A documentary tells the story of National Wake, a South African punk band that challenged the country’s apartheid divisions in the 1970′s. Unfortunately, the group didn’t last very long, as reporter Mirissa Neff tells us. http://ow.ly/jDQlP
(Source: theworld.org)
Perhaps one of Haiti’s most famous musicians has re-emerged after a decade. Beken, a melancholy artist who had stopped making music for years, has become suddenly popular again. http://ow.ly/jp5QQ
South Africa’s Freshlyground blends a variety of musical influences, from traditional African melodies to rock. Before a recent live show in Boston, lead singer Zolani Mahola and violinist Kyla-Rose Smith chatted about how the diverse group came together almost a decade ago.
Freshlyground’s lead singer Zolani Mahola talks about the message behind a powerful song from the band’s latest album, “Take Me to the Dance.”
(Source: ow.ly)
Jimi Hendrix’s famous performance at the Monterey Pop Festival in California in June of ’67 showed Americans finally discovered what the guitarist was all about.
After the February 18th gig, Jimi Hendrix went back to London apartment and jammed on a 12 string Epiphone acoustic guitar. The tune of choice as caught by a video camera that was rolling?
“Hound Dog.”
Jimi Hendrix continues to inspire fans more than 40 years after his death. New tapes of Hendrix seem to surface all the time. But none are quite like the one The World’s Clark Boyd got to hear recently: http://ow.ly/hOGHp
Mariachi music is a quintessential sound of Mexico. But in Mexico, it’s a style of folk music that’s never been taken all that seriously and certainly not among music educators. It’s considered bar music, unworthy of academic study. But it’s becoming different story just north of the border in Texas.
Stephane Wrembel studied guitar in, among other places, Roma camps outside Paris. He wrote the distinctly Django Reinhardt-like theme for Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris.”
But he disdains the term ‘Gypsy Jazz’, and woe betide anyone who says he’s just following in Reinhardt’s footsteps. http://ow.ly/gSodd
