Purchase Bassekou's I Speak Fula at subpop.com Purchase Bassekou's I Speak Fula at subpop.com Purchase Aurelio's Laru Beya at subpop.com Purchase Aurelio's Laru Beya at subpop.com

Aurelio

Born in the tiny coastal hamlet of Plaplaya on Honduras' Caribbean coast, Aurelio Martinez, 39, may be one of the last generations to grow up steeped in Garifuna tradition. These traditions encompass the African and Caribbean Indian roots of his ancestors, a group of shipwrecked slaves who intermarried with local natives on the island of St. Vincent, only to be deported to the Central American coast in the late eighteenth century.

At the heart of every song on Laru Beya beats a traditional Garifuna rhythm. However, beyond the beauties of Garifuna tradition and Aurelio's striking interpretations lie the true guiding force behind the album: the loss of his late friend and mentor, Garifuna musical icon, Andy Palacio. Palacio, won regional popularity as the powerhouse behind punta rock, a Garifuna-rock synthesis that broke onto the Central American scene in the 1990s. International acclaim followed with an award-winning album in 2007 that truly put Garifuna music on the map. A mere month after Andy's death, Aurelio and producer Ivan Duran, headed for a small fishing village, where they set up a studio in a beachfront house. Recording and living by the sea for several weeks, they were still in grief and shock, yet they knew they had to do something amazing to honor Palacio's life and work. Aurelio was able to explore the Garifuna connection to Africa when Senegalese Afropop legend Youssou N’Dour selected him as his protege in 2008. N'Dour encouraged Martinez to channel his virtuosity, to balance his evanescent stage presence with reserve until just the right moment. N'Dour also contributed his unique vocal abilities to several songs on Laru Beya.

Laru Beya is not only Next Ambiance's second release, but Aurelio's as well. Garifuna Soul, his 2005 album on Stonetree Records, was described by Songlines Magazine as "It really is like nothing you've ever heard before."

Purchase Laru Beya at subpop.com or on iTunes.

Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba

Malian maestro Bassekou Kouyate is a virtuoso picker and musical visionary whose work blurs the lines between West African and American roots music. Bassekou's instrument, the ngoni, is a "spike lute" and an ancestor of the banjo, sharing its taut-skinned drum body, percussive attack, and varied picking techniques. Since 2005, Bassekou has led Ngoni Ba, the first-ever group built around not one but four ngonis-all played by members of his family. Bassekou's longtime friend and booster Lucy Duran (a BBC radio host, record producer, and Mande music scholar) produced the band's debut, Segu Blue. Before long, Bassekou and Ngoni Ba were touring Europe and in high demand. I Speak Fula builds on the success of Segu Blue. Its 11 tracks provide a star-studded tour of pan-Malian music, including collaborations with Toumani Diabaté, griot vocal legend Kasse Mady Diabaté, master of the horse-hair soku fiddle Zoumana Tereta, and guitar phenomenon Vieux Farka Toure, Ali's precociously talented son.

SPIN: "I Speak Fula effortlessly mixes the rapid-fire pluck of bluegrass, the doleful churn of the blues, the joyous pulse of Afropop, and (in a makeover from his gentler 2007 debut) the caffeinated whirl of high-velocity rock."

Purchase I Speak Fula at subpop.com or on iTunes.

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