I wanted to give you a quick intro of some of the musicians here. Because I am a singer snob, I will start with three of the vocalists. These folks are amazing. I'm enjoying noticing the stylistic and timbre similarities and differences as well as vocal ornamentation.


Mekuanent is from Ehtiopia. He loves to dance and has awesome outfits. For more info click here.



We also have the gorgeous voice of Dina El Wedidi. She only started singing four years ago when she was 19. Brazilian superstar Gilberto Gil is her mentor. For more info click here. Click ahead in this video a little bit.

I am so excited about the Nile Project. I've offered to help out in any way that I can (I already donated some money). This is what being an ethnomusicologist is all about!

This morning I posted this article on examiner.com describing a four month lab residency for the Bay Area afrobeat band Albino! to play at the Elbo Room in the Mission. Each month they will team up with a different artist to experiment with the kind of music that might come up out of that partnership. This is month (Friday) they are playing with Liberian-Bay Area DJ Jeremiah.

I'm not gonna lie, when I first heard about this band three years ago, it made my stomach churn a little bit. The idea of an Afrobeat band called Albino! which is comprised of *mostly* white dudes in costume (often African-themed costume and "tribal" face paint) was not really appealing to me at all; especially coming right out of an Ethnomusicology academic program where I thought about race and music consistently for three years. I was even sure that the band was pretty damn good, but it was still disturbing to me.

But then, the more I thought about it, and the more I got to know the Bay Area and its sense of humor and awareness, it seemed less and less of an issue. I mean, in Austin I was in an afropop band where we often didn't even know what we were singing about, let alone if we were singing words that made ANY sense in the original language (we learned covers phonetically). We just liked the music and wanted to recreate it the best we knew how. At least Albino!'s lyrics are in English and write about political and racial issues in their own community (class struggle within Oakland for instance).

The name Albino! and the costumes seem to be merely poking fun at the fact that the musicians are a bunch of white guys, and yeah, "we play African music," so what? There are dozens of afrobeat bands in the US comprised of mostly/all white people (Antibalas, Budos, Nomo, Afrodesia etc), and they're damn damn good bands that I love very much and do all I can to support them. Can I single one out because of a band name and funny outfits? Can I seriously consider this tasteless enough to count them out?

The music is good. The music does not poke fun. I now have one of their live CDs and it's great music.

What do you think; am I trying too hard justify this idea? Can we just laugh at it and dance?

At the beginning of 2010, a friend of mine turned me onto bassist Avishai Cohen. He has played with giants of jazz in New York, Europe and of course Israel. He finally started his own record label in 2003 and his new release Aurora is one of the most gorgeous records I've heard.

This video of the track "Alon Basela" has just over 24 thousand hits, I bet 20 thousand of them are mine. As soon as the video is over I want to hear it again.



Cohen plays at Yoshi's in Oakland on Wednesday and Thursday, two shows each evening. I'll be there Thursday for the 8pm.

READ MY PREVIEW HERE

Check out my picks for the SFJAZZ 2010 Fall season, my favorite "festival" in the Bay Area, including:
- Nellie McKay - a tribute to Doris Day
- Olodum
- Taj Mahal, Toumani Diabaté and Vieux Farka Touré - tribute to Ali Farka Touré
- Meklit Hadero
- Lila Downs
- Slavic Soul Party!

I just wanted to thank YouTube, the internet and the powers-that-be for giving me this video cover of the "Bed Intruder Song" for Tsugaru Shamisen! This is Mike Penny, and he is badass on this instrument.

If you haven't seen the original yet click here.

Brilliant.

Last week I randomly came across the music blog Unbounded Song and I'm really excited about it. The premise is that the blog will eventually feature one song from each country in the world, roughly 196 of them.

The details on who is publishing this blog are non-existent other than his name is Dylan. But one thing is for sure, I trust Dylan's taste in music. That sentiment really boils down any music blog: with all the music blogs out there, what keeps you coming back? What keeps you coming back to mine? I hope it's because you trust me and my taste in music!

Each song on Unbounded Song as been fan-fricken-tastic so far.

The actual text posts are short and to the point, which I appreciate.

The song I'm in love with right now is the Polish entry: "At My Mothers" by Warsaw Village Band. This is the kind of music I want to crawl up inside. You know that feeling? When you just want to get up in it? I have no other way of describing it.

Check out this blog if you like music from around the world. There's some good stuff coming at you.

UPDATE: This show has been canceled due an accident that occurred with set collapsing in Detroit. This show will be rescheduled. Fortunately no one was hurt in the accident.

A.R. Rahman is one of India's most popular and epic film composers. The Oscar winning movie Slumdog Millionaire turned American pop culture, at least mainstream pop culture, onto Rahman in a major way. This Saturday, Rahman graces the stage of the Oakland Coliseum with the Jai Ho: the Journey Home World Tour.

The show promises to be quite a show of Bollywood enthusiasm featuring changing sets, large images on LED screens and a spectacular cast of musicians and dancers from across the globe including Hariharan, Javed Ali, Benny Dayal, Blaaze, Shweta Pandit and Neeti Muhan. "Through the concerts," says the AP, "Rahman is attempting something many performers from outside the English-speaking world have tried and failed to do: transcend a regional, ethnic niche and become an international mainstream superstar."

I first fell in love with Rahman's music when I saw my first Bollywood Film, the Oscar nominated 2001 film, Lagaan . The music and the story remain my favorite (see "Mitwa" below). When the movie Slumdog Millionaire started to gain popularity...

READ MORE

My fav, "Mitwa" from Lagaan:

In the clip below, Bhuvan (the fabulous Aamir Kahn) and his friend Gauri, must convince their friends and fellow villagers in 19th century colonial India that while the task of beating the English colonialists, the earth and the sky belong to them and are worth fighting for.

Listen, O my friend,
What is this fear you have?

The earth is ours
And so is the sky.

And how can I not post this?

In honor of the World Cup in South Africa, I've reposted the Music of Africa, now downloadable!

Including artists from all over the continent: BLK JKS, Amadou & Mariam, The Soweto Gospel Choir, Mariam Makeba, Tinariwen, Fela Kuti, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Cesaria Evora.

Click here for the full tracklist and download link.

Yeah, I'm actually up early to watch the first World Cup Game between hosting country South Africa and Mexico. My brother is there covering the games (he works for Major League Soccer) and I'm going to South Africa in December, and I'm sure they'll still be talking about it, so I want to have some idea of what's going on.

I enjoy soccer for many of the same reasons I enjoy music from around the world. You can learn so much about the culture through that window. For that reason I find soccer, or football if you will, anthropologically interesting. We'll see how long it takes before I get back in bed though...

But there's actually been some cool musical things going on around the World Cup bringing out the best of Africa's current music scene (and some American pop stars, but I'm not going to mention them):

First: The opening concert was full of some of my favorite African musicians, Angelique Kidjo, (Kidjo will be performing at the Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco on June 20th), BLK JKS, Tinariwen , The Soweto Gospel Choir , Vusi Mahlasela and Vieux Farka Touré.

This is South Africa's own BLK JKS (pronounced Black Jacks) a band that I can only describe as an African TV on the Radio.



Malian blind couple Amadou & Mariam:



To watch the opening kick off concert click here.


Second: The World Cup's Opening Ceremonies featured Cheb Khaled (seen) left, known as the "King of Raï," an immensely popular form of Algerian folk pop. My brother interviewed him as a celebrity fan during his Sports Illustrated days, read it here (scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page). South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela and Nigerian Femi Kuti also performed at the ceremonies.

And finally, of course, I have to mention the national anthem of South Africa, "Nkosi Sikelel' i Africa" it's so beautiful. You'll probably be hearing it a lot in the next few weeks. Here it is.

African musician Salif Keita is an albino: a term used for those individuals with albinism. Albinism, as you probably know, is a congenital disorder characterized by the absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes. What you might not know is that in some countries on the African continent, these individuals are often killed because of the superstitious beliefs associated with albinism.

Keita’s new album La Difference is a dedication to these people and a statement bringing attention to the cause. While Keita has always been a speaker for those with albinism, this album is the first time he sings about the deeply personal and painful subject. In two performances (8PM and 10:30PM) this Friday, Keita will appear at Bimbo’s 365 with SFJAZZ.

The story of the 61-year-old’s life is the ultimate “rising above all obstacles to achieve greatness” tale. Keita is of royal heritage, which because of Mali’s strict caste system, is supposed to have kept him from being a musician. Being a musician and a storyteller in Malian tradition is the job of a griot. So Keita was outcast from his family and community on two accounts, that of his chosen profession and his condition.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE

Some of the world’s best music has been created out of great passion and great struggle.

I was listening to Forum on KQED/NPR this morning driving my cat home from the vet and heard about an exciting new show that will air next Monday night at 10pm called "Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders." I didn't get to hear the whole report (a cat in a carrier is not a happy cat), but I am very excited about this show.

Producer Marco Werman and international correspondents Alexis Bloom, Arun Rath and Mirissa Neff have created a show that will take viewers on journeys of discovery from the bayous of Louisiana to the backstreets of Havana, from the nightclubs of Paris to desert music festivals in Mali. They'll interview everyone from Rock 'n Roll Hall of Famers to Bollywood singers, violin virtuosos to bluegrass musicians. It's not just good music they are looking for, but good stories behind the music.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF MY ARTICLE ON EXAMINER.COM

Click here for the "Sound Tracks" official website

Check out these awesome CD covers I made last night for my brother's long over due birthday present.

This one made use of a Sergio Mendes ad. This one is my favorite. The sun burst is plain old construction paper.

This one is a little bizarre, I was trying not to make it too stereotypically "African" looking and ended up just making it silly looking. I can live with that. I like the dancing people. That was my housemate Erin's idea.


These are going to my next Always More to Hear mix cds. Who wants one? Which one do you want?

Just in case you missed it, word on the street is that this 2009 Oscars awards ceremony was the most enjoyable show in a long time, with a few pitfalls. These are a couple of my favorite and not-so-favorite moments.

Anyone think other songs should have gotten nominated? I can't believe I haven't bought the soundtrack yet? What am I waiting for?

In honor of the last night of Channukah (and not a moment too soon) I bring you the best Channukah music ever (even thought that's not saying much, most of it is pretty lame) Erran Baron Cohen's Hanukah Songs in the Key of Life. (And for those of you that don't know, there is no correct spelling for Channukah/Hanukah, it's whatever you prefer.)

Sorry this is coming at you with a whole year to go at this point, but it's worth it.

1. Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes  "White Winter Hymnal"

The first Bollywood movie I ever saw was Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India. After seeing that movie I fell in love with Indian film and popular music.  But Lagaan's soundtrack, by A.R. Rahman is still my favorite.  Last week his new movie Slumdog Millionaire,  from the director who brought us Trainspotting and 28 Days Later, was released in the United States. The soundtrack also features M.I.A.'s Grammy 2009 nominated single "Paper Planes."

Listen, O my friend,

What is this fear you have?

The earth is ours

And so is the sky.

I know some Australians, Canadians and Brits that support Obama (you know who you are!), and I'm enjoying the international support he's getting all around.  

Alright, I know that traditional psychedelic klezmer afrobeat doesn't exist as a genre or even as a logical combination of musical sounds or even adjectives in general, but honestly I have no idea how to explain what this band sounds like.  Just like I said in my last post about Dengue Fever, this band has taken the idea of '"world music fusion" to a whole new non-cheesy dimension.  And I'm diggin' it. (Thank god the 90's are over, eh?)