The World Fusion Show

Ep #90 with Jacob Edgar, ethnomusicologist. Jacob Edgar has traveled the world for decades in search of great music for Putumayo Records. He is one of the leading proponents of World Fusion music and infuses his love of culture with his wide-ranging taste in music. He started Cumbancha Records to further promote the great artists he has discovered. This episode showcases 7 of the artists he works...

Ep #89 with Evan Ziporyn, composer and Bali expert. Evan Ziporyn is a composer, a teacher at MIT and has a decades-long fascination with the music of Bali, Indonesia. He has written many pieces for traditional Balinese gamelan and some that blend the gamelan with other styles. In this episode we get to hear some of his compositions. His music has been embraced by the culture and his Balinese piece...

Ep #88 with Christopher Adler, khaen player and composer Christopher Adler plays an unusual instrument - the khaen - an ancient free-reed mouth organ from Laos and Thailand that is able to create melodies and chords at the same time. He is the foremost player in the US and composes for the instrument and commissions works for chamber music groups to promote the spread of the khaen. The khaen has a...

Ep #87 - on The World Fusion Show - Sampler #7 - Featuring 5 unreleased live music videos from our previous guests - Tony Vacca and The Senegal-America Project (Afro-fusion), Gao Hong (Chinese pipa), Yousuf Kerai (Pakistani tabla), Frevo (String and Wind Quartet) and Kenny Endo (Japanese taiko). This episode is all music with no interviews so you can experience some of the huge variety that we pre...

Derrik Jordan and the World Fusion Movement Right Brain Music Podcast - Episode 19 - hosted and produced by Scott Schaffer Derrik Jordan knew he wanted to be a musician as soon as he left the theater after watching “A Hard Day’s Night” in the Sixties, and he started down that road almost immediately. But he never thought he’d be the host of a hit TV show until he was in his 60s. Yet here we are: D...

Ep #86 with Ruth Mendelson, film composer and multi-instrumentalist. Ruth Mendelson is an award-winning film composer who only works on meaningful empowering films. She has a new film that features Dr. Jane Goodall. Ruth teaches film composing at The Berklee School of Music, has performed for many years with gospel choir One Human Family and tells some great stories about how she got into music at...

Ep #85 with Guy Mendilow, composer and multi-instrumentalist. Guy Mendilow has a strong interest in Sephardic music and particularly the historical music that was connected to the Ottoman Empire. He plays piano, berimbau, guitar, and does some amazing throat singing. He has a stunning collaboration with an award winning Eastern European sand painter, two excerpts of which are included in this epis...

Ep #84 with Yousuf Kerai, tabla player, composer and teacher. Yousuf Kerai lives in Karachi, Pakistan and is an extraordinarily gifted tabla player. He founded a school there to spread the study South Asian music, which as he explains is already a fusion of many styles - Turkish, Arabic, Mongol, Persian and more. He has a World Fusion ensemble called Tarz Group that brings together different instr...

Ep #83 with Gao Hong, pipa player and composer. Gao Hong grew up during the cultural revolution in China. Her mother, who was a music teacher, forced her to learn all of the Chinese instruments at an early age so she could avoid going to work in the fields. She quickly became very good at the pipa, which is a Chinese lute - good enough to join a traveling musical troupe. She is a true World Fusion...

Ep #82 with The Senegal-America Project and Tony Vacca. Tony Vacca was our first guest on the show in July 2017 and has hosted many on-location episodes from Senegal since then. He has often joined us to play his balafon and percussion with some of our other guests like Abiodun Oyewole and Tantra Zawadi. He is a composer, visionary artist and instigator. The Senegal-America Project is one of those...

Ep #81 with Kenny Endo, composer and Taiko drummer. Kenny Endo has been a Taiko drummer and enthusiast for most of his life. Taiko is the 2000 year old Japanese tradition where the musicians play huge drums carved from very old trees. It is incredibly athletic and physically demanding. He is a true World Fusion artist as he also works with many musicians in many other musical styles. Living in Haw...

Ep #80 with Om Shalom Trio, Indian and Jewish fusion. They bring together Indian classical and folk along with Jewish and Western Classical music. Abhik Mukherjee plays sitar, Ranendra Das plays tabla and percussion and Jessie Reagen Mann plays the cello. On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/109866072979176/videos/311127956684735/ On YouTube: https://youtu.be/XPXDwwwlLlc Podcast: https://soundclo...

Ep #79 with Crocodile River Music - Malian Fusion. Based in Worcester, MA, The Crocs are a dynamic Malian World Fusion group. Three of the members joined me on The World Fusion Show to share their traditionally based music and their vision of bringing art and culture to our community. Included is an excerpt of my World Fusion classical piece Bamako Beyond which is a collaboration they did with The...

Ep #78 with Massamba Diop, master tama drummer. Massamba has played tama (aka talking drum) with Baaba Maal for 40 years in almost every country in the world. He is a superstar in Africa and one of the most dynamic performers you will ever see. He brings his joy and passion to every performance. His tama playing is featured throughout the film Black Panther. I have been very fortunate to play with...

Ep #77 with Moonlight Davis and Morningstar Chenven, singer-songwriters on The World Fusion Show. Moonlight and Morningstar spread their messages of love and harmony through their visionary songs. Moonlight is one of the finest gospel and R&B singers I have ever worked with. They are environmental activists and even wrote a song that helped stop the pipeline going through Massachusetts which is in...

Ep #76 with Gokh-Bi System, World Fusion hip hop. Gokh-Bi System began in Senegal, arrived in the US twenty years ago and have gone through a number of personnel changes but Mamadou Ndaiye and Sana Ndaiye have been leading the group all along. Sana plays the ekonting (a West African banjo) that has a long history in the culture of the Casamance from southern Senegal. They mix a wide range of style...

Ep #75 of The World Fusion Show with Aliya Cycon, singer, composer and oud player. Aliya has a passion for Arabic music and is currently living in Spain where she is working with her group Aliya And The New Andalus. She studied at The Berklee School Of Music in Boston with Simon Shaheen. She tours internationally and has performed in Jordan and Tunisia. On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/109866...

Ep #74 with Tantra Zawadi, performance poet. Tantra has an unmistakable style of language in her poetry and her performances are always filled with love and connection. We met in Senegal in 2013 for the Senegal-America Project with our partner Tony Vacca, who joins us for the live music at the end of the show. She is the African Mermaid! She lives in NYC and works with many music producers there a...

Ep #73 with Layth Sidiq, violinist, singer and composer. Layth was born in Baghdad and grew up in Jordan in a very musical family. He went on to study music at Berklee College of Music in the Boston and is a member of many groups including the Berklee Indian Ensemble. He has a partnership with Vasilis Kostas who plays the laouto (Greek lute) who joins him on this episode for the live music. Layth'...

Ep #72 with Barou Sall, master hoddu player. Barou Sall has been performing with Baaba Maal for decades. He plays the hoddu, a special type of ngoni from the northern part of Senegal. In this episode he talks about its importance to the Fulani culture. The interview was done by Tony Vacca and recorded in Senegal by Paul Richmond. I recorded and performed with Barou when I was in Senegal and he is...

Ep #71 with Mo Maie, singer and multi-instrumentalist. Mo Maie is from Bahia, Brazil and met Tony Vacca in Senegal in Jan 2020 on his most recent trip there with The Senegal-America Project. She has a very strong spiritual connection through her music and has traveled for 5 years throughout Europe and India - "the gypsy way" - as she says, absorbing the various musics and cultures she encountered....

Ep #70 with Abiodun Oyewole Part 2, poet and singer-songwriter. Abiodun Oyewole is famous for being a fiery Black revolutionary poet and a founding member of The Last Poets, who began their outspoken career in 1968 in Harlem. They are considered by many to be the first rap group. He is also a singer-songwriter with a very distinctive voice and whose songs show his softer side. In this episode we f...

Ep #69 with Cecilia Zabala. Cecilia Zabala is from Argentina and sings and writes her beautiful original songs that often have a lot of Brazilian influence. She tours all over the world. You might notice that for the first time we are bringing back some of our favorite episodes. Cecilia was with us for Ep #2 way back in July of 2017. Yes, The World Fusion Show has been up and running for 2 1/2 yea...

Ep #68 - The World Fusion Show - Sampler #6 features 7 of our amazing guests without any interviews - just music! This episode includes unreleased performances from Mei Han (Chinese), Howard Levy (World jazz), Senie Hunt (singer-songwriter), Steve Gorn (Indian), Om Shalom Trio (Indian-Jewish fusion), Simba (worldbeat) and Carpe Diem String Quartet (World Fusion classical). What a variety! Facebook...

Ep #67 - Brazilliance with Derrik Jordan. This episode features six of my original Brazlian inspired sambas and bossa novas from my double CD Brazilliance. Written over 30 years, I consider these songs to be some of my best work. I am singing along with Alexandra Colmant and Lisa Sokolov. I am also joined on these six songs by Erik Lawrence, Bob Stabach, Eugene Uman and Johnny Yuma. This episode i...