Traditional Ethnic or World Music

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I was wondering if others here had an interest in traditional music from different world cultures (I live in the U.S., so for me "other" means non-U.S.). I hope to learn from other members here about music with which I'm not familiar.

I personally enjoy music from the Republic of Georgia (which the Kartvelian inhabitants there call Sakartvelo). Georgia has a living, unbroken music tradition dating back to at least 2500 BC, and probably earlier. It was the region the ancient Greeks referred to as the Kingdom of Colchis.

For Georgians, music has always been an important part of daily life; they have traditional songs for virtually every occasion or activity. Nearly all families own at least one traditional instrument: the 3-string panduri, 4-string chonguri, harp-like changi, guitar or salamanuri (shepherd's flute). It is now known that multi-voice or polyphonic singing was a tradition in Georgia long before it began in Europe, or any other part of the world, by perhaps as much as 1000 years.

I'd like to share three very different Georgian music styles. In all three, the unique Georgian musical scale has been slightly modified to sound more consonant to Westerners.

SORRY -- I SEE I POSTED EACH VIDEO TWICE AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WENT WRONG. I'M AFRAID IF I TRY TO CORRECT IT I'LL LOSE THEM COMPLETELY.

The first is the song is Shatilis Asulo, with a video produced by Georgian Legend designed to introduce Westerners to the "feel" of Georgia. Georgian Legend is one of the very few Georgian concert groups which use Western instruments.

[youtube_browser]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upt-ivttPNE[/youtube_browser]

The next is a traditional style song, Chela, with the late Hamlet Gonashvili singing the solo part (he died in 1985 after falling from an apple tree). While Chela is today a sympathetic lament sung to an ox pulling a cart, with lyrics of compassion for the heavy yoke the ox must bear, note the repetitive Nana-Nani lyrics in the chorus. Georgian Nana songs were originally hymns to a female astral diety, probably the moon goddess. After Georgia was Christianized in the 4th century AD (although it still retains many ancient pagan traditions), Nana songs became lullabyes, hymns to Mary, or laments.

The religious icons in the video are entirely appropriate. While very pagan in its traditional ways, Georgia also considered itself the easternmost defender of the faith, the Georgian Orthodox Church, for centuries. Georgia was often under conquest by one empire or another. Many of the church icons were taken to the isolated Svaneti mountain region for safekeeping, distributed among the various villages and families in those villages, where they remain today. The Svans are a bit xenophobic and don't even trust the church anymore, so they will guard those icons with their lives until... the second coming, perhaps?

[youtube_browser]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XcjldoQaMA[/youtube_browser]

Finally something unusual: the First Lady of Georgia, Sandra Roelofs (yes, the President's wife, at least when this video was made) singing, with the Georgian group Basiani, a very popular relatively modern Georgian song taken from the Georgian poem Suliko (which means "soul"). First I'll post the poem, then the link.

Suliko

I was looking for my sweetheart's grave,
And longing was tearing my heart.
Without love my heart felt heavy, I cried to the night -
"Where are you, my Suliko? "

Alone among the thorns of the bush
A lone rose was blooming
My heart was beating hard, I had to ask it:
"Where have you hidden Suliko?".

A nightingale hid with bated breath
In the branches of the rose thorn
Gently, then, I asked him if he was the one,
if he had any news of Suliko

The Nightingale lifted his head high
And sang a loud clear song to the stars
His eyes held a gleam, and he cocked his head
As if to tell me "Yes, yes, I know Suliko!"

Suddenly the nightingale fell silent
And softly touched the rose with the beak
"You have found what you are looking for," he said,
In an eternal sleep Suliko is resting here."

I listen to the nightingale's songs
I smell the perfume of that wild rose
I see the stars, and what I feel then
No words could describe!

Ah, life has meaning once more now!
Night and day, I have hope
And I have not lost you, my Suliko
I shall always return to you, I know now where you rest.

[youtube_browser]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH6U4BEprHg[/youtube_browser]

I'll check the links after this posts on the board. I often make link-goofs when I initially post things.

I hope you enjoy these songs, and I hope there are others here who can introduce me to music from other cultures.

rebecca

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@melonkali,

These Georgian songs are all remarkable, and the last two both had me in tears, one for its gentle beauty and the last for its sorrowful grieving after the singer's soulmate. I would like to hear more of this Georgian music and similar music from other places, music with humanity, passion, beauty. Is such not the very heart of aesthetics, the ability to touch the soul? I believe that experience is the central reality that binds everything in the universe to everything else within its sphere of perception, and for sentient beings such as we are, there are few greater bonds than these aesthetic bonds that communicate from soul to soul the deepest of our feelings and longings. But I'm a push-over for musical beauty. I cry every time I hear the Finnish National Anthem, "Finlandia" (or its Christian derivative, "Be Still My Soul").

Thanks again. I've got a blue star for anyone who can bring tears to my eyes with other musical beauty and passion. :-)

Samm

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@melonkali,

Whoops! About the above homage to Stalin...

After you play each of the three Georgian videos I posted, Youtube apparently runs a few thumbnails across the bottom for similar videos. On the bottom of the Suliko video you will see a thumbnail of Stalin and if you click on it you will view an homage to Stalin with the Red Army Chorus singing Suliko, because it happened to be Stalin's favorite song. Sorry about that...

rebecca

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@melonkali,

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! Again I felt that truth is beauty, and beauty truth. Thanks so much for posting these great vids!

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@melonkali,

I'm very much a fan of world music, particularly from parts of West Africa and South America where I've traveled. There are phenomenal popular artists from Africa who fuse traditional African music with very modern rock. Check out Youssou N'dour, Salif Keita, Amadou and Mariam, Orchestra Baobab, Angelique Kidjo, Rokia Traore, Fela Kuti, and Baba Maal.

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@melonkali,

Yes, I have also heard some great music out of Africa. Unfortunately, I have no idea of the names of the groups or the songs; a local public radio station here plays world music though, and all I know is that the stuff coming out of Africa is quite good. The fusion of traditional rhythmic African music, and more recent Jazz and Rock styles makes for a nice combination, that can be appreciated by someone from any culture.

On a side note, does the first post of this thread look really messed up to anyone else, or is it just my computer?

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@melonkali,

Thanks for the support and suggestions so far. I'm not familiar with African or South American music, but I'll be heading over to Youtube and check them out.

As for my OP in this thread looking weird -- sorry. I'm fairly new here and have no idea what I did wrong.

rebecca

rebecca

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@melonkali,

Ok, still drunk here with the many wonderful songs/vids that have been posted in various threads lately. Salima is right of course. From all arts music may be the one that expresses most deeply and intensely our relation with ... what really? With God, the universe, ourselves, life, all of this together (William?). Yes, music is healing and wholesome. Standing on the ground we look upon the heavens, and we can only sing, it's all we can do, like a flower can only reach towards the light. All music is mystical, holding time and eternity, riddle and solution, promise and fulfillment. Does it matter if a song is "pure" folk, baroque, indian or whatever? Whether it has been recently created or is around for centuries? As long as it moves us, stretches us, brings us tears and visions and strenght. Yes, let's travel through time and space, let's dream, let's live and feel and see. I propose Brazil...

YouTube - A garota de Ipanema
.

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@melonkali,

Once you catch a bula, what do you do with it? I agree, catchabula, that music is very powerful, and if it has ever been used for evil, I can only think of the horns and pipes and drums used in combat to spur the troops forward to their doom. Or perhaps I would include the MUZAK played in the dentist's office. "Is it safe?" he asks, "Is it safe?"

Ah, but there's a different story. I suppose Japanese Kabuki could be called an evil use of music...if by any twist of the imagination you could dare call that music. I think all Kabuki singers and musicians should be sent to re-education camps as soon as possible, for the sanctity of the human ear.

No, as I think of it, you have made a very interesting and accurate point to the best of my knowledge. It seems that we never use music to an evil end, but only to elicit pleasure or passion or to communicate ideas. "Blowing in the Wind" made many of us ask in fact, "How many times?" "The Internationale" has inspired many generations of oppressed people to band together to strive against their oppressors. "Onward Christian Soldiers" has inspired mob mentality among many a Christian soul. Music makes us laugh or cry, it draws us to dance (which to me may be an evil since I cannot toss my feet without injuring someone).

So let me return the favor of your gentle song about Ipanema with a song of a different flavor, just to keep the old ball rolling along in the spirit of the aesthetic moment.

YouTube - Libera - be still my soul

Samm

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@melonkali,

YouTube - Noh Theater

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@melonkali,

i cant do a lot of videos, but the georgian ones look really interesting. african music i have been a fan of since high school and miriam makeba's early days. i had been sampling all the world's music and really appreciate greek music, traditional folk music i mean, never anything modern. of course zydeco was my favorite for a long time, clifton chenier and the red hot louisiana band (no psudo zydeco for me) then i thought i had found the absolute best ever when i discovered the portuguese fado.

currently, since 1998, my favorite has been nusrat fateh ali khan and qawwali, the sufi devotional music. i have about 100 cd's of his and for some time i used to listen to it about 8 hours a day. he had fans worldwide (he died iabout six months before i discovered him) and his audience would be really crazy, depending on which country he was in that is. here in india and pakistan listeners would bang their heads on the wooden stage, and i probably would be following him all over the world today if he was still here, banging my brains out along with them. his music can send a person into a high exalted state of meditation even when one doesnt intend anything of the kind...if one is attuned to that sort of thing.

and as far as evil, i noticed an interesting thing about the way they play drums here in india. i can see now why some people think music shouldnt be allowed-if you have any inkling of what being naughty is, and have sworn off all the hanky panky for life and you hear those drums you will be rethinking your decision very soon. after i had been celibate for some time and heard those drums, i began to feel very uneasy and have a whole new understanding of what they can do to a person's equilibrium and decorum. and they play this stuff in the temples! hindu concepts are not prudish and allow for all the natural human tendencies.

i am joking about evil of course-music cant be evil. but it can really be primitive, and much of it is some of the best there is. it definitely reaches part of the brain that we have been trying to regulate...i guess maybe hearing it all the time it doesnt affect people so much-but i find it very stimulating to say the least. too much so in fact!

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@Catchabula,

Catchabula;102465 wrote:

Ok, still drunk here with the many wonderful songs/vids that have been posted in various threads lately. Salima is right of course. From all arts music may be the one that expresses most deeply and intensely our relation with ... what really? With God, the universe, ourselves, life, all of this together (William?). Yes, music is healing and wholesome. Standing on the ground we look upon the heavens, and we can only sing, it's all we can do, like a flower can only reach towards the light. All music is mystical, holding time and eternity, riddle and solution, promise and fulfillment. Does it matter if a song is "pure" folk, baroque, indian or whatever? Whether it has been recently created or is around for centuries? As long as it moves us, stretches us, brings us tears and visions and strenght. Yes, let's travel through time and space, let's dream, let's live and feel and see. I propose Brazil...

.

Exquisite. I don't know what one would call that guitar style (classical, Spanish, Latin, ??), but it was wonderful.

I really must broaden my world music horizons to the southern hemisphere -- S America and Africa. I'll be checking out some of the music suggested in this thread. I'm in debt to Western artists who create what I call "hybrid" albums, a Western artist whom I know (and trust) performing world music, which sometimes leads me to more traditional performers of that music. So far, my only exposure to Latin or African music has been...

OMG!!! YOU are BELGIAN!! YOU live in BELGIUM!! Do you know realize the implications?? YOU walk the same sacred soil, YOU breathe the same sacred air as .... HELMUT LOTTI!!! (gasp, swoon, faint, slide off chair to floor.) I'm OK now.

I really do appreciate Lotti's versatility, especially his international albums. Here's three of his world music videos with songs from his African, Latin American and Russian albums. I realize this is not the pure style of these genres, but it's a start.

At least Lotti can sing in other languages without sounding like he's coughing up a hairball. (When I attempt to even speak any language other than my native Americanized English, it's, well, sad.) I was disappointed that I couldn't find a video where Lotti sings "Qongqothwane" (from his Out of Africa album) in the Xhosa (click) language.

Helmut Lotti singing Shosholoza from his Out of Africa album:

YouTube - Swazi - Helmut Lotti - Shosholoza

Helmut Lotti singing Guantanamera:

YouTube - HELMUT LOTTI - GUANTANAMERA

Helmut Lotti singing Lutshje Bulo (the "road trip" bonus documentary from Lotti's "From Russia With Love" DVD shows a member of the sound crew getting carried away when filming this song, lightly hopping and dancing while holding a large sound reflecting disc):

YouTube - Helmutt Lotti sings Lutshje Bulo Russian Folk Songs

You lucky Belgians. Sigh...

rebecca

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@melonkali,

Catchabula,

That funny little video was a clever homage to Abbott & Costello as well as a little education about Japanese theatre. I was not familiar with Noh theatre. Thanks for the laugh.

It must say something about music and life that all our movies have a musical score and soundtrack to help us feel the emotions of a moment or the grandeur of a far-flung vista or the energy and passion of a mass of people moving with grim determination toward confrontation as in a battle.

My first experience with Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" was in the animated movie Shrek and I still see the sad separated characters of that movie when I hear the song. It made their emptiness so touching.

As an aside, I was looking at melonkali's submission of Helmut Lotti in Africa and, I may be wrong, but don't you think much of the camera work was done by a small child? Check out the vertical pitch and the roll on the images and the erratic motion of the camera, too heavy for small hands. I don't know that it's true, but I think it sweet that they appeared to have allowed a child to film some of it and used it in their video. Don't you? That would be just like Helmut Lotti who, by all repute, has a heart of gold as well as a voice of spun gold--and incredible range.

Samm

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@melonkali,

Looooooooooool Rebecca, that really made my day! Yes, I'm from that small beer- and chocolate-loving country called Belgium (also known for its waffles and its "french" fries). There is something peculiar with out little nation, and that is our natural way of looking beyond our own borders (it could have historical reasons but I will not try to give an explanation here). It is expressed in our knowledge of languages (most belgians speak three or four languages) and also, obviously in the international repertoire of many of our singers and performers. Helmut Lotti is definitely one of our most well-known cultural ambassadors and has an incredibly versatile repertoire, ranging from opera to world music. Though he sings a lot of "popular" songs he is highly esteemed by the influential music magazines, like my favourite "Humo". Hey we also have things of our own, you know ;-) . Our old flemish folk-songs are very beautiful and perhaps I will post an english translation of a few of them. Here's another of my heroes, west-flemish folksinger Willem Vermandere, with his incredibly poetic parlando "Thousand Soldiers". Remembering the Great War, the flemish soil is drenched with blood...

YouTube - Willem Vermandere - Duizend soldaten

Samm, it is indeed possible that the camera was handled by a child or by some other bystander during the african tour of Helmut Lotti. It gives a simple and sympathetic mood to the vid, as if you yourself were one of the bystanders. Lotti is not the kind of star surrounded by body guards who knock you down when you come too close. I wonder if he would even like to be called a "star" at all, being pretty modest by nature. Perhaps these guys are the only true "stars" around...

Salima, I have to check out that artist you mentioned, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I never really listened to Sufi music (blush blush) and what I know -or suppose to know- of the Sufi way of thinking makes it very promising. I'll see what I can find on Youtube etc. and I will report.

Adding another vid to this cosy thread. A joyful song from my own hometown Ghent, Walter de Buck with "my paper kite" ("mijne vlieger"). A song that is a little bawdy, and that is best served with a fresh belgian beer...

YouTube - Walter De Buck : T'Vliegerke (Dutch Song)

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@salima,

Samm,

A problem with the camerawork on Lotti's Africa video? Oh. I guess I just presumed that many Africans are out-of-focus, tilted or headless...

Salima,

I love the sound of cajun and zydeco music, although I don't really know the difference between the two styles, much less the difference between "real" and "pseudo" zydeco. Care to enlighten me?

Re: music as evil. I'm one of those "right brained" people who is hypersensitive to music and aesthetics in general. If I'm trying to focus on something cognitive or productive, I have to be careful about any kind of aesthetic interruption, or "elvis has left the building..."

But evil? "Naughty" thoughts? Hmmm. I'll have to listen to some of the Indian music and see what happens. Thus far my response repertoire ranges from sorrow, "spacing out" into a trance-like state, or imaginative daydreaming, or a stunned feeling of awe, sometimes ethereal; then in the middle ranges I'll start to play air guitar or passionately sing along; then in the more manic or rhythmic ranges I usually feel compelled to move, to dance, in a kind of clumsy hippy-hoppy spinning around the room fashion. Of course, my frenetic dancing might be regarded as evil, since anyone who gets too close to me is in danger of bodily injury.

As for pure sensuality, maybe I'm deficient in that regard. I've always had to have "romance" as an intermediary step. But I'll listen to some "sensuous" music and see what happens.

Catchebula,
The Flemish language is very beautiful -- I wonder what other languages it is related to. I'd love to have a translation or synopsis of that lovely remembrance of the fallen.

But as for beer drinking songs, I wonder if the Irish-Americans perfected that art when they came over to this continent. The lyrics to the songs are often tragic, speaking of horrible oppression and loss, yet the songs themselves are usually sung in a rollicking, exuberant sing-a-long style. For example, I offer Irish-American comedian Denis Leary's Irish drinking song spoof:

YouTube - Traditional Irish Folk Song (RuneScape)

To all:

When it comes to music that compels one to move/dance, one genre that I have a love/hate relationship with is some of the Karelian music of Finland (the true Finns, NOT the Nordic-Swedish peoples in parts of Western Finland). Karelian music is apparently more related to Hungarian than to Norse. Some of it is so dance-compelling but so hyper-cheery that one might find oneself uncontrollably hopping and spinning around the room towards the firearms cabinet...

Before I present a happy Karelian song, let me note that in the Norse/Viking recreation camp there has been quite a bit of confusion about what constitutes true Norse/Viking traditional music -- everything from Viking Death Metal to American folk style has been tried. But the final straw, for me, was reading a Norse recreationist recommending the Finnish Karelian band Varttina for that "Viking" sound.

Just picture this scenario: a small English coastal village in the 10th century AD. Suddenly terror overwhelms the innocent villagers as they hear the distance sound of this Viking war chant (Varttina's "Marilaulu"):

YouTube - Marilaulu

Another really fun Varttina "compels you to dance" number is their brilliant instrumental Tantsukolena. However, the musicians cleverly add/subtract a half beat here and there -- so one minute you're ecstatically hopping and spinning around the room, the next minute you're stumbling and end up falling on your face -- unless you happen to have five legs!

Varttina's "Tantsukolena" -- even at this lightspeed, you can hear the Hungarian sound of the violin. Happy hopping!

YouTube - Tantsukolena

Now to go check out some of the suggestions in this rich thread.

rebecca

1 Reply

@melonkali,

YouTube - In Flanders Fields YouTube - Romanian Folk Dances

I guess we could go on about this forever. I'm a bit too old to danse and swing with my body, but my soul will always laugh and weep with those songs and sounds of yore. Something flemish to end my posting. Kadril, with a modern adaptation of a song dating from 1544:

YouTube - de gespeelkens - kadril

.

1 Reply

@Catchabula,

I've spent the morning listening to every suggestions in this wonderful thread. I wish I could post them all, but here are a few favorites:

The first was a soft and beautiful song from African singer Rokia Traore:

The second, African drumming from Mali:

YouTube - Mali Djembe Music: "Old Grand Masters" Aruna and Brulye

The third, tasavvufi sufic music -- BTW, I had no idea there were SOOO many varieties of Sufi music!

YouTube - Tasavvufi Sufi Music

The fourth, Portuguese fado music:

And finally, some Hindu music. At the Youtube site for this, the contributor has links to much more Hindu music, which I will further explore:

YouTube - Hindu Devotional Music Website - http://bhajan.ozg.in - 02

I'll check all the links after this posts to be sure they're OK. Thanks for so many wonderful suggestions.

rebecca

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@melonkali,

hi melon-
basically cajun is white and zydeco is black-more african and blues influence.

good examples of cajun are these:
YouTube - The Balfa Brothers - Parlez Nous A Boire
YouTube - Beausoleil - Kolinda

the king of zydeco:
YouTube - clifton chenier/ louisiana blues (1965)

and this is what i call pseudozydeco because it is too polished, produced and manufactured to be acceptable mainstream, ergo in my mind not genuine:
YouTube - Buckwheat Zydeco - Creole Country - 1989

mind you i havent listened to any of these, hope they work, but i am well familiar with the artists. for anyone who doesnt know, i am on dialup and have to download anything i want to hear, which can take up to 30 minutes for a short song. i really wish i could hear them all, but will have to wait until real broadband comes to my little town.

but you wont find any drums like i am referring to unless some backpacker has recorded and posted on the internet. if i had a videocam i would try and get something, but i dont have any of those modern things. maybe my brother will come to india one day and bring one...

1 Reply

@melonkali,

Fascinating capt'n. It's a bit surprising to hear those guys sing in french, or at least in a pretty peculiar french, that may still be alive in and around New Orleans. Isn't there something special about the cuisine of the Deep South too (spicy if I remember well)? Great songs, with "soul". Thanks Salima.

1 Reply

@Catchabula,

Catchabula;103441 wrote:

Fascinating capt'n. It's a bit surprising to hear those guys sing in french, or at least in a pretty peculiar french, that may still be alive in and around New Orleans. Isn't there something special about the cuisine of the Deep South too (spicy if I remember well)? Great songs, with "soul". Thanks Salima.

No, Catch, "Deep Southern Cooking" is heavy on frying, especially chicken and fish, plenty of potatoes and greens, beans, corn, and homemade bread (especially cornbread). Come to a Baptist Church Potluck on a warm summer Sunday and you'll likely be treated to a coupla tubs of catfish and three or four fried chickens, also probably some good barbequed pork and a roast or two, green bean and sweet potato casseroles, plenty of home cooked creamy corn and thick white beans with ham or bacon fat, mashed potatoes of course, and baked or boiled potatoes too, two or three baskets of cornbread and corncakes, maybe some nice hush puppies to go with the fish. Then you find all manner of cakes and pies and creamy, fruitty desert dishes awaiting you on their own table. Egg custard pies, chocolate pies, chess and merangue pies, chocolate and coconut cakes, yum yum! Seasoning wise, southern cooking is not spicey (although creole cooking is). Southern cooking is only a little peppery, black pepper and a robust amount of bell peppers for flavoring. Come prepared for high sodium, high cholesterol and saturated fats, and a well-needed napkin.

Samm

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