Etran Finatawa - Desert Crossroads

Etran Finatawa is a Niger-based band, formed in 2004 during the Festival au Désert near Timbuktu, Mali. The music of Etran Finatawa blends the traditional music of the Wodaabe and Tuareg people with western instruments such as the electric guitar.
Since 2005 they have toured extensively in Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia.In 2007, their debut album Introducing Etran Finatawa (2006) was nominated for a BBC Radio Award for World Music. They released their follow-up, Desert Crossroads, in 2008, and in 2010 released Tarkat Tajje/Let's Go. In 2013, the band released their fourth album, "The Sahara Sessions".
The name of the band means "the stars of tradition".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etran_Finatawa


01. Saghmar N Nanna 4:55
02. Kel Tamascheck 5:07
03. Iguefan 4:11
04. Tea Ceremony I 1:42
05. Jama'aare 4:47
06. Tekana 5:28
07. Ganyo Maada 4:45
08. Soto 4:50
09. Asistan 3:44
10. Bagui's Soundscape 1:33
11. Gaynaako 4:30
12. Alghalem Taxat 5:19
13. Tea Ceremony II 2:26
14. Amidinine 4:28
15. Naanaaye 5:14
16. Tea Ceremony III 1:14

Etran Finatawa - Tarkat Tajje / Let's Go

Etran Finatawa’s hypnotic desert blues are as captivating and distinctive as the band themselves. They are the only group in the world to combine the cultures of the Wodaabe and Touareg people from Niger, and together they create a wholly unique blend of nomadic blues.
Niger has served as a crossroads between the Arabs of North Africa and the sub-Saharan traditions for thousands of years. Located south of Algeria and north of Nigeria, it is an area of incredibly rich musical and cultural heritage. The Touareg (renowned around the world as desert nomads) and Wodaabe (distinctive in their colourful traditional dress and striking face paints) are just two of eleven tribes in the area.
Despite different heritages and languages, Etran Finatawa, meaning ‘the stars of tradition’, are the first ever group to use the songs and music of the Wodaabe in a modern context. The Wodaabe traditions add an incredible vibrancy to the music, with distinctive polyphonic singing and mesmerizing percussion adding another layer to the Touareg traditions. Together, they draw on their shared experience as nomads of the Sahelian savannah to produce an explosion of desert blues, full of acoustic percussion and haunting melodies.
Formed in 2004, Etran Finatawa quickly became popular in Niger and were invited to perform at festivals in Mali and Morocco. They released their BBC Award-nominated debut, Introducing Etran Finatawa, in 2006, and released a second album, Desert Crossroads – a nostalgic look at life in the desert – in 2008. Since their creation they have toured all over the world, including stops in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Singapore, South America and Europe.

Tarkat Tajje/Let’s Go!

I visited the band in Niamey, Niger, in February 2009 to listen, for the first time, to the new songs for this album. Before I arrived, they had told me that I would be surprised, and they were not wrong! What an incredible new groove, new arrangements, mature voices and sophisticated lyrics…
They had begun to write and compose much more closely together. In the process, they had created a more unique sound with which to voice their ideas and concerns regarding their endangered traditional way of life. It felt that this album would be a new step on the road of their exciting musical journey. It was not until July – in the middle of a hectic tour of the USA and Europe – that the five herdsmen began recording Tarkat Tajje/Let’s Move! in England. Bagui was explaining the lyrics of ‘Duuniyaaru Dillii’ to me and I was struck by the maturity that Etran Finatawa have reached since they first began making music together:
Life is always changing, life is so strange and sometimes it seems unreal It makes one frightened We want to work, to study, we want to make relationships, get to know everything and to feel good But life is always surprising and sometimes misleading and always changing
Etran Finatawa use music as a means to communicate their thoughts and philosophies. Their last album, Desert Crossroads, was an exploration of the realities of being a nomad in a changing society, but this new album reaches a whole new philosophical level. They have begun to explore their role as human beings and cultural ambassadors in a society of continuous global change.
This album is more than a statement. It is an appeal to a global consciousness and to the decision makers and reactors all over the world. As Alhousseini says in ‘Imuzaran’:
Those who are leading the world pay attention to the tears of the children of this world that you are spending every morning and the tears of the women and the men. Because you are responsible for wars and the men dying. Children have lost their fathers and wives their husbands. Pay attention to this because it is you sending those men to wars. You are responsible for the tears falling every morning.
Etran Finatawa are sending out a powerful message. They demand to be heard, and when I’m listening to them recording the poignant ‘Ummee Ndaaren’ (‘Stand Up And Go For The Right Thing’), I feel that it would be nigh on impossible not to listen…
Sandra van Edig


01. Aitimani (7:07)
02. Diam Walla (4:31)
03. Aitma (10:01)
04. Ndiiren (6:09)
05. Gourma (6:36)
06. Daande (3:21)
07. Duuniyaaru Dillii (6:58)
08. Imuzaran (4:40)
09. Ummee Ndaaren (6:57)
10. Kalamoujar (7:02)

Wang Wei - Equilibrium [China]

Wang Wei, es un famoso compositor, productor de música independiente, pianista, pionero en China en la producción de música por ordenador y experto en investigación en una serie de ámbitos de la música, como el jazz, la música clásica, la música new age, la música popular y tradicional, es un compositor moderno y versátil. Actualmente, es editor de música en la Radio y Television de Nanjing, Profesor Adjunto de la Facultad de Nanjing Art Institute de la música pop, la Sociedad Acústica de la provincia de Jiangsu, provincia de Jiangsu Asociación Músicos y miembro del comite y compositor de la ceremonia de apertura de los 13ª juegos Paralímpicos de Beijing en 2008   

Después de los Juegos Olímpicos de Beijing en 2008, y despues de casi un año de trabajo, Wang Wei junto a jovenes musicos Chinos, lanza el album Equilibrium,  Una joya de la fusion Oriente-Occidente....el tema que abre el album es una fusion maravillosa de culturas, el Guquin instrumento tradicional de China y el Duduk armenio, junto con solos de guitarras electrizantes que te transportan a......Escucha el Video...



01. Pregnancy of Haze
02. The Vault
03. Ark
04. Devices of Equilibrium
05. Vertical and Horizon
06. Leaning
07. Eternity
08. The Plough
09. Parallel Lines
10. Ashes of Ruins

Đức Thanh - Đàn Bầu 1-2-3 [Vietnam]

De acuerdo con el "Dai Nam Thuc Luc tien bien", el primer Dan Bau se hizo en 1770, sin embargo, muchos estudiosos estiman su edad de hasta mil años de antiguedad. Una leyenda popular de su inicio habla de una mujer ciega que tocaba en el mercado para ganarse la vida para su familia mientras su marido estaba en la guerra. Si esta historia se basa en el hecho o no, lo cierto es que el Dan Bau históricamente ha sido interpretado por músicos ciegos. En su primera aparición, fue un instrumento muy simple formado por una sección de bambú, una varilla flexible, una calabaza o la mitad de un coco. Después de un proceso de evolución y mejora, la forma actual de la Dan Bau es un poco más sofisticado, sin embargo, sigue siendo bastante simple. Hasta hace poco, su volumen suave limitado el contexto musical en el que podría ser utilizado. El Dan Bau, se toca en solitario, es fundamental para la música popular vietnamita, un género que hoy en día sigue siendo popular en el país. Su aplicación tradicional es como acompañamiento de lecturas de poesía.

La palabra "monocorde" significa literalmente "una cuerda". En el monocordio, una sola cuerda estirada sobre una caja de resonancia. La cadena se fija en ambos extremos, mientras que un campo de puente móvil la altera. Originalmente, el Dan Bau era de sólo 4 partes: un tubo de bambú, una varilla de madera, una media cáscara de coco, y un cordón de seda. La cadena se encadena a través del bambú, atada en un extremo de la varilla, que es perpendicular unido al bambú. La cáscara del coco se adjuntó a la barra, que sirve como resonador.

En los últimos años, el Dan Bau se hace con mucho cuidado para asegurar la calidad estética y el sonido. Cuando se toca en público, se utiliza a menudo con un amplificador electrónico. Se ha logrado éxito en la amplificación del sonido, provocando un aumento en el volumen y la distancia que el sonido se propaga, sin dejar de preservar la calidad del sonido. El instrumento se toca en solitario o para acompañar un recital de poesía. Durante los últimos años, ha tomado un papel en el acompañamiento orquestal en la Cheo y Cai Luong ópera.

La ejecución del Dan Bau es simple pero requiere una gran precisión. El dedo meñique de la mano derecha suavemente golpea la cuerda en uno de los siete nudos de uso general, mientras que los otros dedos pulsan la cuerda con una púa larga. Con la mano izquierda, el musico puede empujar la varilla flexible hacia el instrumento con el dedo índice para disminuir el tono de la nota, o puede tirar de la varilla de distancia del instrumento con el pulgar para elevar el tono de la nota. Esta técnica se utiliza tanto para tocar las notas no están disponibles en un nodo, así como para añadir vibrato a cualquier nota.

Pham Duc Thanh
Pham Duc Thanh is a world-renowned musician known for his masterful ability on the Vietnamese one-stringed instrument (Dan Bau). He was born in 1958 in Ninh Binh , Vietnam . His talent was fully apparent from his youth: he was adept at the Chèo drumming style at age 4, he learned the mandolin at age 5, and he had begun playing Dan Bau (monochord) and Dan Nhi (2-string fiddle) at the age of 5. In 1974, Duc-Thanh left Hanoi to join the largest Cheo opera troupe in Vietnam and officially became a professional Dan Bau performer.
At the end of 1978 he was the only Dan Bau musician of the Cheo opera stage to attend the national Dan Bau competition of Vietnam in Hanoi ; soon after, he went to Saigon to study further the music of central and southern Vietnam . In October of 1983, he graduated with top honors from the Center for Musical Research of Vietnam. It was here that he became recognized as one of the rising musicians on Dan Bau in traditional as well as modern music.
He and his family moved to Canada in 1996. Today, he is an adored performer in Montreal . Beyond the traditional music of Vietnam , he has used the Dan Bau to integrate seamlessly with the sounds and rhythms of various ethnic sounds from around the world, following in the words of the poet Van Tien Le:
http://www.phamducthanh.com/

    One string with all words light and heavy
    Half a gourd containing a world of sound.

Đức Thanh - Đàn Bầu - Ngồi Tựa Mạn Thuyền (2000)

 Ðuc Thành - Ðàn Bau 2 - Làng Tôi (2001)

 Ðuc Thành - Ðàn Bau 3 - Giot Mua Thu (2003)

Tom Zé - Estudando a Bossa [Brasil]

En Estudando a Bossa, al igual que en grabaciones anteriores (Estudando o Samba y Estudando o Pagode; discos lanzados en 1976 y 2005, respectivamente), sus composiciones se nutren de la base rítmica y armónica de uno de los géneros más representativos de Brasil, la bossa nova, justamente para poner en evidencia de manera irreverente el convencionalismo y los múltiples clichés que pesan sobre este género musical.



Mientras que Caetano Veloso y Gilberto Gil –dos de los cantautores que en 1968 grabaron junto a Tom Zé el manifiesto musical Tropicalia ou Panis et Circencis– siguieron un camino más cercano al pop, éste último prefirió crear a contracorriente del tropicalismo –movimiento que fue catalogado de vanguardista en su mejor momento– y buscar su propio lenguaje por la vía de otro gran cliché: el artista marginal. Con esos antecedentes biográficos, Zé demuestra una abierta intención por revisitar y deconstruir los múltiples géneros musicales del país del orden y el progreso; pero en este caso, su objetivo es la bossa nova: género predilecto del imaginario turístico de Río de Janeiro y que tal vez sea su principal producto cultural de exportación. Tom Zé se rebela contra esas imágenes estereotipadas de a cidade maravilhosa que circulan en torno a las postales del atardecer en la playa de Copacabana, la cachaça y las mulatas caminando bajo el sol, y por eso titula uno de sus temas como Brazil, Capital Buenos Aires.
Leer mas: http://nuevomundo.revues.org/61020

1. Introdução: Brazil, Capital Buenos Aires / Rio Arrepio (Badá-Badi)
2. Barquinho Herói
3. João nos Tribunais
4. O Céu Desabou
5. Síncope Jãobim
6. Filho do Pato
7. Outra Insensatez, Poe!
8. Roquenrol Bim-Bom
9. Mulher de Música
10. Brazil, Capital Buenos Aires
11. Amor do Rio
12. Bolero de Platão
13. Solvador Bahia de Caymmi
14. De: Terra; Para: Humanidade

Anna Sato - Shimauta [Japon]

Anna Sato nos arrastra a un lugar donde nunca has estado antes, se trata de un nuevo mundo de sonido asiático, en su voz, vive el espíritu de las Islas Amami.

 Anna nació en las Islas Amami, flotando en el Mar Oriental de China. Ella ha estudiado en la isla técnicas vocales "Shimauta" desde la tierna edad de tres años. Esta es una técnica vocal tradicional, que ha sido transmitida de generación en generación. Ella ha dominado esta técnica única, y libremente pinta los colores de los espíritus cantando con eficacia en falsete. Es como si su voz evocara antiguos recuerdos de los días anteriores a la civilización, es casi imposible de describir su expresión vocal con palabras, tal vez "prehistórica" ancestral.
Es la voz de un espíritu puro, alimentado con el instinto y la vida, antes de que las palabras nacieran.

Anna Sato has been singing Shimauta from the tender age of three, and has won many Shimauta contests. She marked her CD debut in 2005 from Pacific Moon Records. Since then, she has released 7 CDs, collecting international attention with her unique singing technique. Her album Shimauta has been released in the United Sates also. She is the official vocalist for Cirque Du Soleilh from 2010.
Pacific Moon.

Bonnie Shaljean - Farewell To Lough Neaghe

Traditional harp music of Britain & Ireland
Farewell to Lough Neaghe is a solo instrumental recording using both gut and wire–strung harps. This is the first CD to feature some of the most important ancient Gaelic wire–strung harp music on a harp constructed with a one–piece willow soundbox.



1. Pibddawns Y Tant/Yr Ysgubau/Y Blodau
2. Roslin Castle/The Lea-Rig
3. Captain O'Neil/Colonel O'Hara/Sir Festus Burke
4. Bryd One Brere/Foweles In The Frith/Edi Beo Thu Hevene Quene/Sumer Is Icumen In
5. Late Hour/The Clock's Back Reel, The
6. Meillionen
7. Maille Bheag O
8. Kilburn Jig/Diarmuid's Well/The Wild Irishman, The
9. Childgrove/Daphne/'Twas Within a Furlong of Edinburgh Town/the Oak and the Ash
10. Farewell To Lough Neaghe
11. Pant Corlan Yr Wyn/Pibddawns Jones/Pwt Ar Y Bys
12. Her Mantle So Green/In Aonar Seal
13. Port 4th/Air By Fingal No. 1/Air By Fingal No. 3/Port 5th
14. When She Cam Ben She Bobbit
15. Planxty Drew/Mary O'Neill/Edmond MacDermott Roe/The Maids of Derry
16. Caismeachd Mhic Iain 'Ic Sheumais/Marbhna Cathaoir Mhic C ba
17. An P ist¡n Fionn/Se n O'Duibhir An Ghleanna
18. Port Priest/Port Atholl
19. I Was Not... Since Martinmas/An Muileann Dubh/The Highlandman/Kissed His Mother
20. Cumha Mhic Guidhir/T im I Mo/Chodhladh Is N  Duisigh M‚
21. Maggy Lauther/Bonie Jean Makis/Meikill of Me