to the URL above, you know that this is a great site.
It's maintained by my old friend Angel Romero, and it's a terrific resource for what is going on in world music, and as you can see, what is happening on many tangential levels.

This just in from a friend who thought it was worth sharing.  He's right.
Istanbul's Sulukule, the world's oldest Gypsy settlement, known for its music & dance clubs, is being demolished by developers to make way for gentrification. If you have ever been entranced by the sound of Turkish Roma clarinet, read this and weep.

Good-bye, Gypsies: The Loss of 1,000 Years

Rupa, who fronts the April Fishes is certainly a multi faceted creature. A doctor, a musician, a painter, a linguist, she is someone who doesn't just sing about life, she plunges in with both feet.  She spent quite a bit of time talking to me in New York about the various bandmembers and singing their praises (sorry Fishes, I didn't use that stuff --and readers, it IS an excellent band!) but eventually we got down to some of the subjects that drive her.

A documentary about the band's trip along the border between Mexico and the USA is in production.

On another note, there is a very moving video that while as commercial as it gets, cuts to the heart. It is an homage to Neda, and all the young people who have demonstrated and suffered during the recent government crackdown in Iran. The majority of people living in that country are now below the age of 30-- Possibly the largest demographic on earth of educated young people to be held back by their own government. These days we all know we are watching history when we watch Iran.

The ripples continue to spread outward.