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Plena Libre Summer Tour Supporting New Live in Monterrey Release
 Plena Libre will be touring this summer to support its new live album Plena al Salsero - Live in Monterrey, Mexico. The next concerts will be Saturday, July 19 in Ithaca, New York at Grass Roots Festival and Sunday, July 20 in the Bronx, New York.
Founded in San Juan, Puerto Rico, by bass player/composer Gary Núñez, Plena Libre is well into a 15-year voyage that has seen the orchestra re-invent the sound of Puerto Rico’s plena and bomba traditions. During that time, Gary and his group have recorded 12 stellar albums which have garnered four Grammy nominations. In taking their unparalleled live show to the world, the group has spread the gospel of their unique Afro-Rican sound on internation...
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Nigerian Wood, the New Album from Nigerian Keziah Jones
 Paris, France - This summer, Keziah Jones is back with a new album, ‘Nigerian Wood’ (Because Music) coming out in France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Canada and Japan on September 1st. A single from the album, ‘My Kind of Girl,’ has already been released in digital format; and following the September 1st release the album will be available in the UK and US in the spring of next year. And that’s not all – Keziah Jones will be touring all this summer and autumn.
Keziah Jones is every inch an original. Born in Nigeria, educated in England and starting his musical career in the streets, clubs, and subways of London and Paris, Keziah Jones’ distinctive musical style of “Blufunk” caught the right people’s attention and helped launch his first real tour in England....
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Kaweh on Tour to Promote Live In San Francisco CD/DVD
 San Francisco (California), USA - In his new live release Kaweh sings in Spanish and Italian and he captivates the audience with his fast rasgueado, his combination of picado and western picking. Live In San Francisco includes songs like “Marina” by Rocco Granata, “Parla Piu Piano” (from the movie “Godfather” by Nino Rotta), Cumbanchero (Rafael Hernández) and Canción del Mariachi (from the movie “Desperado” by César Rosas) have long been anticipated.
Internationally acclaimed belly dancer “Sandra” and Israeli educator percussionist Dror Sinai mesmerize the audience as Kaweh opens up the concert with “Persia” from the “Play Spanish” album. Sandra and Dror return mid set to give yet another powerful perfo...
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Serbian Brass Masters Boban i Marko Markovic Orkester Tour North America July 2008
 The Boban i Markovic Orkestar, led by father and son trumpet virtuosos, will be performing in Manhattan, Chicago, Philadelphia, Montreal, Springfield and Evanston this July.
The aural assault from this raucous brass band has earned them the title of “best band in Serbia” for nearly 20 years running. Feted at home and abroad as the greatest of Balkan trumpeters, Boban Markovic is the scion of a long line of gypsy musicians. From his home town of Vladicin Han in Serbia’s gypsy brass heartland, he has led his Orkestar to international acclaim, boldly going where no other brass band has gone before, enhancing the traditional repertoire with elements of the wider world from jazz to Latin to pop.
This trail-blazing mix has brought him legendary statu...
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Rachid Taha Touring North America in July 2008
 Paris, France - Rachid Taha will be touring the United States and Canada in July. The tour coincides with the July 1 North American release of The Definitive Collection, which hit England in April and will appear in France in October. The tour will start off on July 5th in New York at Central Park’s annual outdoor SummerStage concert series. On July 7th and 8th Taha will perform in Ottawa and Toronto respectively, at the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest and the Phoenix Concert Theatre. He’ll give a July 10th concert at the Philadelphia arts haven, the Kimmel Center, before swooping west to California. There, he will perform o...
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17° Festival Musicale del Mediterraneo Brings World Music to Genoa
 The 17° Festival Musicale del Mediterraneo is taking place in Genoa (Genova), Italy, from 1st to 6th July. This year's edition is called “Play Listen Look” (“Suoni Senti Vedi”). The six day event is a celebration of different cultures and artistic expressions coming from all over the world, with particular attention to the relationship between traditional and contemporary sounds.
The current edition of the festival looks at music and images: artists play while videos and pictures are displayed in the background. An innovative project which explores visual art, technology and filmed languages. It’s a travel through foreign countries, observing populations, habits and cultural changes: meetings, concerts and films give birth to an artistic melting pot with performers coming from Euro...
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Mantra at MS Innvik in Oslo
 Tanzanian musician Ras Nas aka Nasibu is ready to make this year’s summer in Oslo one of the hottest. Ras Nas with band plays at MS Innvik 18th July 2008. This will be a night of live roots reggae, African music and poetry. In short a night to remember. Put a cross on this date in your calendar and do not miss the show!
Also appearing at this summer event dubbed “Mantra” by the organizers, are Papa Lion aka Mankind (USA) and dancer Adjei (Ghana). Dj Dominic is the night’s scratcher from the control tower.
The show at MS Innvik is one of the rare live Ras Nas' shows in Oslo. The night is also your chance to buy Ras Nas’ CD “Dar-Es-Salaam” at a concert price. The CD contains a mix of reggae and afro (soukous). Last November Ras Nas was one of the headliners at Oslo World...
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The UK's Finest African Musicians at Almeida Summer Festival
 A feast of contemporary opera, concerts and theatre to brighten up the summer will take place at Almeida Summer Festiva 10 July – 2 August 2008. Building on the long-term success of their annual opera season, the Almeida Theatre's new Summer Festival will also incorporate elements of their critically acclaimed theatre program and an array of concerts.
The festival will see a partnership form between the Almeida Theatre and Tiata Fahodzi, a major tour de force in Black British theatre, who will take up a up a week-long residency to present their annual festival of new writing Tiata Delights. On Saturday 2 August Tiata Delights will conclude with a concert bringing together some of the UK's finest African musicians including contemporary Gospel sensation GK Real, Sierra Leonean harmonica player Leon Ma...
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Peter Gabriel's All-Star Collaboration Big Blue Ball Is Now Available
 Sixteen years in the making, Peter Gabriel's Big Blue Ball is now out on Real World Records. This all-star collaboration began in 1992 during a "Recording Week" at Real World Studios when Gabriel opened the doors to 75 international artists from over 20 countries. This series of weeklong residential sessions continued over three years. "The idea was to put rock musicians together with musicians from all over the world and see what happened," Gabriel says. "We ran the studio like a dating service with a 24-hour cafe."
The 11 tracks on ...
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Fine China
 Sa Dingding
Alive (Wrasse Records WRASS 213, 2007)
I’d be the most terrible of liars if I said I possessed anything resembling a comprehensive knowledge of Chinese music. Given China’s vastness in terms of culture and sheer size, it’s wise that emerging Chinese singer Sa Dingding doesn’t aim for an overview of any kind either. Rather, her music is infused with sounds, ideas and inspirations stemming from Chinese (and non-Chinese) elements that have had a profound impact on her. These include pastoral Mongolian melodies, Tibetan spirituality ro...
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