Recommended World music (#1 - #10)

World

MALAM MAMAN BARKA: Guidan Haya
Scheduled to perform at the 2008 WOMAD festival, Nigerien gurumi master, Malam Maman Barka, presents his first album to be released outside of Niger. Guidan Haya, one of our most exciting world music releases for 2008, is a pure gem; the album includes a number of the songs that have made Barka such a beloved songwriter at home as well as earning him more and more recognition abroad. An accomplished teacher, musician and poet, Barka has been performing music professionally on the gurumi (a two-stringed instrument with a calabash shell body and iguana skin head) for over twenty years. With more than 250 compositions to his credit, bridging both traditional and contemporary music styles, Barka has created a musical sound world that not only speaks to Nigeriens but to world music connoisseurs around the globe.
Recommended if you like Lightnin' Hopkins, Ali Farka Touré, Mamar Kassey.
CD price: $11.97 / MP3 price: $6.97
ONNIK DINKJIAN: Voice Of Armenians
This world-renowned Armenian singer tops his 50-year career by giving the concert of his life in the holy city of Jerusalem, accompanied by his son, Ara, on oud (Night Ark, An Armenian In America) and an international all-star ensemble.
Recommended if you like Night Ark, Ara Dinkjian.
CD price: $12.97
NUNCA ANTES: The Beat Migration
For any fan of samba, regardless of style, The Beat Migration is an absolute must. This troupe primarily focuses on the music of the Maracatu nations of Recife, Brazil. While their greatest school of influence is Maracatu Estrela Brilhante de Recife, various groups and traditions also inspire their approach. Full of bone-rattling rhythms and enough festive energy to throw your own living room Carnaval, the generous 16 tracks on this disc travel the samba spectrum from the lumbering and thunderous to the nimble and buoyant. Their variety and versatility is not without notice, particularly due to their adeptness at every song they approach. This is simply one of the best Brazilian projects we've seen yet.
Recommended if you like Mestre Ambrósio, baque bolado, maracatu estrela brilhante de recife.
CD price: $17.00 / MP3 price: $17.00
YUBA IRE: Esta Es Mi Rumba
Formed in Puerto Rico in 1988, the sole (and soul) mission of Yubá Iré is to interpret, perform and bring deserved recognition to Afro-Caribbean folkloric music. Beyond commanding the detail of these songs, Yubá Iré captures the spirit which drives them: the energy of the dance, the community element of the call and response singing, and even the various meanings, whether we actually understand the words or not. While rumba is a large part of this material, including guaguancó, yambú, columbia and palo styles, they also cover plena and bomba. As they put it, their net is cast widely, way beyond that of Puerto Rico alone. With top-notch production and recording, really giving the focus and attention to this music while mastering its recording challenges, this disc is undoubtedly one of the top folkloric and world music releases of 2007.
Recommended if you like Yoruba Andabo, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, Los Papines.
CD price: $12.97 / MP3 price: $12.97
MADJID KHALADJ: Infinite Breath (Nafas) Persian Art Percussion
A master of Iranian percussion, Madjid Khaladj’s talents have been well recognized across the musical spectrum, both academically and within pop culture, from working with Ry Cooder and Lisa Gerard on film soundtracks and being a part of many radio and television broadcasts to performing in festivals, conferences and concerts all over the globe. This kind of diverse reputation and respect can come only from a musician who equally possesses both the technical prowess and the natural vision that allows him to experiment and improvise with insight and literate inspiration. Whether one is studying the finer subtleties or is new to the music, Infinite Breath offers more than enough to chew on. Between the ten tracks, a large variety of Persian instruments are heard: the recognizable tombak and daf drums as well as the dayré (frame drum), zang-e saringôshti (brass cymbals), dohôl (cylindrical double-ended drum), tombak-e zurkhâneh (a large tombak formed in pottery rather than wood), senj (large diameter brass cymbals), zang (bell), zanguleh (small spherical bell typically worn on the wrist or ankles in folk dances) and the âyineh’pil (a metallic drum, often called a gong). Khaladj has the drive and talent to capture one’s attention equally whether he’s speaking with all instruments or only one. As Hossein Alizádeh wrote, “This development demands deliberate pondering and reflection.”
Recommended if you like Madjid Khaladj, Percussion, Tombak & Daf.
CD price: $17.97 / MP3 price: $9.97
PANDIT KUMAR BOSE: Live At Darbar Festival
From our top classical Indian label, Sense World Music, Live from Darbar Festival 2006 is a divine sampling of this gathering of some of India’s greatest musicians, in tribute to the life of Bhai Gurmit Singh Virdee, who passed away in April 2005. The festival, held in the UK in March of 2006, showcased three of the most notable tabla players, Swapan Chaudhuri, Anindo Chatterjee and Kumar Bose. On this 2-CD set, we are taken to immeasurable heights with his virtuosity and mastery, showcasing not only the tabla as an instrument but as an entity and life force few musicians are able to fully embody like Bose. Accompanied by sarangi maestro, Ramesh Mishra, Bose’s conversation and interplay with the sarangi is not only a testament to his genius but also that of Mishra’s, whose subtle ornamentations play a significant role in highlighting the tabla voice and the lehara16-beat rhythm cycle. Together, these maestros weave exquisite and sublime tapestries, calling upon the ancestors and rich history of North Indian classical music, resulting in a historic and must-have album.
CD price: $29.99
- VISHWA MOHAN BHATT & MUSICIANS OF RAJASTHAN: Desert Slide
Immediately, from the opening devotional song, Helo mharo suno, related to the bhajan form of Hindu hymn to the sixth track, a six-beat song of love and separation borrowing from the folk music of Rajasthan, we are plummeted into a vast and brilliant, yet bottomless musical and cosmic cocoon, reaching the ecstatic. Featuring Grammy Award-winner, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt playing the Mohan Veena or Indian slide guitar, in conversation with the arresting and heart-opening vocals of Anwar Khan, joined by the crème de la crème of the Desert musicians of Rajasthan, Desert Slide is very much a double espresso for the soul. It is never a surprise to hear such mesmerizing musicianship within classical Indian styles, as musical mastery is no casual endeavor in this part of the world; however, the way Desert Slide awakens the sleeping cells of the body and heart is no less than phenomenal and doubtlessly unprecedented. Such passion for emotional craft and artistic exhilaration between each and every musician conversing on this disc is beyond comparison; the divinity and sublimity is tangible and blood-boiling. Each of these songs are powerfully and gracefully colored with the support of tabla (Ram Kumar Mishra, Gurprit Matharu), khadtal (Gazi Khan), kamayacha (Ghevar Khan Manganiar), sindhi sarangi (Meher Din Langa, Lakha Khan), and dholak (Firoz Khan), building and exploding the rich foundation on which the muses of Bhatt and Anwar can be set free. Altogether, the combination of this musical communication and transmission creates an orchestral oasis brimming with enormously abundant, succulent textures. Desert Slide, in short, is an exhilarating sanctuary for its audience.
CD price: $17.99
WARREN CUCCURULLO FEATURING SHENKAR: The Blue
Featuring legendary double-violinist, Shankar, known for his work with Peter Gabriel (particularly on the “Passion” album), as well as former Duran Duran member, Warren Cuccurullo on guitar, The Blue provides a mesmerizing and yet organic, grounding, tie-your-feet-to-the-floor experience drifting through multiple cultures, musical vocabularies and emotions. Taking us particularly through a contemporary Middle Eastern context that embraces lush, reverberating electric guitar reminiscent of American 80’s rock and progressive rock, these tracks are more like individual journeys and explorations, rather than “songs.” Tending to be quite atmospheric and contemplative, this seven-track disc does wonders for over-worked ears in need of uncommon stimuli.
Recommended if you like Frank Zappa, Ravi Shankar.
CD price: $20.00 / MP3 price: $20.00
SHIRLEY KAZUYO MURAMOTO & SHIGEO TACHIBANA: Koto and Shakuhachi
Sublime, exquisitely tender and yet energized by a gentle, expressive fire, these contemporary pieces for Japanese shakuhachi flute and koto are not only beautifully accessible to the general public because of the modern approach to melody and musical conversation but being steeped in the rich traditions, with two of the pieces based on traditional songs, this disc respectfully and innovatively carries this dynamic music forward into a 20th century space. Remarkably evocative and reflective of the imaginative titles, such as, “Moon Over the Ruined Castle,” and “Invitation to the Stars,” these eight, generously-spirited pieces combine for a transcendental listening experience.
CD price: $15.00
THE IPANEMAS: Afro Bossa
Having changed the face of Brazilian music in the 1960s, the Ipanemas, with Far Out Recordings, present their second album to link the forty-year span. Drawing from traditional influences of gentle and undulating samba and bossa to invigorating capoeira (with berimbau punctuation, as well) and African shading to gentle backdrops of laid back jazz, Afro Bossa is a landmark album, making the long hiatus worth the wait. Their mastery of managing all of these subtle and not-so-subtle musical threads hits the palate much like a mixed drink where distinct flavors mingle and combine without losing their individual bite in the process of being stretched beyond their own skin.
CD price: $16.00