Focus of the week text

Week 3 - July 2017

This week we focus on the music of the Garifuna, or Garinagu, people of Central America. Descended from shipwrecked and escaped African slaves who intermarried with Carib indians on the island of St Vincent, the Garifuna developped a unique culture blending traditions inherited mainly from the West Coast of equatorial Africa and from the Caribs that had migrated from South America to the Lesser Antilles centuries before the arrival of Europeans. Holding for long against colonial powers, they eventually were in majority expelled from St Vincent by the British to the island of Roatan in Honduras, from where they spread along the Caribbean coast of Central America. Nowadays living mostly in Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and Nicaragua, with a few still in St Vincent and a large migrant community in the USA, the Garifuna have retained a language derived from island Carib, a unique culture across the boundaries of the modern states where they live and a rich and interesting musical tradition that has attracted the attention of World Music enthusiasts, with Paranda, Punta and Punta Rock music and dance styles that have been made popular by the late Paul Nabor and especially the too-soon departed late Andy Palacio, who worked tirelessly to revive and preserve Garifuna culture, language and music, especially with his Garifuna Music Collective project that brought many of the best Garifuna musicians from across the borders together to explore the more traditional aspects of their musical heritage. Often speaking English, Spanish and Garifuna, the communities offer an interesting and distinct experience from their Latino, Mayan, Amerindian and Afro-Caribbean neighbours along the idyllic and sun kissed coastal areas of Central America's Caribbean regions that is worth the detour if visiting these countries for their Mayan and colonial heritages and history. Exploring below some different styles of Garifuna music, mostly from Belize and Honduras, we hope it will inspire to explore in greater detail this culture and music, and perhaps also to travel to the source, listen to the music live and dance to its rhythm...

Week 4 - July / August 2017

This week we focus on the wonderful and little known outside its base trad-pop music from the Horn of Africa. With a lively and rich musical landscape, drawing inspiration from the mosaic of cultures, languages, religions and musical traditions, the contemporary music of the countries in the Horn of Africa share some similarities in the rhythms, singing styles, dance moves and in the often-heavy use, but to good effect, of auto tune and in the usually long length of the songs. Probably less known by international audiences compared to other African musical genres, the music is worth exploring beyond what is presented below, with a profusion of great music videos on the internet offering an insight as well into the culture, traditions, modern life, country attractions, political and nationalistic aspects and links to the mother countries from the important diaspora spread across Europe and North America. Jutting for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, the Horn of Africa, comprised of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and the non-sovereign breakaway Republic of Somaliland, is an ancient land rich in history and prehistory dating to the early days of modern humans and with later links to the earliest civilizations. With Ethiopia being the only African kingdom never to be colonized by Europe, the European influences in the region come from Italy and France, while the Arabian Peninsula has historically exerted a strong cultural influence, especially where Islam has become the established religion. Suffering from bad press in recent history, due to wars, civil unrest, famines, piracy and religious extremism, tourists have tended to stay away from most of the region, though Ethiopia has always been a destination of interest for seasoned travelers, and can now be easily visited. For the adventurous who want to explore seldom visited parts of the world, the Horn of Africa countries offer many possibilities to go off the beaten path and see how the region is changing and moving beyond the clichés of the evening news. Travel with your ears first to the region with the music samples below, and perhaps it will inspire you to follow the music to the places it comes from...

Week 5 - August 2017

This week we focus on the popular Rai musical genre originating from Algeria, though present as well throughout the Maghreb and in immigrant communities in France and the Netherlands particularly. Said to have originated in the 1920s among the popular classes in Oran during French colonial times, the music incorporated rhythms from Bedouin, Andalous and popular Arabic music, with lyrics often controversial, touching on social themes and seen by the elites as vulgar or low class. Later incorporating Western and electronic instruments, the genre became popular in the World Music scene in the 1980s and 1990s, with singers such as Cheb Mami and Khaled gaining appeal among non Arabic audiences and often dueting with Western stars such as Sting or Zucchero. Espousing the good life, fun, dancing and with many female singers performing for mixed audiences, Rai music offended the more religiously conservative elements of society, and particularly the militant salafist movements that waged terror and violence in Algeria, often targeting Rai musicians, prompting many of the main stars to move to France. Now that the country is mostly at peace, the government has espoused the musical genre as an expression of Algerian culture, while the music has taken in even more pop inspired elements to appeal to younger and wider audiences. Below are some examples of the genre, mainly classics from what many consider the golden age of Rai in the 1980s and 1990s, but the genre is worth exploring much further as it offers vast amounts of excellent, lively and highly danceable tunes. While neighbouring Morocco and Tunisia are well established tourist destinations, Algeria has yet much to catch up in developping its tourism industry, though it is not short of interesting tourist attractions along the coastal cities and in its vast expanses of desert offering exciting Saharan adventures. Let the music take you places, to explore Algeria or perhaps attend the Rai National Festival...meanwhile, enjoy this wonderful North African musical genre...

August 2020

MUSIC IS TRULY A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE

Often a cliché, it is however true that music is present in every culture, every religion, every period in time, every continent, island, region, valley, jungle, or everywhere human beings can be found. Our long-ago ancestors made music, our most isolated fellow humans make music, and few are the people who never listen or who don't enjoy one musical genre or the other.

There have been times when some, for religious or for oppressive reasons, have tried to stop the music, but they never succeeded. From those enslaved on plantations, those who were imprisoned in camps or those living under regimes that forbade music, music has always sprung up, been a source of hope or joy in times of hardships. In fact, the pains of oppression have often been expressed through song and music.

Whether using one's own voice, objects for percussion, objects resonating with wind or strings, or the more modern use of electronics and anything else the human imagination has conceived to create music, there are millions of genres, tunes, rhythms or styles of music for us to enjoy, from primal chants and drumming to the most sophisticated instrumentations, from authentic traditional music to chart topping hits.

Whereas the airwaves are dominated by the most commercial and popular styles of music, often nowadays having a tendency to sound very much alike, the genre called 'World Music' for lack of a better term, brings to listeners a fascinating diversity of auditory experiences, helps opening to and understanding the diversity of cultures on the planet and simply broadens our horizons, while making us travel with our ears, and our eyes to when the video clips of the tunes showcase landscape and cultures from faraway places.

Dream along and travel along with the regularly updated selection of World Music and World Reggae videos on this page, and explore inside for hundreds more videos, and partake in this universal language that is music...!

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