World Music Central presents the Top 20 World Music Albums of 2019 selected by our staff. Our favorites include the best 20 overall and best regional albums.
Silkroad has announced the dates of its renowned Global Musician Workshop (GMW). The classes will take place at the New England Conservatory in Boston, (Massachusetts, USA), during June 8-14, 2020.
Silkroad’s GMW is a musician training program modeled after the creation of the Silkroad Ensemble and directed by Silkroad cellist Mike Block. By making music together, GMW nurtures a community of globally minded musicians by providing an opportunity for participants to build unanticipated connections, exchange ideas, and learn from musical genres, styles, and traditions from around the world.
GMW is a open to musicians and educators 18 years of age or older from any musical background—university and conservatory students, professional and amateur performers, teachers and teaching artists, with backgrounds in Western classical, jazz, world music, or folk styles.
GMW 2020 Faculty:
Mike Block: Multi-style cello
Maeve Gilchrist: Celtic harp and voice
Sierra Hull: American bluegrass
Balla Kouyaté: Malian balafon
Hankus Netsky: Klezmer multi-instrumentalist
Edward Perez: Afro-Latin bass
Kala Ramnath: Indian Carnatic violin
Bassam Saba: Arabic oud/flute/violin
Shane Shanahan: World percussion
Wu Man: Chinese pipa
More details at silkroad.org/gmw.
Gnawa culture has been inscribed this month in UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Gnawa refers to a series of musical events, performances, communal practices and healing rituals that combine secular and sacred elements, including all-night therapeutic possession rituals.
Originally practiced by groups and individuals transported by the slave trade dating back to the 16th century, Gnawa now forms part of Morocco’s multidimensional culture and identity.
The number of groups and master musicians is steadily growing in Morocco’s villages and major cities and Gnawa groups organize festivals all year round.
More about Gnawa music.
The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage meeting inscribed Mauritius’ Sega Tambour Chagos on the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.
Sega tambour Chagos is one of the genres of sega music of Mauritius, created in the Chagos Archipelago. Like other forms of sega, it was born of slavery and is sung in Chagossian Creole.
Sega Tambour Chagos includesthe rhythmic performance of music, song and dance based on the ‘tambour’, a large, round musical instrument that is heated and then played to produce pulsating beats. The lyrics refer to everyday experiences.
Even though Chagossians have endeavored to safeguard Sega Tambour Chagos, there are numerous threats to its sustainability, including the passing away of elders, young people turning to other music genres, and dislocation leading to a loss of memory.
Norway’s practice of traditional music and dance in Setesdal (stev/stevjing has been added to UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
In Setesdal, dance and music go together. The melodies are named after the ‘gangar’ dance and the ‘stev’ songs, habitually performed in intermissions between dancing and music-making, either solo or by two or more singers in dialog with each other.
The dance is performed by couples in a circular motion and the music is played on the Hardanger fiddle and the jaw harp. This tradition has been transmitted uninterruptedly since the 18th century, and continues to progress, with the consistent composition of new songs and tunes.
Irish harping has been added to UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The harp is Ireland’s national symbol and has been played for over 1,000 years. Its captivating bell-like sound celebrates Irish mythology, folklore and literature.
Contemporary gut-strung harpers have maintained the ancient repertoire and safeguarded its continuity while responding to evolving styles.
There has been a major resurgence of interest in harp playing over the past 60 years thanks to a growing appreciation of the harp’s role in Irish culture, language and identity.
Some of the best known harpers in Ireland include Cormac de Barra, Moya Brennan (Máire Brennan), Janet Harbison, Mary O’Hara and Gráinne Hambly.
The traditional skills of crafting and playing the dotar, an Iranian two-string plucked folk instrument is one of the most relevant social and cultural components of the folk music of the ethnic groups and communities of the Dotar regions.
Musicians play the dotar during significant social and cultural occasions such as weddings and ritual ceremonies, as well as in festivals.
The dotar is played together with epic, historical, lyric and gnostic texts that are fundamental to the ethnic history and identity of the performers’ communities.
The music and dance of Dominican Bachata was inscribed on Thursday, December 12th, 2019 in UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Bachata, a genre born in the Dominican Republic, intertwines rhythmic bolero music with Afro-Antillean styles. Overall, the lyrics communicate heartfelt love, passion and nostalgia. Bachata is conventionally performed by a small group of musicians with the guitar as lead instrument, along with percussion accompanied by a bass instrument.
The dance is fervent, including sensual hip movements by couples who perform it at all traditional celebrations in the Dominican Republic. Bachata is learned freely from a young age.
One of the most famous modern bachata stars is Juan Luis Guerra (Grandes Exitos de Juan Luis Guerra y 4.40, greatest hits).
The Transglobal World Music Chart has revealed the list of Best World Music Albums of 2019. Malian musician. Malian act Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba tops the list with the album Miri.
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba – Miri – Outhere Records
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba – Miri – Outhere Records
Le Trio Joubran – The Long March – Cooking Vinyl
Kronos Quartet, Mahsa & Marjan Vahdat – Placeless – Kirkelig Kulturverksted
Minyo Crusaders – Echoes of Japan – Mais Um Records
Mara Aranda – Sefarad en el Corazón de Turquía – Mara Aranda
Cimarrón – Orinoco – Cimarrón Music
Leyla McCalla – The Capitalist Blues – Jazz Village / PIAS
Various Artists – Nostalgique Porto Rico: Plenas, guarachas, boleros et chansons jíbaras, 1940-1960 – Buda Musique
Morna, a musical genre from Cape Verde was added this week to UNESCO’S Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Morna is a traditional style that incorporates vocals, music, poetry and dance. Morna can be either sung or played only with instruments, primarily string instruments such as the guitar, violin, and cavaquinho.
The lyric poetry can be improvised, with topics including love, departure, separation, reunion, longing and the motherland. It is currently mainly performed in Cape Verdean Creole.
Practitioners include instrumentalists, singers, poets and composers, and morna is performed at significant life events such as weddings, christenings, and family reunions.
The most famous morna singer for many years was the late Cesaria Evora.
