Picture it: Spanish Harlem, 1970s Hommy, pronounced “OH-me,” is born deaf and blind. He’s also an absolute monster on the congas, keeping the beats bumping through the barrio nonstop. Despite the perils of his childhood and the rancor of his father, we discover that Hommy, the soul, chose to come into this life without the […]
Global Juke Joint: Hommy, A Latin Opera Read More
Full of sensual chords and jazzy rhythms virtually unheard on any contemporary record, Sweetback’s 1996 self-titled album took me on an aural adventure through time and space during my very early days of travel. Comprised of the UK-based backing musicians for Sade, without the cosmic songstress herself, Sweetback elevated multicultural, ambient sounds to 30,000 feet
Global Juke Joint: Sweetback Read More
With a last name like Goldfrapp, you’d better start a band or something. British chanteuse Alison Goldfrapp and musician Will Gregory have been whipping up ethereal, otherworldly sounds for over 15 years. I first heard of the duo back in the early-2000s on one of the many lounge music compilation disks in my collection at the
Global Juke Joint: Goldfrapp Read More
After Germany’s ungentlemanly thrashing of Brazil, 7-1, during the World Cup, I thought I’d share in my adopted homeland’s grief with a little of my favorite melancholy music: seven songs for seven goals. Some of the songs are about love lost and found. One laments accusations of selling out, while another praises the magic of fairies (or
Global Juke Joint: Brazilian Blues Read More
Sometimes a city, a state, a country just moves you to sing a song in its honor. And some songs – and singers – are better than others. These soulfully chill paeans to places near and far help transport you when you can’t get there quick enough. Enjoy. Chaka Khan – “A Night in Tunisia” Fania All Stars –
Global Juke Joint: Soulful Shout-Outs Read More
Rifling through dusty and forgotten things back at the homestead in Jacksonville, I ran across my old CD collection. With over 400 discs, you could say that I was something of a music junkie, but music had been my way of traveling by proxy for years. One of the flyest standouts in my collection is
Global Juke Joint: Jazzanova Read More
‘Tis the season for chilly, grey, rainy weather across much of the Northern Hemisphere, and as a Florida boy, I’m ill-equipped to handle too much gloom for the next few months. Music, however, can often make an uncomfortable experience much bearable, and these icy little numbers—at turns melancholy, ethereal, moody, blue—allow me to embrace the
Global Juke Joint: Chill Music for a Chilly Day Read More
It’s old news that hip hop has gone global, but there are still a few sleeper spots where local incarnations of the genre haven’t yet gotten the acclaim they deserve. The hip hop scene in Indonesia’s second city—Yogyakarta, aka “Jogja”—is not to be messed with. Melding multilayered rhythms from the traditional music and dance of
Global Juke Joint: Javanese Hip Hop Read More
Some of you might know Japanese supastar DJ Towa Tei from his days as part of electro-disco group Deee-Lite, but after the foursome broke up in the mid-90s, TT set off on his own with a couple of sumptuous lounge-soul-house discs (see Last Century Modern) featuring collabs with underground rapper extraordinaire Bahamadia and Afro-Euro chanteuses
Global Juke Joint: Nineties Bossanese Read More
Click here to listen! In this episode of the Fly Brother Podcast: Fantasy Flight 414 – The Diplomat Journey with Fly Brother on an ethereal, all-music flight from the capital of the free world to the capital of free expression—DC to Berlin—featuring classic soul, house, downtempo, acid jazz, and a little go-go from local musicians
Fly Brother Podcast – Fantasy Flight 414: The Diplomat Read More
