Shrinking the World

One Song at a Time

[amaliaetedgeeworld]

Ibrahim Maalouf, We'll Always Care About You

I heard about this guy several years ago as he was featured in a documentary called "Between Two Notes". His father invented a 4-valve trumpet that allows for playing quarter-tones, a scale system used in Arabic music. I had sort of forgotten about him and then NPR just did a feature on him so I youtubed a bunch of his music, found this, and had to post it.

If you ever wondered what a Middle-Eastern style trumpetist rocking out with electronic and various other effects sounds like, you've come to the right place!

Ibrahim was born in Beirut, Lebanon and grew up and still lives in Paris, France. He actually grew up studying classical music and the classical Arabic repertoire from his father, also a trumpet player (and inventor of the quarter tone trumpet). They went on tour together and performed Vivaldi and other Baroque music. 

Maalouf went on to study classical music in a Paris conservatory and also studied composition and jazz studies.  He wrote a concerto for the "oriental trumpet", and as we heard here, does a lot of stuff with jazz combined with middle eastern styles. This is definitely some of the more unique music I've heard in a while!

[amaliaetedgeeworld]

Baaba Maal, Miyaabele: This beautiful song comes from Podor, Senegal. Baaba Maal is one of the most famous Senegalese artists, after Youssou N'Dour. He sings primarily in a language called Pulaar and plays guitar. This song is actually part of an incredible album that I highly recommend. There was not one song I disliked on there! The album is called Missing You (Mi Yeewnii) (I will post a link for it at the bottom of this). 

Baaba Maal's educational background is quite interesting. After beginning studies in his country of birth he went on to study at a university in Dakar. He then received a scholarship to go to graduate school at Beaux-Art in Paris. After completing his studies there he returned home to continue studying traditional music from a griot, someone who is responsible for passing on oral tradition, whether it be a story, a poem or a song.

Click here to buy the mp3 album on Amazon

Click here to buy the album in CD format

[amaliaetedgeeworld]

My most favorite lullaby in the whole world! 

The Ladino language has returned to my blog yet again because its music is just so marvelous (and I'm sure it has something to do with the romantic sound of the language!)

I managed to find a pretty close translation of the lyrics to this lullaby:

Sleep, sleep beloved son Sleep with no fretting Close your tiny eyes Sleep, sleep restfully. Close your beautiful eyes Sleep, sleep restfully.

Out of the crib To enter school And there, my beloved son You’ll begin to read.

Out of school To go to Las Manchas And you my beloved son To work you’ll go.

I discovered Eliyahu Sills and the Qadim Ensemble during my year in CA--they are San Francisco based. Eliyahu plays ney (Arabic flute) and Rachel Sills (his wife) sings and plays oud in their group. Her vocals are perhaps what make this group so unique. She has such a deep, full and sensual voice that flows so naturally.

Click here to buy the mp3 version of the album on Amazon

Click here to buy the album in CD format

[amaliaetedgeeworld]

Visit Original Link

Well this musical selection definitely came about in an interesting way. Let me explain. I just finished reading a book that was about a Greek family and repeatedly mentioned a musical genre called Rebetiko. I was very curious as I had never heard of it. So the first thing I did was go to youtube, I typed in "rebetiko", and then I clicked on the first video that appeared.  As soon as I started listening to it, I realized I already knew the song VERY well. So I opened up iTunes, typed in the artist I thought it might be and, sure enough, it was a song by an Israeli artist, Arik Einstein and the title is "Shir Hashayara". The exact same music (though different instrumentation), but totally different lyrics! Arik must have thought it was as catchy of a tune as I do...

So here is the original Rebetiko version (apparently from a Greek movie):

Tis Amynis Ta Paidia

Now that I've gone through the investigative process with you, let me give a little background info on Rebetiko! 

The style emerged around the 1920s as a musical style belonging to the "outcasts" in Greek society. Later on, however, it became more widely accepted (and changed slightly as a result). The signature instrument we hear is the bouzouki, a stringed instrument that is sort of like the mandolin but lower in pitch.

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Somerville Symphony Orkestar, Into the Wood Chipper: Who's in the mood for some Balkan music?! Or should I say, Balkan, Russian, klezmer, rock, jazz, reggae, funk and punk?

The SSO is all of that combined, and they just released their debut album today! I am actually just going to copy/paste the official band bio because I simply can't say it any better myself:

Blossoming from the Slavic heart of Greater Boston, the Somerville Symphony Orkestar is an all-original Eastern European Punk Funk band. The SSO beats Balkan, Klezmer, and traditional Russian music into a funk- punky pulp sure to beef up and beautify your life. The SSO spectacle is a carnivalized punk show that turns its audiences into equal parts mosh-pit and horah. Complex six-piece arrangements reign in the chaos only to explode in shuddering “fun-gasm” after “fun-gasm.” The SSO has been performing in and around the Boston area for over two years and have received a lot of recognition after their local album release. They have performed at Boston’s Greenfest, the Somerville ArtBeat Festival, and Boston’s First Night Festival along with headlining at numerous music venues throughout New England.

Though their album is available at several sites, they would prefer it if you purchase the album from bandcamp (can't beat the awesome price you'll find there!) and here is the link:

http://somervillesymphonyorkestar.bandcamp.com/

[amaliaetedgeeworld]

Renaud Garcia-Fons, Oriental Bass: First of all, I wanted to apologize for not posting in a very long time. I've been in the process of moving back to the US of A and just haven't been in the mindset of sitting down and focusing on a post.

This song is something I've been wanting to post for a long time now. Renaud Garcia-Fons is from France and is of Catalonian roots. He plays double-bass, composes and is classically trained from the Paris Conservatory.

This album, Oriental Bass, was released in 1997 and beautifully blends classical, jazz, Spanish (flamenco), Middle Eastern and North African elements.

Click here to buy the mp3 album on Amazon

Click here to buy the album in CD format

[amaliaetedgeeworld]

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Alex Simon, Tell Maria I Say Hello: Are you searching for a refreshingly unique new sound in your music library? Well look no further!

Reminiscent of Elvis, Alex Simon's vocal style plus the more traditional instrumentals create a new folk-y, eclectic sounding music. This song is off his almost complete album titled Frontiers--what is available now is a demo to give people an idea of what is to come! 

There are some other really great songs on the album, each quite different from the other (without making the album in-cohesive). Another song that I highly recommend is titled Picket Fences. In addition to the same type of singing style as in Tell Maria I Say Hello which includes some funky-cool vibrato (intentionally leaving my descriptions vague in order to intrigue you all!), Alex adds in some purposely out-of-tune lines, giving his music an even quirkier feel that certainly put a smile on my face!

You can listen to all of the songs for free on bandcamp: http://alexsimon.bandcamp.com/

If you want to download the album, you get to name the price (as long as it's over $3). 

[amaliaetedgeeworld]

Ben Howard, Promise: I actually first heard this song in an episode of House and decided to search for it because it was so pretty. He is from the UK and his music has been described as "melodic rootsy folk music".  I've always been drawn to this type of music and  I've never really known how to accurately describe it until reading this perfect genre description! His one album, titled Every Kingdom, was just released this year. 

Click here to buy the mp3 album on Amazon

Click here to buy the album in CD format

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Farid El Atrash, Hebbina Hebbina: To say this song and artist are great would be a huge understatement. I've just chosen one of the many songs from his repertoire that I personally enjoy.  Farid El Atrash, who was born in Syria and grew up in Egypt, is one of the most important figures representing Arabic music.  He composed, sang and played the oud masterfully. Most of his songs, including this one (I assume) were love songs. 

In the middle of this song, he slows it all down, takes out the rhythm section for a bit, and improvises on a few lines from a poem.  This type of improvisation is called a mawal. I have no idea what the words mean but can hear so much passion in his voice that it strikes me as so beautiful! 

I will provide the link where you can find the song to purchase, but the only link I could find was one to his entire collection, costing over $100!! Yikes!! Luckily you can purchase songs separately...just scroll down to disc 7 and you will find this song, Hebbina Hebbina. 

Click here to buy this song in mp3 format on Amazon

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The Dufay Collective, Sacred Music of the Middle Ages: There was very little I was actually able to find out about this song, which is surprising as the group has a great website.  Regardless, I wanted to post this because I find the roughness of the vocals to be very intriguing and the repetition of the melody to be trance-like. Every time this song comes up on my ipod shuffle I close my eyes and enjoy it like it's my first time hearing it.  I hope that some of you will feel the same!

The album this song is on is a compilation of different music that has been featured in the Festival of World Sacred Music that takes place in Fes, Morocco.  I highly recommend almost all of the songs on the album.  They all take on the same trance-like feel that is in the song you just heard with really astounding vocals that you just don't hear in other parts of the world. Some of the countries that are represented include Iran, India, Spain and Morocco.

Click here to buy the album in CD format

OR

Click here to buy The Dufay Collective mp3 album A L'Estampida

*The songs on the album are the closest in style to the song on Under the Moroccan Sky. 

[amaliaetedgeeworld]

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Gigi, Abet Wubet: Gigi, or Ejigayehu Shibabaw, was born and raised in Ethiopia, lived some years in Kenya, and now resides in San Francisco.  Her vocal styles are in the original ancient style of song that began in the Ethiopian Church.  

A priest would come to her family's home and teach her how to sing in this style, even though women singing in the church was mostly prohibited (up until the late 1980s). Her music makes for a very interesting blend with her traditional vocals added to modern Ethiopian instrumental styles and a touch of reggae. 

Click here to buy the mp3 album on Amazon

Click here to buy the album in CD format

[amaliaetedgeeworld]

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Cheb Khaled [and Cheb Mami], Rani Mara H'na: Cheb Khaled is an Algerian musician and he performs the genre of music known as Raï. Many of you may know him for his popular song Aicha: click here to hear it on youtube (and to see his great smile!) 

Raï is a type of music originating in the 1930s in Algeria that blends traditional folk music with Spanish, African and Arabic styles. It is often blended with electronically produced Western instrumentation.  

Another interesting fact I just learned is about all of these people's names being preceded by Cheb.  Apparently that name was given to raï singers, which means "young" (it was the music of the new generation), whereas those who sang Chaabi, Algeria's more traditional style of folk music that was around starting in the 1800s, were preceded with Sheikh ("old"). 

I was not able to find an album with Rani Mara H'na on it, but there is a Khaled album with his song Aicha on it as well as Detni Essekra (another really great one, listen to the sample!).

Click here to buy the mp3 album on Amazon

Click here to buy the album in CD format

[amaliaetedgeeworld]

Steve Shahan and Nabil Othmani, Awalin: Some of you might already know who Steve Shahan is (in fact, one of my readers told me about him).  For those who don't, he is an American born percussionist now based out of France who, over the years, has collaborated with all the big names (Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Gypsy Kings, and the list goes on...)  He did a lot of traveling over the years, becoming acquainted with various cultures and their musical traditions.  

Several years ago, he met Baly Othmani, the father of Nabil.  Together they produced three albums. Five years after Baly passed away, the tradition was carried on by Steve and Nabil and they produced the album Awalin together.

Nabil Othmani is Tuareg, which is the name for the nomadic people of the Sahara, though apparently not what they call themselves (which is Kel Tamasheq--"Speakers of Tamasheq"). Remember my post about Tinariwen? (If not, you can find the post in the archives section of this blog!) They are also Tuareg. There are definite similarities that can be heard between this song and what you hear in Tinariwen's music. Enjoy!

Click here to buy the album in CD format on Amazon

[amaliaetedgeeworld]

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Rachid Taha, Ya Rayah: The number of times this song has been redone and remixed by other artists is astonishing to me.  The version I'm posting isn't even by the original composer, though it is the most popular.  

The song was composed and first performed in the 1970s by Dahmane El Harrachi, from Algeria.

I found this wonderful description of the theme of the song plus an English translation of the lyrics:

Here, concepts like traveling and touring take on a gloomy destiny that lead to despair and loss. One can even draw connections between the "touring" star, its migration through the universe, and the exiled self of the Algerian people. Burdened by poverty and their constant search outside of Algeria for a better life, their spirit is in a constant state of travel, intensified by feelings of exile and departure. We can only imagine how such lyrics would strike a chord within the hearts of hundreds of thousands Algerian immigrants living away from home under conditions of displacement throughout Europe. 

Oh departing Traveler, where are you heading?

Your journey is bound to failure How many travelers before you Have sought the path with similar results? How many cities and deserts have I roamed? How much time have I wasted Touring from one place to another? Oh lost one, no matter how much you run away Your destiny will end in exhaustion Time has passed you by And you have yet to notice it.

In the 1990s, the song was redone by Rachid Taha, a French-Algerian pop singer. He later performed the song with another popular French-Algerian musician, Cheb Khaled (who I'm sure you will become acquainted with later on my blog).  In addition to these versions, the song has been redone by Israeli artists (including David Broza), Turkish, Greek, and even some Balkan languages.  As the original has ties to Andalus traditions, I've even heard the instrumental version performed by a local Andalusian group of musicians.  

Click here to buy the mp3 song from Amazon

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Beirut, Gulag Orkestar: This, song, Postcards From Italy, is one of Beirut's many eclectic sounding songs that blends Balkan music with indie-rock and jazz as well as other types of World music. 

The band is American, and its leader is Zachary Francis Condon, from Santa Fe. In addition to vocals, his main instruments are ukelele and flugelhorn, but he also plays trumpet, euphonium, mandolin and accordion. 

Click here to buy the mp3 album on Amazon

Click here to buy the album in CD format

[amaliaetedgeeworld]

La Santa Cecilia, La Negra: Based out of L.A., this group combines Cumbia, Jazz, Bolero, Tango, Afro-Cuban Percussion, and lots of other styles that I've probably left out.  The singer, Marisoul, makes for an even more unique sound with her blending of various vocal styles. The video is just as colorful and playful as the song. 

Click here to buy the mp3 album on Amazon

[amaliaetedgeeworld]

Hasmachot, I used to have friends: Here is a fun song that derives from a genre of music that comes straight from Israel and is called Muzika Mizrachit [eastern music].  Apparently this group is from way back in the 90s but I just discovered them from the credits of an Israeli TV show. This song is catchy and the video is fun!  Enjoy!