National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

Click Here To Launch Richard Blair's Picks

Richard Blair knows a thing or two about following his ears. In 1992 the British producer left his job behind in London (where he worked for Peter Gabriel's powerhouse Real World label) to spend three years in Colombia, immersing himself in the local music scene.

Blair put his production skills to use in Bogotá, putting his stamp on records by such up-and-coming Colombian rockers as Aterciopelados and Carlos Vives, not to mention legendary singer Toto La Momposina. After returning to the UK, Blair began combining Colombian sounds—salsa, cumbia, vallenato, etc—with the emerging drum&bass scene. The result of this musical mashup was the Sidestepper project, which began as a solo electronica project and has now grown into a full-fledged band with three albums under its belt.

Today the Blair and Sidestepper are back in Colombia, based in Bogotá and recording and touring regularly. When NGWM recently caught up with Blair, he was more than happy to share some of the music that helped lead him astray.

1. Granmoun Lele/ "Soleye"
"I discovered this music after playing some gigs in Reunion [Island]," says Blair, "and there is extraordinary power in the combination of call and response vocals and heavy percussion groove. This music comes from somewhere deep."

2. King Sunny Ade / "Synchro System"
"A calm and spacey groove—with no kit drums which gives it an open ended linear feel. This still sounds fresh after 25 years."

3. Thomas Mapfumo/ "Nyamaropa"
"Lovely textures between mbira and guitar, introspective but very
groovy."

4. Bonga/ "Pio Pio"
"Light and delicate sounds, a real floating groove backing a beautiful song."

5. Garikayi Tirikoti/ "Maidei"
"A great mbira vibe, joyful country music trance."

6. George Sibanda/ "Inyakanyaka"
"One can hear the feel of a whole band implied in just the guitar and voice; the swing that I've heard in so much South African and Zimbabwean music. This is as good as it gets.

7. Tinariwen/ "Chet Boghassa"
"Mystic blues from the Sahara, this tune has one of those 4 on the shaker grooves that one can hear in Nigeria and Colombia, in many places..."

8. Ensemble Ibn Arabi "Taqsim au Violon"
"A very beautiful violin sound, evoking the link from the distant past between Andalucia and and the muslim world."