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Joseph Israel
If the beauty of reggae lies in the voice of the Rastaman, then Joseph Israel’s voice may surprise you. The white reggae singer, who was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and currently resides in Fayetteville, Arkansas, breezes through his tunes like a true-blooded Jamaican, but away from the mic his excitable, energetic speech hovers somewhere between SoCal cool and Vermont hippie.
By Matt Scheiner

Dobet Gnahoré
We’re so familiar with many of the major African names, from Youssou N’Dour to Thomas Mapfumo, it’s easy to forget that a whole other generation is rapidly coming of age behind them. Dobet Gnahoré from the Ivory Coast whose recent second album, Na Afriki, marks her as one who’s already arrived, bearing a masterful slice of Afropop whose influences draw from across the continent.

By Chris Nickson

Carolina Chocolate Drops
When the Carolina Chocolate Drops take the stage, they’re staking out a spot in a lineage that was old when their mothers and fathers were young. Though somewhat dormant for the past several decades, the old-time black string band is on the cusp of a revival, spearheaded by a host of young, determined and historically aware performers like the Chocolate Drops.
By John Seroff

Cruachan
Like folk music, metal is the life-soundtrack of a tightly knit community, so it’s not surprising that metal bands in various countries have lately been blending the amp-frying guitars and thunderous drums of their genre with the native traditional sounds their parents and grandparents heard and played. The Irish band Cruachan has been doing this for some time The Morrigan’s Call is its fourth, and most accomplished album.
By Phil Freeman

Radio Zumbido
Radio Zumbido is the performing alias of a programmer and multi-instrumentalist from Guatemala via Barcelona, Berlin and Los Angeles named Juanka. He’s just released his second album, Pequeño Transistor de Feria, on the indie label Quatermass, following a 2003 debut, Los Ultimos Días del AM, on Palm Pictures.
By Phil Freeman

Angelique Kidjo
Angelique Kidjo brings a massive presence—spontaneous, wide-eyed grins, fireball hips and an utterly goliath-sized voice—to the stage every time she performs. But standing in her Brooklyn apartment, dwarfed by both her Parisian husband Jean Hebrail and their 13-year-old daughter Naima, the African singer seems to shrink, in both stature and demeanor. For the moment, anyhow.
By Wes Orshoski

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