Blues Around the World

Putumayo Presents | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 25, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Putumayo World Music
• ASIN: B000FUF73A
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #120,635 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Listen My Son - The Unseen Guest

2. Canceriano Sem Lar (Clinica Tobias Blues) - Blues Etillicos

3. No Way Out - Big Mama

4. La Flaca - Jrabe De Palo

5. Back Around - Bonnie Raitt

6. Ouallache - Amar Sundy

7. I Got A Feeling - Otis Spann

8. Don't Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down - Eric Bibb

9. Playing Mahjong - Long-ge

10. Slide Blues - Botafogo

11. Catfish Blues - Taj Mahal Meets The Culture Musical Club Of Zanzibar

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

John Lee Hooker used to say "the blues is a feeling," but this collection is proof that it's also a universal language. These 11 songs by musicians from South and North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa are a thoroughly enjoyable summation of the genre's ability to cut through cultural barriers to touch the heart. "Slide Blues" by Argentina's Botafogo could be a Delta relic if not for its Spanish lyrics. And singer Big Mama with harp man Victor Uris beautifully blur the lines between Catalonia and Chicago. The great pianist Otis Spann and the trio of Eric Bibb, Rory Block, and Maria Muldaur provide two straight-up shots of the style. The best tunes are outright cross-cultural collaborations.

Bonnie Raitt and Mali's Habibe Koité take the music to its deepest roots thanks to Koité's graceful kora-like acoustic guitar on "Back Around." The Unseen Guest, an Irish-Indian duo, bring microtonality to a blend of guitar, banjo, mandolin, and tabla in "Listen My Son." And Taj Mahal with the Culture Music Club of Zanzibar turn the standard "Catfish Blues" into a midnight howl that echoes from the Gulf of Mexico to the coast of the Indian Ocean. Mahal's guitar, a squeeze box, and a clutch of African stringed instruments pass rhythmic phrases and bursts of melody back and fourth until their musical points of origin are as delightfully blurry as a moonshine-fueled night in a Mississippi juke joint--or a dance hall in Zanzibar's Stone Town. --Ted Drozdowski

Product Description

From Buenos Aires to Barcelona, Mississippi to Mauritania this collection documents the trials and tribulations expressed through the blues from a global perspective. Despite language or lyrics, nationality or ethnicity, the blues speak to everyone.

Highlight performances include The Unseen Guest, who formed when an Irish musician traveled to southern India and began playing on the streets accompanied by a tabla-toting native. Big Mama, who you might think must be from the Mississippi Delta, but she’ll demonstrate that you can live in Barcelona and still know how to sing the blues. Spain’s Jarabe de Palo contributes "La Flaca" ("The Skinny Girl"), which was a huge hit in Spain and Latin America. The legendary Bonnie Raitt is featured with longtime friend, Malian musician Habib Koité on "Back Around " from her 2003 album Silver Lining. From Mauritania, Amar Sundy demonstrates the kinship between West African music and the blues. Eric Bibb, Rory Block and Maria Muldaur are no strangers to the blues. This trio of friends grew up together in New York City’s Greenwich Village during the turbulent 1960’s and incorporates the spiritual side of the blues on "Don’t Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down." Taj Mahal partners with The Culture Musical Club of Zanzibar to weave a narrative of melody and rhythm on "Catfish Blues." The Brazilian blues group Blues Etílicos brings their unique Brazilian-flavored blues to the table. Recognizing the blues was born in the Mississippi Delta Otis Spann, who played piano in Muddy Waters’ band for more than 20 years, belts out "I Got a Feeling".

A portion of Putumayo's proceeds from the sale of this CD will be donated to Music Maker Relief Foundation, Inc. An organization that helps true pioneers

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Blues Fans: GET IT!!!!, March 8, 2008

By 

J.J. Irving "Jackson" (Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blues Around the World (Audio CD)

Wheather you're a "seasoned" blues veteran or not, you need this disc for your collection. This compilation has an excellent listening flow. Taj Mahal's version of "Catfish Blues" is a personal favorite. Bottom line on this CD.... You can pop this in your player while you're entertaining guests and let it roll. If your friends can't find any jams on the disc that are appealing.....That's just a shamefull lack of "Taste"....... a fellow blues fan

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for blues lovers, September 11, 2006

By 

AfroAmericanHeritage (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blues Around the World (Audio CD)

If you love the blues, you must add this to your collection. It's fascinating and fun to hear how the blues have spread - and been adapted - around the world.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blues is a World Beat, June 4, 2008

By 

Kevin L. Nenstiel "omnivore" (Kearney, Nebraska) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blues Around the World (Audio CD)

Most of us here in America have heard the bluesy beats of British acts like the Yardbirds or early Van Morrison. But this collection demonstrates that the blues is truly transnational. This CD contains eleven tracks, five in English and six in other languages. It's fascinating to hear how the blues merges with the sounds of other nations to create something new.

Consider the opening track by the Unseen Guest. I've heard blues from Ireland, and I knew there was Indian blues, but when the two bring the mandolin and the tabla together in the same song, it's not quite like anything I've heard before now. Or when Jarabe de Palo adapts blues to Spanish, which has a completely different vocal rhythm than English, it seems to fit the guitar-driven shuffle precisely, but it creates an entirely new sound at the same time. And then there's Long-ge. I had no idea there even WAS such a thing as Taiwanese blues, and now I know how much I've missed out on!

There are tracks in this predominantly acoustic set from every inhabited continent except Australia. (Come on, down under, you're letting down the team!) Most are from the last ten years or so, though there's one classic track from Otis Spann, one of the luminaries from the heyday of the Chicago blues. And, although each brings something unique and distinct to the mix, there isn't even one weak song on the whole disk. This is one you can listen to time and time again without getting weary of it.

Recommended for blues fans, lovers of world music, and those who are simply curious. Sure to please nearly everybody, this is a CD that is likely to enjoy a place of pride in your musical rotation.