Latest news with #Putumayo
New York Times
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Dan Storper, Evangelist of World Music, Dies at 74
Dan Storper, a retailer who founded the Putumayo World Music record label, which gathered sounds from every corner of the globe, helping to propel the world music boom of the 1990s and beyond with compilation CDs that sold in the millions, died on May 22 at his home in New Orleans. He was 74. The cause was pancreatic cancer, his son, William, said. Mr. Storper's label began as an offshoot of Putumayo, a now-closed retail chain that he started in New York in 1975, selling handicrafts and clothing from around the world. He founded the label with a friend, Michael Kraus, in 1993, and it became a showcase for genres that had received little mainstream recognition, especially in the United States, such as zouk, from Guadeloupe in the Caribbean; soukous, from Congo; and son cubano, from Cuba. With distinctive folk-art album covers by the British artist Nicola Heindl, the label developed a strong brand identity, luring neophyte buyers who broadly understood what they were getting with a Putumayo release, even if they knew nothing about the music itself. 'The whole concept was to bring the music to a community of people that weren't specifically world music freaks, but were interested in music and culture and travel,' Jacob Edgar, Putumayo's longtime ethnomusicologist, said in an interview. 'It was really almost more of a lifestyle brand at its height, and that was really revolutionary at the time.' Others came to agree. 'Before Putumayo came along, world music was dry field recordings,' Chris Fleming, of the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan, said in an interview with The New York Times in 2003. 'Putumayo single-handedly revolutionized the whole genre.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
San Francisco Chronicle
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Dan Storper, who brought global music to Western audiences through Putumayo, dies at 74
Dan Storper, the globe-trotting cultural entrepreneur who introduced generations of Western listeners to international sounds through his pioneering record label, Putumayo World Music, died on May 22 at his home in New Orleans, surrounded by family — just two days after his 74th birthday. His death, following a battle with pancreatic cancer, was confirmed in a statement by his longtime Putumayo colleague Jacob Edgar, which described him as 'a good soul with a kind heart, a positive spirit, and a great sense of humor.' Storper founded Putumayo World Music in 1991 after a moment of inspiration while walking through Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. He heard the Nigerian juju band Kotoja playing, and the music sparked what he later called an epiphany — one that led him to shift from his successful Latin American handicrafts business in New York's Upper East Side to a mission of cultural connection through music. 'The concept was to create a series of international music compilations that would open the doors to the wonderful songs created by talented musicians in countries like Haiti, Colombia and Zimbabwe where there were an array of political, economic, health and other issues,' he told Canvas Rebel in 2024 interview. 'We wanted people to look at the positive sides of these countries that were often depicted in the media negatively.' Putumayo began as a series of globally sourced music compilations, spotlighting artists such as South African legend Miriam Makeba, Zimbabwe's Oliver Mtukudzi, Mali's Habib Koité and Zaire's Ricardo Lemvo. Over time, the label evolved, signing individual artists and expanding its musical reach. Storper sold the original crafts business in 1998 and moved the label's headquarters to Berkeley. The label quickly became known for its colorful, whimsical album covers — drawn by English artist Nicola Heindl — and for its listener-friendly, genre-spanning compilations. Its catalog featured a rich mix of Afro-Cuban rhythms, Brazilian bossa nova, Celtic folk, Algerian rai, Louisiana zydeco and much more. 'Putumayo's strength isn't just in selecting great songs,' Storper once said. 'It's in creating a sequence that takes you on a musical journey. It's guaranteed to make you feel good.' That spirit resonated far beyond traditional music stores. Putumayo albums found a home in gift shops, classrooms, libraries, and coffeehouses like Starbucks, helping to make global music more accessible and inviting. Storper's work also attracted the attention of well-known musicians, including Carlos Santana, Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, who went on to collaborate with artists featured on Putumayo releases. 'Dan enlightened me and expanded my understanding of world music beyond reggae and ska,' said Sarah Baumann, Putumayo's former public relations manager in Berkeley. 'He introduced me to artists like Oliver Mtukudzi.' In 1999, he launched Putumayo Kids, a children's music division that brought his joyful, cross-cultural ethos into schools and homes. He also co-hosted The Putumayo World Music Hour with Rosalie Howarth of San Francisco's KFOG-FM (104.5), a nationally syndicated radio show that aired on more than 100 stations. Storper was known for his boundless energy and intensity. 'He could drive you crazy, but you loved him anyway,' Edgar said in a statement, describing him as 'funny, energetic, passionate, micromanaging, and compulsive. A workaholic to the extreme.' Baumann echoed that sentiment. 'There were days I wanted to punch him in the face. But he made up for it by letting me cuss him out when he closed the Berkeley office.' For Storper — who never truly settled in one place, often living out of a suitcase — the key to success was persistence. 'If you really believe your product belongs in a store — or a chain of stores — you don't give up,' he told Canvas Rebel. Even in declining health, he remained deeply committed to cultural preservation. In April, he and Edgar donated a 37,000-CD archive — three decades of global music discoveries — to Harvard's Music Library and the ARChive of Contemporary Music in New York. Details about his surviving family members and memorial service have not yet been released.
