Music: O-bla-di O-bla-da / Hamilton de Holanda (Brasil)

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 )

Image: Movits! (Sweden)

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From Turkey

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From Mozambique

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)

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.

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From Argentina

Image: Peace train / Yusuf Islam (England)

To buy the MP3 file of this music, click here

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

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From USA

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From Spain

Music: Entre dos aguas / Paco de Lucia (Spain)

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To buy the CD with this music, click here

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

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

Image: Mamurenga / Victor Kunonga (Zimbabwe)

To buy the CD "Zimbabwe Today", click here

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

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From France.