If there is one place in the world that can be credited for giving birth to the musical phenomenon of salsa, it is Spanish Harlem.
So opens the review of Spanish Harlem Orchestra published by the Australian webzine Diaspora World Beat. This week's song is En El Tiempo del Palladium — a tribute to the famous Manhattan’s Palladium Ballroom, "the home of the mambo" — from SHO's 2007 album United We Swing.
Kirill
...is Magia Rumbera, from the album of the same title, by the Mexican singer and actress Dulce María.
Kirill
I can't think of any better performer to start this year with than my absolute favourite singer, Lila Downs. This week's song is Ojo de Culebra from her recent album, Shake Away/Ojo de Culebra, where she is joined by La Mari of Chambao. (To explain the double name: the album also features the English version of the same song, Shake Away.)
Kirill
For me, discovery of this year was Algerian-French singer-songwriter Soha. Her debut album D'ici et d'ailleurs (actually recorded in 2007) is sung mostly in French. However, the opening song, Tourbillon (Serre-moi fort si tu m'aimes) (audio | video | lyrics), is a beautiful mix of French and Spanish.
Dime el amor, dime el cielo |   |
¡Feliz año nuevo, amig@s!
Kirill
This week's song is Hay un son by Orishas, the hip-hop band originally formed by four musicians from Havana. This song appears on their triple (2 CD/ 1 DVD) album Antidiotico.
¡Feliz Navidad!
Kirill
I heard the song Homenaje a Justino on the Top of the World CD of the latest (January/February 2009) issue of Songlines magazine. Web search brought no free music of Grupo Socavón except for this rather poor quality video. This song appears on this wonderful compilation of music from Pacific coast of Colombia, called (unsurprisingly) Pacifico Colombiano.
Kirill
Willie Colón is an American/Puerto Rican trombonist, singer and bandleader who recorded with likes of Rubén Blades, Celia Cruz, Fania All Stars and Héctor LaVoe. This weeks's song, Idilio, taken from his 1993 album Hecho en Puerto Rico, features singing and a lovely trombone solo by Willie.
Kirill
This week's song is La bien pagá performed by self-styled flamenca hiphopera (don't be scared, it is not all hip-hop really) La Shica.
Kirill
...is Sin papeles (does it sound familiar?) performed by Che Sudaka, from their album Trippie Town. More of their music here.
Kirill
After a looong break, let's play some salsa! This week's song is Micaela by the Colombian band Sonora Carruseles, from their 1998 album Heavy Salsa.
Kirill
