As a natural sucker for mash-ups, hybrids, cross-pollination and the like, it should come as no surprise that I have been a lifelong fan of music that spans genres and mixes elements of things that have traditionally been rather isolated. Truthfully, all of the major advances in music have come out of such melting-pot sensibilities. Nearly all of modern music can be traced back to Congo Square in New Orleans where African slaves met European instruments and gave birth to jazz, blues, soul and all that descended from that heady mix.
