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Journal Archives for AfroCubism

  • Grammy Nominees 2011: Cooder, Harris, Metheny, Thile, Daves, AfroCubism
    Thursday, December 1, 2011
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    Grammy Nominations Go to Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, Pat Metheny, Chris Thile, Michael Daves, AfroCubism

    Congratulations to all the Nonesuch artists who were nominated for the 54th Annual Grammy Awards: Ry Cooder and Emmylou Harris for Best Americana Album, Pat Metheny for Best New Age Album, Chris Thile & Michael Daves for Best Bluegrass Album, and World Circuit / Nonesuch Records artists AfroCubism for Best World Music Album. You can hear music from all the nominated albums on the new Nonesuch Radio channel "2011 Grammy Nominees."

  • AfroCubism [cover]
    Wednesday, July 6, 2011
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    AfroCubism Launches North American Tour with "Vivid, Exciting, Piquant" Music (Seattle Times)

    AfroCubism has come to North America for a rare and all too brief four-city tour stopping in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Quebec. The Seattle Times, previewing tonight's tour-opening concert, calls the band's music "vivid, exciting, piquant stuff." The Financial Times gave four stars to the band's recent performance before "a jubilant audience" at Royal Albert Hall in London.

  • AfroCubism group
    Thursday, April 28, 2011
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    AfroCubism Wins Songlines World Music Award

    AfroCubism has won the Cross-Cultural Collaboration category in the 2011 Songlines World Music Awards, which recognize outstanding talent in world music. Songlines Editor-in-Chief Simon Broughton describes the band as a "brilliant collaboration." The band will receive the award at London's Royal Albert Hall on June 27, the start of a European tour. The first announced North American date is July 8 at the Oregon Zoo; more dates will follow.

  • AfroCubism: Live at the Bataclan 2010 [video]
    Friday, January 28, 2011
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    Video: AfroCubism in Concert at the Bataclan in Paris

    AfroCubism, the project featuring some of Mali and Cuba's finest musicians, finally came together 14 years after its conception, resulting in one of the best-reviewed albums of 2010. The band gave a brief tour of North America last fall, followed by a number of shows in Europe. The final show of AfroCubism's 2010 tour took place at the Bataclan in Paris, on December 5, and was captured on video. You can watch the complete concert here.

  • AfroCubism [cover]
    Monday, December 20, 2010
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    AfroCubism Featured on NPR's "All Things Considered"; Makes Boston Globe's Year's Best Lists, As Do David Byrne, The Black Keys

    AfroCubism was featured on NPR's All Things Considered on Sunday. "The group features musicians from Cuba and Mali," says host Guy Raz, "and it's a kind of hybrid of the best sounds from these two musical traditions." Guest Betto Arcos of Global Village says "every song is just fantastic." AfroCubism makes the year's best lists in the Boston Globe, as does David Byrne/Fatboy Slim's Here Lies Love and The Black Keys' Brothers, which tops a Minneapolis Star Tribune list. The Star Tribune 's classical music critic lists Steve Reich's Double Sextet / 2x5 and Gidon Kremer's De Profundis. The Los Angeles Times picks Brad Mehldau's Highway Rider among the best in jazz.

  • AfroCubism [cover]
    Thursday, December 16, 2010
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    AfroCubism Tops AOL Spinner's List of Best World Music Albums of 2010

    AfroCubism has been named to the No. 1 spot on AOL Spinner's list of the Best World Music Albums of 2010, with the site exclaiming: "Clearly, the world music album of the year." Though the album's release comes a decade and a half after its inception, "not only was it worth the wait, but it probably exceeded the potential of the past with an infusion of some vibrant new talent from West Africa." Spinner also names The Black Keys' Brothers among the 30 Best Albums of 2010.

  • AfroCubism [cover]
    Wednesday, December 15, 2010
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    AfroCubism Makes WNYC's "Soundcheck" List of Top 5 World Music Releases of 2010

    AfroCubism has made the list of the Top 5 World Music Releases of 2010 according to WNYC's Soundcheck. Anastasia Tsioulcas, who assembled the list, spoke with the show's host John Schaefer, about her picks, on today's episode. Schaefer describes the album as an "amazing conglomeration of two traditions," to which Tsioulcas concurs: "Absolutely."

  • AfroCubism [cover]
    Tuesday, December 14, 2010
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    AfroCubism Makes Barnes & Noble's Top 10 Albums of 2010; The Black Keys' "Brothers" Among Best in Rock

    "This past year has been good for new music from the more established names in African music," including AfroCubism, says NPR. Indeed, AfroCubism has made Barnes & Noble's list of the Top 10 Albums of any genre for 2010; The Black Keys' Brothers comes in at No. 5 among the best in rock. Brothers and Ali and Toumani, from Ali Farka Touré and AfroCubism's Toumani Diabaté, make The Huffington Post's Top 10 Albums of 2010.

  • AfroCubism: Toumani Diabate, Eliades Ochoa, Bassekou Kouyaye by Lars Opstad
    Tuesday, November 23, 2010
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    AfroCubism Gives Five-Star Performance at the Barbican (Evening Standard); Toumani Diabaté Gives the BBC a Kora Tutorial

    AfroCubism is currently on tour in Europe, where this group of Malian and Cuban greats played a sold-out show at the Barbican in London on Sunday. The Arts Desk called it "one of the most transporting and life-affirming gigs of the year." The Evening Standard gave it a perfect five stars, saying: "The musical links are real and there’s a clear physical delight in throwing round the exuberant solos." Band member Toumani Diabaté gave the BBC World Service a brief tutorial on the kora and how this traditional Malian instrument worked so well with the sounds of Cuba on AfroCubism.

  • fRoots 2010 Best Album Nominees
    Monday, November 22, 2010
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    "fRoots" Best Album Nominees Include Carolina Chocolate Drops, AfroCubism, Ali Farka Touré, Toumani Diabaté, Cheikh Lô

    The nominations are in for the fRoots Critics Poll of Best New Album of 2010, and among them are the Carolina Chocolate Drops and several artists on the World Circuit/Nonesuch roster: AfroCubism, Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté, and Cheikh Lô. This year marks the 25th annual fRoots Critics Poll. The winners will be announced in BBC Radio 3's World on 3 on December 3.

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