Love and Betrayal: Carrie Rodriguez and "Perfidia"

Our random song today is a Mexican classic. The artist, Carrie Rodriguez, comes from an artistically accomplished family - her father David was a Texan singer-songwriter, her mother Katy Nail is a painter, and her grandmother was Texas essayist Frances Nail. Carrie Rodriguez is a multi-instrumentalist, playing fiddle, mandobird and tenor guitar as well as singing vocals. She took up violin at an early age, and eventually won a scholarship to Oberlin Conservatory but it was on tour in Europe with her dad, and sitting through a sound check with Lyle Lovett, that led her to quit the conservatory and go out on her own. She has recorded with too many roots musicians to list in this short blurb, and has been honored by the city of Austin with a special yearly day for her work in advancing Austin's place as the "Live Music Capital of the World." This song, Perfidia, is a Mexican standard of love and betrayal that has been covered by numerous Mexican and American musicians. You can find Perfidia on Rodriguez' newest album Lola, released in 2016.

Getting Savage: Patsy Torres with "Amor Salvaje" and "Chiquitita"

San Antonio Tejano artist Patsy Torres provides our random tune for the day with Amor Salvaje (Savage Love), (and the video gives you a bonus track, Chiquitita!). Patsy Torres started performing and singing at a young age and was discovered while still in high school. She saw music as a way to finance her college studies. She recorded her first album while in college. Her website claims that she was the first Tejano artist to film a music video, and the first to play Tejano music on a nationwide television broadcast. She continues to play music, but she also recently earned a PhD in educational and organizational leadership and is active in many San Antonio organizations, as well as promoting her Postive Force Tour concerts for young people. She has been inducted into the Tejano Roots Hall of Fame. Amor Salvaje and Chiquitita can be found on her 1997 album ...Bien Protegida.

Gimme Shelter: Zion Trinity and "Shelter of Yahweh"

We aim a little high today, as the random selection has pointed our eyes to heaven. Shelter of Yahweh is by New Orleans female vocal group Zion Trinity. Established in 1997, Zion Trinity sings in the styles of reggae, funk, jazz, African ritual and others. They have opened for international acts such as Burning Spear, Lucky Dube and Rootz Underground. Shelter of Yahweh is from their 2003 album Eyes on Zion, an album that combines original reggae with traditional Orisha chants.

Dawn Glory: Värttinä and "Aamu"

Dawn, when I actually am awake or paying attention, is a glorious time. It is a time of discovery, or rediscovery of things that we may have noticed before, but when we see it in a different light or at the beginning of the day it takes on a whole new significance. In a way, exploration of global music has been like that for me, and even as I listen to a song again that I may have heard before, I can also hear something new in the song. Värttinä is one of those groups - a group that I was listening to in the 1990s but when I go back to that initial album, I still love it and still hear new things.

Värttinä is a Finnish folk group founded in 1983 by sisters Sari and Mari Kaasinen, who had performed together reading poetry in the 1970s. In 1983, the sisters formed Värttinä and entered a youth arts contest with their poetry reading. They made it into the finals that first year, and the next year changed the group to focus on singing and won the event. They brought on some male members in 1985 and entered the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, becoming known as the group that sings high and loud. In 1987, at the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, they were chosen "Ensemble of the Year," and in 1988 they released their first album. In the early 1990s, they moved to Helsinki and began training at the Sibelius Academy and perfecting their skills. At first, the band stuck to traditional Finnish folk songs, but in the mid-1990s began playing its own original compositions. Over the years the band has had many forms and lineup changes, and is currently made up of three female vocalists and three acoustic musicians. They have performed worldwide to international acclaim and have released 14 albums, including 3 compilation albums and one live CD. This song, Aamu, is from their 1998 album Vihma.

Two of the Top 100: Ali Farka Touré and Ry Cooder with "Diaraby"

When two of the top 100 of anything show up at a party, it immediately goes from run of the mill gathering to gala event. Just like an awards show advertised on television, where some second tier stars are scheduled to perform or read the award winners and then someone like Scarlett Johansson or Bruce Springsteen commits to appearing and the awards show suddenly becomes "star-studded" and "a very special night." Well, today's random music selection has all of that, because we have Ali Farka Touré and Ry Cooder. In case you wonder why that makes it so special, well, let's just forget for a moment that these two musicians are world renowned. Let's put aside that Touré helped define "world music" and that Cooder has made significant contributions of his own through his explorations of roots music and his collaborations with international artists such as Touré and the Buena Vista Social Club. Let's also not consider, for the moment, the huge international appeal that these two musicians had and continue to have.

No, let's rest it on this. In 2003, David Fricke proposed a list of the top 100 guitarists of all time. Ry Cooder is #8, and Ali Farka Touré is #76 on his list. In 2011, Rolling Stone came out with a list made up of the opinions of a number of music critics, and Ry Cooder made #31 on that list. Touré was not on that 2011 list, probably (in my opinion) because many people hadn't heard him or heard of him and didn't appreciate his contributions not only to African and world music but also our understanding of the blues. Of Cooder, Rolling Stone said:

As a sideman, Cooder has brought true grit and emotional nuance to classic albums by Randy Newman, the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton. Cooder is also a soulful preservationist, keeping vital pasts alive and dynamic in the modern world. A good example: the night Bob Dylan showed up at Cooder's house asking for a lesson on how to play guitar like the bluesman Sleepy John Estes.

Of Touré, Fricke wrote:

The Malian singer and guitarist is often compared to John Lee Hooker, though that's too easy. He has clearly been influenced by rural blues, but Toure is a technical marvel, and his delicately plucked clusters and blindingly fast runs gather influences from African hymns to folk songs.

Ali Farka Touré was a Malian singer, multi-instrumentalist and one of the most renowned African musicians. His music fits right into the intersection of traditional Malian music and North American blues. Known as the "African John Lee Hooker," he sang in several African languages. In 2004, he became mayor of a small town and spent his own money on improving infrastructure. He died in 2006 of bone cancer. Ry Cooder is an American producer and guitarist known for his slide guitar and his interest in roots music. He has collaborated with many musicians both from the US and abroad, and his albums have covered many different genres, including folk, blues, Tex-Mex, soul, gospel and rock among others. He also produced the worldwide hit album Buena Vista Social Club.

This song, Diaraby, is from their Grammy-award winning collaboration Talking Timbuktu (1994). Enjoy your star-studded, very special daily tune!

Sing it Sistah: Robi Kahakalau and " "Pi'i Mai Ka Nalu"

I really feel inadequate to the task of writing about Hawaiian songs or singers, as I have never been to Hawaii. But, a funny thing happened recently. I started cataloging all the world and global music that Megan and I have in our collection. The purpose has been to give us a sense of what we have, and from what countries the music is from, so that we can be better informed when we present our show. The first surprise is how much music we have that classifies as world. So far I'm about half done, and I've already cataloged 2000 songs. That's a lot of music. Of course a lot of that comes from the albums that we have purchased over time, but a lot of it comes from individual songs we've purchased since we joined the rotation of DJs doing the Global Music Show for the purpose of playing them on the show. I like to highlight some new music that has just been released on every show, so that we can keep current and play things that our listeners may have never heard. So, the volume of music we have has been a big surprise.

The second surprise is how much Hawaiian music we have. I know where some of it came from, because I remember buying it. We saw a group called Hapa perform once and bought a couple of CDs. I purchased Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's Somewhere Over the Rainbow because I think it's beautiful and I love the story behind it. Then...there's all the other Hawaiian music we have. Megan says she put some together for a Hawaiian themed party, but I can't think that all the other Hawaiian music we have came from one event. So where did it come from? Did some Hawaiian god decide that we were to be bards and spread the Hawaiian music love around in the deserts of New Mexico? I don't know. All I know is that there seems to be a lot of it hiding amidst the the other nationalities.

Which is why today's random tune came up Hawaiian. Pi'i Mai Ka Nalu is by Robi Kahakalau. Often known as "Sistah Robi," she is considered one of Hawaii's most popular entertainers. Born in Germany, she is considered "Hapa" or half-Hawaiian and moved to the islands in 1980. She knew she had found home. Determined to learn everything she could about Hawaii, within 10 years she was a Hawaiian language instructor at the University of Hawaii and a musician. In 1990 she became the lead singer for the Hawaiian Style Band which first brought her to public attention and inclusion on Hawaiian music compilation albums. She released her first solo album, Sistah Robi, in 1995. She has released at least five albums, and in her songs you may hear French, Tahitian, Hawaiian and English - she's fluent in all of those languages. Pi'i Mai Ka Nalu can be found on her 1995 album Sistah Robi, and on the compilation CD Island Roots (2000).