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6:56am

Thu October 4, 2012
Tiny Desk Concerts

Antibalas: Tiny Desk Concert

Originally published on Thu October 4, 2012 6:19 pm

Credit Ryan Smith / NPR

There just aren't many bands like Antibalas. These are jazz players making dance music: Their music is big and fun, and their guiding spirit is Fela Kuti, the brilliant big-band leader and Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer. Afrobeat is a musical style featuring nearly endless songs, mixing funk and jazz, grooves and riffs, with the rhythm carried by not only the drums, but everyone. Everyone — horn players, bass players, guitarists — plays rhythm in Afrobeat music.

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3:29pm

Wed October 3, 2012
Music Reviews

A Ska And Jazz Innovator Bridges Continents And Decades

Originally published on Wed October 3, 2012 7:19 pm

Guitarist Ernest Ranglin is an elder statesman of Jamaican music. A self-styled composer and improviser, he has traveled and collaborated widely during his 80 years. In California last year, he teamed up with three much younger musicians from South Africa, the U.S. and Israel. The four musicians bonded and quickly recorded an album, named for the San Francisco street where they rehearsed: Avila.

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3:24pm

Wed October 3, 2012
The Record

Welcome To Jay-Z's Brooklyn

Originally published on Thu December 6, 2012 9:51 am

Last Friday two things changed. The shifts weren't seismic, or unexpected, but now Brooklyn is different and hip-hop is different. It's because of Jay-Z, who, despite owning only 0.067% of the Nets and less than 0.2% of the Barclays Center, has become the public face of Brooklyn – not the team, the town.

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