Hey Joe Henderson! What we got here: Moving through the cycle, starting with early, hot jazz from Illinois Jacquet; a brisk blues from the Duke and his orchestra (Paul Gonsalves’ tenor sax goes all tough and bluesy); to the chillest Miles Davis trumpet and funereal accompaniment from the soundtrack ‘Elevator to the Gallows’: he meets the occasion. What you hear next is a lengthy cut by Keith Jarrett, hypnotic in its repeated bass line and vivacious clean living on the keyboard. A couple of tempo changes serve to highlight a sax entry and the rhythm section once more – all in all, 12 minutes well spent. And then there’s even more... not that the other major talents in this week’s playlist don’t merit their own brief but succinct (?) evaluation from yours truly.  Alas, it’s just that I’m suddenly thinking that an attempt to define a jazz tune and translate its meaning into words. It's a Sisyphean task! When at the SF Museum of Modern Art, I read the descriptive cards alongside works ...

Today’s focus is on Morocco and Algeria, two centrally-located countries from what in Arabic is called “al-Maghreb”, or literally “where the sun sets.” This North African area is the Western-most region of the Arab world and stretches from Western Sahara to Libya. The population consists mainly of Arabic and Amazigh-speakers. The term “Amazigh” has replaced the former “Berber”, referring to the indigenous races of the area, and Wikipedia explains just why: “The term "Berber" comes from the Greek word "barbaros," meaning "barbarian," used by Romans to describe non-Greek speakers. Berbers themselves identify as Amazigh, meaning "free people". It is quite easy to see why the latter designation was preferred over the former. The music from both groups shares much in common and yet stylistic distinctions exist. Out of the fourteen tunes presented here, five are from Amazigh musicians: the artists Bilal Mohri (and friends), Ait Menguellet, Oudaden and ...

  Back by popular demand, or perhaps by my lack of ingenuity, are tunes from long ago that begged to be heard yet again. It’s typically challenging, rewarding, even fun, to search for a theme and an hour’s worth of fulfillment while putting together the weekly Al compas del mundo radio show. Skimming from the 40,000+ titles on my portable mp3-filled hard drive, augmented by choices from every musical notion ever recorded off YouTube, I somehow manage to come up with a new concept and fresh songs on a weekly basis. There are times, though, when the creative aura slips and the temptation to just take it easy breaks through and ”back by popular demand” becomes the go-to theme. And who doesn’t want to hear South African group, The Movers, extoll the (admittedly limited) virtues of Soweto; the Littles doing their version of Iranian garage band rock; Johnny Otis band’s sultry version of “Harlem Nocturne;” or for old-time’s sake, peeling the banana of our imagination with David Rose’s “Th...

  As in most every corner of the globe, recent music from Cuba relies heavily on hip-hop beats, with its phrasing and attitude. So be it. The global cultural milieu shrinks further every day. Maybe more so than in other places, however, youthful Cuban musicians find inspiration and reward in following in the footsteps of their elders. The revered and time-honored genres of son, guaguanco, rumba, danzon and many others are reinvented today with the addition of personal and stylistic touches that create a healthy dose of fertile  Cubanismo . In this week’s Al compas del mundo radio playlist you’re to hear a little of both, the elders and the current generation. While I tried to alternate the new with the old, it’s rarely apparent that those songs recorded in the last twenty years are not, in fact, throwbacks from an earlier era. And for this program curator, highlighting that continuity is precisely the intent. Al compás del mundo  #179, la música de Cuba, 5-8-25   0...

  Choosing music and writing about “the guitar” opens many doors. I could have gone off in any number of directions and with a singular narrow focus - but I didn’t. Instead, I threw a whole bunch of varied tunes against a wall to see which ones stuck. Sometimes there’s a continuity and other times none: just two aesthetically pleasing pieces that worked well in tandem and, hopefully, were preceded and followed with similar morsels. Usually, that is how these programs come together. I receive a divinely inspired revelation for a certain theme, region, or style of music and build it from there. Baden Powell, Brazilian beatnik poet and guitar master, seemed to me an obvious choice to begin the program. From there (as you can well see) we stick around Latin America a bit; segue into Spain, notorious as a guitar hotbed; head South to North Africa for the venerable Bombino (yes, again!) and more of that desert blues ilk; logically morph into a short blues set and settle at the bottom sid...