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POP MUSIC GOES GLOBAL INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE GROWS AS MUSICAL BARRIERS FALL
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The Blade, POP MUSIC GOES GLOBAL INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCE GROWS AS MUSICAL BARRIERS FALL >>
BY STEVE CORNELIUS BLADE MUSIC CRITIC
Roots music is on the rise. From Jamaican ska to Louisiana zydeco,
and from New York klezmer to Balkan jazz, producers are betting that music buyers are ready to expand their listening palette.
Squeezed by a tough economy and MP3 technology, the recording
industry is being pushed to diversify, says Dmitri Vietze of the
Bloomington, Ind.-based media company Rock Paper Scissors.
"Much of the change is happening beneath the radar, but the
distinction between world music and pop music is quietly breaking down," he said.
(excerpt)
Perhaps the most remarkable album in this collection, and a must for
reggae fans searching for that genre's origin, is "From Paris With Love" (World Village 468017) recorded by the Skatalites, the founding fathers of the modern Jamaican sound.
Formed as a studio band in 1964, the Skatalites ites created the heavy backbeat grooves that would power Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and, for a time in the late 1980s, make reggae the world's most ubiquitous pop music. Five of the band's founding members are still in the group; drummer Lloyd Knibb and bassist Lloyd Brevett have played together nearly six decades.
Their sound couldn't get any tighter. Supremely confident, the
Skatalites recorded this disc the old-fashioned way, without overdubs
and in a single sitting. The blend is party-band rough. Turn up the
volume and it sounds like the band has set up in your living room.
05/25/03
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