Listen to music rooted in various folk traditions from Southern France by San Salvador; Mauritania by Veyrouz Mint Seymali; Portugal by Ana Lua Caiano; and Italy/Iran by Hysterrae – all featuring the combination of voices and percussion.
From the city of Saint-Salvadour in France, hear the six voices, two tom-toms, twelve hands, and a tambourine of the group San Salvador who sing in Occitan, a language of the Southern Mediterranean. Their forceful combination of underground punk attitude and flawless polyphony is delivered and driven by call-and-response sections, clever drumbeats and handclaps, all to spine-tingling effect.
Then, listen to music rooted in the rural folk traditions of Portugal from musician, composer and digital artist Ana Lua Cainao, who plays with traditional rhythms and vocals merged with electronic experimentation. There’s also music from the Catalan folk duo Tarta Relena, which ranges from the sacred to the secular, and often uses electronics. Their body of work so far reimagines Mediterranean folk, Georgian laments, and the 12th century mystic Hildegard von Bingen; they sing in Catalan, Spanish, Greek, Latin, English and Ladino. Hear a song in Greek, “Me yelassan”.
Hear music from Hysterrae, four musicians, all women, from three different traditions who draw on music from Afghanistan to southern Italy. Also on the show is taranta music from Italian singer/percussionist/dancer/actress Alessandra Belloni, along with a piece from Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, a seven piece band and dancer who perform a modern variation of Southern Italy's traditional Pizzica music.
There’s a selection from the Estonian vocal group Greip (translates as “grapefruit”), who only do a capella music, whether calm ballads, jazzy pieces, pop/rock songs and also their own creation. Hear their inspired contemporary rendition of an Estonian folk song, “Vihma Loits,” (Rain Spell) featuring only their voices and beatboxed percussion. That, and more. - Caryn Havlik
Program #4870, Updating Folk Roots (First Aired 4/15/2024)
ARTIST: San Salvador
WORK: La Grand Folie [1:00]
RECORDING: La Grand Folie
SOURCE: Pagans
INFO: pagans.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Ana Lua Caiano
WORK: Ando Em Círculos [2:46]
RECORDING: Vou Ficar Neste Quadrado
SOURCE: Glitterbeat Records
INFO: https://analuacaiano.bandcamp.com/album/vou-ficar-neste-quadrado
ARTIST: Alessandra Belloni
WORK: Canto Della Madonna Di Montserrato [3:30]
RECORDING: Taranatata - Dance of the Ancient Spider
SOURCE: Sounds True #0117
INFO: soundstrue.com
ARTIST: Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino
WORK: Nu Te Fermare [4:20]
RECORDING: Pizzica Indiavolata
SOURCE: Ponderosa Music and Art
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon.com
ARTIST: Tarta Relena
WORK: Me yelassan [2:32]
RECORDING: Fiat Lux
SOURCE: La Castanya
INFO: tartarelena.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Tartit
WORK: Tiliaden N'Asahara [3:29]
RECORDING: Amankor / The Exile
SOURCE: Riverboat Records TUGCD1120
INFO: worldmusic.net
ARTIST: Found Sound Nation
WORK: More Zablejala Vkla Ovca [2:31]
RECORDING: OneBeat Balkans Mixtape
SOURCE: One Beat
INFO: https://onebeatmusic.bandcamp.com/album/onebeat-balkans-mixtape
ARTIST: Veyrouz Mint Seymali
WORK: Dwaye [4:07]
RECORDING: Music from Saharan WhatsApp, Vol. 09
SOURCE: Sahel Sounds
INFO: veyrouzmintseymali.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: San Salvador
WORK: La Grand Folie [11:50]
RECORDING: La Grand Folie
SOURCE: Pagans
INFO: pagans.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Hysterrae
WORK: Aziz djun[5:19]
RECORDING: Hysterrae
SOURCE: Linfa
INFO: https://hysterrae.bandcamp.com/album/hysterrae
ARTIST: Värttinä
WORK: Sepän Poikan[3:21]
RECORDING: Iki
SOURCE: Northside Records
INFO: Available at AppleMusic, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon.com
ARTIST: Greip
WORK: Vihma Loits (Rain Spell) [2:59]
RECORDING: Üks Viis
SOURCE: Available at muusika24.ee
INFO: greip.eu