lilting

Tanzania was something of a guitarist's paradise during the 50s and 60s. The styles and sound are little-known outside East Africa, but I'm hoping that will change. Once you hear this cut by Kiko Kids Jazz, you'll be with me. The title: Sili Sishibi

loop'd tupan

NYC-based performance collective Balkan Beat Box blends more styles than I've got room to list, and does it superbly. Here's a cut from their upcoming CD (in photo). The title: Joro Boro

chante

Algerian singer Cheikha Tetma, caught on record in 1930. The song: Guenene Tini

viaje

Luna Viajera, from Terence Blanchard's CD Wandering Moon

por por

Ghana's industrious truck drivers make music with car and truck horns, tire pumps and metal brake drums. Today's cut is by the La Drivers Union Por Por Group. The title: Trotro Tour of Ghana



More info. here (includes performance video and audio samples).

* Photo by Steven Feld

o barquinho

One of the loveliest standards of the bossa nova era, performed by Elis Regina and Toots Thielemans



* Photo by David Whitman

night and rain

The Wind, by Kayhan Kalhor and Erdal Erzincan, is one long, seamless improvisation. Excerpts can't really do justice to their playing, but I'd like to offer Part I and Part II, in hopes that you'll seek out the rest.

shout!

The Fisk Jubilee Singers were pioneers of black American culture. Formed in 1871, their many world and US tours enabled people to see and hear the beauty of spirituals (and other kinds of songs). It's no exaggeration to say that they changed the way music was heard - and understood.

Song: Roll, Jordan, Roll



* The official site of the Fisk Jubilee Singers (includes tour schedules and more).

maqam

Brazil's Orquestra Popular de Câmara gives a brand new spin to music from Central Asia. The title: Bayaty

klang

I love the complex, looping sound of Daniel Humair's playing on today's track - not to mention his apparent use of kitchen utensils.
Casseroles/More Tuna, from Quatre fois Trois



* Sculpture by David Fried

a thousand times

I'm a day late with this post (the 17th being the proper day for all things Irish. Still, the music is (I think) worth the wait.

The artists: Susan McKeown and Tartit. The song: Oró Mhíle Grá (A Thousand Times, My Love)

marfil

Piano Cubano - Peruchin's Changüi Oriental



* More on changüi here

ballad

Jamie
Broumas - Moonlight in Vermont

manoir de mes revês

A quiet, reflective solo by Django Reinhardt

flores mais lindas

Gilberto Gil - Toda menina baiana

tamburello

Italian master percussionist Carlo Rizzo's version of a Tarantella, from his album Scherzo Orientale




* Photo by Scatti di vita

lord randall

Martin Carthy's version of this ballad is both stark and compelling

tanga

Taarab comes from the East African coast. It's a heady combination of local and not-so-local (Arabic, Indian) influences, and first caught my ear via a recording issued by the Original Music label. Here are two cuts from that LP.

Juma Bhalo - Kem Kem



Yaseen Mohammed & Saada - Lala Mpenzi



* More info. here

afro

Os Ipanemas - Zulus

cumbia

Los Lobos - Kiko



*Photo by ObedientMuse

perico ripiao

Truly frenetic merengue by Fefita La Grande - Me Pusieron/Trampa

pregón

Celia Cruz (with La Sonora Matancera) - Caramelos

travelers

Unidentified children - Chariot Jubliee



Vera Hall - Black Woman