World Music
From LoveToKnow Music
The term world music actually refers to a vast array of different musical genres that exist outside of mainstream western culture. World music can means Gaelic music, Flamenco, classical Indian sitar, Eastern European folk, or reggae music, to name only a few. In addition to music indigenous to a particular culture or geographic location, world music has increasingly crossed over and borrowed elements from jazz, classical, and popular music, most recently giving rise to the popularity of the Buena Vista Social Club and a thriving exchange of ideas between Scandinavian free jazz musicians and popular music artists such as Sonic Youth.
Genres of World Music
African
African music varies from country to country, but it generally can be called folk music, in the sense that the music preserves cultural stories and traditions and is the centerpiece of many important occasions in African life. Traditional, handmade instruments, such as bamboo flutes and a variety of drums, blend with European guitars and horns, introduced during colonial times, to create modern African music. Many African musicians have been introduced to the West through popular Western musicians like Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon, who are active in the region.
The most well known African music group is South Africa’s Grammy winners Ladysmith Black Mambazo. They are a vocal group in the South African Isicathamiya tradition, who rose to fame backing Paul Simon on his Graceland album. Nelson Mandela brought them to perform for the Nobel Prize commission, and they have recorded with everyone from Dolly Parton to George Clinton.
Another popular school of African music comes from Algeria – Rai music. Rai is Algerian folk music, a blend of Middle Eastern and French influences, which is popular both across the Middle East and Western Europe.
African immigrants have heavily influenced reggae and calypso music in the Caribbean, Latin music, blues and gospel music in the USA, and rap music in the USA and Europe – especially in the immigrant communities of London and Paris.
Brazilian
While the musical history of Brazil is long and encompasses many different sounds, the best known Brazilian genres are Tropicalia and Bossa Nova.
Tropicalia first emerged in the 1960s, and can fairly be though of as Brazilian protest music. Artists like Gilberto Gil and Os Mutantes blended traditional Brazilian music with sounds coming out of America and the UK in the 60s. Tropicalia was part of a larger arts revolution in Brazil of musicians, writers and artists protesting the political environment. Many Tropicalia musicians, like Gil, were sent into exile. This music is experiencing a popular resurgence thanks to David Byrne’s Tropical record label and the reissuing of many albums from the period.
Bossa Nova originated in Rio in the 1950s and is a blend of jazz and the samba beats that originated in African communities. The most well known Bossa Nova song is Antonio Carlos Jobim’s The Girl from Impanema.
Gaelic
Gaelic music, or Celtic music, refers primarily to the folk music from Ireland and Scotland. This music is based on the strong storytelling traditions in these countries, and incorporates traditional instrumentation such as the fiddle, the bagpipes, and the harmonica. Regional variations exist from the Highlands of Scotland, to the Republic of Ireland, to areas with large Celtic immigrant communities, like Brittany and Canada.
Gaelic music is hugely popular on the world stage, and has its commercial branch, such as the music made popular through Riverdance, its more traditional artists, like Scotland’s Battlefield Band, and also crossover rock groups heavily influenced by Celtic traditions like Shane MacGowan and The Pogues.
More Information on World Music
As previously mentioned, World music is a vast category, and the above profiles are just a brief introduction to a few of the major genres. There are lots of great resources available to those who want learn a little more…
• World Music Network produces The Rough Guide series of books on different genres of World Music, each of which comes with a cd of music specific to the topic. They release World music albums with Oxfam and Amnesty International in fund raising efforts. The Network also encompasses two World music labels – the influential Riverboat Records, a pioneering independent World music label, and the new Innovation Records, which is dedicated to bringing undiscovered artists from all over the world to a wider audience.
• WOMAD. WOMAD stands for World Music, Arts, and Dance was created in 1980, with the help of Peter Gabriel. WOMAD hosts many festivals each year to promote World music, and is actively involved in crafting educational resources and encouraging cross-cultural artistic exchanges.
• Real World Records, Peter Gabriel’s world music label.
• Luaka Bop, David Byrne’s World music label.
• Roots World is a World music magazine whose website offers a good breakdown of different World music genres.
• World Music Institute is a USA based group who facilities touring opportunities in America for World music artists.
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