Tonight (Monday) marks the opening of "Arabesque", a major three-week festival of the arts of the Arabic-speaking world, with a particular focus on music, at Washington's John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The parameters of the celebration, unprecedented in scope in the U.S. and perhaps in the world, are outlined in a preview feature in the Washington Post's "Weekend" section of 20 February: for three weeks, more than 800 participants from 22 countries will present a wide spectrum of artistic expression in a range of genres. The article details the enormous challenges of the five-year effort, which is a continuation of--and the most ambitious undertaking yet in--the Kennedy Center's tradition of international programming. Another article from the Associated Press gives further details of the festival as of opening night.
"Arabesque" is receiving wide coverage by the media, including a week-long series of vignettes in the prestigious News Hour on PBS, the non-profit national (and primarily educational) television network. In the first installment, Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser explains the philosophy behind the undertaking: "I believe that this festival is going to help people to understand Arab people, to understand their aesthetic tastes, to understand their hospitality and their generosity and their passion, and we'll start to understand them not just as political beings, but as human beings." (This television episode, as well as the remaining four, will be available on the News Hour's Website).
The musical presentations of Arabesque will include nightly performances on the Millennium Stage, which is open to the public without any admission charge; the first night's enormous turnout had listeners standing far back in the lobby of the Kennedy Center. Tonight's program was a duet by Amina Eman Matter and Shayma Khalifa Al-Oraify, two women from Bahrain performing on the oud (also transliterated as 'ud), the most important stringed instrument in Arabic music, and the ancestor of the European lute. This performance is remarkable in that while there are many women who perform vocal music--the legendary Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum (1904-1975) being the most prominent example--few venture into the realm of instrumental performance, a province occupied almost exclusively by men. This duet was streamed live on the Web, and can be seen here, in the archived programs of the Millennium Stage.
There will also be several concerts in the larger Kennedy Center auditoriums, some of which I'll be covering on these pages, along with selected Millennium Stage performances. In short, the next three weeks promise to filled with many musical riches from the Arabic cultural tradition.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
"Stealth" world music albums among the Grammy winners - Latin genres
Note: Links below will enable you to hear musical samples from the Grammy winners.
As promised in my previous entry, we move forward (excluding "Latin Jazz" categories, which may by now considered an integral part of mainstream American jazz) to some of the regional music categories which, in that they are unique to certain geographical areas, derive from a range of musical sub-cultures in the United States and Mexico and thus may fall under the world/folk/ethnic music rubrics.
The first group of categories in the Grammy Awards sequence under the "Latin" Field (#58: Latin Pop; #59: Latin Rock Or Alternative; and #60: Latin Urban), are sufficiently mainstream to be outside our purview here. The winners in the remaining "Latin" categories in more traditional styles are given below.
As suggested in my previous blogs on the Grammies, click on each album title (given first, in "quotation" marks) for some Web-based sample of music from the album nominated (you may have to click on "Listen to samples", or follow some similar prompt). Click on each artist's name (in boldface, following the album title) for further biographical information, and in some cases, pictures of the artist(s). Finally, a link to the artist(s)' own Website is listed following the record company name.
61. Tropical Latin Album: The specification here (again from the Grammy Web page) is "This category is for all tropical (which Wikipedia defines as "a group of musical styles having their roots in Cuba, the Caribbean and Latin America genres") Latin albums, including salsa and merengue, (the latter being both dance as well as musical genres.) This year's winner was:
"Señor Bachata", by José Feliciano, on the Universal Music Latino label. Artist's Website.
Feliciano, a singer and guitarist with strong roots in Flamenco music, has been performing for decades, with numerous hits and seven previous Grammy Awards. I remember clearly from 1968 his first blockbuster hit,, "Light My Fire", a cover (meaning a performance, in his own interpretation, of a song written by someone else), of the The Doors' original dark and fiery version, which was used with eerie effectiveness, as perhaps the song best defining the Vietnam War era, in the soundtrack of director Francis Ford Coppola's seminal (i.e., groundbreaking and highly influential) cinematic masterpiece, Apocalypse Now.
62. Regional Mexican Album: This year two CDs tied for first place:
"Amor, Dolor Y Lágrimas: Música Ranchera" by Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, on Folkways Recordings. Artists' Website; and
"Canciones De Amor", by Mariachi Divas, on Shea Records/East Side Records. Artists' Website.
Both albums are in the Mariachi style, arguably Mexico's national (and most popular) instrumental ensemble genre, consisting of a unique combination of violins (usually three); three guitars of various sizes (including the small five-string vihuela and the large, bass-like guitarron); trumpets (usually two); at least one vocalist (often doubling as an instrumentalist); and an occasional harp. The music is lively and somewhat raucous. What is remarkable here is that the second group, Mariachi Divas, is an ensemble comprised entirely of women (hence the name "Divas") competing in what has been heretofore an almost exclusively masculine field. The group was founded by the protean trumpeter Cindy Shea, a Californian who is herself not of Latino ancestry.
63. Tejano Album: The genre of Tejano (also called Tex-Mex) is associated with a majority of the current Hispanic residents of the American state of Texas, as well as with the peoples traditionally residing in the Northern portions of Mexico. This year's Grammy winner in this category was:
"Viva La Revolucion", by Ruben Ramos and The Mexican Revolution, on Revolution Records. Artists' Website. There are three styles of Tejano, with Ramos' performance being in the "orchestral" style, with as its instrumentation bass, drum, electric guitar, synthesizer, a brass section , and occasionally an accordion.
64. Norteño Album: Norteño (literally, "Northern") music was the original genre from which Tejano (above) emerged, although it too has continued to evolve and develop new characteristics. A traditional band features the accordion (usually as the lead instrument) and a bajo sexto (a 12-string bass guitar), and sometimes a drum set, and an additional melodic instrument such as saxophone or electronic keyboard. The Wikipedia article has a number of musical examples in the different sub-styles of Tejano. This year's winner was:
"Raíces", by Los Tigres Del Norte, on Fonovisa records. Artists' Website. The group has won several previous Grammies.
65. Banda Album: In a Banda ensemble, the vocalist is supported by wind instruments--trumpet, trombone, and sousaphone among the "brass" section, and clarinet and sometimes saxophone among the "woodwinds",--while the rhythm is provided by a tambora, a bass drum with a cymbal on top; a tarola, which is a kind of metal snare drum similar to the tom-tom; cowbells; and cymbals. This year's winner was:
"No Es De Madera", by Joan Sebástian, on Musart/Balboa Records. His use of the Banda form is rather sophisticated, with accordion and strings added to the traditional instrumentation noted above. Like many of this year's winners, he was won several Grammies in the past.
Next week I'll address the winners in the "Folk" field (Traditional Folk , Contemporary Folk/Americana , Native American Music , and Zydeco or Cajun), as well as in the Reggae field/category.
As promised in my previous entry, we move forward (excluding "Latin Jazz" categories, which may by now considered an integral part of mainstream American jazz) to some of the regional music categories which, in that they are unique to certain geographical areas, derive from a range of musical sub-cultures in the United States and Mexico and thus may fall under the world/folk/ethnic music rubrics.
The first group of categories in the Grammy Awards sequence under the "Latin" Field (#58: Latin Pop; #59: Latin Rock Or Alternative; and #60: Latin Urban), are sufficiently mainstream to be outside our purview here. The winners in the remaining "Latin" categories in more traditional styles are given below.
As suggested in my previous blogs on the Grammies, click on each album title (given first, in "quotation" marks) for some Web-based sample of music from the album nominated (you may have to click on "Listen to samples", or follow some similar prompt). Click on each artist's name (in boldface, following the album title) for further biographical information, and in some cases, pictures of the artist(s). Finally, a link to the artist(s)' own Website is listed following the record company name.
61. Tropical Latin Album: The specification here (again from the Grammy Web page) is "This category is for all tropical (which Wikipedia defines as "a group of musical styles having their roots in Cuba, the Caribbean and Latin America genres") Latin albums, including salsa and merengue, (the latter being both dance as well as musical genres.) This year's winner was:
"Señor Bachata", by José Feliciano, on the Universal Music Latino label. Artist's Website.
Feliciano, a singer and guitarist with strong roots in Flamenco music, has been performing for decades, with numerous hits and seven previous Grammy Awards. I remember clearly from 1968 his first blockbuster hit,, "Light My Fire", a cover (meaning a performance, in his own interpretation, of a song written by someone else), of the The Doors' original dark and fiery version, which was used with eerie effectiveness, as perhaps the song best defining the Vietnam War era, in the soundtrack of director Francis Ford Coppola's seminal (i.e., groundbreaking and highly influential) cinematic masterpiece, Apocalypse Now.
62. Regional Mexican Album: This year two CDs tied for first place:
"Amor, Dolor Y Lágrimas: Música Ranchera" by Mariachi Los Camperos de Nati Cano, on Folkways Recordings. Artists' Website; and
"Canciones De Amor", by Mariachi Divas, on Shea Records/East Side Records. Artists' Website.
Both albums are in the Mariachi style, arguably Mexico's national (and most popular) instrumental ensemble genre, consisting of a unique combination of violins (usually three); three guitars of various sizes (including the small five-string vihuela and the large, bass-like guitarron); trumpets (usually two); at least one vocalist (often doubling as an instrumentalist); and an occasional harp. The music is lively and somewhat raucous. What is remarkable here is that the second group, Mariachi Divas, is an ensemble comprised entirely of women (hence the name "Divas") competing in what has been heretofore an almost exclusively masculine field. The group was founded by the protean trumpeter Cindy Shea, a Californian who is herself not of Latino ancestry.
63. Tejano Album: The genre of Tejano (also called Tex-Mex) is associated with a majority of the current Hispanic residents of the American state of Texas, as well as with the peoples traditionally residing in the Northern portions of Mexico. This year's Grammy winner in this category was:
"Viva La Revolucion", by Ruben Ramos and The Mexican Revolution, on Revolution Records. Artists' Website. There are three styles of Tejano, with Ramos' performance being in the "orchestral" style, with as its instrumentation bass, drum, electric guitar, synthesizer, a brass section , and occasionally an accordion.
64. Norteño Album: Norteño (literally, "Northern") music was the original genre from which Tejano (above) emerged, although it too has continued to evolve and develop new characteristics. A traditional band features the accordion (usually as the lead instrument) and a bajo sexto (a 12-string bass guitar), and sometimes a drum set, and an additional melodic instrument such as saxophone or electronic keyboard. The Wikipedia article has a number of musical examples in the different sub-styles of Tejano. This year's winner was:
"Raíces", by Los Tigres Del Norte, on Fonovisa records. Artists' Website. The group has won several previous Grammies.
65. Banda Album: In a Banda ensemble, the vocalist is supported by wind instruments--trumpet, trombone, and sousaphone among the "brass" section, and clarinet and sometimes saxophone among the "woodwinds",--while the rhythm is provided by a tambora, a bass drum with a cymbal on top; a tarola, which is a kind of metal snare drum similar to the tom-tom; cowbells; and cymbals. This year's winner was:
"No Es De Madera", by Joan Sebástian, on Musart/Balboa Records. His use of the Banda form is rather sophisticated, with accordion and strings added to the traditional instrumentation noted above. Like many of this year's winners, he was won several Grammies in the past.
Next week I'll address the winners in the "Folk" field (Traditional Folk , Contemporary Folk/Americana , Native American Music , and Zydeco or Cajun), as well as in the Reggae field/category.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
"Stealth" world music albums among the Grammy jazz nominees
Note: Links below will enable you to hear musical samples from the Grammy nominees.
In an earlier post previewing the contenders for Grammy Awards in the two World Music categories, I noted that nominees in other categories as well may have some "world music" connection. With mischief aforethought, I'm calling such musicians "stealth" artists, and will do as complete a rundown as possible to show the extent of world music's enrichment of entries in a variety of categories throughout the Grammy Fields.
Among the five nominees for the prestigious Record of the Year (Number One among the 109 official Categories) was the Sri-Lankan-born rapper Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam; she goes by the sobriquet M.I.A., and as previously noted here performed (fully pregnant) in the Awards ceremony itself. Her entry was "Paper Planes", and although she did not win a Grammy, I'll be doing a more extensive piece on her at some point in the near future, in order to explore her fascinating international background, and some of the intriguing ways she has adapted South Asian elements and content into her artistry.
Moving down through the Fields, we come next to the single-Category Field, New Age, which without careful scrutiny seems this year to have no significant world music element,. From there we move on to the Jazz Field, with its five Categories, including Latin Jazz, which I'll not discuss here since it is a relatively mainstream part of the American jazz scene. In the first Category, Contemporary Jazz Album, two of the nominated works involve elements of both western jazz and Indian music. The first, on Abstract Logix, is "Floating Point", recorded in India by guitarist John McLaughlin, who has had numerous collaborations with Indian musicians in the past, particularly with his group Shakti.
The second is "Miles from India", a 2-CD compilation with "various Artists, [and] Bob Belden, Producer, [on] 4Q/Times Square Records." A listening to sample tracks on the latter reveals a richly Indian influence (including not only sitar, sarod, sarangi, and tabla instrumentation, but Indian vocal stylings as well), in a collective tribute to the late and legendary trumpet master Miles Davis by some of his surviving colleagues, since Davis' music, like that of the late saxophone genius John Coltrane, had its share of Indian influences. But because I don't currently have access to either recording, both of which sound very good in excerpted samples, I'll pass over them now in hopes of discussing both at length once I can obtain copies.
But (drum roll . . . . . ) the 2009 winner in the Best Contemporary Jazz Album category is "Randy in Brasil," by Blood, Sweat, and Tears alumnus Randy Brecker on MAMA Records. Like McLaughlin, Becker chose to record collaborations with musicians outside the U.S.--in this case in Brazil, which in several waves over the last fifty years has greatly influenced American jazz and dance music with such popular genres as the bossa nova and samba. An informed review of this album can be found in the excellent online publication, AllABoutJazz, and samples heard at Amazon.com.
Although not the winner, a nominee in the next category, Best Vocal Album, was another release with a strong Brazilian influence: "Imagina: Songs of Brasil", on Concord Jazz, by three-time Grammy nominee Karrin Allyson. Though recorded entirely in the U.S. with American musicians, she sings a number of songs in Portuguese by the masterful Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, as well as others by his countryman. There is a useful review, again on AllAboutJazz, and samples of her music can be heard on the artist's own Website.
In short, as for the continuously expanding influence of world music, it is interesting to note that four out of the eight nominated albums in the first two jazz categories explore international musical dimensions, this year via India and Brazil.
More to come in later postings with further examples of "stealth" world music identity, if not incursions, in traditional Latino genres, Native American and Hawaiian music, the Louisiana-born Zydeco, Reggae, Polka, and Classical, among others. I'll be traveling, with unlikely Internet connectivity, in the days following, so do stand by until the middle of next week.
In an earlier post previewing the contenders for Grammy Awards in the two World Music categories, I noted that nominees in other categories as well may have some "world music" connection. With mischief aforethought, I'm calling such musicians "stealth" artists, and will do as complete a rundown as possible to show the extent of world music's enrichment of entries in a variety of categories throughout the Grammy Fields.
Among the five nominees for the prestigious Record of the Year (Number One among the 109 official Categories) was the Sri-Lankan-born rapper Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam; she goes by the sobriquet M.I.A., and as previously noted here performed (fully pregnant) in the Awards ceremony itself. Her entry was "Paper Planes", and although she did not win a Grammy, I'll be doing a more extensive piece on her at some point in the near future, in order to explore her fascinating international background, and some of the intriguing ways she has adapted South Asian elements and content into her artistry.
Moving down through the Fields, we come next to the single-Category Field, New Age, which without careful scrutiny seems this year to have no significant world music element,. From there we move on to the Jazz Field, with its five Categories, including Latin Jazz, which I'll not discuss here since it is a relatively mainstream part of the American jazz scene. In the first Category, Contemporary Jazz Album, two of the nominated works involve elements of both western jazz and Indian music. The first, on Abstract Logix, is "Floating Point", recorded in India by guitarist John McLaughlin, who has had numerous collaborations with Indian musicians in the past, particularly with his group Shakti.
The second is "Miles from India", a 2-CD compilation with "various Artists, [and] Bob Belden, Producer, [on] 4Q/Times Square Records." A listening to sample tracks on the latter reveals a richly Indian influence (including not only sitar, sarod, sarangi, and tabla instrumentation, but Indian vocal stylings as well), in a collective tribute to the late and legendary trumpet master Miles Davis by some of his surviving colleagues, since Davis' music, like that of the late saxophone genius John Coltrane, had its share of Indian influences. But because I don't currently have access to either recording, both of which sound very good in excerpted samples, I'll pass over them now in hopes of discussing both at length once I can obtain copies.
But (drum roll . . . . . ) the 2009 winner in the Best Contemporary Jazz Album category is "Randy in Brasil," by Blood, Sweat, and Tears alumnus Randy Brecker on MAMA Records. Like McLaughlin, Becker chose to record collaborations with musicians outside the U.S.--in this case in Brazil, which in several waves over the last fifty years has greatly influenced American jazz and dance music with such popular genres as the bossa nova and samba. An informed review of this album can be found in the excellent online publication, AllABoutJazz, and samples heard at Amazon.com.
Although not the winner, a nominee in the next category, Best Vocal Album, was another release with a strong Brazilian influence: "Imagina: Songs of Brasil", on Concord Jazz, by three-time Grammy nominee Karrin Allyson. Though recorded entirely in the U.S. with American musicians, she sings a number of songs in Portuguese by the masterful Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim, as well as others by his countryman. There is a useful review, again on AllAboutJazz, and samples of her music can be heard on the artist's own Website.
In short, as for the continuously expanding influence of world music, it is interesting to note that four out of the eight nominated albums in the first two jazz categories explore international musical dimensions, this year via India and Brazil.
More to come in later postings with further examples of "stealth" world music identity, if not incursions, in traditional Latino genres, Native American and Hawaiian music, the Louisiana-born Zydeco, Reggae, Polka, and Classical, among others. I'll be traveling, with unlikely Internet connectivity, in the days following, so do stand by until the middle of next week.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A vision of the future: first reflections on the Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards have passed, and I will have more postings to come: on examples of world music in the many Grammy categories; on this year's winners in the specific categories of world music; on M.I.A. and her place in world music; and on musical and other aspects of the ads which punctuated the ceremony itself.
To begin, though, perhaps I should explain the exuberance (I was, after all, an English major in a previous younger incarnation) in my first posting during the show itself on Sunday night. Somehow this was the first time I had ever watched the entire Grammy Awards, and the extraordinary sequential bursts of energy, color, light, motion, and musical sound throughout the highly produced performance stood in stark contrast to the serious and mostly gloomy flow of nightly news reports that I have been watching, perhaps too obsessively, in recent months.
There has been some characterization in the media of the post-election period as beginning an era that is "post-racial" and "post-partisan"; these characterizations have also been met with varying degrees of skepticism, and for good reason: the country, the society simply cannot be transformed overnight. Yet I found in the human configurations of the Grammies a deeply moving demonstration of trends that may already be said to be evolving toward a post-racial and post-gender consciousness.
I think it would not be unreasonable to suggest that the performances in the Awards ceremony beautifully embodied a meeting, even melding of artists black and white, male and female, in which differences of race and gender not only became insignificant, but in which the success of collaborations between individuals of diverse backgrounds and identities offers an eloquent expression of the possibility of our nation and our culture achieving a true unity in diversity. The fact that a male-female duo garnered the most number of awards (not to mention the fusion of rock and country/folk sensibilities) attests to this trend.
And I lost count of the number of occasions in which black and white musicians, old masters and young, were performing together, effortlessly fusing differences of musical style and language idiom into a truly successful artistic synergy. And the envelope-nudging of gender-related issues in Katy Perry's saucy rendition of "I kissed a girl--I liked it," as well as the exuberant performance of Sri-Lankan-born rapper M.I.A. in unabashed full-term pregnancy, are precursors to a further challenge to stereotypes and norms. (Various versions of the Awards performances, including those just mentioned, may be found on You-Tube.)
I would like to think that at this stage in the evolution of American society, our artists--musicians in this case--will continue to play an essential role not only in defining, but in helping to shape our future cultural and social development into a true pluralism which recognizes the equal importance of different identities, both individual and group. And this year's Grammy Awards--in scenarios which on more than one occasion presented the artist both as a small, lone figure singing far below the camera in a spotlit circle in the darkness, as well as one of many participants in brilliantly staged and choreographed multi-level ensemble numbers--awakened in this viewer's heart a genuine sense of hope for the future of America, and of the world.
To begin, though, perhaps I should explain the exuberance (I was, after all, an English major in a previous younger incarnation) in my first posting during the show itself on Sunday night. Somehow this was the first time I had ever watched the entire Grammy Awards, and the extraordinary sequential bursts of energy, color, light, motion, and musical sound throughout the highly produced performance stood in stark contrast to the serious and mostly gloomy flow of nightly news reports that I have been watching, perhaps too obsessively, in recent months.
There has been some characterization in the media of the post-election period as beginning an era that is "post-racial" and "post-partisan"; these characterizations have also been met with varying degrees of skepticism, and for good reason: the country, the society simply cannot be transformed overnight. Yet I found in the human configurations of the Grammies a deeply moving demonstration of trends that may already be said to be evolving toward a post-racial and post-gender consciousness.
I think it would not be unreasonable to suggest that the performances in the Awards ceremony beautifully embodied a meeting, even melding of artists black and white, male and female, in which differences of race and gender not only became insignificant, but in which the success of collaborations between individuals of diverse backgrounds and identities offers an eloquent expression of the possibility of our nation and our culture achieving a true unity in diversity. The fact that a male-female duo garnered the most number of awards (not to mention the fusion of rock and country/folk sensibilities) attests to this trend.
And I lost count of the number of occasions in which black and white musicians, old masters and young, were performing together, effortlessly fusing differences of musical style and language idiom into a truly successful artistic synergy. And the envelope-nudging of gender-related issues in Katy Perry's saucy rendition of "I kissed a girl--I liked it," as well as the exuberant performance of Sri-Lankan-born rapper M.I.A. in unabashed full-term pregnancy, are precursors to a further challenge to stereotypes and norms. (Various versions of the Awards performances, including those just mentioned, may be found on You-Tube.)
I would like to think that at this stage in the evolution of American society, our artists--musicians in this case--will continue to play an essential role not only in defining, but in helping to shape our future cultural and social development into a true pluralism which recognizes the equal importance of different identities, both individual and group. And this year's Grammy Awards--in scenarios which on more than one occasion presented the artist both as a small, lone figure singing far below the camera in a spotlit circle in the darkness, as well as one of many participants in brilliantly staged and choreographed multi-level ensemble numbers--awakened in this viewer's heart a genuine sense of hope for the future of America, and of the world.
Monday, February 9, 2009
FLASH: Washington Post reports and New York Times blog on the Grammy Awards
I was hoping to be able to steer you to an actual news report, but it's less than two hours since the end of the televised awards ceremony, so do check out the New York Times blog on the events.
Then again, checking the Washington Post, I found this summary, as well as an article on fashion!! (of all things--but of course that matters too) at the event--as though the music weren't enough. Yet I must say that I was struck by the visual impact of the whole ceremony, even as seen on my 1987 vintage lo-def 12.5 inch color screen, with two tiny speakers struggling (alas, unsuccessfully) to capture some echo of the full audio spectrum.
Again, your reactions and comments welcome.
Then again, checking the Washington Post, I found this summary, as well as an article on fashion!! (of all things--but of course that matters too) at the event--as though the music weren't enough. Yet I must say that I was struck by the visual impact of the whole ceremony, even as seen on my 1987 vintage lo-def 12.5 inch color screen, with two tiny speakers struggling (alas, unsuccessfully) to capture some echo of the full audio spectrum.
Again, your reactions and comments welcome.
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