Music

No, he’s not a DJ, though he does spin vinyl, which he usually has to borrow because he deals in CDs and engineered beats. No, he’s not into the club scene or making it past the velvet rope, though he currently spins at hot spot Blue. Nah, for James Wagner…

Lucky us: The pull of the Latin music industry means we can count among us monsters of song like Cuban crooner Francisco “Pancho” Cespedes, who moved from Mexico to Miami Beach this year. Fortunate were clubgoers who caught his show at Club Tropigala or his impromptu guest appearances at Radical,…

Okay, so it’s not a rap group. It’s a label. It’s a lifestyle. It’s the Dirty South, straight outta Liberty City. Founded in 1994 by Ted Lucas and home to Miami’s number one nann, Trick Daddy, Slip ‘N Slide represents the 305 to thugs worldwide. A graduate of Uncle Luke’s…

It’s hard enough to be a working jazzman in South Florida, let alone one who treads the avant-garde side of the tracks. So rather than worry about pleasing club owners searching for nothing more than background noise, saxophonist Keshavan Maslak (a.k.a. Kenny Millions, a tongue-in-cheek nod to the local success-crazed…

For two young men who appear smiling goofily in virtually every picture snapped over the past year by their increasing number of international media admirers, Phoenecia’s Romulo del Castillo and Josh Kay sure produce some creepy music. Indeed Brownout may be their darkest work yet, slowing down the frenetic pace…

Awarding kudos to a record label may seem a bit odd initially. After all, it’s the artists that make the all-important music. The labels simply are a conduit to the public. It’s hard to imagine saluting, say Sony Records, for its selfless contributions to mankind. But Beta Bodega Coalition isn’t…

An artist’s muse can be tricky to pin down. It’s easy to recognize when a musician is in touch with it, drawing on some vibrant inner force. But what exactly causes that creative well to run dry? Fans of the singer and original Grupo Nostalgia band leader Luis Bofill have…

Can you define Southern rap? We mean beyond the obvious identifier of being made by rappers raised in the South. (Gee, thanks, professor!) Is there a telltale sign, an ingredient that makes a song undeniably from below the Mason-Dixon Line? Well, forget about drawled accents, thugged-out attitudes, or even a…

An evening of exquisite understatement began when pianist-vocalist Shirley Horn took the stage at the Coral Gables Congregational Church and caressed the keyboard as she hadn’t in Miami since the late Eighties. Joined by drummer Steve Williams and bassist Charles Ables, the 66-year-old Horn was touring in support of her…

Not even Hurricane Debby could rain out the Rhythm Foundation, the organization that for thirteen years has brought the very best in world music to Miami. When a twenty-minute downpour drenched the North Shore Community Bandshell in Miami Beach where Brazilian artists Chico Cesar and Rita Ribeiro were scheduled to…

Beloved Dominican television host Rafelito Marerro began his career at age four, dancing rumba with the voluptuous starlet Tongolele in the Fifties. In the Sixties he earned the nickname “pampered child of Dominican society,” for his talk shows featuring international stars. In the past decade, he made his way to…

Lady Bug, Lady Bug, fly on the microphone! Your lyrics set fires; your message hits home! No woman or man, from her witty acoustic pan, can take on the global-military-industrial-masculine-musical-complex as well as she can…

This is the nightmare: Madame de Boredom and her band are on stage again. Off in the shadows stands a juggler from Hollywood. Suddenly out of nowhere he leaps onstage. The juggler goes for the jugular! Madame de Boredom runs out. The reality is that there is no Madame de…

Founded by Richard Laguerre, formerly of the popular roots band Boukan Ginen, the Haitian rasin group Adjah conjures the talents of dyaspora musicians living in Miami, including Georgina Padilla, Jean Francois Damas, Carline Ruiz, Jocelyn E. Gourdet, Billy Philomi, and Jimmy Daniel. To live up to its name — which…

Oh, Mr. Graaaaant!…

Revered jazz DJ China Valles won’t let a little pink slip keep him from spinning his magic over the airwaves. As long as his blood is pumping, the 74-year-old “Mahj” (short for Maharajah Purveyor of Swirls, as Duke Ellington named him) says he’ll keep the jazz beat thumping in Miami…

Spin the FM dial and there’s no shortage of reggae music to be heard. Commercial juggernaut WEDR-FM (99.1) gives time to the latest hits out of Kingston, a slew of local pirate stations pump out a steady diet of gruff dancehall, and Saturday afternoon’s reggae showcase on WDNA-FM (88.9) usually…

You’ve heard of drum and bass? Angela Patua does drum and voice, bouncing her melodies against the beat in a crude counterpoint that originated long ago in Nigeria and needs no electricity. Patua also does guitar and voice. Her syncopated strumming is a joyful reminder that the acoustic guitar is…

To hear these guys smoke through a number on Tuesday nights is to infuse your life with a sudden dash of Fifties cool. You’ll walk away feeling sharper. You’ll want to crease your trousers and wear shades inside. Eddie Higgins’s fingers float over the keyboard like darting minnows in a…

Jazz critics like to carve up their chosen terrain into two diametrically opposed camps: musicians who play straight-ahead, and those who play “free.” Miami saxophonist Jesse Jones, Jr., chooses to fudge this divide, and it’s precisely that versatility that makes him such a delight to hear. Witness his occasional ensemble…

Our city’s international reputation as a hotbed of bass-influenced oddball electronica is owing in no small part to the steady stream of ear-grabbing records released by Chocolate Industries. Boasting a roster that includes local artists Edgar Farinas (Push Button Objects) and DJ Craze plus kindred Austrian spirits Funkstörung, the label…