A Little Gnawledge Never Hurt Anybody: Gnawledge and "Qanun al Tarab"

It's taken me awhile to learn what is truly meant by the term "world music." Or should I say, what I think the term "world music" really means, and how it is different than the term "global music" that characterizes the show on which Megan and I present tunes from around the globe. However, all of this is up for debate, and the debate is often rigorous.

Megan and I take a broad definition to the term "global music," which can include pretty much most types of music from around the world. Thus, our Global Music Show is pretty wide open, and you'll a mix of styles, including pop and rock music, from different places around the world and mostly focused on music from outside the United States though we will play some music from inside the U.S. as well, particularly if it is Cajun or Native or comes out of a distinctly global character.

"World music" is definitely somewhat more defined and was explained to us by fellow DJ and concert promoter Neil Copperman, who if I remember correctly felt that world music had to be anchored in local, traditional music. It might be fused with modern genres and styles, but the base, he felt, had to be local and traditional. In truth, this is where Megan and I find the most innovation going on today. At the risk of sounding like my grandmother, who once told me bluntly in the 70s that the music that I liked sounded like a bunch of chimps jumping up and down and screeching, I don't find much innovation in the pop scene today, and I haven't found much of interest in the indie scene either. That's probably just me and my tastes being left behind by a younger generation. What I do find exciting, however, are these fusions of genres and styles in world music that have opened up an entirely new aural playground for my enjoyment. I've been partial to some of the mixing of electronica and modern rhythms to all kinds of different folk musics. Megan has been more specific in seeking out fusions of seemingly unrelated musics, such as Celtic with African for example. Regardless, these adventurings of musicians young and old, who are willing to work with each other to explore vast new landscapes of sound, have resulted in some phenomenal work and have opened my perceptions to what is not only possible, but what I thought I could like.

Today's tune is a product of this type of exploration. Qanun al Tarab is off an album called Granada Doaba which was the product of a musical exploration by DJ and producer Canyon Cody of Gnawledge Records. On the strength of a demo CD, he received a Fulbright and used the money to go to Spain and construct a recording studio over a flamenco guitar shop in Granada. There, he and rapper and producer Gnotes worked with 16 local musicians to create a flamenco/hip-hop collaboration. Not content to stop there, Gnawledge Records made Granada Doaba available for free download on their website with the instructions to share and remix. It is this type of collaboration and willingness to share to allow others to create that seems to define world music and most fully brings to life the old adage that "music can unite the world." In these last few days, as turmoil roils the Middle East and Eastern Europe and casualties are reported daily, the world could use something to unite it, and music is as good as anything.