Originally published at NPR
World music DJ Betto Arcos returns to weekends on ”All Things Considered” to share what he’s been spinning on “Global Village,” the show he hosts on KPFK in Los Angeles. This week, Arcos brings some of his favorite new Cuban music. His picks include Pedrito Martinez’s convergence of Cuban and flamenco rumbas, an ancestral tale from The Creole Choir of Cuba, Tiempo Libre’s amalgam of jazz, funk, and R&B and Yunior Terry’s nod to salsa.

Originally published at NPR
World music DJ Betto Arcos returns to weekends on “All Things Considered” to share the music he’s been playing on “Global Village,” the show he hosts on KPFK in Los Angeles. This week, Arcos brings his favorite new tracks from Argentinean and Uruguayan artists.
From the spirit of the old style rooted in the bordellos of Buenos Aires to the Andean style known as huayno to an approach that weaves in orchestral and electronic elements, Arcos’ picks showcase the diverse landscape of tango.

Originally published at NPR
DJ Betto Arcos returns to weekends on “All Things Considered” with more of the music he’s been spinning on “Global Village,” his world-music program on KPFK in Los Angeles.
This week, Arcos selects some of his favorite new music coming out of Spain. His picks include a guitarist inspired by baroque music, an all-female quartet with a flamenco flair, a ballad singer and a Galician bagpipe master. To hear his conversation with NPR’s Jacki Lyden, click the audio link on this page.

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Originally published on NPR
Betto Arcos returns once again to weekends on “All Things Considered” to share what he’s been spinning on “Global Village,” the world music show he hosts on KPFK in Los Angeles. This week, Arcos has brought Guy Raz four 21st century interpretations of cumbia, a traditional music from Colombia and Panama. But Arcos’ contemporary playlist stretches beyond the humid north of South America, featuring garage-rock cumbia from Mexico City, subtropical cumbia from urban Uruguay and more.
No Pares Hasta Tener Lo Suficiente (Don’t Stop ‘Til …

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Originally published on PRI’s “The World”
Alfredo Rodriguez was offered a spot at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 2006.
One night, the festival’s director invited him to play at his house. That’s where Rodriguez met Quincy Jones.
“I remember I played a Cole Porter song which is called ‘I Love You’,” Rodriguez says. “That was how I met Quincy, and Quincy was very happy to listen to my music at the time. So I just took that experience as something positive in my life. I …

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Originally published on PRI’s “The World”
A new double CD released is a tribute to the late Spanish singer Montserrat Figueras. Figueras died in November at the age of 69. The CD is called Montserrat Figueras: The Voice of Emotion and was compiled by the singer’s husband, the composer Jordi Savall.

Originally published on PRI’s “The World”
Carla Morrison grew up listening to Patsy Cline records in the small border town of Tecate, Baja California, a place known for its beer and its bread.
“I actually was born right next to the most famous factory of good bread over there,” Morrison said. “And it’s nice, it’s a nice place, but right now I can’t be there because I have too much demand on singing and traveling, going throughout the country and sometimes the world to show my music.”
Morrison moved to Mexico City six …

Originally published on PRI’s “The World”
I grew-up in Xalapa, Mexico, listening to boleros. Every night, my father used to tune in to his favorite radio show, “Trios Famosos,” in the late ’60s.
Of course, back then, I could care less about this music. It was only in my late teens when I began to appreciate the meaning and the practical purpose of boleros. Songs like “Decidete” or “Make Up Your Mind” would prove useful in my late teens, when I learned to play the guitar.
Every couple months, I’d get together with …

Originally aired on PRI’s “The World”
Pasatono Orquesta is a musical group from Mexico. The band plays traditional music from the Mixtec region of Oaxaca. The group is lead by a couple who are not only performers, but also ethnomusicologists.

Originally aired on PRI’s “The World”
Argentine singer María Volonté fuses her love of tango with the blues on her new album, Nueve Vidas. Volonté is in the midst of a world tour appropriately titled “The Blue Tango Tour.”