La Negra's real name is Amparo Velasco. She's a gypsy from Elche Alicante in Spain. She records Jazz, Latin-Jazz, Tango, Brazilian and flamenco music. Her singing is slightly flat but the twist of tango and linguistic mix give La Negra the charm she needs.
Saturday, 28 July 2012
La Negra
This is another of the posts that was mainly written by my sister.
La Negra's real name is Amparo Velasco. She's a gypsy from Elche Alicante in Spain. She records Jazz, Latin-Jazz, Tango, Brazilian and flamenco music. Her singing is slightly flat but the twist of tango and linguistic mix give La Negra the charm she needs.
La Negra's real name is Amparo Velasco. She's a gypsy from Elche Alicante in Spain. She records Jazz, Latin-Jazz, Tango, Brazilian and flamenco music. Her singing is slightly flat but the twist of tango and linguistic mix give La Negra the charm she needs.
Thursday, 26 July 2012
Christophe Willem
I know that this is the longest time for which my blog has been abandoned. My apologies once again, it all started with exams, as there was so much revision to do for them but since the holidays started, I've been so busy with internships, a funeral and job applications. The paragraphs below were actually largely in part written by my sister in order to help me during the exams but I've only just got around to uploading these posts.
Lately, my listening has been branching out into all sorts of strange places thanks to the peculiarities of Youtube, which enjoys throwing wildcards my way and the French radio station, RFI Musique Monde . This is how I came across the quite wonderful french pop hit Double Je by Christophe Willem, a very catchy tune absolutely stuffed with puns that had me pushing repeat on a far too frequent basis.
Christophe Willem won the fourth series of Nouvelle Star, which is the French edition of Pop Idol. His interest in music began at a young age, when he learnt to play the piano. He developed this interest by joining a gospel choir, which could very well be the inspiration for his song, Double Je. He also demonstrated an interest in becoming a singer at the age of 14, when he began to compose songs. He enjoyed an incredible level of success in 2007, when Double Je became the number 1 hit in Belgium and France and he was listed as one of the top ten highest earning musicians in France. He joined the jury of the French equivalent of X Factor in 2010, so it is clear to see that he is a well respected musician.
Lately, my listening has been branching out into all sorts of strange places thanks to the peculiarities of Youtube, which enjoys throwing wildcards my way and the French radio station, RFI Musique Monde . This is how I came across the quite wonderful french pop hit Double Je by Christophe Willem, a very catchy tune absolutely stuffed with puns that had me pushing repeat on a far too frequent basis.
Christophe Willem won the fourth series of Nouvelle Star, which is the French edition of Pop Idol. His interest in music began at a young age, when he learnt to play the piano. He developed this interest by joining a gospel choir, which could very well be the inspiration for his song, Double Je. He also demonstrated an interest in becoming a singer at the age of 14, when he began to compose songs. He enjoyed an incredible level of success in 2007, when Double Je became the number 1 hit in Belgium and France and he was listed as one of the top ten highest earning musicians in France. He joined the jury of the French equivalent of X Factor in 2010, so it is clear to see that he is a well respected musician.
Sunday, 27 May 2012
Mahmoud Fadl
I'm sorry for not returning to blogging at an earlier date than expected. As usual my free time has been scarce and at one point I'd lost my list of all the music, that I'd intended to share with you all. I chose Mahmoud Fadl because I thought it was time to branch out from just representing the Middle East with oud players. I like the way in which he combines the sound of drums with the captive sound of Arabic music.
Mahmoud Fadl comes from a Nubian Family, who adopted the Griot culture of the "Battikol" people. They were originally based along the River Nile, in a region that was between northern Sudan and southern Egypt. His family were forced to depart from that region when a decision was made to build a hydroelectric power dam there. Nevertheless, although he departed from the place that gave rise to his culture, he still adopted the culture and he embodies this by playing Nubian percussion.
Mahmoud Fadl comes from a Nubian Family, who adopted the Griot culture of the "Battikol" people. They were originally based along the River Nile, in a region that was between northern Sudan and southern Egypt. His family were forced to depart from that region when a decision was made to build a hydroelectric power dam there. Nevertheless, although he departed from the place that gave rise to his culture, he still adopted the culture and he embodies this by playing Nubian percussion.
Sunday, 13 May 2012
Vilde Katshke
I'm trying once again to make up for the blog neglect from the past few weeks, so I thought I'd do another post today and another post later on in the week. I found Vilde Katshke after searching through all the videos that a klezmer fan had uploaded to YouTube. I really like the way in which the music starts off slowly and then becomes fast paced. The way in which the pace works and the seemingly Dutch feel of their music makes their klezmer music seem different from that of other klezmer bands.
Vilde Katshke are a trio from the Netherlands. Gottfried van Eck started the band in 1998 in order to be fuse his passion for klezmer music with his passion for ancient Jewish stories. Because of this passion for ancient Jewish stories, they will combine their music with storytelling in concerts.
Vilde Katshke are a trio from the Netherlands. Gottfried van Eck started the band in 1998 in order to be fuse his passion for klezmer music with his passion for ancient Jewish stories. Because of this passion for ancient Jewish stories, they will combine their music with storytelling in concerts.
Friday, 11 May 2012
Jesse Cook
I'm sorry that I've once again taken an unexpected break from updating this blog but revision for the end of year exams is proving to be a nightmare now that I now have no lectures or seminars, and therefore have no timetable with which to organise myself. I thought Jesse Cook was a good artist to feature because his music is very good at helping me to settle down to revision even though he often pours his emotions into his guitar music, in such a way that he makes his guitar music very captivating.
Jesse Cook comes from Toronto in Canada but he spent many years of his childhood travelling between France and Spain. His music is a fusion of world music, Latin music and funky jazz music. His inspiration stems from his parents' recordings of Manitas de Plata (a gypsy guitarist from the Carmague region of Southern France), the sound of which he tried to imitate as a toddler. His fascination for gypsy music increased when he went to visit his father in Arles, where one could often hear the flamenco-rhumba music being played in the "gipsy barrio". No doubt this fascination was one of the factors that encouraged him to study classical and jazz guitar at music school. His fame increased after he performed at the Catalina Jazz Festival in 1995.
Jesse Cook comes from Toronto in Canada but he spent many years of his childhood travelling between France and Spain. His music is a fusion of world music, Latin music and funky jazz music. His inspiration stems from his parents' recordings of Manitas de Plata (a gypsy guitarist from the Carmague region of Southern France), the sound of which he tried to imitate as a toddler. His fascination for gypsy music increased when he went to visit his father in Arles, where one could often hear the flamenco-rhumba music being played in the "gipsy barrio". No doubt this fascination was one of the factors that encouraged him to study classical and jazz guitar at music school. His fame increased after he performed at the Catalina Jazz Festival in 1995.
Monday, 16 April 2012
John Whelan
Apologies once again for being slightly delayed in making a post. This weekend I was busy moving house, packing for university before coming back to university, so all of this left little time for any time for a blog post. I chose John Whelan for this week's blog post because he combines lots of different elements of celtic music from bagpipes to fiddles, so I thought there'd be something about his music that all celtic music lovers could enjoy.
John Whelan was born in the UK but his family is Irish. He was brought up in Dunstable, near to London, where a lot of Irish people have settled in the UK. His family were very traditional, and so this led to him being a fan of traditional Irish music. He was so enthusiastic about Irish music, that he'd carry a reel-to-reel tape recorder to collect sound of Irish music being played live. He also has a band called the John Whelan Band, which he founded in 1997. In 1998, Irish Echo Magazine named him traditionalist of the year. His compositions have been influenced by many things such as stories, documentaries, other musicians, etc. He is well known on an international level, and so he has played at many festivals in America.
I'll leave you with a quote from the man himself about his music: “If you open your ears and your mind you can appreciate my music for what it is, not what kind of music it is.”
John Whelan was born in the UK but his family is Irish. He was brought up in Dunstable, near to London, where a lot of Irish people have settled in the UK. His family were very traditional, and so this led to him being a fan of traditional Irish music. He was so enthusiastic about Irish music, that he'd carry a reel-to-reel tape recorder to collect sound of Irish music being played live. He also has a band called the John Whelan Band, which he founded in 1997. In 1998, Irish Echo Magazine named him traditionalist of the year. His compositions have been influenced by many things such as stories, documentaries, other musicians, etc. He is well known on an international level, and so he has played at many festivals in America.
I'll leave you with a quote from the man himself about his music: “If you open your ears and your mind you can appreciate my music for what it is, not what kind of music it is.”
Monday, 9 April 2012
Suarez
So this week brings us back to the Western world but I thought it was time to go a bit further North to Belgium. I decided to feature Suarez because I like the way in which they describe all the different elements of relationships. I also like the Spanish rhythms of their music.
Suarez is formed of 3 folk musicians from Madagascar (Max Randriamanjava, Pata Randriamanjava and their cousin, Dada Ravalison) and Marc Pinilla (the guitarist), who is a Belgian from a Spanish family. The 3 folk musicians met Marc Pinilla when they went to perform at a world music contest in France, which their band (then called N'java) won. Their debut album was released in 2010 and since then they have released one more album.
Suarez is formed of 3 folk musicians from Madagascar (Max Randriamanjava, Pata Randriamanjava and their cousin, Dada Ravalison) and Marc Pinilla (the guitarist), who is a Belgian from a Spanish family. The 3 folk musicians met Marc Pinilla when they went to perform at a world music contest in France, which their band (then called N'java) won. Their debut album was released in 2010 and since then they have released one more album.
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