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Soukous, the dance music of Zaire, was updated by vocalist and bandleader Konda Bongo Man. Bongo Man and his band, which has included influential guitarists Diblo Dibala in the 1980s and Rigo Star in the 1990s, has sparked dancing in audiences around the globe. The New York Times wrote, "Zairean soukous is a lilting, rippling, dance groove that seems to smile from every register, with melody and rhythm inseparable. Kanda Bongo Man himself sings melodies that curl through the patte...

A Uruguayan singer songwriter, Jorge Drexler is now based in Spain. 

Between November 22th and December 1st 2007, Drexler toured 7 towns in Catalonia. Presenting a new, unique format, the show included two sound engineers who where also musicians: Matías Cella and Campi, who would program and manipulate the songs using sound samples that they had recorded on stage, among the audience (they used 6 microphones to record them) and in the city where the band performed. <...

From Perpignan in the south of France, a stone throw away from the Gipsy Kings’ native Camargue, Tekameli’s founding members: Jean Soler, Salomon Espinas and Julio Bermudez, are also Roma musicians playing Rumba Catalana and Flamenca, the gitans’ local music, a blend of Latin American beats with flamenco. 

One of the best and most remarkable bands to emerge from the French Catalan Gypsy scene over the last decade, they are definitely one of the genr...

Born in 1972 into a family from Equatorial Guinea, Concha Buika grew up alongside a Gypsy community on the Spanish island of Majorca. 

Hailed by the Spanish and European press as a new flamenco star, and a remarkable newcomer on the world music scene, she is blessed with a remarkable voice described as a blend of Tina Turner, Lola Flores and Sarah Vaughan. 

Buika mixes soul, jazz and funk with raw flamenco to telling effect, and her previous album, Mi N...

Song for Shunuyata is the latest convergence between an urban and rhythmic West, and a contemplative East. Only he has the secret to his many surprising and improvised encounters. The album is the result of his newest collaboration with Indian female musician Vidya Rao. Artistically enveloped with electro-pop sounds, the album is a vestige to these ancestral texts. 

Carried by the sweet sounding vocals of Vidya Rao, the album’s universe follows the melodies of ...

A regal performer, the singer Henri Salvador was also a musician of considerable influence. Not only is he credited with introducing the French to rock'n'roll but he also had a hand in inspiring the bossa nova movement in Brazil.

Self-taught, Salvador spent most of his life in Paris where he associated with such musical celebrities as Jacques Brel. On his frequent trips to Brazil he played with Gilberto Gil. He had a high reputation in France, Canada and Latin America, an...

A regular feature on the French live gypsy jazz scene, Gadjologie, a play on the Romany word ‘Gadjo’ (non-Gypsy), currently support the likes of Romane, S.Rosenberg and Bireli Lagrène at festivals.

Created in 2001, the band adopted their current line-up (two guitars, violin and double bass) in 2005.  Initially covering the works of the legendary Django Reinhardt, they gradually incorporated original material to their repertoire, fusing the energy and inten...

Brazilian samba / reggae outfit Ponto De Equilibrio’s new album Abre A Janela is produced by the expert Chico Neves.  The CD starts with the lyrics:  "Abre a janela da favela/Você vai ver a beleza que tem por dentro dela/Não quero dizer que lá não existe tristeza/Não quero dizer que lá não existe pobreza/ Porque favela sem miséria não é favela"?(In English: Open the slum window! You’ll see the beauty inside of it! I don’t mean there is no sadness! I don...

Accordionist Richard Galliano has succeeded, through his musical emphasis on melody, rhythm and harmony, in imposing his instrument in musical contexts that previously ignored it: jazz festivals (Montréal, etc.) and classical to revitalise a musical tradition, expanding its emotional range to reflect modern sensibilities, and opening it up to improvisation learned through jazz.

Born in 1950, he made his first break in 1973, landing a position as conductor, arranger, and c...

Frederick Bean, aka Tex Avery, is responsible for the original behind all these 1940s Hollywood cartoons.  Avery worked for both MGM and Warner Bros. Studios and his characters, like Bugs Bunny, Duffy Duck, Droopy or Screwy Squirrel are classics!

His influence is still strongly felt in animated movies like Roger Rabbit, Tiny Toons, the Simpsons, or the genie in Disney’s Aladdin.

On 26 August 1980, at the age of 72, Tex Avery passed away while working at ...

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