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A Financial Times, Irish Times, Mojo and Uncut Book of the Year

‘I doubt I’ll ever read a better account of the history and sociology of popular music than this one.’ Brian Eno

‘Joe Boyd is a fantastic author on music. And the Roots of Rhythm Remain is an incredibly impressive and extraordinary book.’ Jools Holland

‘Boyd’s book is the Proust of music history – a la recherche of much music lost, here regained and affirmed in our present.’ Observer

Legendary producer and record label boss Joe Boyd has spent a lifetime travelling the globe and immersing himself in music. He has witnessed first-hand the growing popularity of music from Africa, India, Latin America, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe since the 1960s and was one of the protagonists of the ‘world music’ movement of the 1980s.

In this sweeping history, Boyd sets out to explore the fascinating backstories to these sounds and documents a decade of encounters with the most extraordinary musicians and producers who have altered the course of music for us all.

And the Roots of Rhythm Remain shows how personalities, events and politics in places such as Havana, Lagos, Budapest, Kingston and Rio are as colourful and momentous as anything that took place in New Orleans, Harlem, Laurel Canyon or Liverpool. And, moreover, how jazz, rhythm and blues and rock ‘n’ roll would never have happened if it weren’t for the notes and rhythms emanating from over the horizon.