iLe Brings Her Classic Puerto Rican Sounds to Miami
By Maria Bakkalapulo for the Miami Herald Ileana Mercedes Cabra Joglar, known as iLe, was in Puerto Rico when Hurricane Maria hit. The singer and composer…
Tony Allen puts “the Beat in Afro-beat.”
From the Archive English composer and producer Brian Eno once said that Nigerian-born master Afro-beat drummer, Tony Allen is “perhaps the greatest drummer ever.” Allen, also…
Musicians Who Survived the Khmer Rouge
Words by Maria Bakkalapulo from the archive – first published in 2007. Sitting on a veranda overlooking the Mekong River, Arn Chorn-Pond need only close his…
DOC SHORT: Undocumented Immigrants in South Florida Fear Trump
By Niall Macaulay and Maria Bakkalapulo The more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the USA fear the presidency of Donald Trump. While more than 2,5…
Gladys Palmera, the World’s Largest Latin Music Archive, Has a Miami Connection
By Maria Bakkalapulo for Miami New Times Spanish-born Alejandra Fierro Eleta is most content surrounded by melodies from bygone days. Inside Gladys Palmera, the massive Latin…
“Axis of Love” at Miami’s North Beach Bandshell
for Songlines Magazine The rain fell on the open-air North Beach Bandshell in Miami, but Houston-based Riyaaz Qawwali ensemble braved the weather. The carpet they sat…
Miami’s Little Havana for Songlines Magazine
The black-and-white image on TV is of a singer scraping a güiro, with a full Cuban ensemble backing him up. A quintessential Havana scene – but…
