The Spiritual Side of World Music

A few weeks ago we checked out some Spiritual Jazz classics, with music by John and Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Azar Lawrence, Doug and Jean Carn, and others. This week we'll do the same with world music. Here goes:

We start with the last recording Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ever made, this time with film composer Graeme Revell, recorded in the Blue Mosque in Istanbul.  I've always loved this recording, and put it on the final volume of Trance Planet, a series of five cd's I produced 1994-2000.

We continue with the powerful voice of Tunisian singer Dhafer Youssef, who wanted to become an imam but decided on music instead after hearing the music of his countryman Anouar Brahem.  You can detect that he's retained that powerful voice of an imam, and his music is leavened with spiritual overtones. Here Youssef works with a Norwegian string trio.

Norwegian singer Anne-Liste Berntsen is next, accompanied by a big pipe organ on a Norwegian religious folk song.  Her soaring voice is crystalline and pitch-perfect.

Mercedes Sosa follows, performing before thousands of devoted fans upon her return from exile in Spain to Argentina. The concert was held just as the brutal junta was falling, and her audience is rejoicing at hearing their beloved diva of the dispossessed again. The whole album of hers is magnificent. I put her version of Violetta Parra's anthemic song "Gracias a La Vida" on Trance Planet Vol 1.

Jamshied Sharifi was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1960, graduating from the Berklee School of Music. I love his music; he brings many cultures together in it, as you'll hear from the title track "One".

Two Brazilian classics follow, Gilberto Gil singing a tribute to his candomblé spiritual guide, and Virginia Rodrigues singing Baden Powell's deep and lovely hymn to Iemanjá (Yemanjá), the orisha (goddess) of the seas and rivers.

French keyboard composer Wally Badarou is next with a short track from the reggae film Countryman. Badarou is well-known for his work with other Island Records artists, including Grace Jones, Herbie Hancock, Joe Cocker, the Tom Tom Club and others. I wonder what he is doing now because I haven't heard anything from him in years.

Next we ramp up the energy with some Moroccan trance music (called gnawa) recorded in Morocco by Bill Laswell and Richard Horowitz.  This is the real deal, polyrhythms galore, intense music that can transport you to another realm altogether.

We calm things down with a gorgeous track from 10th-century Armenia, part of a divine liturgy in this ancient culture. Tigran Hamasyan is an Armenian pianist; "Havoun Havoun" (The Bird, the Bird) is sung by soprano Jenni Nazarian.

I love this music and amidst all the musical confetti that surrounds us every day, this is music of spiritual expression, depth and rejoicing.  It will always be close to my heart.

Rhythm Planet Playlist for 2/26/16

  1. Graeme Revell / "Vision Ii-Spirit Of Rumi" / Trance Planet Vol. 5 / Triloka
  2. Dhafer Youssef / "Cantus Lamenticus"Divine Shadows / Jazzland
  3. Anne-Lise Berntsen / "Jeg Ser Dig Sode Lam, At Staae" / Engleskyts / Kirkelig Kulturverksted
  4. Mercedes Sosa / "Gracias A La Vida" / Trance Planet Vol. 1 / Triloka
  5. Jamshied Sharifi / "One" / One / Ceres
  6. Gilberto Gil / "Requiem Pra Mae Meninha Do Gantois" / The Eternal God Of Change / Warner Brothers
  7. Virginia Rodrigues / "Canto De Iemanja" / Mares Profundos / Edge Music
  8. Wally Badarou / "Guidance" / Countryman Soundtrack / Island Records
  9. Various / "Chabako" / Gnawa Music Of Marrakesh/Night Spirit Masters / Axiom
  10. Tigran Hamasyan / "Havoun Havoun" / Luys I Luso / ECM

 

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Playlist

00:00
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Vision Ii-Spirit Of RumiGraeme Revell
Album
Trance Planet Vol 5
Label
Triloka
08:00
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Cantus LamenticusDhafer Youssef
Album
Divine Shadows
Label
Emarcy
12:00
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Jeg Seer Dig Sode Lam, At StaaeAnne-Lise Berntsen
Album
Engleskyts
Label
Kirkelig Kulturverksted
17:00
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Gracias A La VidaMercedes Sosa
Album
Trance Planet Vol. 1
Label
Triloka
23:00
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OneJamshied Sharifi
Album
One
Label
Ceres
28:00
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Requiem Pra Mae Meninha Do GantoisGilberto Gil
Album
The Eternal God Of Change
Label
Warner Brothers
32:00
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Canto De IemanjaVirginia Rodrigues
Album
Mares Profundos
Label
Edge Music
38:00
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GuidanceWally Badarou
Album
Countryman Soundtrack
Label
Island Records
41:00
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ChabakoVarious
Album
Gnawa Music Of Marrakesh / Night Spirit Masters
Label
Axiom
47:00
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Havoun HavounTigran Hamasyan
Album
Luys I Luso
Label
ECM

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Tom Schnabel