Guarco’s new video “Que Paso” is being featured on YouTube Music today!

Guarco was born to Uruguayan and Italian parents in Elizabeth, NJ. Growing up in both that immigrant-rich industrial city, and the small beach town of San Luis, Uruguay, he acquired an eclectic taste in music.

Guarco spent years experimenting with a 4-track tape machine creating a vast collection of sonic collages, dense reggae loops, wild drum-machine drones, and flowing psychedelic delayscapes. At 21, Guarco decided to go back to Montevideo, Uruguay to study folklore guitar, and to write new material for what would be his debut release.

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Concert review: Spoek Mathambo – hitting the world hard with his take on Afro-futurism

Venue:  Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park (NY)
Date: August 7, 2011
Concert reviewed by Ravish Momin

“Where’s Spoek?”, my cousin Alap asked.  Nobody knew.  We’ve tracked back a few years to when Spoek’s band Playdoe was providing tour-support for Dalek in Europe.  It was Playdoe’s first European tour, and apparently the boys had gone a bit wild!  “We’d almost considered asking the tour manager to replace them!” Alap joked outside Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park.
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Asphalt Orchestra – the avant-garde “street” jazz group at Lincoln Center (NY)

Date: Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Venue: Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center
Concert review by Sarah Rayani

On a very rainy evening, under an awning at Lincoln Center’s Alice  Tully Hall, the Asphalt Orchestra delighted and surprised a group of  about 100 soggy New Yorkers. I came to hear about the avant-garde “street” jazz group through Sunny  Jain, one of their 3 percussionists. Jain is a Punjabi American-born  drummer, dhol player and composer who seamlessly fuses the two styles  he grew up listening to — Jazz and Indian music. In addition to being  a member of the Asphalt Orchestra and his own Sunnay Jain Quartet, he  plays in a Baraat group – traditionally a North Indian wedding  processional band – called Red Baraat.

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CD review: Kristjan Järvi’s Absolute Ensemble performing their version of “Arabian Nights” in NY

Artist: Kristjan Järvi’s Absolute Ensemble
Title: Arabian Nights: Live at Town Hall NYC
Label: Enja Rec (Germany)
Cat.#:  ENJ-9571 2
Genre:  a melding of Middle Eastern musical genres with Western musical genres including jazz, rock, and contemporary classical, as a post-September 11 statement of unity

Reviewed by Leo Volf

Within moments of listening to Arabian Nights, the term world  music instantly springs to mind. The title of the album definitely gives the listener an idea of what part of the world he’s listening  to, but to simply categorize the music as an “east meets west” collaboration would be a great disservice to everyone involved. The list of influences seems quite eclectic and the ensemble executes the  ideas with great ease. At certain points, members of the ensemble can’t help but to put their own personal stamp on the music. Matt Herskowitz’s light piano fills on “Amr I Bismiki” are a perfect  example. Certainly, one would not find a jazz pianist in a traditional  Middle Eastern ensemble, but the in the case of the Absolute Ensemble  the mix is quite natural and almost seems necessary. And all of this  was recorded at one of the most respected acoustic environments in New  York  City, Town Hall.

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