34 RECENT FLAMENCO ALBUMS - ESSENTIAL LISTENING LINK TO FLAMENCO ALBUMS WEBPAGE LINK TO SPOTIFY PLAYLIST Spain is surely one of the most musical places of them all and Flamenco is a cultural jewel of Spain. Originating in Andalusia, southern Spain, in the 18th century, flamenco emerged as a unique art form deeply influenced by the region's diverse cultural heritage, blending Romani, Moorish, Jewish, and Andalusian folk traditions. Over time, flamenco evolved into a globally celebrated performance art, encompassing singing (cante), guitar playing (toque), and dance (baile), accompanied by rhythmic hand-clapping (palmas) and finger-snapping (pitos). Its ability to convey deep emotions and narrate stories of struggle, love, and resilience has made flamenco a powerful symbol of cultural identity. For much of its history, flamenco thrived as a subculture among society's underprivileged, serving as an outlet for the poor and oppressed. This marginalization likely influenced its initial lack of instrumental accompaniment, as the impoverished performers could not afford guitars. Instead, flamenco developed as a familial tradition, shared during intimate gatherings such as weddings, christenings, and secret parties, where its techniques and styles were passed down through generations. It wasn't until the latter half of the 19th century that flamenco began to transition into a public performance art. The rise of the café cantante (precursors to modern flamenco tablaos) in Andalusia, and later Madrid, marked a significant turning point. This period, known as the Golden Age of Flamenco, also saw the introduction of the flamenco guitar as a standard instrument. The master luthier Antonio de Torres Jurado revolutionized its design to suit flamenco's dynamic needs, enhancing its volume to compete with the powerful voices of the cantaores (singers) and the percussive footwork of the bailaores (dancers). He achieved this by enlarging the guitar's body and using lighter woods, such as cypress, instead of rosewood. By the early 20th century, however, the popularity of the café cantante waned, and flamenco transitioned into larger venues like theaters and bullrings during the era of Ópera Flamenca. The Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) and the subsequent Franco dictatorship posed significant challenges to flamenco's survival. The Catholic Church condemned the art form as immodest, and informal performances were prohibited. In the 1950s, however, the Franco regime shifted its stance, recognizing flamenco's potential as a cultural symbol to attract international tourism. A marketing campaign promoting Spain as the land of exotic flamenco dancers proved highly successful, drawing millions of visitors and fueling an economic boom in the 1960s. By the time Franco's dictatorship ended in 1975, flamenco was deeply embedded in Spain's national identity. In 2010, UNESCO declared flamenco an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, recognizing its rich history, emotional depth, and cultural significance. From its humble beginnings as a voice for the marginalized to its status as a global symbol of Spanish culture, flamenco remains a testament to the resilience and creativity of the human spirit. Musical Structure and Styles Flamenco music is characterized by its intricate rhythms, expressive melodies, and improvisational nature. It comprises various palos (styles), each with unique rhythmic patterns, themes, and emotional tones. Common palos include the melancholic soleá, the festive alegrías, the dramatic seguiriya, and the lively bulerías. The singer (cantaor) plays a central role in flamenco, delivering soul-stirring lyrics that often explore themes of love, death, poverty, and the human spirit. These lyrics are deeply poetic, rooted in oral traditions, and typically sung with raw intensity. Guitar Spanish virtuoso Paco de Lucia can largely be credited with awakening the world to the mysterious power of the strong and proud emblem of Andalusia that is the flamenco guitar. A payo (non-gypsy) from Algeciras, he revolutionized the instrument at the end of the twentieth century and aside from his own illustrious career, inspired a new generation of gifted artists, who have carried flamenco into the 21st century.Flamenco guitarists employ techniques like rasgueado (strumming), picado (plucking), and golpe (tapping the guitar body) to create intricate, percussive soundscapes. The dancers (bailaores or bailaoras) add a visual dimension, using their body movements, footwork, and facial expressions to interpret the music's emotional depth.

SunNeverSetsOnMusic invites you to sample the magic of Tanjazz again this year - imagining the atmosphere inside the Palais des Institutions Italiennes - and between sessions, a great meal of seafood, pasta and pizza with a bottle of Terres Rouges at the Casa d'Italia. Tanjazz is the annual festival of Jazz in Morocco's northernmost city of Tangier. The lineup of performers goes to new high level this year as it brings the music of Northern Africa and Andalusian Spain together with the improvisational dynamics of Jazz. Omar Sosa | Maalem Majid Bekkas - The festival will open with an unprecedented collaboration between Cuban music maestro Omar Sosa's Afro Cubano Quarteto and Maalem Majid Bekkas' Afro Gnaoua Blues Trio. Mulatu Astatke - the father of Ethiopian jazz, a percussionist and arranger at heart, who will revisit the most famous titles from his discography. Hoba Hoba Spirit - a multilingual mainstay of the Moroccan scene of the past two decades, blending gnaoua and rock Maalem Hamid Al Kasri - One of Morocco's best known Gnaoua Masters, fusing jazz, reggae, rock with Guembri rhythms. Keziah Jones - Nigerian singer-songwriter, the master of "Blufunk" - a fusion of blues, funk and African rhythms Gypsy Kings - originally formed in France, they rose to global fame playing a blood-stirring blend of Catalan, rumba, flamenco, salsa and pop. Urban Folklore - a Moroccan group known for its rearrangements of jazz standards mixing progressive rock with rhythmic rhythms with exotic sounds Nirek Mokar - the French pianist nicknamed the "Little Prince of Boogie" is a talented musician who captivates all audiences with his style of blending swing, blues and rock’n’ roll. Lazcar Volcano - French artists mixing ancestral songs (Maloya, Samba, Son Cubano) with urban rebellion (Hip Hop, Afro Beat, Funk). Roberto Fonseca & La Gran Diversion - Buena Vista Social Club (Cuba) virtuoso and former pianist bringing the lively nights of the 1930s Cuban Cabin to the stage. Sugarpie & the Candymen - another French band, led by the radiant voice of Lara Ferrari, have been enchanting Europe for over 10 years with a warm blend of jazz swing and rhythm’n blues. Wax & Boogie - a quintet from Barcelona led by singer Ster Wax and pianist David Giorcelli, accompanied by Drew Davies on saxophone, passionately revisits the boogie of the 30s, the swing of the 40s and the rhythm'n blues of the 50s. Léon Phal - a rising-star French-Swiss saxophonist LINKS TO TANJAZZ 22nd EDITION, 2024 PREVIOUS FESTIVALS TANJAZZ 22nd EDITION, 2023 The festival was cancelled in 2023, following the devastating earthquake in Al Haouz province, south west of Marrakesh, in central Morocco. TANJAZZ 21st EDITION, 2022 The Festival was not held in 2020 and 2021 due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. TANJAZZ 20th EDITION 2019

In addition to their "mainstream' careers in pop, jazz and classical music, some of the most prolific and innovative contemporary composers are also hard at work in the parallel universe of computer games. Here are some of our favourite albums in this genre, released in the past year. 2023's Best Game Soundtracks Final Fantasy XVI - 祖堅 正慶, Soken Masayoshi The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom - Manaka Kataoka, Maasa Miyoshi, Masato Ohashi, and Tsukasa Usui, with Hajime Wakai Under the Waves - Nicolas Bredin Alan Wake II - Fried Music, Various Finnish Artists Starfield - Inon Zur Planet of Lana - 古川 毅, Takeshi Furukawa Hi-Fi Rub - Masatoshi Yanagi, Various Artists Baldur's Gate 3 - Borislav Slavov Lies of P - Yeakun Yoo Octopath Traveler II - 西木 康智, Yasunori Nishiki

We hear some of our best music at the movies and on TV and they often expose us to music that we'd otherwise never hear. Here is our selection of the most outstanding soundtracks from the past year. 2023 Year's Best Film Soundtracks BEEF - Bobby Krlic Rye Lane - kwes. Saltburn - Anthony Willis, London Contemporary Orchestra Kagami - Ryuichi Sakamoto Killers of the Flower Moon - Robbie Robertson The Boy and the Heron - Joe Hisaishi Oppenheimer - Ludwig Goransson Maestro - Leonard Bernstein Marbie - Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt Poor Things - Jerskin Fendrix Ferrari - Daniel Pemberton The Killer - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Past Lives - Christopher Bear, Daniel Rosen A Haunting in Venice - Hilda Guðnadóttir The Boys in the Boat - Alexandre Desplat The Crown: Season Six - Martin Phipps Cassandro - Marcelo Zarvos Big George Foreman - Marcelo Zarvos May December - Michel Legrand Master Gardener - Devonte Hynes Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One - Lorne Balfe Knock at the Cabin - Herdís Stefánsdóttir Infinity Pool - Tim Hecker Asteroid City - Various Artists Polite Society - Tom Howe, Shez Manzoor Nitin Sawhney - What's Love Got To Do With It?

Happy New Year everyone! As we do every year, we've combed our monthly playlists for the past 12 months for all the five star reviews (almost exactly 100, as it turns out) and created our "BEST OF" playlist for 2023. It's an impressive lineup that we're sure we'll come back to throughout the coming year(s). We hope you do too! Click to connect to 2023 YEAR'S BEST ALBUMS playlists Click to connect to 2023 YEAR'S BEST ALBUMS playlists

Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist Gordon Lightfoot (17 November, 1938 – 1 May 2023) achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music and is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s. Lightfoot was the first in a generation of Canadian singer-songwriters that included Cohen, Mitchell, Young, Sainte-Marie, Robertson, Cockburn, lang, Morissette, Sexsmith, McGarrigle, Feist, McLachlan, Adams, Furtado, Lavigne and others. Lightfoot's career and reputation soared to great heights in the decade from 1966 to 1976, when most of his albums received critical praise and commercial success. Subsequently, his output became less frequent. As many other similar artists lit up the scene with more dynamic alternatives to Lightfoot's familiar baritone voice and folk-based twelve-string acoustic guitar routine perceived as middle-of-the road. In 2002 Lightfoot underwent emergency surgery following a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. This delayed the recording and release Harmony, his 20th original album, which he had mostly recorded prior to his illness) until 2004. Further misfortunes followed - a minor stroke in 2006, that temporarily left him without the use of the middle and ring fingers on his right hand, the death of his manager Barry Harvey in 2007 and a death hoax (which he quickly dispelled) in 2010. Nevertheless, Lightfoot continued to tour, particularly in US, Canada and UK. Harmony would be Lightfoot's penultimate album. It was generally well received, but paled in comparison with his early classics. His last album Solo (2020), made up from demos that dated back to 2001, was similarly well received, especially as Lightfoot returned a stripped-back production that was reminiscent of his early recordings.

If you are not familiar with the name of Karl Berger, you are not alone. Sadly, I only became aware of this exceptional man by reading of his recent passing in the NYT. Karl Hans Berger (March 30, 1935 – April 9, 2023) was a German-American jazz pianist, vibraphonist, composer, educator, and musical thinker. With Ingrid Sertso (his wife) and trumpeter Ornette Coleman, Berger co-founded the Creative Music Foundation (1971) and Creative Music Studio (1972), a premier study center for contemporary creative music during the 1970s and 1980s; it closed in 1984. Based in Woodstock, New York, the Foundation and Studio brought together students and leading innovators in the jazz and world music communities. Unprecedented in its range and diversity, CMS has provided participants with an opportunity to interact personally with musical giants of improvisation and musical thought. The Foundation's advisory board included John Cage, Gil Evans, Buckminster Fuller and Willem de Kooning. Mr. Berger was a pianist and vibraphonist who performed and recorded with leading jazz musicians including Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, John McLaughlin, Carla Bley, Anthony Braxton, Jack DeJohnette, Pharoah Sanders, Dave Brubeck and Lee Konitz, among many others. The Studio's teaching alumni includes Cherry, Braxton, DeJohnette, John Cage, Steve Lacy, George Russell, Richard Teitelbaum, Cecil Taylor and Dave Holland. However, Berger also leaves behind an impressive discography that is well worth a listen. I've compiled a playlist of just four of his richly collaborative albums for our enjoyment.

The Queen has left the stage, but her songs will forever be sung. Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) We commemorate a career that began in the nightclubs of St Louis in 1957 and soon after joining Ike Turner's band. Over the next 15 years, Ike & Tina Turner released a string of hit albums and singles, including "River Deep - Mountain High," "Proud Mary," and "Nutbush City Limits." They toured extensively, and they became known for their energetic live performances. However, Turner's personal life was not as successful as her professional life. She was in an abusive relationship with Ike, and she finally left him in 1976. Turner filed for divorce in 1978, and the divorce was finalized in 1979. After leaving Ike, Turner began a successful solo career. She released her first solo album, "Rough," in 1978. The album was a critical and commercial success, and it spawned the hit singles "What's Love Got to Do with It" and "Better Be Good to Me." Turner continued to release successful albums throughout the 1980s and 1990s. She also starred in several films, including "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" and "What's Love Got to Do with It?" (the latter of which was a biographical film about her life). In 2000, Turner announced her retirement from music. However, she returned to the stage in 2008 for a series of sold-out shows in Europe. She continued to tour and perform until 2013, when she announced her final tour. In addition to her musical achievements, Turner has also been active in philanthropy. She is a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations, and she has worked to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and other global issues. Tina Turner is a true icon of music. She has inspired generations of fans with her powerful vocals, energetic performances, and glamorous style. She is a role model for women everywhere, and her story is one of triumph over adversity.

Shuhada' Sadaqat | Sinéad O'Connor (8 December 1966 – 26 July 2023) fearless | angelic | idealist | provocateur | vulnerable | determined | uncompromising | flawed | spiritual | profane | haunted | inspired | abused | generous | dangerous | poetic | enfant terrible | original | irreplaceable In This Heart from "Universal Mother" Chrysalis Records 1994 In this heart lies for you A lark born only for you Who sings only to you My love My love My love I am waiting for you For only to adore you My heart is for you My love My love My love This is my grief for you For only the loss of you The hurting of you My love My love My love There are rays on the weather Soon these tears will have cried All loneliness have died My love My love My love I will have you with me In my arms only For you are only My love My love My love PLAYLIST LINK HERE OR ON IMAGE

Wayne Shorter (August 25, 1933 – March 2, 2023) American jazz saxophonist and composer. Wayne Shorter appeared in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Davis's second quintet and then co-founded the jazz fusion band Weather Report. He recorded over 20 albums as a bandleader and leaves behind a library of jazz standards that place him among the very greatest players of all time. Click on the image to link to a playlist of five of my favourite Wayne Shorter recordings: Speak No Evil (1966) A lyrical offering with a little help from his friends Elvin Jones (drums), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass) and Freddie Hubbard (trumpet) The Classic Blue Note Recordings (2011) The title says it all: this is about the best compact collection available of Shorter's classic period recording for this iconic label. Introducing Wayne Shorter (1959) - His first recording as a bandleader, already a unique presence on sax. Bitches Brew (with Miles Davis Quintet, 1970) A seminal album in jazz history, Bitches Brew defined the jazz-rock fusion. His partners in crime included Joe Zawinul (organ), Airto Moreira (cuica, percussion), John McLaughlin (guitars), Chick Corea (electric piano), Jack DeJohnette (drums), Dave Holland (bass), Don Alias (congas, drums, percussion), Bennie Maupin (bass clarinet), Larry Young (electric piano), and Lenny White (drums). Heavy Weather (with Weather Report, 1977) Another jazz-rock fusion album, this time in company with Joe Zawinul, Jaco Pastorius (bass), Alex Acuna (drums) and Manolo Badrena (percussion).

Ryuichi Sakamoto (17 January, 1952 – 28 March, 2023) Japanese composer, record producer, actor, solo artist and one of three members of Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO), Ryuichi Sakamoto was an influential and inspiring innovator and musical pioneer of synthesised pop music, electro and techno in the 1970's and 1980's, who then turned to and mastered the full range of musical media including scores for Films, Television Series and Video Games Scores. His collaborations ranged from the likes of filmmakers Bernardo Bertolucci, Pedro Almodóvar, Brian De Palma and Oliver Stone, pop musicians David Bowie, Iggy Pop and David Byrne, David Sylvian, Brian Wilson and Youssou N'Dour, Can’s Holger Czukay, experimental trumpeter Jon Hassell to installation works with Visual Artists. His work in recent years (the album async in 2017, and 12 in 2023 remained faithful to the experimental edge he had cultured throughout his career. His solo output was extensive: 21 Studio Albums, 11 Live Albums, 15 Compilation Albums, 6 Video Albums, 48 Soundtrack Albums and 3 EP's. With YMO, almost as prolific: 9 Studio Albums, 15 Live Albums, 10 Compilation Albums and 23 singles. He was recognised in avant garde and popular music, and showered with Awards, most notably winning an Academy Award for "The Last Emperor", a BAFTA Award ("Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence"), two Golden Globe Awards ("The Last Emperor ", "The Sheltering Sky" and a Grammy ("The Last Emperor")

Astrud Gilberto (born Astrud Evangelina Weinert (29 March 1940 – 5 June 2023) was a Brazilian samba and bossa nova singer and songwriter, best known for her interpretation of the the immortal Antonio Carlos Jobim song "The Girl from Ipanema". Her 1977 album "That Girl From Ipanema" has been part of my vinyl collection since its release and her 1964 collaboration with the great tenor saxophonist Stan Getz is timeless - his tone and her malencholy voice, so incredibly complementary. Her early solo albums are still mesmerising. Samba. Samba. Samba.