[Dixielandjazz] The Music Scene in NYC - WORLD MUSIC

[Steve Barbone]

CAVEAT - MAY NOT BE OKOM. DELETE NOW IF NOT INTERESTED IN THE BROADER WORLD
MUSIC SCENE. 

The below is a look at what else, besides jazz, is happening musically in
New York City this summer. Similar happenings in Philadelphia at the World
Cafe Live and other venues. Perhaps before we excoriate America's listening
habits, we should examine what Americans listen to?

There also exists a niche for "America's Music" (Jazz) in many of the venues
supporting World Music. Some OKOM band leaders have figured this out. The
rest of us might think about how, and then proceed to get on these stages.
So much music to hear/play (in addition to rap/hip-hop). So little time.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone


NY TIMES - June 29, 2007 - By JON PARELES

A Big, Wide World of Music

Music from all over the world floods into New York City year round, but
especially in summertime. That¹s when outdoor stages supplement clubs and
theaters, and free concert series can introduce audiences to music with
lower commercial profiles.

This summer¹s world music concerts include return visits by superstars who
will have expatriate fans singing along with hits, like the Brazilian
songwriter Carlinhos Brown, who is at the Nokia Theater tonight, and the
Mexican rock superstars Café Tacuba, at Central Park SummerStage on July 14.
And because it seems that everyone wants to be heard in New York City, this
summer also brings a rare event like the July 21 SummerStage concert of
music by 12 acts from Sudan, which is now torn by civil war and genocide.

Not so long ago, world music ‹ the usefully vague marketing category, not
the music itself ‹ romanced isolation. A new album or a concert promised a
rare chance to share what people half a world away were dancing to all night
long, or a ceremony formerly closed to outsiders or sounds shaped through
generations of a particular family or a village. Of course, the fact that
the music had traveled at all was the beginning of the end of that
isolation, for both the musicians and their new audiences.

Now there¹s a circuit of world music festivals where Irish fiddlers
regularly run into Guinean griots and Lebanese oud players. There are world
music concert producers who draw connections across national and stylistic
boundaries, like the World Music Institute, whose continent-spanning Gypsy
Caravan has now been preserved as both CD and documentary. Although world
music performers are well aware of the importance of tradition, they aren¹t
so purist that they¹re afraid to experiment. Why not, since their music is
already being sampled and mixed by everyone from hip-hop producers to lounge
D.J.¹s, who care only about the sounds, not the pedigree.

Albums that were once stocked only by the most comprehensive record stores
are now much easier to find than the surviving comprehensive record stores
themselves, at online sites like calabashmusic.com and emusic.com.
Information that used to be tucked into academic enclaves or shared by word
of mouth is now easily accessible at sites like worldmusiccentral.org,
afropop.org and worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com.

Meanwhile, musicological forays that once meant journeys deep into the
outback ‹ where satellite TV and Internet connections are now wreaking
cultural changes ‹ have been supplemented lately by visits to the archives
of local labels. Hearing world music has always been a kind of vicarious
travel, and now it¹s more like time travel than ever. What follows is a
selection of some of the most notable world music CDs released over the last
year. (snipped to include titles only, not reviews)

ŒAUTHENTICITé : THE SYLIPHONE YEARS¹ (Stern¹s Music) - GUINEA

CARLINHOS BROWN ³A Gente Ainda Não Sonhou² (Sony International) BRAZIL

KEVIN BURKE AND CAL SCOTT ³Across the Black River² (Loftus) CELTIC

FANFARE CIOCARLIA ³Queens and Kings² (Asphalt Tango) ROMANIA

GYPSY CARAVAN: MUSIC IN AND INSPIRED BY THE FILM (World Village) GYPSY

ŒTHE INSPIRING NEW SOUNDS OF RIO DE JANEIRO¹ (Verge) - BRAZIL

RICARDO LEMVO AND MAKINA LOCA ³Isabela² (Mopiato) - CONGO

LURA ³M¹bem di Fora² (Times Square) - SENEGAL (CAPE VERDEAN RHYTHMS)

NAWAL ³Aman² (nawali.com) - COMORAS ISLANDS (off Madagascar)

ORISHAS ³Antidiótico² (Universal Music Latino) - CUBA

MUSTAFA OZKENT ³Genclik Ile Elele² (B-Music) - TURKEY

POR POR ³Honk Horn Music of Ghana² (Smithsonian Folkways) - GHANA

ŒTHE IDAN RAICHEL PROJECT¹ (Cumbancha) - ISRAEL (Ethiopian/Yemen roots)

ŒTHE ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MUSIC OF TANZANIA¹ (World Music Network) - TANZANIA