Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. I write about music and the business of music. LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 05: (FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Samara Joy winner of Best New Artist and Best Jazz Vocal Album for ...

For more than a year, Edgar Alejandro left his song “A Tu Lado” in the drafts folder of his phone, unsure of what the public would make of the mariachi and jazz fusion. At the time, corridos tumbados were dominating the música Mexicana airwares.

Sometimes it is a pleasure to listen to an album simply because the quality of the music is so consistently gratifying. And if the music is sung as well as Judy Whitmore sings it on Isn't It Romantic, well, that is icing on the cake, as are the superb ...

Reuniting after a decade, ex-Abe Vigoda members Michael Vidal and Juan Velasquez make a welcome return to sighing, swirling guitar and dusky post-punk ambiance. While Abe Vigoda’s tropical punk roots invigorated this often ossified aesthetic, Cupid ...

The philosopher Plato said that music “gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and everything.” Incomparable jazz musician Louis Armstrong wrote, “Music is life itself.” Then there’s ...