Soulful musical polymath Taj Mahal and guitar god Ry Cooder go way back. In the mid-60s, they played in Los Angeles band the Rising Sons, one of the country’s first integrated bands fusing rock and R&B (along with Arthur Lee’s Love). The group also featured jazz drummer Ed Cassidy (later of Spirit) and bassist Gary […]
Tag: Ry Cooder
Posted inMusic
Guitarist Dave Specter on the young stars building the future of the blues
Current musical obsessions of recording artists Dave Specter and Nicholas Tremulis and Reader associate editor Jamie Ludwig
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Rosanne Cash honors her father’s legacy with Ry Cooder
From the mid-80s till the mid-90s, country music went through what Robbie Fulks calls an “integrity explosion.” As if to make up for the middle-of-the-road Urban Cowboy era directly preceding those years, a bunch of traditionalists and iconoclasts suddenly began coming through the door, including Marty Stuart, Steve Earle, and Dwight Yoakam. Even better, these […]
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This week on FilmStruck: Deep in the heart of Texas
FilmStruck finds more than western films deep in the heart of Texas.
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Late Cuban pianist Rubén González sounds as fresh as ever on a new reissue of his 1997 solo album
In conjunction with a new Buena Vista Social Club documentary, World Circuit has reissued Rubén González’s classic recording with previously unreleased material.
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Twin Peaks listen to ten mystery songs from 1994—the year three of them were born
Chicago garage-pop whiz kids Twin Peaks listen to ten mystery songs from 1994—the year three of them were born.
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The swan song of Cuban guitar great Manuel Galbán
Late, great Cuban guitarist Manuel Galbán deserved better for his final album
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Ali Farka Toure
Blues legends like John Lee Hooker, Lightnin’ Hopkins, and J.B. Lenoire are often cited as the closest thing to Ali Farka Toure, but at the core of the Malian guitarist’s music is a sumptuous beauty that is beyond comparison. Last year’s stunning Talking Timbuktu (Hannibal/World Circuit) paired Toure with producer Ry Cooder and Clarence “Gatemouth” […]
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Ali Farka Toure
Ali Farka Toure sometimes sounds like he has one foot planted in the Mississippi Delta and the other in the Niger. His work is deeply rooted in Malian tradition; in one interview he explained that he sings about “education, work, love, and society.” But although he sings exclusively in West African languages, he sounds like […]