Mediaeval Bowie: Richard Souther with Hildegard von Bingen's "This Honorable Fame (Deus Enim Rorem)"

Richard Souther reinterprets the work of Hildegard von Bingen in today's random tune, called "This Honorable Fame (Deus Enim Rorem)". Richard Souther is a composer, producer, arranger, sound designer and multi-keyboardist working in the areas of New Age, smooth jazz and contemporary Christian music. A child prodigy who studied piano from the age of three, he eventually became an in-demand session musician until his career was almost derailed by a near-fatal bout of botulism. During his four year recovery, he began to delve into electronic music. In 1994, he recorded his groundbreaking album Vision: The Music of Hildegard von Bingen with vocalists Emily van Evera and Sr. Germaine Fritz, OSB. Von Bingen was a German 12th century writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath who created one of the largest repertoires of any mediaeval composer and who stretched the boundaries of traditional monastic chant. Her music frequently had themes centering around the Virgin Mary, the heavenly in earthly life, and a desire to know the divine. This Honorable Fame can be found on Souther's 1994 album Vision: The Music of Hildegard von Bingen, and features the singing of Sr. Germaine Fritz, OSB.

Iran So Far Away: Abdulrahman Surizehi and "Bya Bya"

Today's song, Bya Bya, is by Abdulrahman Surizehi, an ethnic Baloch musician from Iran who lives in Oslo, Norway. He is a specialist in the benju, a keyboard zither, and is acknowledged as the instrument's greatest performer. Bya Bya can be found on his 2011 album Balochi Gowati O Damali Zeymol - Rakhshani Love Songs and Trance Music from Balochistan.

Imaginary Voices: DVA and "Nunki"

Today's song is by Czech duo DVA, made up of Bára Kratochvílová and Jan Kratochvíl, who create rich musical landscapes with vocals, instrumentation and electronics, creating an aural collage in pop, kitchen beatbox, tango, cabaret, circus, and radio noise. In their work, they write "pop for non-existing radio" and "folklore for non-existing nations." Their lyrics are most often in imaginary languages. This song, Nunki, is from their 2013 CD Nipomo.

Bad Luck: Habib Koité and "Tere"

Today's random tune is by Habib Koité, a Senegalese singer, guitarist and songwriter based in Mali whose band, Bamada, is a West African supergroup made up of many well-known musicians. Koité tunes his guitar to a pentatonic scale and plays it on open strings, much like the one would play the African ngoni. His music can be reminiscent of both blues and flamenco, two styles he has picked up in his musical career. He also has an intimate and relaxed vocal style that makes his music sound calm and even moody. Born to musician parents, he learned how to play by watching and listening. After graduation from the Bamako Institute of the Arts, he formed Bamada in 1988. He began touring outside of Africa in 1994, and his music got a huge boost when three of his songs were included with the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. He has released eight albums - his latest came out in 2014. This song, Tere, is from his 2001 CD Baro. The song refers to bad luck, especially that of women.

If They Play It, It Will Come: Eliyahu & the Qadim Ensemble with "Im Nin'alu"

Eliyahu & the Qadim Ensemble brings us Im Nin'alu as our random tune for today. From San Francisco, Eliyahu & the Qadim Ensemble features instrumentation such as the ney, oud, Arabic percussion, baglama saz, divan saz and persian sitar, and they feature Arabic, Jewish, Turkish Sufi, Hebrew-Yemenite, Armenian, Ladino and Moroccan music in their repertoire. "Qadim" is a word found in both Arabic and Hebrew and means both "ancient" and "that which will come." Im Nin'alu can be found on their 2014 CD Eastern Wind.

Avoid the Pit: Dokkerman and the Turkeying Fellaz with "Mango Season"

How many times have we heard you clamoring for some Hungarian afro-funk for your random tune? Pray no more! Nine piece outfit Dokkerman and the Turkeying Fellaz recycle gritty grooves from the 60s and 70s of the type that only DJs now spin, and in doing so serve as Hungary's only representative in the deep funk revival. You can find this song, Mango Season, on their 2015 CD Illegal Move.

Jump in the Stream: Jane Monheit and "Waters of March"

We have an American jazz artist singing the English lyrics to a Brazilian jazz song by Antonio Carlos Jobim for our random tune today. Jane Monheit, from Long Island, graduated with honors from the Manhattan School of Music in 1999 and received the William H. Borden Award for outstanding accomplishment in jazz. She also was a finalist in the 1998 Thelonious Monk Jazz Institute's vocal competition. She has released nine albums, two DVDs, and has performed for movies and television. She spends most of her year on tour with her band. This song, Waters of March, is a classic Brazilian jazz song, a stream-of-consciousness song, really, that paints a collage of images that was inspired by water gushing down city streets in a March Brazilian downpour. Jobim wrote both Portuguese and English lyrics, and in the English attempted to avoid as much as possible words with Latin roots. The song was voted by Brazilian journalists, musicians and other artists as Brazil's all time best jazz song. You can find Jane Monheit's version on her 2001 album Come Dream with Me. Listen to the lyrics and music, and after shedding all strain, feel the joy in your heart.