The Whole Music Experience

 Let's go on a musical treasure hunt.  For this post we're heading to Spain to sample some flavorful music traditions. Grab your headphones and get on a board. Tucked in northwest Spain, the province Galicia hosts a variety of music traditions, including folkloric traditions that Galician musicians innovate then present to international audiences.  While I'm mostly familiar with the folkloric songs thanks generous Spanish labels that send this music to me, I also have Galician jazz ensemble recordings in my collection. The region hosts several music festivals each year featuring an array of genres of music, from opera and early music to pop rock, jazz and folkloric.  http://www.galiciatunes.com for details.  However, I'll focus on the folkloric and jazz recordings and artists for this post. The Celtic region of Spain along with Asturias, Galicia is situated between Portugal to the south, Asturias to the north, and bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on one s...

World/ Folkloric   Techung   Tibet (On The Road)   Arc Music     Many years ago, my first introduction to Tibetan music came when friends and I attended a Tibetan monk choir performance at the University of Washington.   Since that time I have heard Tibetan folkloric, sacred, and operatic songs.   Mostly, I’ve heard new age versions of Tibetan songs by artists such as Nawang Khechog.   Techung (his solo artist name), who now resides in San Francisco where he co-founded Chaksampa Tibetan Dance and Opera Company brings us love, folk and anthemic songs played on traditional and contemporary instruments on his CD, Tibet (On The Road) .   The opener, Lok Dro , a contemporary folk song asks Tibetans to return to the homeland.   The universal themes of the text showed up as the perfect song for the Native American documentary, A Good Day to Die , about the Native American civil rights movement.   The song B...

World Son De Pueblo   Colombia (Traditional Songs and Dances from) Arc Music I suppose if you’re going to celebrate the music of Colombia you would want to travel to the South American country in December since according to the liner notes for Traditional Songs and Dances from Colombia performed by Son de Pueblo, “for several weeks we celebrate the joy of life...” And that joy of life in Colombia includes rousing Afro-Latin musical traditions from the plains, mountains, and the Caribbean flavored with salsa, rumba, and musical genres from throughout Latin America. Anyone who only knows Colombia through tragic news stories involving drug trafficking or from flavorful coffee beans, needs to delve into traditional Colombian culture whether that is cuisine, traditional music or folkloric dance because this is where you find happy and contented people celebrating their regional offerings and culture heritage.   The beauty of the Caribbean countries is the w...

World Cantigas de Mulleres (Songs of Women) (Compilation of Galician Songs) Folmusica I’ve acquired a small collection of Galician recordings mostly featuring jazz and folkloric music.   The latest CD to come my way is a compilation, Cantigas De Mulleres featuring Galician women musicians such as bigger names Uxía, Cristina Pato, Gaudi Galego and Ugía Pedreira and upcoming talent such as 16-year old Sonia Lebedinsky whose mature vocals defies her youth and a musical elder Señora Carmen, age 86.   While the musicians focus on folkloric songs, the treatment of the songs range from medieval DOA’s Levousa Fremousa (which you can find a video on YouTube) to Celtic pipes (Susana Seivane’s Xoaniã ) to ultra-modern (Mercedes Peón’s Derorán ). Marful (Ugiá Pedreira) brings in a warm jazzy element mixed with folkloric elements on the song Tris Tras .   Whereas, SOAS (Cristina Pato and Rosa Cedrón) brings in Celtic piano, lush strings and aching vocals. ...

Techung Songs from Tibet Arc Music (2006) My first encounter with Tibetan music occurred when I attended a concert featuring Tibetan Buddhist choir in 1994.   My friends and I were exploring various “new age” spiritualities and felt curious about the Tibetan Buddhist monks and the Dalia Lama.   In 1998, I saw Yungchen Lhamo perform Tibetan songs a cappella at WOMAD USA and then I saw her perform at WOMAD again in 2001.   Then in 2006, I saw performances by former Tibetan Buddhist monk-turned musical performer Nawang Khechog.   I also interviewed Lhamo and Khechog during those times.   Now, I’m introduced to a new performer to my ears, Techung, who resides in San Francisco and performs mostly secular folkloric songs with traditional Tibetan instruments, Damnyen (a long-necked lute) and Piwang (spiked fiddle). I doubt I would have found this material on a Nawang Khechog recording which leans towards more spiritual aspects of living or on Yu...