seeline

You know that Mônica's 1st album was a recording of the AfroSambas with Paulo Bellinati on guitar, right? It was released on GSP (gspguitar.com) here, though - I think - recently issued on her current label (Biscoito Fino) as well. There are a couple of solo guitar pieces by Paulo as well.

That's a great record. In fact, Monica Salmaso's recordings just about pinpoint what I like most in the music of Brazil. Along with her musicians, she manages to get the lyricism and the rhythmic flux nigh on perfect. She's a very gifted percussionist - has a great feeling for rhythm and great technique, too. Agreed on her song choices as well. This album is especially beautiful, what with the stripped-down instrumentation and the songs she picked.

Maybe I need new glasses!

Bev/Lark, Agreed on Joyce's latest. It comes from a TV project she did, on sambas and the history of Rio. There should be some Youtube clips available - I know there were some months back, before the series ran in Brazil. She knows a ton of older sambas and often weaves them into other songs in her live shows. Her album Passarinho Urbano has lots of them, although the actual recordings are extremely brief. Definitely a great album, though. As for my favorite (relatively) recent album... The typography is a bit odd... title is "Alma lírica brasileira." (My favorite out of her last 4, by far.)

Mexican music: that's been true for some time, although he's still putting out great reissues of Puerto Rican etc. etc. music as well.

Original Music (defunct label) had some terrific releases that focused on African popular music from the 30s forward. It's hard to find copies of the CDs, but worth the hunt. As for a lot of current reissues being focused on music that appeals to Westerners, I agree!

Good points, Neal. Chris Strachwitz (owner of Arhoolie Records) has done an incredible job of documenting Mexican-influenced styles in the US and Mexico itself; also other types of regional music that aren't well-known outside of the areas where they're popular. (Like polka - in all sorts of guises.) I think restricting American popular and roots music to music that has lyrics in English leaves out a *lot* of great material that's equally (often uniquely) American.

I think some "roots" music is a bit bland, too, but I'm not sure that I've listened to enough to be able to assess the style (as played by younger musicians) fairly. However, I do think that the younger people who are truly involved in "roots" music (as opposed to folk-type singer-songwriters) are discovering (for themselves) a great many of the same things that touched off the 60s "folk revival." I also think that there's a bit of a "generation gap" thing going on - for me personally, that is. By the same token, I've heard material that I think is fresh and pretty exciting. But that's just me.

Good book, and good rec!

Re. Brazil, Cuba and Puerto Rico: afaik, most of the early recordings made in Brazil were of mixed-race ensembles and made by (primarily) mixed race individuals. Some of the early Cuban and Puerto Rican groups were white (or what N. Americans would call "white"; perceptions might well differ in the actual countries where the artists lived and worked). In Brazil, there certainly *is* a meeting of European musical styles and African-derived genres (choro music being one of the genres where this is most obvious), but I don't think it's fair to anyone to say that there is a single "African method." For one... in all 3 countries, people came from diverse parts of Africa. (In Brazil, mainly from what are now the Congo and Angola, but also from West Africa - places as diverse as present-day Mali and Benin.) There is no single "African aesthetic" in Brazil, Cuba or Puerto Rico. All 3 of these countries are culturally complex and very distinct from each other. (Cuba has more than a little Haitian influence in its music, too, as many slave owners in what is now Haiti fled to Cuba during the Haitian revolution.) Trinidad has a very interesting cultural mix - one where there is a lot of South Asian influence in the music, due to the large numbers of Indian laborers who emigrated to Trinidad and Tobago after slavery was abolished. You can hear it in pop music from Trinidad today - Google "chutney soca" for starters; also "tassa." (A drum ensemble style brought to Trinidad from India.) And *then* there are the Spanish influences - still - partly because Trinidad and Tobago are so geographically close to Venezuela. (Venezuelan waltzes and parang groups that perform Spanish-language songs during the Christmas season are examples - fwiw most parang groups are black; there is likely more about which I know nothing.) I also have to question the whole notion of "African method," if only because Africa is a huge continent with incredibly diverse musical and cultural traditions. My feeling is that most N. Americans get too reductive about this, if only because there's a lot going on that doesn't fall into the strict categories that writers and researchers are accustomed to. (See The Latin Tinge and Latin Jazz: the First of the Fusions by John Storm Roberts for starters; there is much, much more out there - in English at that, though some of the best material on Brazilian music hasn't been translated into English and likely never will be.) I am not an expert by any means, btw... I defer to those who are and tend to ask them lots of questions. (Maybe too many, for their taste, at least!) * One other thought: I'm not sure why the comments on younger American folk/folk-roots revival (or whatever other names we could use) is there, nor what relevance it has to the main discussion. Taste and opinion are taste and opinion - as I'm sure you'd agree. There are things about a lot of younger folk musicians that I don't get, but that's (imo) more of a reflection on my tastes and the way I think about music than it is to do with the musicians themselves. Could it be that a lot of them are discovering things that were discovered by a previous generation? [winking icon goes here] I think so, for whatever that's worth. Edited to add: In Brazil (afaik, anyway) the brass ensemble tradition comes from military and police bands. There is one place where large brass ensembles are part of Carnaval - up in the northeastern part of Brazil, in the cities of Recife and Olinda. The musical style that's big for Carnaval there is frevo (the name comes from a Portuguese word meaning "to boil"), and the name is apt. It's super-up-tempo dance music, quite different from samba as heard in Rio, Bahia and elsewhere. The dancing is very acrobatic and challenging, with many moves derived from capoeira. (Believe it or not, the Wiki entry on this is pretty good: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira ) Puerto Rican music: alto saxophoist Miguel Zenon has written some really good material on folkloric styles from various parts of PR. (Check his website link to "liner notes" for his album Jibaro - this is material that wasn't published in the actual liners to the disc.) And trombonist William Cepeda - who comes from a long line of Afro-Puerto Rican musicians and dancers - is also a great source, but afaik, he hasn't written anything about it. His recordings (especially the one he made with a folkloric percussion ensemble from his home village) are great primers, though.

I'm in - a dl would be great!

I think the writer is confusing "Arabic" with "Islamic." They're not synonymous. Besides, the Arabic-speaking world is very big and there are diverse musical traditions within Arabic-speaking countries, and in the larger Muslim world as well. Abdul-Malik recorded with Arab American and Armenian American musicians, too. (Having them as sidemen on his "fusion" projects.)

There's a lengthy interview with Kandia Kouyate on Afropop.org - can'rt recall if she mentioned any connections to Batourou Sekou Kouyate, but it's certainly possible. Afropop's interface has been overhauled (sort of), and it's not nearly as easy to find archived material there as it used to be. Will post a link to the interview if I can find it. Interview: http://www.afropop.org/multi/interview/ID/29/ Bio (long): http://www.afropop.org/explore/artist_info/ID/638/Kandia%20Kouyat%C3%A9/ I'm sure that either Banning Eyre (of Afropop) or Lucy Duran would be able to track down the info. * MG, I am so there on Ghanian and Nigerian highlife!

As far as I know, classical music is alive and well in Europe - look at countries like Finland. It's here in the US that things (including audiences and funding) are problematic.

I'm in agreement on Jobim's singing voice, though I feel somewhat guilty (being a big fan of Brazilian music in general as well as of Jobim's compositions). Ah well - to each their own!

I saw him in 1997 in St Louis, Senegal and he was DYNAMIC!!!!! I saw him a couple of years later (shortly after 'Mbeddemi' came out) at the Barbican, London, and he was weak as gnat's pee. I suspect he makes records specially for white people (as they say out there). I'm sure you're right. I don't care for his Western releases and hope that someday I'll be able to locate some of his "local" recordings.

That's how it usually worked. Agreed on their classical selection as well.

Just ordered it direct from Dust-to-Digital, which has some intriguing new releases. (And the set costs less if ordered from them, as opposed to DG.) http://dust-digital.com/

Very sorry to hear this - I was a frequent customer for many years and became friends with some of the staff. Their buyers knew what they were doing ... they had the best jazz and international sections in the area. (Post-closing of Serenade, which was owned and run by the same family.)

Yep. His real name was Djalma de Andrade. I have heard that his widow uses "Sete" as her last name, which seems very odd to me.

It's from the upcoming docu on music in Mali by the Kanaga System Krush label.

Mike (and all) - just wanted to let you know that I *will* be checking in with comments; things have been a little crazy and I haven't had much time to listen as yet... but I think the choices are very interesting!

The category title makes complete sense to me... am wondering if they've eliminated some other categories (like best polka album) and tried to consolidate them under this moniker? It certainly is an awfully big umbrella; probably too much so. (Especially ironic given that 3 of the nominated artists/groups are from Louisiana...)

That would be nice - I'm still a bit dizzy from watching the UK adaptations of Kate Atkinson's 1st 3 mystery novels. While I liked them, 2-3 episodes per book would have worked better, I think. I guess my age is showing. Foyle's War is much more my speed.

I See Your Face Before Me Let's Face the Music and Dance (Fred Astaire debuted this one, I think) Nancy with the Laughing Face The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Ewan MacColl, Roberta Flack etc.) Funny Face (Gershwins - Astaire sang this one, too) Next word: WALK