Jazz and World Music - in Minnesota - No Kidding

Jazz and World Music Examiner
part of examiner.com/twin_cities ("get inside Minneapolis")

Recent posts:

• "Ten best world jazz discs: number 7, Vira Loucos by Cyro Baptista"
  (March 31, 2009)
  "Two extremes of Brazilian culture come together and duke it out with the Downtown NY jazz scene. How will that work? That it does, and gloriously, is one of the wonders of world jazz: the most unlikely elements meeting together and establishing a fascinating conversation...."
• "Ten best world jazz discs: number 8, Mad Nomad(s) by Henri Texier"
  (March 31, 2009)
  "This has been one of my favorite world jazz discs since I acquired it over a decade ago. There’s a bristling urgency about this recording that never fails to draw me in, largely due, I think, to leader Texier's unique vision and the incredible diversity of the band he's assembled. The idea's a simple one: The nomadic way of life--be it that of 'traditional' nomads (Berbers, Gypsies, Bedouins, Tuaregs, Afghanis) or 'symbolic' nomads (sailors, musicians, troubadours)—is slowly being eaten up, eroded away by the forces of industrialism, trans-nationalism, and global capitalism. Thus the title, 'Mad Nomad(s)'—crazy nomads, angry nomads, wandering souls who appear to be mad but are really no(t)-mad...."
• "Ten best world jazz discs: number 9, Koine by Rita Marcotulli"
  (March 30, 2009)
  "She's relatively unknown in North America, but a star in Europe. Koine is among the ten best world jazz discs because Marcotulli so expertly explores such a wide range of world musics. For example, the longest piece, “'Il Richiamo,' features the voice and violin of Swedish folk-jazz performer Lena Willemark...."

This looks like a good resource for keeping track of Jazz and Jazz performers, through one man's eyes.