The Whole Music Experience

About Provence and Provencal Music:   Southeastern France or Provence is a former Roman province, located on the Mediterranean Sea and adjacent to the Italian border.  Provence is bordered by the Alps and Italy to the east, the Rhone River to the west and the Mediterranean Sea provides the southern border.  The principality of Monaco, Nice, Marseilles, Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Arles are all important Provençal cities.  Occitan is the language historically spoken in Provence and the Occitan regions of France, although the language has been losing its prominence.  The language is also spoken in parts of Spain, Italy (Piedmont), Germany and even the U.S (Idaho and Oregon).  The famed medieval troubadours penned their poetry and sung their verses in Occitan, which is a Latin Romance language. The troubadours draw comparisons to the West African griot or the Irish bards.  They not only sung love songs, they also traveled on trade routes bringing news to the various villages a

Cesaria Evora Nha sentimento Lusafrica Nancy Vieira Lus (release date November 2009) World Village Last March a news brief regarding a minor stroke suffered by Cape Verdean vocalist, Cesaria Evora appeared on World Music Central . The musician had flown to Australia to perform at WOMADELAIDE and she suffered a stroke prior to the festival performance. Needless to say her performance was cancelled leaving disappointed fans in the wake. This month brings us happier news since the 66-year old Evora releases the recording, nha sentimento on Lusafrica. The press release described the recording, “Cesaria ventures further afield than ever before, twisting Arabic musical traditions into bluesy sinuous compositions from some of Cape Verde’s best songwriters.” The result sunny Cape Verdean repertoire with Egyptian exoticism produced by longtime friend and collaborator Manuel de Novas (who recently passed away) with songs arranged by Egyptian Fathy Salama. Again—the pres