Kiriakos Sfetsas and the Greek Fusion Orchestra provide a cool combination of jazz fusion and a light touch of ethnic Greek music. A VERY light touch, but it works beautifully on this album.
Ethno-Jazz
[Music] Siti & The Band – Fusing the Roots
Tanzania, as a whole, has amazing musical diversity. Siti & The Band hail from Zanzibar, and you can hear the deep Arabic influence in their music. From their Bandcamp website:
Zanzibar, the mystic island and home to world renowned musicians Siti Binti Saad and Bi Kidude as well as the Festival Sauti za Busara and Zanzibar International Film Festival, is proud to have born new voices to carry on the cultural legacy and mystic connected with this island:Siti & The Band – a unique live experience, fusing traditional Taarab instruments, melodies and rhythms with western influences, are releasing their album “Fusing the Roots” early next year and are looking forward to tour in EA to present a very special musical experience!
“Fusing the Roots” is recorded evidence of the timelessness of Zanzibar’s traditional and contemporary music. The high quality recording, empowering lyrics and unique musical compositions of the album have beautifully entangled contemporary rhythms with Zanzibar’s most loved classical genre.
“I have been watching them play over the last several months and their progress is stunning. Siti and the Band are a group of musicians who know what they are doing and who are doing it well. Remembering the past and facing the present without fear is the only way tradition can remain vibrant. The music of Siti and the Band puts this idea into action.” Adrian Podgorny, Director Dhow Music Academy
“A wonderful performance and amazing experience: especially to hear this accomplished musicians and great arrangements in Fumba where Siti Binti Saad was born almost 150 years ago and we are building a new town now, is something I didn’t expect to happen”
Tobias Dietzold, COO Fumba Town Development, Zanzibar
[Music] Steppe-Scape (Stars of Eurasia) – The Great Steppe Live
Stick Men guitarist/Chapman Stick player Markus Reuter participates in a stunningly good collaboration wedding progressive rock and improvisation with music from Central Asia. Featured on this record are the following musicians:
Steppe-Scape
Namgar Lkhasaranova: vocals, yataga, khomus
Radik Tyulyush: vocals, throat-singing, igil
Angela Manukyan: vocals
Markus Reuter: Touch Guitars® U8, soundscapes, musical director
Merlin Ettore: hybrid drums, arrangements for Volga, Mother River
Eugene Zolotarev: chanza, bass
Robert Yuldashev – kurai
Not a bad debut at all, especially considering what amazing talent each individual brings to this project. Kudos to iapetus for releasing this.
[Music] Salah Ragab and The Cairo Jazz Band – Egypt Strut / Kahn El-Khaleely
Believe it or not, Salah Ragab worked with Sun Ra. He is considered the master of Egyptian music, and could easily sit with the greatest in the world. Enjoy this funky number.
[Music] Boomerang – Mirage (Kazakhstan/USSR, 1986)
Another Soviet ethno-jazz project of high quality. Boomerang hailed from Kazakhstan, and this particular album is considered their rarest.
[Music] Sato – Pereday Dabró Pá Krúgu (Uzbekistan/USSR, 1987)
Through scouring the net over the past 20 years, I’ve come to find that Uzbekistan hides a treasure trove of music. First, prog-rock seems to be relatively popular there (bands like Fromuz and magazines like ProgressoR come to mind).
However, this release was a true gem. Ethno-jazz performed by the band Sato, who have almost nothing in terms of information online.
Thanks to the blog Digg Hop for the information they provided to an intriguing band.
[Music] Enver İzmaylov – Aranjuez
Uzbek-Ukrainian guitarist Enver İzmaylov, known for his amazing tapping technique on the guitar, does justice to a piece penned by Spanish maestro Joaquín Rodrigo.