Subject: Ernest Barteldes

• Sonidos y Mas: Mariza's Terra

  Mariza Terra (World Connection) www.mariza.com After being pivotal in the recent fado revival - a blues-like genre native to Portugese capital Lisbon - with her honest and impassioned interpretations, Mozambique-born songstress Mariza dares to take the genre into a new direction by adding different instruments and influences on Terra. Continuing her love affair with Brazil - two previous CDs were produced by Caetano Veloso collaborator and composer Jacques Morelembaum

  December 9, 2008

• The Whole Wide World: Chopteeth's Afro-Funk Big Band

  Chopteeth live at Washington D.C.'s Black Cat Photo by C.L. Kunst Chopteeth Afro-Funk Big Band (Grigri Discs) www.chopteeth.com People deal with grief in various ways - some go out and get drunk,while others might take a trip in order to "clear the air" while attempting to deal with the pain. Quite a few might even try therapy, but in the case of Washington, D.C. bassist and labor organizer Robert Fox, making music was the answer he found after losing a close friend in a tragic car accident.

  December 12, 2008

• Sonidos y Mas: Various Artists, "The Price of Silence"

  Sixty years ago this week in Paris, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The original text was a collaborative effort from representatives from many nations including the United States (Eleanor Roosevelt was part of the team), written as a way to repudiate the atrocities brought on by the Nazis and their allies during World War II. At the session that approved the text, eight nations decided to abstain - including the entire Soviet bloc and South Africa, which w

  December 17, 2008

• The Whole Wide World: Asha Bhosle's Precious Platinum

  Asha Bhosle Precious Platinum asha-bhosle.tripod.com One basic characteristic of Bollywood films is the fact that actors generally do not use their own singing voices during the musical numbers - that task goes to playback singers like Asha Bhosle, who over the span of six decades has participated in almost 1,000 such flicks. In the meantime, she has also kept busy doing non-film songs - including a Grammy-nominated CD with the Kronos Quartet, 2005's You've Stolen My Hear

  December 18, 2008

• Merry Christmas from the Rocks Off Family

  ...and so say all of us! - Chris Gray, Craig Hlavaty, Dusti Rhodes, Keith Plocek, William Michael Smith, Bob Ruggiero, John Nova Lomax, Ernest Barteldes, Brandon K. Hernsberger, Jef With One F, Michael Arceneaux, Linda Leseman, kris ex, Kathy F. Mahdoubi, Rosa Guerrero, Nick DiFonzo, Jason Ferguson and Shea Serrano

  December 25, 2008

• Sonidos y Mas: NovaLima

  Novalima Coba Coba (Cumbancha) www.novalima.net If you hear similarities between Novalima's modern Afro-Peruvian music and the rhythms brought from Cuba by Celia Cruz and Tito Puente in the '50s, you're on the right track: Peruvians have borrowed a lot from the Africans taken to South America as slaves during the 17th Century - the drumming and the vocals have that same intense, ardent spirit, and many tunes from the country made their way into the Caribbean. For instance, Cruz had an enormo

  December 24, 2008

• The Whole Wide World: Toubab Krewe's Live at the Orange Peel

  Toubab Krewe Live at the Orange Peel (Upstream) www.toubabkrewe.com Listening to Toubab Krewe, you'd never guess that all its members hail not from the Western African nation of Mali, but from Asheville, N.C., where the band recorded its latest disc at the Orange Peel - the same venue where Smashing Pumpkins kicked off their reunion tour last year. Toubab Krewe's trademark sound is a blend of various influences - though Africa is the most obvious reference, there's rock, reggae and New

  December 29, 2008

• Sonidos y Mas: Hendrik Meurkens' Samba To Go!

  Hendrik Meurkens Samba To Go! (Zoho) www.hendrikmeurkens.com The music of Brazil has captivated a great number of fans and musicians around the world, and many of the latter have tried to emulate the country's sounds and make them their own, for better or worse. Among those who have been successful is Hendrik Meurkens, a New York-based (but German-raised) harmonica player considered one of his instrument's most important players since Toots Thielemans. Meurkens lived in Brazil for a number of y

  January 5, 2009

• Tonight: Cedric Burnside & Lightnin' Malcolm at House of Blues

  Colin McAuliffe When you first hear the first few songs on Lighnin' Malcolm & Cedric Burnside's 2 Man Wrecking Crew, you just can't believe it's just two guys playing live in the studio. But working with legendary producer David Z (Jonny Lang, Etta James, Prince), Malcolm and Burnside nailed fourteen tunes in just three days of work - an astoundingly short period at a time when many bands spend months just to perfect a lousy guitar solo. Rocks Off caught up with Burnside over th

  January 8, 2009

• The Whole Wide World: Ladysmith Black Mambazo's Live! DVD

  Ladysmith Black Mambazo Live! (Heads Up) http://www.mambazo.com Though international audiences did not discover this South African vocal group until it appeared on Paul Simon's landmark 1986 album Graceland, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has been active since the early '60s, when founder Joseph Shabalala started the a capella isicathamiya choir alongside friends and family back in his hometown of Ladysmith. Since hitting the spotlight more than two decades ago, the Grammy-winning group went o

  January 13, 2009

• Sonidos y Mas: Niyireth's Musica Colombiana Andina

  Niyireth Musica Colombiana Andina - Music from Colombia (Arc Music) When we hear about Andean music, the first thing that comes to mind are those Peruvian pan-flute players who perform on city streets, either playing traditional tunes like "El Condor Pasa" and "Fina Estampa" or adapting American pop songs into their own style. But there is much more music that comes from the South American mountains, like this disc from UK-based label Arc Music. Classically trained Niyireth Alarcón ha

  January 15, 2009

• Badfish, Scotty Don't

  January 22, 2009

• The Rough Guide to the Music of Vietnam; The Rough Guide to Latino Nuevo; The Rough Guide to Salsa ; Bokoor Beats; Bonde de Rolê, With Lasers; Kenge Kenge, Introducing Kenge Kenge; The Budos Band, II

  Notable recent releases from beyond borders

  October 4, 2007

• Various artists

  Si Para Usted: The Funky Beats of Revolutionary Cuba

  June 28, 2007

• Sonidos Y Mas: Marcio Local

  Ernest Barteldes Marcio Local Says Don Day Don Dree Don Don: Adventures in Samba Soul www.luakabop.comDuring the late '60s and early '70s, Brazilian songwriters like the late Tim Maia and Jorge Ben became increasingly frustrated with the creative limitations of samba, and also felt out of place within the rock movement, though both did score hits within those genres - Maia wrote "Nao Vou Ficar" for then-teen idol Roberto Carlos, while Ben came up with "Mas Que Nada," the second-most covered Bra

  May 21, 2009