Globalquerque Video 8: Golem (Klezmer, United States)

Today's video captures a performance by klezmer band Golem from New York City, performing on the Plaza Mayor stage at the National Hispanic Cultural Center during Globalquerque 2014 on September 20th in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Golem was founded in 2000 by Annette Ezekial Kogan. They perform what they refer to as Eastern European folk punk, and their song are sung in Yiddish, English, and various Slavic languages. You can get a sense of their kinetic performance here.

I shot this on my Samsung Galaxy - good sound and video.

Globalquerque Video 7: Rahim AlHaj and Liu Fang

Today's Globalquerque video is of Albuqerque's own oud master Rahim AlHaj and Chinese pipa master Liu Fang performing in the Fountain Courtyard at the National Hispanic Cultural Center during Globalquerque 2014 on September 20th in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Liu Fang was born in China and currently lives in Montreal. She is described as the "empress of pipa" and is considered one of the foremost players of the pipa and the guzheng. She plays both traditional Chinese songs as well as classical Chinese music and modern compositions from the East and West. Rahim AlHaj was born in Iraq and emigrated to Albuquerque as a political refugee. He has been playing the oud since the age of 9 and studied in Iraq under the greatest masters of the oud. His political activism against the Saddam Hussein regime forced him to leave Iraq in 1991, and he lived in Jordan and Syria before coming to the US. He detailed in the concert how he wrote songs for oud and pipa and found Liu Fang to play them - and this song is one of those that he wrote.

I shot this on my Samsung Galaxy and because I was using zoom the video is a little grainy. There is also a bit of background sound from cicadas, which Rahim Alhaj notes before they play.

Globalquerque 2014 Video 6: Söndörgö (Hungary)

This video is of Hungarian Serb band Söndörgö (my best attempt at phonetics - SHURN-dur-gur) performing on the Plaza Mayor stage at the National Hispanic Cultural Center during Globalquerque 2014 on September 20th in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Focusing on the tambura, a stringed instrument of the Balkans, Söndörgö seeks to revive the once popular instrument through rapid-fire playing of traditional dance music and instrumentals.

This video was shot on my Samsung Galaxy, and the sound is good! Enjoy!

Globalquerque 2014 Video 5: Erkan Oğur's Telvin Trio (Turkey)

This video is of Erkan Oğur's Telvin Trio, a Turkish jazz ensemble, at Globalquerque 2014 on September 20th on the Roy E. Disney stage at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. This is a long video, but worth it. The trio does jazz with a Middle Eastern flavor. Oğur had already contributed something major to music - he invented the fretless classical guitar. A composer, he is also considered a master of the kopuz and bağlama lutes. This video was shot on my Samsung Galaxy phone - the video quality isn't great because my phone doesn't do zoom well, but the sound is pretty good!

Globalquerque 2014 Video 4: Oumar Konaté (Mali) and "Addoh"

Here is Globalquerque's September 20th opener, Oumar Konaté from Mali, on the Plaza Mayor at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. Konaté's passion for music goes back to his childhood when he was impressing classmates performing on a bucket, helmet and drum and leading his own band outside his family's front door. He has performed in Mali's Festival au Desert and toured Europe and the United States with Khaira Arby and Vieux Farka Touré. He started with three songs on acoustic guitar - just after he played this song, he pulled out an electric guitar and really kicked it up a notch with some amazing guitar work.

This was shot on my Samsung Galaxy, and I like how the sound turned out on this particular one. The song is Addoh, which tells of the tears of a young girl as she is sent off to wed a man she does not love.

Globalquerque Video 3: Calypso Rose and Kobo Town (Trinidad & Tobago)

This video is of calypso legend Calypso Rose appearing with Kobo Town on the Roy E. Disney Stage at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico for Globalquerque 2014. Born McArtha Linda Sandy-Lewis, Calypso Rose has written over 800 songs and has recorded 20 albums. She dominated the Calypso Queen title for 5 years running (1972-1976) as well as garnering other awards and honors. Despite having health problems due to cancer in the 1990s, she still tears it up at 74 and, in the song after this one that I recorded, she actually twerked a little on stage. Kobo Town is led by Canadian-Trinidadian Drew Gonsalves, and the band blends calypso with ska, reggae, dub, rapso, zouk and hip hop, among other genres. Formed in 2004, the band has released two albums. The latest, Jumbie in the Jukebox, was released in 2013.

I recorded this video with my Samsung Galaxy on September 29th, 2014. I was sitting in the balcony to the left, so was able to get a wide shot. However, Calypso Rose kept moving out of the shot and one thing I've learned about shooting video is that it's best not to pan back and forth. The sound is okay, given that I was above the speakers. I hope you enjoy it.

Globalquerque Video 2: DVA (Czech Republic)

Here is an interesting duo from the Czech Republic called DVA, performing in the Fountain Courtyard at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 19th for Globalquerque. They are...well...I can't really describe them. They are unique, and interesting, and odd. They often sing in imaginary languages. All good things in my opinion. I don't know the name of the song, but you can see their kinetic energy in their performance. This video was shot by me on my Samsung Galaxy 4 phone. Apologies for video quality - but the sound is pretty good, though the female performer's voice gets lost a little bit at times. I think you'll get the picture.

Globalquerque Video 1: Lo'Jo on the Plaza Mayor Stage

The opening act of Globalquerque, Lo'Jo, kicked off the festival with a bang on September 19th at the Plaza Mayor Stage at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Lo'Jo is from France, and was founded in 1981 in Angers by Denis Péan (singer/keyboards) and Richard Bourreau (violin/kora). They released their first album in 1993, and in 1995 added the members that make up their present lineup - Berber singer/saxophonist Yamina Nid El Mourid and her sister Nadia (vocalist). This brought them more recognition on the world music stage, and they were subsequently added to the WOMAD circuit. They have released ten albums. This video was shot by Michael L. Hess, edited with YouTube and is hereby presented to you. I don't normally post phone-filmed video but my phone seems to get decent sound. I don't know the name of the song Lo'Jo performed.

Globalquerque Begins Tomorrow

Globalquerque, Albuquerque's yearly global music festival, brings seventeen musical acts from all over the world to our fair city over two evenings on three stages at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. For more information, please visit Globalquerque's website here.

It All Started With Mix Tapes: Mexican Institute of Sound and "OK!"

One of the wonderful things about living in Albuquerque is that every September, over two usually beautiful weekend evenings, it is the setting for a premier world music festival called Globalquerque. I have been going since its second year in existence, and to date I have had a fantastic time at each year's festival. It is a little secret in Albuquerque. Held at the grounds of the National Hispanic Cultural Center, it utilizes a theater, a large plaza, and a courtyard to give three very different venues for music. The festival staggers the start times for each band, so that if one wants to see the start of a band, they can spend 20 or 30 minutes at one venue and then wander if they wish. You can see each band partially to get a flavor of everything, or you can stay in one venue for one band's concert. You pay for one weekend what you might pay to see one concert for any of these bands in another city. Yet it is not as well attended as it could be. I don't know if Albuquerqueans don't know about, or don't think they'd like it, or what. I have tried to persuade people to go and gotten the usual complaints about cost (it's actually cheap) and the "I don't know any of the bands" (so open your horizons) and other excuses. Yet the people who I have persuaded to go have loved it. And people I know from out of town who have come have asked me if I realize how lucky we are to have such an event (believe me, I do). I have never seen anything I didn't like, though some of the acts have challenged me. And I've seen some fantastic performances and surprises. Last year, when Ukrainian band DakhaBrakha came on stage, they blew the theater audience away with their energy, their costumes and their amazing mix of Ukrainian traditional folk and jazz and even hip-hop.

One of the pleasant surprises for me at Globalquerque a few years ago was the Mexican Institute of Sound. The music was in the courtyard area of the festival, and when we got in it was clear that it wasn't your usual courtyard music. The courtyard is usually reserved, though not always, for quieter music and acts but we came in on the middle of the set and the joint was jumping. Camilo Lara was rapping, there was a DJ and scratcher going at it on an electronic turntable, and people were jumping up and down like it was a rave. It was easy to see why it was so infectious. The music was fun, and it was conducted in a mix of Spanish and English which, if you live in New Mexico, touches both cultures. And the music was from Mexico and those guys know how to party. I think that by the time Mexican Institute of Sound was done, we were all sweating and happy because we had danced and jumped so much. I hope that the Mexican Institute of Sound comes back to a future festival.

Created by Mexico City DJ and producer Camilo Lara, Mexican Institute of Sound is an electronic music project that fuses folk and traditional Mexican music with modern sounds. Lara started his music project by creating holiday mixes and remixes of popular songs for friends, which he labeled Mexican Institute of Sound. After awhile, he began to put together his own compositions and creations, which have developed on his albums to be carefully crafted and constructed collages of music and electronica that is intended to open a window into Lara's life, experiences and impressions of Mexico City. He officially founded Mexican Institute of Sound in 2005, and in 2006 released his first album, Méjico Máxico, which received critical acclaim. He has since released three more Mexican Institute of Sound albums, with a fifth due in 2015. This song, OK!, can be found on the first Mexican Institute of Sound album, Méjico Máxico.