Kings for a Reason

“Volare! The Very Best of the Gipsy Kings” is the perfect introduction to this French phenomenon. The double album is packed with their signature get-up-and-dance rhythms. Soaring guitars and passionate vocals create an intoxicating blend of flamenco and rumba. Classics like “Bamboleo” and “Volare” make it clear why the Gipsy Kings have been worldwide stars since 1987.

The group is made up of two sets of brothers, Reyes and Baliardos, from the south of France. Music is a family tradition, stretching back generations to their gypsy heritage. Look for the Gipsy Kings near you—they are currently touring nationwide, and their show is worth every penny.

Buy “Volare!” at Amazon.com

Crammed Discs’ 20 Ways to Float through Walls is both wildly eclectic and totally fabulous.  With contributions from Gypsies, Tuaregs, Brazilians, Brits, Belgians, and others, the album is a seriously entertaining world tour.  The disparate mix offers something for everyone, and each song has its own appeal. 

In such a grab-bag album, many songs are sure to captivate some people and leave others cold.  If you’re feeling adventuresome, take the plunge and buy the whole album.  If you prefer to cherry-pick, Amazon.com lets you download tracks individually for .99 cents apiece. 

Here are a few (of many) favorites:
—Kocani Orkestar, “Usti, Usti Baba”:  The horns on this Gypsy wedding song are dangerously catchy—they may just make you want to get married in Macedonia. 

—Sussan Deyhim with Bill Laswell, “The Candle and the Moth”:  Pent up emotion simmers just under the surface of this sensuous track from Iranian diva Deyhim.  Her nuanced vocals slip and slide over the low key Eastern instrumentation—quite the mood-setter.
—Mahala Rai Banda, “Morceau d’amour/Spoitoresa”:  The style of the Romanian vocals here somehow evoke the mournful wail of Middle Eastern belly dance music.  Layered over dirge-esque horns and, later in the song, a frenetic techno beat, it’s a trippy ride.
—Tartit, “Tabey Tarate”:  Hailing from Mali, this group of Tuaregs (a matrilineal Muslim society where the men wear veils rather than the women—go, ladies!) offers a spartan track, with tremulous voices and hand-clap percussion. 

 
—Tuxedomoon, “A Home Away”:  This American band does the horn-heavy Balkan Gypsy thing with a David Bowie-esque, 80’s twist.

The album is aptly titled, floating through the walls of genre and country.  It creates connections between people and cultures, which is world music at its best. 

It’s happens to all of us:  your CD collection, rich though it is, suddenly feels stale and overplayed.  Nothing’s fresh or satisfying, and you’re left searching for a new inspiration.  Problem is, you don’t quite know what you’re looking for, just that enigmatic something that sparks as instant connection.  But take heart: a world of music is all around you.  Here are a few places to look:
—Streaming Internet radio—it’s portable and free.

Songlines Magazine
www.songlines.co.uk/links/links_cat.php?cat_id=4

Sky.FM – The World Channel
www.sky.fm/world/

BBC Radio 3 – World Music
www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/worldmusic/

RFI Musique
www.rfimusique.com/musiqueen/pages/001/ecouter.asp
—Raid your friends’ music collection.  Find out what music appeals to them and ask them why.  Bonus: Are your friends or their parents from a different culture than yours?  What traditional music do they listen to? 

 
—Compilation albums are a great way to get a taste of an artist without having to commit to 60+ minutes of him or her.  Create your own mix CD by downloading MP3s from the Internet.  Here are a few websites to try:

Smithsonian Global Sound
www.smithsonianglobalsound.org

Calabash
http://calabashmusic.com

Download.com
http://music.download.com/2001-7990_32-0.html
—Movie soundtracks are a great source for world music—and not just foreign films, either.  Many American movies are set in exotic or fantasy locales and use world music to immerse the viewer in the experience.  Think films like “The Darjeeling Limited” and “The Fifth Element.”
—Seek out live music performances.  Be it Bolivian street musicians in the heart of Washington, D.C., or a small Mexican neighborhood on the other side of town, music is all around.  Try catching live music at an ethnic restaurant or checking a community bulletin board to see what musical events are coming up. 
—Learning to dance to a foreign beat can deepen your understanding and appreciation for world music.  From the earthy roots of Middle Eastern music springs belly dance, a sensuous and passionate art form.  The various forms of Latin dance (tango, salsa, cha-cha, etc.) reveal the palette of emotions that Latin music can evoke. 
—Speaking of dance, getting out and shaking your groove thing at a night club can also prove inspirational.  Many clubs, particularly in big cities, feature a Latin or Middle Eastern night.  Besides the intriguing music, the scene usually draws people from myriad cultures—a good opportunity to make those international friends that we mentioned earlier.

 
—Festivals and music just go together.  Whether the festival celebrates strawberries, garlic, or frog legs, music is almost always a key ingredient.  Keep your ears open for American bluegrass, folk, or country.  Some festivals celebrate the music itself.  Check out these world music festivals around the nation:

San Francisco World Music Festival
www.sfworldmusicfestival.org

Festival International de Louisiane
www.festivalinternational.com

California Worldfest
www.worldfest.net

World Music Festival: Chicago
www.cityofchicago.org/worldmusic

Lotus World Music & Arts Festival (Bloomington, IN)
www.lotusfest.org

Putumayo newest music collection, Israel, debuted recently, and it’s a diverse album befitting that country’s ethnic amalgam. A grab bag of musical influences—reggae, jazz, and electronica meld with Indian, Latin, and African rhythms—backs multilingual vocals, including Hebrew, Arabic, and Yemeni.  The album is well-balanced and, at times, achieves greatness. 

Track three, “Seret Eelem” from Hadas Dagul, plays her sweet, clear voice and acoustic guitar against a Brazilian-flavored backdrop, creating a mellow, but upbeat tune.  The accordion on track four, “Ha’rikud Ha’muzar Shel Ha’lev,” a duet between Rona Kenan and Gidi Gov, brings to mind a smoky French café.  The swaying melody and vocals make it feel like a drinking song—quite appropriate since the title translates to “Strange Dance of the Heart.”

Track seven, “Tariki” by the Yemenite Jewish band Zafa, is worth the price of admission all by itself.  Front woman Sharon Ben-Zadok’s hauntingly gorgeous Yemeni vocals are backed by a funk/jazz/Indian fusion that includes a sitar and a horn reminiscent of a saxophone.  Israeli superstar David Broza offers track nine, “Srochim.”  The song’s chilled-out tempo, relaxed guitar, and meandering poetic vocals echoes the folksy rock-pop (i.e. John Mayer) that currently populates American radio.

Amal Murkus’ melancholic Arabic vocals on track eleven, “Ta’alu,” are distinctly different from anything else on the album and a welcome variation.  The CD ends on a peaceful, hopeful note with The Idan Raichel Project’s “Mi Ma’amakim.”  Created by a master of international collaboration, Raichel’s song feels like a haven, featuring an Ethiopian folk song melody, smoothed by Western instruments and calm, uplifting vocals.

Buy Israel at Amazon.com

Night Song is the second collaboration between Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, the late master of Pakistani qawwali (devotional) music, and Canadian guitarist Michael Brook.  Before his death in August 1997 from kidney and liver failure, Khan was hailed as an inspiration by numerous Western musicians, including American singer Jeff Buckley, who called him “my Elvis.”

Released in 1996 on Peter Gabriel’s Real World label, Night Song won’t appeal to Pakistani purists, but it is full of meditative, contemplative tracks that are tailored to the Western ear.  The album opens with “My Heart, My Life,” a song with a subtle upbeatness that is echoed in the later tracks “Intoxicated” and “My Comfort Remains.”  Track three, “Lament,” is pleasantly downbeat—the rhythmic electronic base track and trance-like vocals will take your blood pressure down several points. 

Track seven is the title track and is the only place where the CD meanders from extreme relaxation into potentially depressing territory.  The last track, “Crest,” saves the day, however, pairing Khan’s intricate vocals with Brook’s skilled guitar hooks.  The total effect is an emotion-laden introduction to the world of Pakistani qawwali and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Buy Night Song at Amazon.com

Putumayo —the standard-bearer for world music compilation albums—comes up with a winner on Arabic Groove. Nearly every song is a stand-out, with irresistible Middle Eastern dance beats melding with a variety of styles and instruments from around the world.

Mega pop star Amr Diab incorporates flamenco guitar and rhythmic hand-clapping on “Amarain,” track four. The choice is apt: flamenco, a Spanish musical and dance style, inherited numerous elements from the Moors of North Africa who dominated Spain for more than 750 years.

Lebanese chanteuse Dania Khatib (with remix specialists Transglobal Underground) offers “Leiley,” track three, with lyrics about longing and a slightly melancholy but immensely danceable beat. On track nine, “Mauvais Sang,” the Algerian superstar Khaled (known as the King of Rai) makes liberal use of the saxophone, seamlessly incorporating elements of jazz and funk.

The Belgian-born Natacha Atlas provides track eight, “Kidda.” A queen of fusion Arabic music, Atlas’ voice wails and slinks its way over a low, drum-heavy groove, teasing the listener and enticing the hips to shimmy.

The CD’s only lowlight comes on the last track: “L’Histoire” by Cheb Tarik. The song misses the mark with the inclusion of Kool and the Gang samples and a cheesy synthesized pop base. On an album that so successfully blends genres, it’s unfortunate to end on a down note. But it’s easily remedied—just press stop when you think you hear a mid-70s train wreck.

Buy Arabic Groove at Amazon.com

On his landmark 1994 album, Talking Timbuktu, Malian guitarist Ali Farka Touré channels his African roots and in the process creates a sound very much akin to American blues.  The album, which teams Touré with American guitarist Ry Cooder, earned him his first of two Grammys (the second was awarded for In the Heart of the Moon, which he completed just before his death from bone cancer in March 2006).

Touré began playing music at age ten, mastering the njurkel (a one-string African guitar) and the njarka (a small  fiddle).  He took up the guitar in his teens and was exposed to the music of John Lee Hooker and James Brown.  The American blues sound impressed Touré—he recognized its African roots, which affirmed for him the value of his own musical traditions.

Talking Timbuktu opens with “Bonde,” which lays out an upbeat but mellow tone that percolates through the majority of the album.  Things get heavier on “Amandrai,” track five—blues fans will be captivated by its low and slow beat and Touré’s plaintive vocals.  “Ai Du,” track nine, is a sultry throb that was featured in the American film Unfaithful.  Taken together, the songs create a cohesive and intricate whole—ideal for recouping after a hard day’s work or getting into the mood on a Saturday night.

Buy Talking Timbuktu at Amazon.com