Rough Guide Mediterranean Cafe Music

Order another glass of wine and watch the sun set on the marketplace. This great collection takes you from the islands of Greece to the streets of Algeria (not to mention Spain, Italy, Palestine, Morocco, Israel, Egypt, Turkey and various other ports of call). It’s as varied as it gets and is united by the high quality of the performers. Great stuff all, especially the following:

1. Up/midtempo w/great energy & a touch of jazz.
2. A big sound w/lots of strings/perc/vocals. Mid/uptempo.
3. Contemporary flamenco w/an Arabic flair. Uptempo.
6. Sweet fem vox in a relaxed, old-fashioned sound. Nice.
7. Lively & catchy w/lots of perc/strings. Male vox/chorus.
8. Albanian folk w/a jazz flair & some cool vocals. Fast.
10. Mid/uptempo w/rich fem vox, good strings, perc.
11. Shades of Django…great Gypsy swing instrumental.
13. Violin solo leads into a lively pan-Mediterranean jam.
16. “The Boy George of Rai.” Trumpet, perc, vox. Uptempo.
11/2004