The Motherland's Girl: Sevara Nazarkhan and "Yol Bolsin"

Uzbekistan is one of the 'Stans, a country that was formed out the breakup of the former Soviet Union. Since then, like the other 'Stans, it has been struggling to forge its own identity. During the period of Soviet rule, a large part of Uzbek history was that of "Russification." In other words, to get ahead in the Uzbekistan SSR during Soviet rule one had to give up any connection to Uzbek culture, lifestyle, identity and language and conform to Russian lifestyles, language and identity. Those who didn't were excluded from political and meaningful economic opportunity. Out of the wreckage of the Soviet Union, ethnic animosities in Uzbekistan led to clashes between Uzbeks and Turks, and animosities against Russians led to 2 million ethnic Russians fleeing Uzbekistan. Political upheaval and fraudulent elections also led to instability and violence.

However, one of the positive things about Uzbek independence was a reflowering of traditional Uzbek art and music. From this exploration back into culture and history came artists like Sevara Nazarkhan, who has not only given new life to Uzbek folk music traditions, but has also enabled its appreciation on a wider world basis. Nazarkhan was born into a musical family. Her mother taught traditional instruments at an Uzbek school, and Nazarkhan began her career as a doutar (a long necked lute) player for a state ensemble. By 2000, Nazarkhan had already achieved fame in Uzbekistan in her solo career as a pop singer, but she wowed crowds and Peter Gabriel when she performed as a last minute replacement at that year's WOMAD. Gabriel asked her to record an album for his Real World record label, and matched her with legendary French music producer Hector Zazou. The resulting album, Yoʻl Boʻlsin (2003), propelled her to international fame in its incorporation of traditional Uzbek folk music and contemporary sounds. She has released six albums and and has collaborated with artists such as Peter Gabriel, Sinead O'Connor and the Afro Celt Sound System. This song, "Yoʻl Boʻlsin," appears on that 2003 album of the same name. (The version I have is a five minute version, but the only similar one I could find online was edited to 3 minutes or so for radio airplay).

Addendum after I posted this: I just found longer version of this song, with Sevara Nazarkhan singing a capella:

Speaking in Tongues: Blick Bassy and "Donalina"

Not being able to speak another language often makes many people not care about other traditions, other cultures and other peoples.  That's been a salient criticism of the United States - our citizens tend to not speak other languages and therefore we take a very Ameri-centric view of the world and don't place a lot of value on cultures and peoples that aren't like us.  Of course, it doesn't hold in all instances.  Germany and France and other European cultures have their share of nationalism and xenophobia, not to speak of the rest of the world.  But it seems to me there is an expectation in most countries that they will learn more than one language.  Many people in Africa speak French as well as their own native language.  Many in Europe speak more than one language, even if the second language is English.  Yet in the US, speaking a second language is hardly the norm unless you are an immigrant who has to learn English.

Language, however, is the key to understanding and learning about cultures different than our own.  The reason that so many other cultures seem so cosmopolitan, at least to me, is that they have the understanding of other cultures and countries that comes with knowing other languages and being generally open to other experiences.  When a language is lost, or worse, a language is denied, then a wealth of understanding is lost.  Blick Bassy, who is the artist behind Donalina, our song of the day, addresses this problem in an interview he did in 2012 with National Public Radio.  Bassy, who is from Cameroon, sings specifically in his native language Basso.  Basso is one of 250 or so languages that is spoken in Cameroon, and Bassy is doing his contribution to keep the language alive.  The interviewer, Guy Raz, asked Bassy (who now lives in Paris) if he would ever make an album in French (his second language) and he said no.  It struck me that here is a man who is raised in a language, learns French (probably because he had to) but also does his interview in English!  How much cultural knowledge he must have - and as a musician he probably is doing himself and his career a favor by having that knowledge that comes from language.

Some more information about Bassy.  He was born in 1974, and formed in first band, The Jazz Crew, in 1996 at the age of 22.  He then went on to help form the band Macase, which went on to win numerous African music awards.  He released his first solo album, Léman, in 2009 and his second solo CD, Hongo Calling, in 2011.  This song, Donalina, is from Léman and is also included on the compilation CD Putumayo Presents: Jazz Around the World.