Barrio brothers Tropyco and Bombillo, better known as the Sofla Kingz, have released a CD just in time to capitalize on the current Latin explosion in hip-hop and the rising popularity of reggaeton. The Sofla Kingz have previously distributed their mixtapes all over South Florida for free, but this is…
Stone Love Sound System, the trendsetting selector crew who pioneered the practice of pulling Jamaica’s top deejays and singers into the studio to whip up exclusive verses for their sets, will be mashing it up in South Florida this New Year’s Eve. But don’t be fooled. There is a group…
Your goal is to have as much fun as possible with as little static as possible, so South Beach, with its parasitic parking lots, outrageous cover charges, and celebrity peacocks, is out. For your purposes, however, Coconut Grove is in. In the area that surrounds the intersection of McFarlane Road…
A vixen in a halter top and low-rider hot pants catwalks in front of the DJ booth in Coconut Grove’s Oxygen Lounge. She bends over the carpeted partition and, in the one ear Armand Pena has that isn’t covered by his headphones, asks as seductively as she can yell, “Are…
Stenneth “Jah High Towa” Scarlett’s Poor Man Cry is the Miami-based DJ’s first release, a debut in the tradition of Bobo Ashanti/Rastafarian DJs à la Sizzla Kalonji, Capleton, and Anthony B. While the young, Jamaican born DJ makes a spirited effort, the fourteen-track release is a bit disappointing, considering his…
What’s with the name “Art” and jazz musicians? There’s Art Pepper, Art Farmer, Art Tatum, and Art Blakey. Then there’s Miami’s own Arturo Sandoval. A tenured FIU professor who is fluent in jazz, Latin, classical, and popular music styles, the virtuoso trumpeter is a national treasure who has earned four…
Word is that when local downtempo group Agape opened for Federico Aubele last month at I/O, they garnered more attention than the Argentine headliner. The lilting, cherubic chanting of singer-songwriter Nadia Harris and the chameleonic production style of Erick Paredes on their self-released Messenger EP has endeared Agape to knowing…
Thursdays, Oxygen Lounge Armand Pena’s tribal house single Watching Me has held in the top ten most downloaded songs on beatport.com since it dropped October 7. Plus, he’s got more cuts in the hatch from his new label Rhythm Freak, which he named after the moniker he uses for occasional…
Pianist and composer Manuel Valera is not interested in the usual Latin licks over post-bop beats, but in the shape of cubano jazz to come. On his new CD, Forma Nueva, he’s joined by the adventuresome John Patitucci on bass and rim shot master Horacio “El Negro” Hernandez on drums,…
“I’m not sure how much time I have to do an interview,” writes David “Avey Tare” Porter, guitarist for the four-man Brooklyn crew critics are calling the coolest experimental musicians on the scene, in an e-mail. The unofficial guru of the group Animal Collective is sending his message from Iceland,…
Has Morrissey, the man with le voz like rain who brightened up the Eighties with his morose and moody lyrics, gotten conservative in his middle-age? On the cover photo for his latest album, You are the Quarry, he looks quite presidential dressed in a plum pinstriped jacket, designer lavender, and…
Ain’t a damn thing changed about Brand Nubian, so step to the rear. Sadat X’s tangy treble is still shriller than the top cock’s. Grand Puba still gets busier than a undertaker. Lord Jamar shaved his locks, but the Nubian still spits fire like a Rastafarian. And don’t forget Alamo…
The Miami Jazz Party hosts Grammy-winning songstress Cheryl Bentyne at the Barbara Gillman Gallery. With her crystalline high notes, and frisky, teasing tone, the redheaded Manhattan Transfer soprano and husband/keyboardist Corey Allen are sure to induce a sentimental mood. The gallery itself is cozy as a friend’s living room. Gracing…
It’s so easy to be jaded when you’ve heard all the great jazz of the twentieth century and can sing Miles Davis’s solo on “So What” in your sleep. It takes a really special artist to snap you out of your nostalgia, forcing you to hear fresh things. Enter Grammy…
