BEST MUSIC POLL > BOSTON
Using Boston as his base, Mendilow has traveled the world, not just collecting songs but studying them closely. Israel, North Africa, South Africa, and South America — working and living in these varied communities, he's picked up a whole bag of tricks and turned it into original music, cross-pollinating styles and instrumentation. These days he's touring with "The Ladino Project" — a collection drawn from the 15th-century diaspora of Sephardic Jews from Spain through Europe, the Mediterranean, and North Africa. There's a bit of an Arabic cast, a bit of Eastern Europe, fiddle, dulcimer, hand drums, a mix of singers, and Mendilow's signature one-string-berinbow — it sounds ancient, modern, and not quite like anything you've heard before.
RUNNERS-UP:2. Zili Misik 3. Newpoli 4. Debo Band
by JON GARELICK
Guy Mendilow Band
Blurring boundaries and connecting sounds, stories, rhythms and roots is central to the mission inspiring the Guy Mendilow Band. The vibrant multicultural group’s latest offering,...
