It's Time for Lively Live Summer Music
One of the best things I love about Summer, besides the beach, the food and the Mosquitos (the band, in this case, not the bug), is the ability to see live music. Or maybe in my case now, it's the rememberance of seeing some really great live shows (with two kids and two jobs, it's hard to get out to see music much).
So on this week's World Music Show (6/9), I try to bring some of the good vibes I get from seeing bands perform at outdoor venues into the studio. And even though the show aires late at night (10pm-12am), if we close our eyes and use our imaginations, I'm sure we'll be able to all picture ourselves sitting together in lawn chairs, soaking up some great world music.
Our first venue to catch some live music will be from the Music Meeting, which is a festival in Nijmegan, Netherlands. Over a long weekend in June, thousands of people attend this festival that features band from all around the globe. The songs I'll feature, which were recorded back in 2007, are from the bands Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective, who are from Belize, Honduras and Nicaragua; as well from the band Clube do Balanco, who are from Brazil. Plus, I'll play a band from Romania, Bosnia and France called Fanfare Ciocarlia "Queens & Kings," who play the horns like their on fire.
Mixed into some of the live sets will be hearing are songs from Aurelio, who is from the Honduran coast, as well as from the late Cuban singer Ibrahim Ferrer, who was part of the collective known as Buena Vista Social Club. Michael Franti & Spearhead, from Oakland, Ca, will also make a brief appearance on the show, as will General Defao, who plays a style of Super Guitar Soukous music.
One of the highlights of the first hour, though not a live recording, will be a couple of tunes from Brazil's Bebel Gilberto. To me, hearing her voice (especially on a cover of the Bob Marley song "Sun is Shining") oozes summer. And, I'll also play a couple of new bands whose songs I just got ahold of. We'll hear from the band Kardemimmit, who are a four-women Finnish folk music group. They are singers and players of the kantele (the national instrument of Finland) in its 15 and 38 stringed forms. And, we'll also hear a brief instrumental track from the band Lightsweet Crude, who are an instrumental band that fuses North Indian ragas with modern styles and influences such as psychedelic, jazz, funk, surf and electronics.
To close out the first hour, we'll hear some classic Jamaican tunes from a true legend--Harry Belafonte, which going with the theme of the show, were recorded live.
In the second hour, the fun of live music shows will continue with a couple of recordings from Brazilian Caetano Veloso and David Byrne, who appeared together at Carnegie Hall back in 2004 as part Veloso's stay as Curartor of their Perspective series. Other live music in this hour will be a couple of tracks from Paul Simon's historic concert in Central Park--this time, when he performed solo, meaning, without Garfunkel. This show featured a dozen or so world musicians that played with Simon on both his Graceland and Rhythm of the Saints Cds. And, to mix things up a bit, I'll feature a really reggae-d up version of the song "Man in a Suitcase," done live by the Police.
If you're like me, during this week's World Music Show – which airs Saturday at 10:00 p.m. on WCVE Public Radio, 88.9FM or online – you'll pull out the lawn chair and close your eyes and imagine that we're all sitting under the stars, all attending the same music festival. You can follow me on Twitter, @wcveworldmusic.
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