World Music: The Basics (The Basics)

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic survey! Covers tons of ground in a concise way
Review: Wow! The world of World Music has gotten its first definitive guide. I can unhesitatingly give this hefty little tome 5 stars. This is an entertaining guide that covers an immense amount of musical territory in an enjoyable and beautifully written way. This book is so smoothly written that it could be read cover to cover, but it is also ideal for consulting as an encyclopedia. I have found that Richard Nidel has impecable taste, and as a result this book is also a great resource for choosing the best recordings of an artist.
I would say that the sections of Brazil, Argentina, Greece, Turkey, West Africa, and Celtic Music are especially strong, and always peppered with extra facts both political and historical to give the music more background.
I find the real strong points of this great survey to be the spot-on cd recommendations and the obvious vast knowledge of World Music that comes through in Nidel's fluid prose throughout this little book. Being a World Music follower for some time now, it is obvious that there was an immense amount of research put in because this guy really knows his stuff.

There is an excellent intro by Jazz legend Branford Marsalis, and the book is a beautifully packaged 400 pages.

Pick it up!