Gimme Three Steps: The Chieftains with Tom Jones and "The Tennessee Waltz"

The Chieftains bring us today's random tune, with a little help from Tom Jones. The Chieftains are an Irish ensemble, formed in 1962 in Dublin, who helped introduced the wider world to Irish music. They made a new and unique sound for themselves by playing their music primarily around the distinctive sound of uileann pipes. Besides releasing several critically acclaimed albums, they are just as well known for their collaborations with such artists as Van Morrison, The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Sinead O'Connor and Roger Daltry. Tom Jones is a Welsh singer, known for his robust baritone, who became famous with a string of hits in the 1960s and through his performances in Las Vegas. You can find this song, The Tennessee Waltz, on The Chieftains 1995 album The Long Black Veil. A popular country music song first recorded by Patti Page, the song is one of loss as the narrator introduces his or her sweetheart to someone else, who waltzes away with him or her.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chieftains; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Jones_(singer)

My Grandmother: 9bach and "Bwythn Fy Nain"

Our random song of the day, Bwthyn Fy Nain, takes us to Wales. Performed by the group 9bach (the name of the band is a play on numbers and the Welsh word "nain" which means grandmother in the North of Wales, and "bach" which means little and is a term of endearment. 9bach was formed in 2005 by Lisa Jen and Martin Hoyland and uses Welsh folk in the arrangement and lyrics of the songs and then approaches the instrumentation with a modern dance sensibility. Their strong roots at home and their frequent international travels have also affected the sensibility of their music. The original version of Bwthyn Fy Nain can be found on their 2009 debut album 9Bach, and a remixed version appeared on their EP Tinc (2014).

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9Bach; http://www.9bach.com/

The Little Shoemaker: Ffynnon and "Le Petit Cordinier"

Today's tune, Le Petit Cordinier, is by Welsh band Ffynnon. A trio, they perform songs deeply ingrained in the traditions of the British Isles, which includes songs sung in Welsh as well as music from Scotland, Cumbria, Brittany, and other Celtic and English traditions. Their music consists of vocals accompanied by keyboards, fiddle and accordion. On Le Petit Cordinier, the only accompaniment to the vocal is piano, and it can be found on their 2006 album Celtic Music from Wales.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: http://compassrecords.com/artist/ffynnon/

Riding It Out: Kate Northrop and "Storm Clouds"

Today's random tune is called Storm Clouds and is performed by Celtic harpist Kate Northrop. She studied Celtic harp at Bennington College in Vermont and in Aberystwyth, Wales under Delyth Evans. Northrop began a touring career in 1988, and in 1992 started composing her own original works. Storm Clouds is from her debut album Roots and Wings (1992). You can also find it on the compilation CD Celtic Ladies (2008)

Magician, Hero, Trickster: Mank and "Gwydion"

Today's random tune is an ambient/electronic piece from Wales by an artist who calls himself Mank, and is titled directly after a Welsh trickster god. Mank is the electronic project of Ben Powell in North Wales. Begun in 1998, Powell began releasing his own homemade CDs under the name of Mank. His recordings characteristically employ a computer-based combination of field recordings with virtual and real instrumentation. Powell utilizes exotic locations for recording, such as on the Russian polar research ship where he recorded two albums. Radio Wales has labeled him one of the most important electronic artists in Wales. This song, Gwydion, is from Mank's 2010 album Awen. The title of the song refers to the magician, hero and trickster of Welsh mythology.

Welsh Tincture: 9bach and "Bwthyn Fy Nain"

Our random song of the day, Bwthyn Fy Nain, takes us to Wales. Performed by the group 9bach (the name of the band is a play on numbers and the Welsh word "nain" which means grandmother in the North of Wales, and "bach" which means little and is a term of endearment. The band was formed in 2005 by Lisa Jen and Martin Hoyland and uses Welsh folk in the arrangement and lyrics of the songs and then approaches the instrumentation with a modern dance sensibility. Their strong roots at home and their frequent international travels have also affected the sensibility of their music. The original version of Bwthyn Fy Nain can be found on their 2009 debut album 9Bach. This version was remixed by the band for their EP Tinc (2014), and the video was recorded by their label Real World Productions.

Tricksy: Mank and "Gwydion"

This song is in our collection because every year we do a trickster show the KUNM Global Music Show. This usually happens around April 1st, and it is a fun show because there are a lot of cultures that have tricksters. What is a trickster? A trickster is a being or a god that is mischievous, sometimes cruel, that usually circumvents the normal rules of behavior and in doing so, serves as a way for us to learn about ourselves. For example, in Native American traditions coyote, or raven in some traditions, is a trickster that impersonates the creator, plays tricks on people and sometimes steals from them, and also guards the old ways from the new. It's amazing how many cultures have these figures in their mythologies, and even in America we have our own trickster figures in Br'er Rabbit of the 1800s who eventually morphs into Bugs Bunny of the 20th century...a modern day trickster!

Today's random tune is an ambient/electronic piece from Wales by an artist who calls himself Mank, and is titled directly after a Welsh trickster god. Mank is the electronic project of Ben Powell in North Wales. Begun in 1998, Powell began releasing his own homemade CDs under the name of Mank. His recordings characteristically employ a computer-based combination of field recordings with virtual and real instrumentation. Powell utilizes exotic locations for recording, such as on the Russian polar research ship where he recorded two albums. Radio Wales has labeled him one of the most important electronic artists in Wales. This song, Gwydion, is from Mank's 2010 album Awen. The title of the song refers to the magician, hero and trickster of Welsh mythology.

Welsh Rumba: Little Rumba and "New Year's Resolution"

Today's random tune is a little precursor for what's coming up. The song is called New Year's Resolution by Little Rumba. Little Rumba is from Wales, founded in the early 1990s. Originally playing Welsh pubs and parties, they have begun to reach a wider audience. They describe their music as a "recognizable house style" which draws inspiration from Eastern Europe and South America as well as jazz and blues. They have also been described as Tom Waits meets Tom Lehrer. New Year's Resolution can be found on their 2012 album We Could Be Anywhere.

Welsh Roundup: Julie Murphy and "Cowboi"

I've recounted my initiation to Celtic music in a recent past posting. To continue that thread, I've been not only really amazed by the breadth of Celtic music, but also by the ability of Celtic music to interact with other musical traditions around the world. If we look at music just within the Celtic tradition, one can look at the differences between Celtic musics of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, plus Celtic music traditions in Brittany, and parts of Spain and France where Celts settled and lived. The differences between these musics can often be subtle, but they are there. Listen to Fiona Ritchie's excellent show The Thistle and Shamrock and you will get a sense of the range of Celtic music through its regional varieties and also its evolution through time.

Not only can one see these differences in traditional Celtic music, but also the influence it has had on other musics we know. Take American music for instance. Because of the wave of Scottish, English and Irish immigration in waves throughout American history, Celtic music was the basis for what evolved into Appalachian folk songs and other regional music in the United States. There isn't much difference between an Irish or English murder ballad and an Appalachian murder ballad. They often tell the same story, with only slight differences. Celtic music in America became the basis for what we now call bluegrass, and contributed with blues to American country music.

However, Celtic continues to grow and merge with other musical traditions. A past post featured the Afro Celt Sound System and their melding of African rhythms with Celtic melodies. Other musicians have experimented with fusions of Celtic and flamenco, Celtic and North African raï, Celtic and reggae, Celtic and Indian music, Celtic and salsa, and numerous other traditions. Even other musicians, notably the artist Loreena McKennit, have tried to trace Celtic music through the past as the Celtic peoples made their way from the Middle East and Eastern Europe to their lonely outposts in the British Isles.

Such a rich tradition, and one that goes way beyond my initial impressions as a young man that Irish music could be summed up in Danny Boy! Today's song, Cowboi, is in the more traditional camp of Celtic music. The artist, Julie Murphy, has risen in the past 15 years to the upper echelons of British folk. Her debut solo album was named 1999's Folk Album of the Year by Mojo Magazine and earned her a spot as the opening act for Robert Plant during his concert tour that year. She has collaborated with such diverse musicians as Ayub Ogada of Kenya, the Welsh hip-hop band Tystion and ex-Velvet Underground instrumentalist and vocalist John Cale. Since 1996 she has performed with her Welsh folk band. A native of Essex, England, she was initially drawn to R&B artists such as Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, and while attending art school she played with a punk band, but after moving to a Welsh-speaking village she became fascinated with traditional Welsh music. She formed a duo with Nigel Eaton in 1994, Whirling Pope Joan, and then worked with an early music ensemble called Sinfonye on an album of songs by mediaeval composer Hildegard von Bingen.

Cowboi can be found on the Putumayo compilation, Women of the World Celtic II.