BOOKS

Longtime GLOBAL RHYTHM readers will no doubt recognize author Derek Beres as the former Managing Editor of this very publication, and his first book reads like a culmination of his many years working in the world music realm. Global Beat Fusion is a very personal meditation on the convergence of music, technology and faith in the global marketplace. In his own inimitable style, Beres weaves these divergent strands together through a series of portraits of movers-and-shakers in the world music industry. From interviews with artists like Cheb i Sabbah, Ojos de Brujo and Karsh Kale, Beres posits that electronic musicians worldwide are creating a new global mythology by translating traditional and sacred musical forms into digital formats. His interviews with various managers, publicists and bookers build up a portrait of the industry as it is today, while prognosticating what the future might hold in store, both for world music and, quite possibly, for the music industry as a whole.