Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Five questions to: Joan Baez
For most of the fifty years since she debuted at the Newport Folk Festival, Joan Baez has dedicated her life and music to fighting for equality and social justice, and for bringing about positive change in the world. A beautiful singer, a strong person:
Question 1 - Your celebrity helped bring attention to the antiwar movement, and your arrests and activities were often nightly news. What gave you the strength to get through it all?
Joan Baez - There was this Swedish ambassador who did some extraordinary things during the coup in Chile. He walked in front of a bunch of tanks with his flag in order to bring people--I think it was a Mexican embassy--across the plaza to safety. It was a very, very dangerous thing to do, and when I met him, I asked him what helped him do that. He said, "I can't tolerate injustice." And I thought, "Oh, there's the phrase I've been looking for." Whatever that (feeling) is, it's just there, and I can't stand it. It's not like I don't like it, it's that when I see it, I'm just driven to doing something about it, and I'm fortunate enough that because of the fame, doors open to me, a lot of them. So I use that, and as I said in the documentary, these are not sacrifices for me. The sacrifice would be if I couldn't do that.
Question 2 - You've performed all over the world and have continued fighting for social justice and equality in places like Chile, Thailand, Bosnia...can you link some of the positive changes to your appearances there?
Joan Baez - Well sometimes, there are some blatant ones that are so pleasing, like the Velvet Revolution. (Vaclav) Havel said the last drop before it spilled over was my singing that song to him in Boinaslava. When he wrote that, I was knocked out. You know, you're only a part of something that never feels as though it's part of that larger part of something that made such a big change. But if that led into the Velvet Revolution and the guy says so, then that's something to really be proud of.
Question 3 -R: And all your activism in the South had to have helped make a difference.
Joan Baez - When I talked with Bishop Ernest Palmer in Tuscaloosa about the changes that we made in the college that day, then yeah, I know that there were some irreversible changes that took place on that evening during that concert. So, I know there are some things that have happened as a result of what I was up to, always with other people. I had the tools and I used them.
Question 4 - Did you love it when Havel joined you on stage with your guitar case during one of your concerts?
Joan Baez - (laughs) That was so sweet! Yeah, it's a joke now, he's always said he's my roadie. I'm going back at the end of this tour for a celebration for him. The Prague Symphony Orchestra has arranged "Swing Low..." and "Imagine" for me to sing with him.
Question 5 - Still, you continue the fight.
Joan Baez - You know, I've never been an optimist. People say, "Oh, how do you stay such an optimist?" But I never was, I've always been a realist and it doesn't look so terrific right now. I don't see anything terribly helpful as far as climate change goes. We're in too much denial about it. It's like to survive, we stay in denial. But in the meantime, living as decently as possible seems to be incredibly important, you know, not just throwing in the towel and becoming a pig.
(From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ragogna/how-sweet-the-sound-an-in_b_320193.html )
News: Protegid, the new album of Carmen Souza
The poetic voice is as original as the musical one.
The lyrics this Cape Verdean singer has written have a vivid, passionate energy; her sound is sometimes pure Billie Holiday, sometimes like the young Cleo Laine. Backed with rippling accompaniments from a band blending Afro-Latin and contemporary jazz effects, she beats up a very unusual storm. Just one song – "Sodade" – plugs her into the grand Cape Verdean tradition, but shows how far she has moved from its original exponent, Cesaria Evora
(From: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-carmen-souza-protegid-galileo-music-1935755.html)
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Profile: The political sound of a Tuareg band
Tinariwen (Tamashek: "The deserts", plural of "ténéré" meaning "desert") is a band of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara Desert region of northern Mali. Formed in 1979, they rose to prominence in the 1980s as the pied pipers of a new political and social conscience in the southern Sahara, and the icons of a whole generation of young Touareg living in exile in Algeria and Libya. In the early 2000s Tinariwen started to gain a following outside Africa, first in the world music community, and then in the wider rock scene, thanks to frequent tours and appearances at major festival in Europe and the USA. After releasing their second CD album 'Amassakoul' in 2004 they become one of the most successful African groups in the world, and won several prestigious awards. They sing about the suffering and exile of their people, the semi-nomadic Kel Tamashek of the southern Sahara, and about their beauty of the desert home.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Five questions to: Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)
For anyone who grew up in the ’60s or ’70s, the voice of Cat Stevens was a permanent and very beautiful part of the cultural landscape. From 1966, when he released his debut album, Matthew & Son, until 1979, he was one of the biggest pop stars in the world. In December of 1977, Stevens converted to the Islamic faith, and shortly thereafter took the name Yusuf Islam. Two years later he turned his back on music entirely, and spent the next 28 years devoting himself to spiritual studies, raising his children, and philanthropic work. He’s received numerous awards for his efforts to promote world peace, and has given away quite a lot of money. In conversation, Yusuf is sincere, modest, and witty, and he seems content with the life he has made for himself. It has been generally assumed that something about him changed when he converted to the Islamic faith, but, in fact, the music he’s making today addresses exactly the same themes that were central to the first chapter of his career: peace, the many wonders of the world we live in, and love.
Question 1 - You were at the peak of your career during a period when rock stars were elevated to an extraordinarily exalted position in the culture. The music industry that fostered that phenomenon has dissolved and been replaced by the Internet, which has changed the relationship between musicians and their audience. Has the public perception of musicians changed?
Yusuf Islam - It’s true that the Internet is an equalizer, and everybody can be a star now. Musicians are more touchable these days, and that’s a good thing. It’s certainly the way I like to live my life, and it’s why I don’t do concerts in big arenas—I prefer to be in touch with my audience.
Question 2 - When you were at the height of your success, did you enjoy it?
Yusuf Islam: Yeah. Nobody could not enjoy being the center of attention and having such adoration. But I felt that it was a responsibility, too, and I often changed my track so people couldn’t predict where I was going next. I didn’t quite know myself, but I was trying to be sincere whichever direction I went.
Question 3 - During the mid-’70s, you devoted most of your time to searching for some kind of spiritual anchor. What prompted that?
Yusuf Islam - Being larger than life, or being projected as such in the music business, leads you to question yourself. Some people try to forget about it by taking drugs or too much drink, but I was never like that. I was aware that there were very serious, big questions, and I was petrified about what might be in store for me.
Question 4 - What did you find in the Islamic faith that was lacking for you in other spiritual paths?
Yusuf Islam - It was the most direct and encompassing message I’d ever encountered. I was confused by many of the spiritual books because they used metaphysical and theological terminology I didn’t understand. But the Koran was very clear, especially about the fact that every soul eventually must meet its Maker and then be questioned. That, to me, was a wake-up call.
Question 5 - What’s the most widely held misconception about Islam?
Yusuf Islam - That there’s no link between Islam and Christianity and Judaism. There wouldn’t be Islam if there wasn’t Christianity or Judaism, because it’s all one long line of revelation. Seeing it from that point of view it makes you ask yourself why Muslims sometimes separate themselves from that large family that leads to Abraham and, even before that, to Adam. The only answer is that we’re conditioned to do it by thinking, Hey, I do things better than he does.
(From: http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:Vj73V97kBkgJ:www.interviewmagazine.com/music/yusuf-islam/+Yusuf+Islam+interview&cd=4&hl=pt-BR&ct=clnk)
To buy CDs or DVDs of this artist, click in the title:
Yusuf's Cafe Session
Roadsinger (To Warm You Through The Night)
The Very Best of Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens/Gold
News: New York Flamenco Festival 2010
New York Flamenco Festival 2010's gala, Todo Cambia (Everything Changes) will take place Thursday, February 11 at 7:30 PM. The performance features important new figures in flamenco dance: the sensuous Pastora Galván, a versatile dancer able to navigate easily between classic and modern flamenco; Manuel Liñán, a master of technique who is steeped in tradition and known for his dramatic choreography; the passionate Belén López, who has caused a sensation in flamenco circles in recent years; and Rocío Molina, the fiery dancer. Video of Belén López: Belen Lopez. Video of Pastora_Galvan
New York City Center, W. 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, NYC
$35, $45, $55, $75, $90
Special $200 World Music Institute benefit tickets include wine & tapas reception with artists.
Call (212) 545-7536 for gala details
Available at CityTix (212) 581-1212 www.nycitycenter.org
To buy products about Flamenco, click in the title:
DVD:
Guitarra! A Musical Journey Through Spain
Light and Shade (with Paco de Lucia)
CD:
Nina de Fuego
Nouveau Flamenco
Masters of Flamenco Guitar
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Profile: The beat of the World
Composer, performer, and educator John Arrucci has shared his music and knowledge with thousands of people worldwide.
A music professor at Princeton University in New Jersey, USA, for more than 23 years, Arrucci has traveled the world lecturing on and performing music in Brazil, Cuba, India, Nigeria, parts of Europe, and elsewhere. His knowledge of classical, jazz, North Indian, Afro-Cuban, and other styles of indigenous traditional music gives him a unique perspective on the creation of music and its profound impact on human culture.
Arrucci's work has been featured in more than 10 films. He recorded music for several television programs, including The Oprah Winfrey Show , and composed music for AT&T, Coca-Cola, Saab, Volvo, and Snapple. His work has also been commissioned by members of the New York Philharmonic and the Manhattan Marimba Quartet.
In 1997, Arrucci's composition "Metaphors" won second place in the jazz category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, an international competition with more than 30,000 entries.
Arrucci gained much of his broad knowledge of music by studying in other countries. After graduating from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Smithsonian Institution to study the tabla, an Indian percussion instrument, in Varanasi (Benares), Uttar Pradesh, India.
"Music truly is the international language," says Arrucci. "It's conversational. Every place I visit, I'm always embraced because of music."
(From: http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/100113_news_arrucci.aspx)
Out of the map: Brugges, Belgium
Celtic Ireland is an independent family-run establishment designed to the highest of traditional Irish standards and decorated in a superbly imaginative way to bring our patrons an understanding and appreciation of the cultural heritage of ancient Ireland. The major inspiration for the wall and ceiling hangings was from the Book of Kells, the most spectacular of a group of manuscripts created in Ireland.
Open daily from 11am until late!
At Celtic Ireland, they offer shows of Irish music and a wide selection of beers, including draught Guinness, Kilkenny and Cider, along with a variety of popular Belgian Beers. Fancy something different? Why not try something from this extensive selection of Whiskeys.
Celtic Ireland's kitchen brings you both traditional Irish cuisine as well as a touch of flavour from around the world
Live music every night!
Adress: Burg 8
8000 Brugge, Belgium
050 34 45 02
Podcast: Other World 13
1 – Infidelite Mado / Franco Luambo e TP OK Jazz (Congo)
2 – Rebel with a bullet / The Moon Invaders (Bélgica)
3 – Tico-tico no fubá / Orquestra Brasileira de Música Jamaicana (Brasil)
4 – Vieux Megot / Samarabalouf (França)PHOTO
5 – Polka de San Lorenzo / Aljibe (Espanha)
6 – Voltei amor / Trio Mocotó (Brasil)
7 – My reflections / Osunlade (EUA)
8 – Qué amá mamãe / Ana Costa (Brasil)
To listen this podcast, copy this link:
http://otherworld.podomatic.com/player/web/2009-07-15T20_35_20-07_00
Audiotrip to: Zimbabwe
The first compilation of Zimbabwean music released in over ten years, Zimbabwe Today is an exciting collection of new music from Zimbabwe’s greatest young stars. With songs in both English and Shona, the album seeks to bring local music to the Zimbabwean diaspora, while introducing the beautiful sounds of Zimbabwe to international audiences.
A portion of all proceeds from this album will be donated to Tariro: Hope and Health For Zimbabwe’s Orphans. Tariro is an organization which benefits Zimbabwean orphans by sponsoring educational costs and mentoring children in need.
Zimbabwe Today is the debut album of the exciting new record label, Wide World Artists. Wide World Artists’ mission is to improve the lives of musicians from developing countries by bringing their music to international audiences.
To buy this CD, click here
News: Festival in Egypt in April
The Arts Center at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina has the pleasure to announce its World Music Festival 2010 (Europe - Mediterranean), to be held from 23 - 28 April 2010, in the city of Alexandria. A call has been launched for Musician from Allover Europe and the Mediterranean.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Haiti: poor economy, rich culture
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The Haitian people are very artistic and creative and possess a very colourful folk art which is world famous. The crafts include basketry, embroidery, needlework, leather goods, pottery, papier-mâché, and metal work. Sequin Flag-making is an art form unique to Haiti. The colourful flags were originally created only for religious ceremonies, but in recent times have been sold as pieces of art to international buyers.
The drum is the most important Haitian instrument, with its roots tied to Africa’s Vodun system of beliefs. The main rhythm families include:
• Dahomey - Three cow-skin drums (Katabo, Gonde, Manman) are played by three people using 2 sticks, hand &bow (agida), and 1 hand/1 stick, respectively.
• Rada - Three cow-skin drums (Boula, Segon, Manman) are played by three people using stick, hand and bow similar to the Dahomey.
• Petwo - Two goat-skin drums (Ralé and Manman) are played by hand only.
Donations to Haiti: read above.
Earthquake: Donations to Haiti
To help the Haitian people, with Unicef or Care, copy this link:
http://www.google.com/relief/haitiearthquake/#utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-sk&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=haiti%20charity
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
News: A new talent from Tunisia
The young Tunisian singer Wafa Boukil who was discovered during a TV program “Tarik El Noujoum” (the equivalent of Star Academy in Tunisia) is fast becoming a star on the web thanks to “the digital success” of her new single titled “Tir Biya”.
Her hit has been played on Arab radio stations in Morocco, Jordan and the UAE and is continuously being downloaded. The song’s lyrics have been composed by Hatem El Guizana on a music by Sami Ben Said and has two versions as confirmed by Wafa Boukil in a statement to “Tunisiaonlinenews”.The first version is produced by Oussama Abdel Jawad while the second is the work of Dj Danger.
Wafa boukil also told “Tunisiaonlinenews” that her choice of the internet as the main support for her song was dictated by the number of young people who use the web in quest of musical downloads.
The singer is also envisaging other versions of “Tir Biya” in many languages including English.
According to Dj Danger the song is witnessing a great success in Turkey.
“Tir Biya” is also strongly featured on the web especially in House music websites.
(From : http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/?p=31785)
The place of the sound: Cairo (Egypt)
The type and style of dancing which we now call belly dance, can be traced back over 6000 plus years. The early pagan communities often worshipped a matriarchal deity and extolled the magic and fascination of the ability of women to create life. There is a lot of historical evidence which links the ritual of fertility dances at that time, with symbolic re-creations of giving birth, to modern belly dancing. The sharp hip movements, deliberate muscular contractions and spasms, as well as sinewy undulations, demonstrate strong connections to the body's responses during labour and delivery. The dances spread from Mesopotamia to North Africa, Rome, Spain and India. It is thought gypsies travelled and spread belly dance. This blending can be seen in the use of the neck slides introduced from India and the transformation of hip shimmy to foot stamping in flamenco dance.
One of the ways that gypsies supported themselves during their journeys was by providing entertainment for the people of the communities in which they stopped: Belly dancing is especially popular in Turkey and Egypt.
Performances in Egypt did not only involve women. Gypsies also danced for the public at celebrations, wedding processions and in front of coffee houses and market places. Referred to as the ghawazee , their repertoire was a mix of music and dancing, including improvised performances with veil, sticks, swords and candles. Generally, public dancing was tolerated by the authorities, because they earned a substantial revenue by taxing performers' profits. However, religious complaints finally outweighed the financial benefits and public ghawanzee dancing was outlawed in the city of Cairo in 1834. Between 1849 and 1856 the ban was lifted and dancing was allowed in Cairo again, although the sanction against dancing in public remained. The dance moved inside to a music-hall type environment and Egyptian cabaret-style dancing was born.
Cairo, Egypt, the Triumphant City, known officially as al-Qāhirah is one of the world's largest urban areas and offers many sites to see. It is the administrative capital of Egypt and, close by, is almost every Egypt Pyramid, such as the Great Pyramids of Giza on the very edge of the city. But there are also ancient temples, tombs, Christian churches, magnificent Muslim monuments, and of course, the Egyptian Antiquities Museum all either within or nearby the city.
Cairo, Egypt is an amazing city full of life and movement, and it is that way almost 24 hours every day, with the noisy honking of horns, children playing in the streets and merchants selling their wears and services. And here, the Egyptians are most at home in this powerful, modern and ancient city
(From: http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:4B3y2ndF5o0J:www.worldbellydance.com/history.html+%22origins+of+belly+dance%22&cd=2&hl=pt-BR&ct=clnk) and (From: http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:CdiXhxs-kpYJ:www.cairotourist.com/+cairo&cd=9&hl=pt-BR&ct=clnk)
Click to buy the DVD Discover Bellydance
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Audio trip to: Bulgaria
"Stamps from Bulgaria is the result of a long-term investigation into Bulgarian Folklore and its correlation with other music traditions and instruments. For me, there were two personal challenges in this project: as composer and as pianist.
My approach as composer was to avoid rearranging these songs, but rather to treat them as any other compositional element such as a major triad, a rhythmical phrase, intervals, etc. Thus establishing a process of de- and re-construction, which will eventually result in a new musical form, which is sometimes closer to the original than others. On selecting the songs, I searched carefully for any personal and emotional connection and/or something unique (such as odd time measure, lyrics, or just a melody), which also contained enough dramatic potential, yet leaving room for exploration. As a pianist I referred to the traditional singing and instruments in an attempt to apply their specific characteristics on the piano keyboard. I treated the piano as a melodic rather than harmonic instrument, which is its most common function.
All songs come from different regions of Bulgaria. Some are more popular than others. It is of course arguable which songs are actually Bulgarian, but this issue gives another dimension to my research and poses the question of national identity - a much discussed issue in a modern multi-cultural society".
Dimitar Bodurov, pianist
To buy this CD, click here
(From: http://74.125.113.132/search?q=cache:JK6xQrqM6hcJ:www.sarajevo-x.com/forum/viewtopic.php%3Ff%3D9%26t%3D15024%26p%3D2378818+%22marc+ribot%22+download+blog+cubans&cd=65&hl=pt-BR&ct=clnk&gl=br)
Monday, January 11, 2010
Five questions to: Cesaria Evora
Although she's approaching 60, Cape Verde's "barefoot diva" only caught the world's ear a few years back when her velvety voice drove 500,000 Frenchmen crazy. Soon, that voice -- humble, dark, and tinged with an ageless melancholy -- made morna, the haunting music of her African island home, famous. It also catapulted the single grandmother to international fame. Three Grammy nominations and innumerable comparisons to Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf later, Cesaria Evora answer thosefive questions:
1- There are so many new styles on CAFE ATLANTICO. Was it a new experience for you making it?
Cesaria Evora - The music may sound different, but the original Cape Verdean sound is in there. So it was really nothing new. The differences are the Spanish songs and the Brazilian songs, but that was the producer's idea. I always liked those songs though.
2 -Did you travel to Cuba for the recording?
Cesaria Evora - I went to Cuba for one week, just to record the vocal tracks. All the music was already completed in Havana. Also, I traveled to Brazil for one week I was in Rio, where I recorded a duet with Marisa Monte. That's on the French edition of CAFE ATLANTICO. To Cape Verdean people, whether it's Brazilian, Portuguese, or Spanish, it's the same. We have a lot of things in common. Like the food in Brazil and Spain is similar to Cape Verdean food. The social life in Brazil is exactly the same as it is here; it's not that much a difference. We listen to a lot of Brazilian and Spanish music, so it has a lot of influence on our music as well.
3 - How did you like Cuba?
Cesaria Evora - I was only there for one week. When you go for a mission like that, there's no time to really get to know a place. You have rehearsals, you go to bed early, go to the studio. I went to a few restaurants, and that was nice, but I didn't get to see too much.
4 - So you enjoy cha-cha-cha and danzon?
Cesaria Evora - You know, the first song I recorded in Spanish was "Bésame Mucho." I've always loved singing that. It was used for the soundtrack to "Great Expectations," and it was a gold record in America, I think. Yes, I love cha-cha-cha, and I can dance it, too.
5 - Who are some of your favorite singers?
Cesaria Evora - Nat King Cole. He's fantastic, and I've always loved him and I always will, even though he's gone. There are some American artists I like -- Madonna, Michael Jackson, Prince....
To buy CDs of Cesaria Evora, click in the title:
Nha Sentimento
Cafe Atlantico
The Very Best of Cesaria Evora
To buy DVDs of Cesaria Evora, click in the title:
Live d' Amor: Cesaria Evora In Concert
Live in Paris
(fROM: http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/interview.asp?CTR=99119)
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