Before its association with elevators and beige dinner parties, jazz was all about making people dance with a sense of rebellion, similar to what rock and hip-hop later became known for. Fifteen years since their first recording, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble still prove that safe doesn’t have to be an option...
Tag Archives: US
Not that music has lost its ability to surprise us, but to be honest, we are rarely struck as much as when we listen to a new release from The Budos Band. Despite the fact that the Staten Island musicians have been successfully blending Afrobeat with jazz, soul with metal,...
![Album Review: The Last Poets – Understanding What Dub Is [Studio Rockers; March 2019]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/lastpoetsunderstanddubcover-335x335.jpg)
The Last Poets need no introduction, yet I find myself being reintroduced to them through their album Understanding What Dub Is (released by Studio Rockers). With their origins in Harlem in the late 1960s and the early hip-hop community, their spoken-word poetry, merged with political activism, is a sound that has...
Antibalas bring the energy of afrobeat and jazz, and the fire of funk and dub, modelled from Fela Kuti’s band, Africa 70. The afrobeat orchestra are celebrating their twentieth year as a band on Daptone Records at London’s Jazz Cafe. Although well versed in their original songs, which blend all...
Yasiin Bey, better known by his former performer name Mos Def, is a fundamental pillar of classic hip-hop. Yasiin has been featured on countless records and has produced four studio albums, the latest of these is his 2009 album The Ecstatic, which he will give a full live rendition during...
We’ve partnered with Groovalizacion Radio to bring you a monthly collection of the best world music-related videos. That’s our way to give value to too often overlooked, rich and diverse artistic expressions. Listen with your eyes! Watch the full playlist:
![Album Review: Out of Nations – Quest [Riverboat Records; August 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/outofnationsquestcover-335x335.jpg)
To understand and fully appreciate Out of Nations’ sound, you first need to have a look at their passports and read about their backgrounds. A 7-piece ensemble based in Berlin, with members coming from the US, Egypt, Greece, Belgium and Austria with experiences in Lebanon and Norway, and collaborating with...
We are pretty excited to welcome back Rhythm Passport On Air, our monthly podcast series in collaboration with SOAS Radio, endeavouring to update you on the world music world. The first episode of the revamped program boasts an interview with Songhoy Blues bandleader, which took place a few days before...
To be fair, Vula Viel are a blessing for a music scene like the London one, obsessed with coolness and what being cool implies. They simply play what they like, how they like it. Paraphrasing the title of their upcoming album, they’re not afraid, they can afford to be natural....
![Album Review: Akua Naru – The Blackest Joy [The Urban Era; April 2018]](http://www.rhythmpassport.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/akuanarublackest-335x335.jpeg)
Akua Naru released her third album, The Blackest Joy, on 27th April 2018 on The Urban Era label. Growing up in Connecticut, Naru was originally influenced by gospel sounds from the Pentecostal church. From the age of nine, however, she was introduced to hip hop by her uncle despite secular...
