Sadness in Land and People: Mariza and "Ó Gente da Minha Terra (Piano Version)"

Today's song, entitled Ó Gente da Minha Terra, is by Portuguese fado artist Mariza. Mariza was born in Mozambique before it gained independence from Portugal, and she is of mixed Portuguese and African heritage. When she was three her family moved to Lisbon and while young she began learning to sing in many styles, including jazz, gospel and soul. She adopted fado at the insistence of her father, who felt it would give her more acceptance in the Portuguese community. After the fado's most famous interpreter, Amália Rodrigues, died in 1999 Mariza was asked to perform a tribute in her memory, which led her to record a fado album. Fado was starting to regain popularity, and her album sold an astounding number of copies. She has since focused on fado, has released seven albums and has sold over a million records worldwide. Ó Gente da Minha Terra appears on her debut album Fado em Mim (2002). The album has two versions of the song - this version is the last track on the album and is labeled the piano version.

Chance Meetings: The Touré-Raichel Collective and "Azawade"

Chance plays a huge role in our lives, and history wouldn't have been the same without chance meetings. Would we have ever heard of Lewis Carroll had he not by chance met a young girl named Alice who inspired him to Wonderland? Where would Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet be today if the Titanic had not had a chance encounter with an almost 90 years prior to the movie? What would rock music be like today had John Lennon not met Paul McCartney at a church party, or if Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, former school chums, had not bumped into each other on a train years later? What would our lives look like if Woz hadn't met Jobs?

I'm not trying to suggest that today's random tune, a collaboration between Israeli and Malian musicians, is of the same caliber, but it's fascinating that sometimes chance meetings lead to some really good things. Azawade is by the The Touré-Raichel Collective, which developed out of a chance airport meeting between singer and guitarist Vieux Farka Touré of Mali and pianist Idan Raichel of Israel. Promising to perform together, they fulfilled the promise in 2010 at the Tel Aviv Opera House. An impromptu session the day after at a recording house led to three hours of improvised musical recordings and was the birth of the collective. In 2012 they released their debut album, The Tel Aviv Session, on which this song, Azawade, appears.

Italian Serenade: Paolo Conte and "Come Di"

It was not long after I had visited Italy, and spent some time with a German friend, Ellen, who was employed as an au pair in Rome. Sometime after I got home, I received a mix tape from her (yes, a cassette tape, I'm that old). She had put on the mix a bunch of Italian music - this was in the early 90s, I would guess. Two of the songs that I really liked were by a guy named Paolo Conte. Of course, the internet was not that well established yet, and there was not a lot of opportunity for me to find information on Paolo Conte. I had my two songs that I played a lot, and that was it.

Over time and moves to different cities I lost the cassette tape. While living in San Antonio, sometime in the late 90s, Megan and I went to see a band called 8½ Souvenirs that we heard was really good. They were playing in a little place near the San Antonio River. A a few songs caught my ear - one called Happy Feet, one called No Lo Visto and one called Come Di. Two of those songs, I later learned, were covers of Paolo Conte songs, and the other was very much in the spirit of Paolo Conte. But at the time I didn't put two and two together. It wasn't until I began to delve into music from around the world I reacquainted myself with Paolo Conte, and made the connection. Because of those 8½ Souvenirs songs, and I really liked the Paolo Conte ones, I was introduced to a new area of music.

So, who is this guy? Paolo Conte is an Italian singer, pianist, composer and lawyer. Born in Asti, in the Piedmont region of Italy, he began his music career as a vibraphone player traveling in local and touring bands. He started writing songs early on in his career with his brother Giorgio but eventually began writing all on his own. His star rose in the 60s and 70s as he was the main creative songwriter behind hits of other well-known artists Italian artists. His solo career commenced in 1974.

His songs are known for being evocative of colorful and dreamy Italian and Mediterranean sounds. His music is often jazzy, reminiscent of South America and French singers, and filled with a wistful melancholy. His music has been used in many movies, and today's song, Come Di, was used in the 2003 film I Am David. Come Di is from the 1986 album of the same same, and this version was videotaped live.