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Show #251: New & Noteworthy Releases
We feature a crop of new releases this week, beginning with a quartet of live recordings. First up, a Wes Montgomery track recorded live at a superb concert in 1965. The show was captured on...
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Show #252: March Music Mix
We begin this week’s show with the music of three artists with performances in So Cal in the upcoming week. First up, we hear Wu Man, a virtuoso on the Chinese traditional instrument called the pipa....
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Show #253: Canto de Yemanjá and Other Delights
This week’s potpourri of music begins with the Cameroonian bass virtuoso Richard Bona, who brings his Cuban band on March 17 to the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. Bona got his start as a jazz musician...
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Show #254: Rubén Blades – Searching for America
I read with great interest the recent news that Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador will soon be canonized. Pope Francis has approved a miracle attributed to Romero, clearing the way for his...
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Show #255: Spring Music Mix
This week we showcase terrific new releases starting with two bright stars on the Cape Verdean music scene—Nancy Vieira and Lucibela. Anyone who has loved the music of the late Cesária Évora will...
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Show #256: New and Noteworthy Releases
Spring has sprung and so have some terrific new releases of the season. We hear first from Cuba’s Orquesta Akokán, a group of seriously crack Cuban musicians, with an album recorded in the legendary...
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Show #257: Remembering Martin Luther King
This April 4 marks the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination in Memphis. We remember Dr. King this week with eight songs to honor his legacy. We begin with a live recording by Nina...
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Show #258: Music of South Africa During Apartheid
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, known as the “mother of the nation” of South Africa, passed away earlier this month at the age of 81. During the apartheid era, she fought tirelessly for her then-husband...
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Show #259: April Music Mix
This week’s Rhythm Planet music mix showcases some choice new sides, beginning with the sensational Cuban big band Orquesta Akokán. A couple of enterprising Americans—producer Jacob Plasse and crack...
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Show #260: Mambo Kings
This week we listen to some Afro-Cuban mambo from its beginnings in the 1940’s, through its high point in the 1960’s, to the present day. Like the words bongo and banjo, the word mambo comes from the...
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Show #261: New and Noteworthy Releases
Rhythm Planet’s eclectic playlist this week features a crop of new releases, starting with the wonderful cross-cultural alchemy of Swedish guitarist Sousou and Senegal’s kora virtuoso Maher Cissoko,...
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Show #262: May Music Gems
We feature more new music gems this week, starting with Italian producer Nicola Conte’s new album Let Your Light Shine On. It’s a mix of Pharoah Sanders-type spiritual vibes, Brazilian music, and acid...
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Show #263: Music to Dream By
The music on this playlist is special to me, featuring timeless recordings I never tire of. They’re perfect for listening in a quiet space, for relaxation and meditation, and to dream by, too. All in...
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Show #264: New Releases Potpourri
We begin our new releases potpourri show with Brazilian vocalist Diana Purim and her band Eyedentity—a name inspired by an earlier album by her famous parents, percussionist Airto Moreira and singer...
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Show #265: Music from the Four Corners of Africa
This week we embark on a cross-border safari around Africa, from West to South, then East to North, and back down to Mali for one more musical helping. I’m spinning African tunes tomorrow at the...
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Show #266: June Jukebox
This week’s Rhythm Planet program starts with “Si Tu Vois Ma Mère” from French jazz singer Cyrille Aimée’s new live album. I love this old Sidney Bechet song as well as the great acoustic guitar solo...
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Show #267: World Music Potpourri
We showcase new releases and revisit a few classics with this week’s world music playlist. We start with Benin-born singer Angelique Kidjo, who covers Talking Heads’s 1980 album Remain in Light....
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Show #268: Oscar Hernández and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra
I’ve followed the career of Oscar Hernández for over 30 years, beginning with his work as pianist and arranger for Rubén Blades’s brilliant and still-timely album Buscando America (Searching for...
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Show #269: New Music Gems
This week, we listen to the newest gems in jazz, classical, and world music. We begin with an unusual and interesting version of Erik Satie’s famous “Gymnopédie #1,” featuring the superb...
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July Music Mix
This week, we feature mostly new releases and mix in a couple of classics. We begin with a 1993 Elektra release by the short-lived Northern California group Papa’s Culture. “Swim” is a...
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Rhythm Planet’s Pavilion of Dreams
This week, I’ve put together a playlist for relaxation, meditation, or simply for listening pleasure. These instrumental pieces straddle multiple genres—modern classical, minimal, electronic, new age,...
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September Jukebox
This week we listen to nine songs, new and old, that have caught my ear and tickled my fancy. We begin with Bogota’s Monsieur Periné and the title track of their latest album, “Encanto Tropical”...
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Rhythm Planet’s New Music Picks
We begin this week by remembering singer Rachid Taha, the French-Algerian rock star who passed away on September 12 at his home in Paris. In his New York Times obituary, critic Jon Pareles called Taha...
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A Winter Gems Playlist
This week we feature some new sides and reissues that I’m digging, starting with two big band albums with a Latin touch. First, Carlos Henriquez, bassist with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, is...
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New Music Discoveries
This week’s Rhythm Planet playlist showcases an eclectic array of new releases and rediscoveries that deserve some love. I’ll highlight a few here in the post, but see below for a list of all of the...
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