Delightful to View by Light of the Dawn: Déanta and "The Benedy Glen"

A nice Celtic ode is in store for you in today's random tune. The Benedy Glen is by the Celtic group Déanta, an Irish traditional group from Northern Ireland. Déanta formed in the late 1980s and performed until 1997, and then regrouped in 2008. In 1990 they won the Trophée Loïc Raison at the Lorient Interceltic Festival in Brittany as best band. They released three albums, and their songs reflect traditional music with occasional forays into more contemporary music. You can find The Benedy Glen on their 1994 album Ready for the Storm and on the 2005 Green Linnet compilation album Celtic Wonder.

Don't Leave Me Alone: Vanessa da Mata and "Não Me Deixe Só"

Brazilian singer, songwriter and novelist Vanessa da Mata brings us our random tune today, a nice number called Não Me Deixe Só. Da Mata was self-taught in music and listened to many different genres in her youth. At age 14, she realized that her passion was singing and at 16 she moved to São Paulo where she started singing in a female reggae band. At 19 she became a backing vocalist for Black Uhuru during their tour of Brazil. She also played professional basketball and worked as a model. At 21, she wrote a song that was nominated for a Latin Grammy, and started writing songs for a number of Brazilian artists. She began doing backing vocals for many Brazilian artists, but in 2002 released her first album. This song was was that album's biggest hit, peaking at #25 on the Brazilian charts and 42 on the Portuguese charts. She has since scored many number one hits in Brazil. You can find Não Me Deixe Só on Vanessa da Mata's eponymous first album, released in 2002 and re-released in 2008.

Day of the Dead: Listen to the Global Music Show on the KUNM Two-Week Archive!

Hi readers and visitors: Want to hear the Global Music show that spawns this blog? Go to the KUNM Two Week Archive!

Just key in Monday, November 2 at 10 pm and let the player go. The show is three hours of global music with some commentary!  If you wonder why songs about death are sprinkled in, we did the show the day after Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead.

 Here's the playlist for the show:

All Souls Night - Loreena McKennitt (Canada)

Wheel Inside the Wheel - Mary Gauthier (United States)

A Todos Ellos - Mexican Institute of Sound (Mexico)

Dead Man - Nitin Sawhney (United Kingdom)

He No Dead Yet - King Fighter (Guyana)

Cumbia de los Muertos - Ozomatli (United States)

Aankharli Pharookai - Karam Abbas & Mai Dhas (Pakistan)

Piya Dekhan Ko - Nafees Ahmad Khan & Ustad Amid Ali Khan (Pakistan)

Jig O' Beer and Chai - Zakir Hussain (India)

Debho - Daby Toure (Mauritania)

Selfie - Koffi Olomide (Dem. Republic of Congo)

Tiè Faring - Kandia Kouyate (Mali)

Meshe Dehina Ederu - Ephrem Tamiru & Roha Band (Ethiopia)

La Llorona - Kočani Orkestar (Macedonia)

El Baile de la Lechuza - Daniel Santos (Puerto Rico)

An Cailleach - Salsa Celtica (Scotland)

Baba Yaga - Lily of the Valley (Germany)

Baba Yaga - Tuatha (United States)

Good Men - Buika (Spain)

Colibria - Nicola Cruz (France/Ecuador)

Avalanche - Boogarins (Brazil)

Oile Le La - Forro in the Dark (United States)

El Lado Mas Bestia de la Vida - Albert Pla (Spain)

Low Rider - Jake Shimabukuro (United States)

All Along the Watchtower - Eliades Ochoa (Cuba)

Harvest Moon - Bebel Gilberto (Brazil)

Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (United States)

Claire In Heaven - Capercaille (Scotland)

I Am Stretched On Your Grave - Kate Rusby (United Kingdom)

Ghost Lake - A Moving Sound (Taiwan)

All We Need is Love: Lira and "Ixesha"

Lira, whose name translates to "love" in the Sesotho language, brings us today's tune, Ixesha. Lira grew up in apartheid South Africa listening to musicians such as Miriam Makeba, Steve Wonder, Nina Simone and Aretha Franklin, and decided she would be a musician. After attending college, she got a job as an accountant and used her skills to record a demo CD. An accountant for two years, she turned in a letter of resignation and devoted herself to a five year plan to make it in music. She was discovered in 2000 by musician/producer Arthur Mafokate. She has since come to be considered South Africa's most prominent adult contemporary artist. Lira describes her music as elements of soul, funk, elements of jazz and African. Ixesha can be found on Lira's 2014 album Rise Again.

All Aboard!: Moussu T E Lei Jovents and "Embarcatz!"

Our random tune for today is Embarcatz! (All Aboard!) by Moussu T e Lei Jovents, a band that splits its time between Marseilles, a French commune called La Ciotat, and Recife, Brazil. They are inspired by the music of Marseilles between 1920 and 1930 and the melting pot that the city was and remains. They range musically from the blues to reggae to Brazilian music to music hall, and they are very comfortable singing in Occitan, the regional language of the southern third of France. They have released eight albums. This is a really fun tune that you can turn up. The song is about traveling once bridges are burned and heading toward new adventure. As the refrain says:

In the world's great salad bowl

We'll add our pinch of salt

Here we are when the music starts

Let the ship sail away!

To the planet's great hymn

We want to bring our energy

Like a never ending groundswell

We will visit every port.

Embarcatz! can be found on their 2013 CD Artemis.

Where the Stars are Bright: Los Texmaniacs and "The Eyes of Texas/Deep in the Heart of Texas"

Today's song is by San Antonio, Texas group Los Texmaniacs. Los Texmaniacs were created in 1997 by Max Baca to play traditional conjunto and tejano music but also to incorporate rock and jazz while honoring the old traditions. Baca was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and followed his grandfather and father in learning the accordion beginning at age 5. He was invited by one of his idols, the great Flaco Jiménez, to play in Jiménez' band in San Antonio where he learned to play the bajo sexto (bass) using all six sets of strings in the traditional style. In forming Los Texmaniacs, Baca wanted to keep alive the style of another groundbreaking band, The Texas Tornados. This song, The Eyes of Texas/Deep in the Heart of Texas, can be found on their 2012 CD Texas Towns and Tex-Mex Sounds.

Is She a Red Too?: The Chieftains and "Bean An Fhir Rua"

A nice whistle tune comes to us today from The Chieftains in the form of Bean An Fhir Rua (The Red Haired Man's Wife) from their 1999 CD Water From the Well. 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. They have released 44 albums.