Travel Notes

Today's musical guests on Travel Notes are two lovely humans and fantastic musicians: Eleanor Dubinsky & Darío Acosta Teich. Eleanor is a USA-born vocalist, guitarist and cellist who sings in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Her music is open-hearted and culturally fluid, connecting underground tributaries between languages and world rhythms in uplifting, soulful compo

This week on Travel Notes, Grace talks with the groundbreaking Gambian kora virtuoso, Sona Jobarteh! Sona is breaking barriers as the world’s first professional female kora virtuoso from the West African Griot dynasties. With a lineage of renowned Kora masters, including her grandfather Amadu Bansang Jobarteh and cousin Toumani Diabaté, Sona's talent is unmatched. Her distinctiv

Travel Notes highlights the LEAF Global Arts retreat happening May 9-12 in historic lake Eden, NC and talks with special guests, Jennifer Pickering who is the co executive director of LEAF Global Arts non-profit based in Asheville NC and Adama Dembele, LEAF Cultural Ambassador who is also a talented djembe and balafon player from the Ivory Coast. They listen to some of Adama’s mu

In today’s episode of Travel Notes we are talking with Derek Gripper who has been on the show before and a renowned South African guitarist, whose love for the kora set him to transcribing and recording some of its greatest works. He is joined by Malian kora virtuoso, Ballaké Sissoko for their upcoming performance at the Savannah Music Festival this weekend, March 30th at 5:30 P

Join us on today's episode of Travel Notes as we journey to Uppsala, Sweden to chat with folk musician Gabbi from the Nordic folk/rock band, FRÄNDER.I was lucky enough to catch FRÄNDER live at the Scandinavia House in New York City earlier this year and I can tell you first hand that you guys are in for a treat. Not only is their music dynamic and fantastic live, it’s also very

On today’s episode of Travel Notes, we are featuring a musical group that had humble beginnings on a farm in South Africa some 63 years ago. Today, they are living legends whose music has played a pivotal role during the apartheid in South Africa. Nelson Mandela listened to their music while he was imprisoned during the apartheid citing their music carried a powerful message of p

Drum roll….it’s the first episode of Travel Notes for 2024! I’m so excited about this year’s first guest - Clay Ross, a multi-grammy award winning guitarist/vocalist, composer and educator about his group American Patchwork Quartet or APQ. I saw the American Patchwork Quartet perform at the APAP conference in NYC this past January and was absolutely blown away by their live

In this episode of Travel Notes we are exploring the current political and cultural dynamic in Cuba through the eyes and upcoming album of Grammy nominated powerhouse duo, Elizabeth Rodriguez and Magdelys Savigne’s who perform under the name OKAN. Fusing Afro-Cuban roots with jazz, folk and global rhythms in songs about immigration, resistance and love, OKAN takes their name from

Today on Travel Notes Grace is joined by special guest is Kurtis Lamkin, a Philadelphia born and Charleston based poet and musician specializing in the west african kora and an instrument called the jinjin. In true griot fashion, he blurs the line between poet, musician and storyteller. Kurt has performed on stage, radio, film, and television, and was one of the featured poets in t

In this part II episode of Venezuelan music on Travel Notes, we go live from the Ohm Radio studio with Charleston based group, the Venezuelan Sound Ensemble to bring you live Venezuelan folk music and conversation. We dive into the rich and multifaceted history and musical traditions that connect Venezuela to other countries near and far.