Hey everyone!
This is the first playlist in my new series called Tasty Jams. My plan is to post a new one every two weeks, on a Wednesday (even though today is Thursday), each with a theme of it's own. We'll see if I can keep it going =P. My hope is that people will discover some cool new music through these lists... maybe you already know all the music in the world. If so, this is not the place for you. If not, then take a listen to some Tasty Jams.
This playlist is for world music lovers. All the songs are recoded by artists from all over the world - excluding the USA. Nothing political (although I do have my opinions on the state of the states right now), I just love discovering new music from different countries.
This playlist was designed for summertime (it's summer where I live, in California), but can be used for a multitude of times and settings. Like eating dinner, walking the dog, opening your mail, having a dinner date - it's really up to you.
Okay so, here are the links for Apple Music and Spotify:
I'll be writing a short description of the tracks and artists, below. Feel free to ditch this part if you're not a super music geek like me.
1. Kwa Volondiya - South Africa - This track is by the South African artist Mahlathini. He collaborated regularly with the Mahotella Queens (this track has them on it - the response vocal line) and helped in creating a style of music called mbaqanga. He's AKA "Lion of Soweto" - Soweto stands for South West Townships and is in reference to the townships that set just south west of Johannesburg. At the time (He was active from 1964 to 1999), South Africa had institutionalized racial segregation (apartheid). This made it nearly impossible for any black musicain to gain recognition with a wide audience since they were restricted to the township that they lived in. He and many other South African artists spent their time performing outside of record stores to build a local following. In the 1980s a collection of mbaqanga tunes called A Taste of the Indestructible Beat of Soweto was released in the UK and then in the US (that's how I got into the Soweto jams), this collection then turned into a series of collections (I'll post more of the music from them in the future). Then the Paul Simon album Graceland came out in 1986 and put South African music into an American pop format. This made the rest of the world more aware of what the music in South Africa sounded like. It also opened up many doors for Soweto musicians to tour the would with their music.
2. Isn't it a Pity - England - You've probably heard of this dude, George Harrison. He was in that band The Beatles, I don't know, maybe you've heard of them. This song is off his first post Beatles solo album called All Things Must Pass. The name, I think, refers to the saying "This too shall pass", which basically means "Don't sweat it too much, cause it'll be over soon, dude". But I think there's a second meaning to the title. At the beginning phases of The Beatle's popularity John and Paul wrote the majority of the tunes. Since those two were knocking out so many hit bound melodies, George was limited to a small amount of songs per album (like one or two). His songs are amazing of course (Here Comes the Sun, Something, Within You Without You), but he was creatively constipated (for lack of a better term) while he was in The Beatles. You can tell by the tone and ratio of awesome songs on All Things Must Pass that he was ready to make this album. So I think the name is also saying "all my songs are going on the album, cause it's my album".
3. Malaguena Salerosa - Brazil - This track is by guitarist and composer Luiz Bonfá. Luiz began studying guitar with Uruguayan classical guitarist Isaías Sávio at age 11. He commuted 2.5 hours, from the suburbs of Rio to the city, every week for his lessons. Isaías, his teacher, felt that Luiz had a rare gift and since Luiz could not afford the lessons Isaías taught him for free. Bonfá became an international success and worked alongside Quincy Jones, Stan Getz and Frank Sinatra.
4. María Bonita (Versión Acústica) - Mexico - This track is by the very famous Mexican singer, songwriter Natalia Lafourcade and is off the album Mujer Divina, Homenaje a Agustin Lara. This album took home a grammy in 2013 for Best Alternative Music Album. Her debut album was released in 2003 and since then her status as rock goddess has had a steady increase. I love this song and this particular recording of it because it showcases her voice so well. She sounds like an angel, I think it's amazing.
5. Madyisa Mbitsi - South Africa - This track is by J J Chauke & The Tiyimeleni Young Sisters. It's from the same Soweto compilation mentioned above - A Taste of the Indestructible Beat of Soweto. I couldn't find a lot of info on these guys. All I know is they were prominent in the Soweto scene and they've got some seriously tasty jams.
6. Title Music (From Satyajit Ray's Film "Teen Kanya") - India - This track is found in Satyajit Ray's film Teen Kanya, which means "three girls". The film was released in 1961 in India. It tells three short stories - The Postmaster, Monihara (The Lost Jewels) and Samapti (The Conclusion). The film was released internationally in 1997 on VHS but only contained two of the three stories. Since then the full film has been released on DVD and digitally. Anyways, I have never seen that movie and I probably should since I'm talking about it so much. But I did see The Darjeeling Limited by Wes Anderson and this track appears in that film. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.
7. Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar - India - This track is from the Bollywood film Hum Dono (1961) and it's performed by Mohammad Rafi and Asha Bhosle. The music of that film was written by Jaidev (cool name) and was a large contributing factor to the film's massive success. Like many Bollywood films there is a love story and there is a song sang between a boy and a girl who are in love. This is one of those tracks. What I love about it is, first, the way it was recorded - everything sounds super saturated and otherworldly - second, her voice is so compelling it makes me want to lay in bed all day and listen to this song over and over again.
8. Life On Mars - Brazil - You probably know this one and you've probably even heard this version of it - since it's from the soundtrack to The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou by Wes Anderson. The song is originally by David Bowie and was on the album Hunky Dory (1971). This song was written in a morning and was intended to be a satirical play on Frack Sinatra. It's probably in my top five favorite songs of all time TBH and this version is so cool because it exemplifies the simple complexity of Bowies songwriting through a very intimate performance. The performer of this version is Seu Jorge who is a great Brazilian songwriter and performer. His part in The Life Aquatic was, basically, to play David Bowie covers in Portuguese. If that sounds like something you'd be into, checkout the whole record Life Aquatic Studio Sessions. It's the bomb .com. Also, check out his solo work, it's pretty spectacular.
9. Into Yam - South Africa - This track is by the great South African performer Miriam Makeba AKA Mama Africa. Her music was very versatile and spanned from Afropop, jazz, traditional and rock. She was not just a musical performer, she was also an actress and civil-rights activist. She advocated against apartheid and supported Kenya in seeking independence from British colonial rule by raising funds for the independence leader Jomo Kenyatta. After attempting to implement an arms embargo against South Africa with the United Nations, her music was banned from South Africa and she was exiled. She didn't return to South Africa until anti-apartheid organizations were able to bring apartheid to an end. If you ever get a chance, read a little about her. She was an incredible person.
10. Aguas de Marco (feat. João Gilberto) - Brazil - This track is credited to Stan Getz, the saxophone player (who is from New Jersey) but was written by Antônio Carlos Jobim who was a Brazilian songwriter and composer (one of the best ever in my book). The lyrics of the song are not a story, they are a series of images that create a collage. It's beautiful. The counterpoint between the vocal melody and the chord changes create a tonal dance where one leads the other throughout the song (something Jobim was so good at) so it feels natural in a way, like you know where it's going but you're still surprised with how well it all fits together. I love this version of the song because it features João Gilberto, who made the mellow, more intimate approach to performance popular in the bossa scene. He and his wife Miúcha take turns singing and Stan Getz lays down a beautiful sax solo. One of the tastiest jams.
11. Nuages - France - This track is a Django Reinhardt (Guitar) and Stéphane Grappelli (Violin) performance, though the piece was written by Reinhardt. It's one of Django's most popular tunes and has more than thirteen versions recorded. Both these guys were the grandfathers of their craft. At the beginning of Django's career he and his wife's home caught fire. He was badly injured and lost the use of two fingers on his left hand (his chord making hand). He relearned the guitar during his recovery and went on to perform all the tunes we've heard using only his index and middle finger for solos. He basically developed his own style do to his setback and became even more renowned for it. These two began playing together early in their careers and you can hear it. They've got so much musical chemistry and their collaborative technique is insane. There will be more of these two on future playlists, for sure.
If you read all of this I'm impressed and very grateful. This is something I'm so passionate about and am always excited to share, so thank you! If you're looking for more tasty jams I'll be working on another playlist for two weeks from now, so stay tuned. Also, I want to know what kind of music you like. Send me a note with what you've been into lately and we'll collaborate on a list!
Okay, I'm out for now. This took a long time and I have to eat some food... tasty food.
- Felix