Articles by David Dacks

Jazz

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

For its first 50 years, jazz was the first globally popular African-based form of dance music; from ragtime to Dixieland to swing, it was b...

Reggae

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

Reggae fans worldwide are generally receptive to a variety of styles. Though many claim, for example, to be "strictly dancehall," this has...

Play and Record

Hearing the Gear Revolution In Progress

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

Hanging out behind the soundboard at Lee's Palace in Toronto (as critics tend to do), I noticed a sign: "record your set on CD." The board...

Femi Kuti

Music Against Second Slavery

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

As the evening light fades in Lagos, Nigeria, Femi Anikulapo-Kuti is beginning his fourth hour of interviews, talking to media from around...

Maceo Parker Lust for Live

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

Maceo Parker is a man who has found his calling. At 57, his career is arguably at its peak; at this point Maceo's work is simply to be Mace...

Shanghai Noon

Tom Day

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

Riding high on the success of Rush Hour, Jackie Chan's latest, Shanghai Noon stays close to its plot line and its sense of humour. This tim...

Photek's Drum & Bass Grows Up

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

Digitised drums thrust and parry generating explosive, yet disciplined rhythms. Unsettling interjections of sharp noises and Japanese percu...

Modulating History

PUBLISHED Nov 17, 2016

As electronically made music becomes more ubiquitous with each passing year, the need to catalog its history becomes greater. Two years ago...