Riba Dempel - Popular Dance Music of Curaçao 1950-1954 (OTB03)
Lovingly restored and extensively annotated not only is [Riba Dempel] a delicious compilation of songs but also a fascinating insight into a bygone era… there is music here of a high level.
De Volkskrant
Another piece of the puzzle shows up: the music of Curaçao runs the Caribbean, using its own local rhythms along with copious quantities of son from Cuba and music from Venezuela…it's a model of how historical recordings should be treated.
Descarga.com
…A truly fantastic compilation of music from curaçao 1950-54… it is a mega deep exploration of rare old 78's that form the golden age of the recording history of curaçao…
There is some totally incredible music here, in fact it is a complete revelation, superb vocals, sharp compositions and snappy arrangements…Apart from the perfectly chosen tracks there is a comprehensive booklet with the full history of the music, the musicians and main players…'Riba Dempel' is going to echo around my life a lot in the coming year and beyond, it is an essential listen because of the quality of the music and also the ability to put curaçao music into it's proper position in the history of Caribbean music.
The Beat
Mais l'attrait indéniable de cas deux remisassions tient assurément à l'etrargoté du dialecte utilisé, le papiamentu, formidable créolisation à basa d'anglais, d'espagnol, de portugais et de néerlandais dont la richesse musical est un enchantement. Et outre, il faut saluer le travail éditorial d'Otrabanda, notamment la haute tenue des livrets qui sont à eux seuls des modèles chose sur ce petit pays si discret. Les amateurs de musiques caraïbes ne devraient pas passer à côté de ces deux réalisations épatantes.
Vibrations [Bendishon disfrasá & Riba Dempel]
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Serenada Flor di amor (OTB 04)
With Flor di amor, Serenada presents various combinations that experiment with the harmonies, rhythms and music styles of their culture … the old spirits of Willemstad have not stopped speaking…
Pleasure Caribbean & Latin
A fresh musical breeze from the Caribbean… lyrical, with an unmistakable lilt and a distinctive fusion of elements from the island's past with those of today's Caribbean and adjacent Latin American coastline… Serenada close the album with a profound African-style blues about a year of misery and poverty, sung by an unnamed artist as powerful as Virginia Rodrigues or Cesaria Evora.
Songlines
Their polyphonic arrangements resonate with the work of Cuba's Vocal Sampling and Grupo Vocal Desandann.
Froots
... this 10-piece group merges smooth group choral arrangements with percussion and sparse guitar/cuatro/bass accompaniment, often reinventing Papiamento folk classics of an earlier era and revealing the African, European and regional Caribbean ingredients that over the decades and centuries have gone into shaping the music… these always understated and beautiful harmonies…are at times punctuated with the kind of vocal onomatopoeia that one might expect to hear from Lady Blacksmith Mombazo.
The Beat
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Peregoyo y su Combo Vacaná - El Rey del Currulao (OTB05)
Colombia's Atlantic coast has long been a fertile breeding ground for new musical styles: cumbia and vallenato are just two of the region's well known exports. But, separated by the isthmus of Panama, the Pacific coast has plenty to offer as well. Take Enrique Urbano Tenioro, a.k.a. Peregoyo, the 87-year-old pioneer of currulao, the rollicking, African derived dance music that grew up in the Pacific port city of Buenaventura. Peregoyo may be familiar to salsa aficionados for his 1970s contributions to salsa typical, but at home he and his Combo Vacaná are best known for this irresistible carnival music. This rootsy set, their first new recording in more than 30 years, combines call-and-response vocals with blaring, salsa-style trumpets, a chugging sax and a battery of funky hand-percussion instruments (driven primarily by the implacable guaracha scraper). Lyrically, the songs offer joyous shoutouts to such coastal pleasures as women, iguanas, and dog soup. Still, scorchers like "La Tintoretta" and "Mi Timbiqui" make El Rey del Currulao well worth the 30-year wait.
Global Rhythm
Thirty years later, on "El rey del currulao" this renowned Colombian orchestra carry on like a band of exuberant young dogs. Their mix of African rhythm with a sharp Latin touch still remains irresistible. Driving dance music characterized by a buoyant simplicity sprinkled with rippling sax solos… At the same time this comeback album illustrates the mix of styles that a creolized country like Colombia yields. Yet Peregoyo refers to the currulao-style as 'the mother of all local rhythms. Peregoyo has even managed to transform the Duke Ellington standard 'Caravan' into a spine tingling Latin hit. This is an unrelenting dance album that can play on all summer long.
Trouw
This new release constitutes a superb introduction to the contemporary configuration of Afro-Colombian music.
Froots
…raw, rootsy currulao feel… the CD comes with excellent liner notes in Spanish and English…It's worth getting just for the final track, a reworking of Duke Ellington's 'Caravan' with a guitar intro that Ry Cooder would be proud of.
Songlines
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Kofi Ayivor - Rhythmology (OTB06)
Rhythmology is a groove feast, amply showing Ayivor's punch-packing might on assorted hand percussions as well as drum set…in addition to being a highly skilled and gracious player, Ayivor was and is very much an innovator…there's an African pulse flowing through everything on this celebratory disc…so dance, play along or simply listen. It's a first- rate party to which all are invited.
(World Music Central.org)
Kofi Ayivor is clearly a technically great percussionist; Rhythmology demonstrates that he's also a versatile musical explorer with some tremendously creative ideas.
(Songlines)
This survey of his contains a wealth of breathtakingly dexterous, varied and expressive drumming.
(De Volkskrant)
A master drummer and percussionist, Kofi Ayivor is another heavyweight of African music…There is not a corner of the world his music has not touched, and we can finally say this is a true 'world 'musician…Enjoy and remember - this is one of the legends of the past.
(BBC 3 - African on your street)
The album is dynamic, busy, vivid and - some achievement this, on drums, - paints a warm, humane picture of the artist.
(Froots)
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