At the Big Dance: Nakoda Nation Tribal Drummers and Singers Accompanying Women's Fancy Dance Competition

Today's random song of the day is a treat! From the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2010, drummers and singers from the Nakoda Nation of Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Colombia and Montana accompany the Womens Fancy dance competition. The song can be found on the Gathering of Nations Pow Wow: A Spirit's Dance (2015).

A Plea for Unity: Judith Sephuma and "Le Tshephile Mang"

Our random tune takes us to South Africa with Le Tshephile Mang by South African jazz singer and afro-pop artist Judith Sephuma. The song is a plea for togetherness in the midst of disharmony. While it is certainly born out of the social and political environment of South Africa, it could also count for the United States today. As I read in the news the shameful treatment of certain sectors of American society, the shameful treatment of American Muslims at the Texas capitol only the latest example, I wonder when the people of the United States will realize that we are strongest when unified and together; therefore, we should reject the example set by our politicians. But in our political climate today, this simple and commonsense image seems to be be lost in recriminations and accusations and the lazy and easy willingness to point fingers and target rather than striving toward the harder but more constructive work of reaching out to those we don't usually engage or understand. Naivete? Maybe. Hope? Certainly.

Sephuma was born and raised in Polokwane, South Africa and moved to Cape Town in 1994 to study jazz singing. She won Best Jazz Vocalist in a major South African competition, which led to her signing with the African division of BMG. Le Tshephile Mang can be found on her 2001 album A Cry, A Smile, A Dance and on the Putumayo compilation album Women of Africa (2004).

Pioneers: Cherish the Ladies and "The Back Door"

One of the earliest Celtic bands that I listened to is, ironically, one of the trailblazing bands of Irish music.  And in a way, that's a shame, but in a way it's cool.  Irish music had long been the realm of the masculine when Mick Maloney, Irish musician and scholar, put together a concert series showcasing the finest Celtic female musicians, and created the group Cherish the Ladies.  Women of course have been a long staple of Irish music but for the longest time, all male groups dominated the Irish music scene.  For my money, however, women have provided some of the most compelling moments of Irish and Celtic music both traditional and contemporary, and with some exceptions I have found myself more attracted to Irish music where females have the primary roles or at least where they are a huge portion of the music.  In other words, a female just doing a vocal for an all-male band doesn't cut it for me.

I don't know why this is the case for me.  Perhaps it's just because I like the subtle differences that women bring to the music.  Perhaps I like the vocals because I like female voices with accents.  I just like it.  I cannot hear a Cathie Ryan or a Karen Matheson sing without paying attention.  I can't hear a fiddle by an Eileen Ivers or a Natalie MacMaster without paying extra attention.  The fact that there may have been extremely talented Celtic musicians overlooked by the music industry before them is incredibly sad, and makes groups like Cherish the Ladies all the more remarkable.

Cherish the Ladies was formed in 1985 to highlight the best female Irish/Celtic musicians in what was a male dominated genre. Led by Joanie Madden, an all-Ireland champion on flute and tin whistle, the band sold out their initial 1985 concert series. Since then, they've received international acclaim and have been the launching pad for many important Irish musicians including Eileen Ivers, Winifred Horan, Cathie Ryan, Heidi Talbot, Liz Knowles, Aoife Clancy and Deirdre Connolly. Originally made up of all Irish-American musicians, the current lineup consists of a mix of Irish-American and Irish musicians. They've released sixteen albums. The Back Door, vocalized by Cathie Ryan, is a song about undocumented Irish immigrants to the United States who come through "the back door," and could be easily refer to undocumented immigrants from all countries.  It can be found on their 1992 album of the same name.  The video is from a performance they did on an Irish variety show.

Bucking the Forces of Oppression: Zeb & Haniya with "Rona Chor Diya"

One of the great things about co-hosting a global music show is the hope it gives me.  Especially in the present, while I write this blog, I read about the forces of repression and oppression overrunning areas of the world locked in turmoil.  Recently, a woman was stoned to death for adultery in Syria by forces belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).  A few months ago, hundreds of girls were captured at a school in northern Nigeria, and while some have escaped, the leader of the group that captured them has threatened to sell them into slavery.  International sex trafficking has risen to unprecedented levels.  It seems as if everywhere I look, advances and gains that humanity has made over the past 50 years, especially women, is under assault by those who would roll back the clock to times just this side of barbarity.

And then, when I am at a low ebb, I come across Zeb & Haniya in my music collection.  I had seen them in concert a couple of years ago and purchased a CD from them (which unfortunately didn't work when I got it home) and we've played them a few times on our show.  Pakistan is not the hub of the most enlightened thinking in the world at times, particularly with the Taliban still controlling a lot of areas of the country.  Yet Pakistan once, and still in many areas, was a country where women made many gains under more secular rule.  To see two Pakistani women who, it is true, were allowed the space to develop their musical talents in the United States while in college but who, at the same time, have become popular for their talent in Pakistan and have pledged to bring happiness to Pakistan through their music in a time of extremism strikes me as extremely brave.

Zeb & Haniya's music doesn't fit one description, covering alternative, folk, blues and easy listening. Zebunnisa Bangash and Haniya Aslam are cousins who began writing music together when studying at Smith College and Mt. Holyoke College in the US. Zeb has sang from age 8 and studied under Ustad Mubarak Ali Khan. Haniya is a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. They began crafting music in the basement of Zeb's dorm between 2000 and 2003 with a rough version of their song, Chup. After an enthusiastic response from their college community, they recorded a version and another song titled Yaad. The songs spread on the internet and made it to Pakistan's radio airwaves. They released their debut album Chup! in 2008 and following the album's success began to do live performances. They have been hailed as one of the first, if not the first, all female band in Pakistan.  They sing mostly in Urdu, and their songs, though often with a pop feel, draw on Pashto and Dari folk traditions and artists such as Suzanne Vega, Turkish artist Barış Manço and Muddy Waters. Rona Chor Diya is from their album Chup! (2010). This version is from their Coke Studio Sessions show in Pakistan and features Javed Bashir as guest artist.

The Beauty Inside: Göksel and "Ayrilik Günü"

When I went to Turkey, about 3 years ago now, I was amazed to stand at a crossroads of civilization. Both in the past and the present, Turkey served as an intersection of cultures and histories. Istanbul in particular struck me as a major crossroads in Turkey, one that has served that capacity in history and geography for thousands of years. One of the interesting things to do in Turkey is to watch its people. Today, just as in the past, you see almost all aspects of Turkey reflected in its people, and especially in its women.

Walk along a city street in Istanbul, and notice especially the dress of its women. Whereas men pretty much dress the same - slacks and shirts or jeans and shirts - its women dress in all manner of ways. There are women dressed very much in western styles, such as dresses or pants and blouses, with long flowing hair. You can also see women dressed in what has become a form of moderate Islamic dress, modest with flashes of design and color, featuring less colorful clothes that do not flatter the figure and hair covered with scarves. It is in the scarves that the fashion comes out - brightly colored with patterns. The scarf serves to frame and accentuate the face but nothing more. You may also see women dressed in more conservative Islamic dress - all in black with face covered. What is interesting is to watch childhood friends - two women walking alongside each other laughing and talking, one in complete Western dress and the other in moderate Islamic dress.

I am reminded of this aspect of modern Turkey because of today's artist. Ayrilik Günü by Göksel is a pop tune about a farewell to a lover. It's lyrics are very poetic:

My love, I have a scar of a wound on my heart

My love, strangers begrudged at our love

You were an unfading flower in the spring of my heart

You were more real than everything in this false world

Farewell, today is farewell day

Farewell, today is farewell day

Today is farewell day, let our tears drop

Our real love has turned into the world of mortality

One can not love without being loved, a dead (arid) tree wouldn't bend

Heart is creation of Allah(God), heart can never be touched

(translation by pinar85 at AllTheLyrics.com)
However, Göksel herself has, in the past, written songs addressed specifically toward women. One song, Taş Bebek (Doll), she cowrote with Ferman Akgül, Alper Erinç and Turkish rock star Teoman. It addresses the suffering of women to always have to be beautiful, and encourages them to focus on the beauty inside and the things that they offer rather than always dolling themselves up for men. When I read that, it reminded me of all of those aspects of women that I saw in Turkey.

Born in Istanbul as Göksel Demirpençe, Göksel initially studied philosophy, but quit university to pursue a career in music. She was a backup singer to Sezen Aksu and Sertab Erener, both very famous female Turkish artists. She released her first solo album in 1997, and has since had nine album releases (one of which was a best-hits album allegedly released by her record company without her permission or participation). She has challenged some other barriers in that area of the world by performing with Greek group Omega Vibes at a concert in Babylon (Turkey and Greece have been historic enemies). You can find Ayrilik Günü on Göksel's 2003 release Söz Ver and on Putumayo Presents: Turkish Groove (2006).

Welsh Roundup: Julie Murphy and "Cowboi"

I've recounted my initiation to Celtic music in a recent past posting. To continue that thread, I've been not only really amazed by the breadth of Celtic music, but also by the ability of Celtic music to interact with other musical traditions around the world. If we look at music just within the Celtic tradition, one can look at the differences between Celtic musics of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales, plus Celtic music traditions in Brittany, and parts of Spain and France where Celts settled and lived. The differences between these musics can often be subtle, but they are there. Listen to Fiona Ritchie's excellent show The Thistle and Shamrock and you will get a sense of the range of Celtic music through its regional varieties and also its evolution through time.

Not only can one see these differences in traditional Celtic music, but also the influence it has had on other musics we know. Take American music for instance. Because of the wave of Scottish, English and Irish immigration in waves throughout American history, Celtic music was the basis for what evolved into Appalachian folk songs and other regional music in the United States. There isn't much difference between an Irish or English murder ballad and an Appalachian murder ballad. They often tell the same story, with only slight differences. Celtic music in America became the basis for what we now call bluegrass, and contributed with blues to American country music.

However, Celtic continues to grow and merge with other musical traditions. A past post featured the Afro Celt Sound System and their melding of African rhythms with Celtic melodies. Other musicians have experimented with fusions of Celtic and flamenco, Celtic and North African raï, Celtic and reggae, Celtic and Indian music, Celtic and salsa, and numerous other traditions. Even other musicians, notably the artist Loreena McKennit, have tried to trace Celtic music through the past as the Celtic peoples made their way from the Middle East and Eastern Europe to their lonely outposts in the British Isles.

Such a rich tradition, and one that goes way beyond my initial impressions as a young man that Irish music could be summed up in Danny Boy! Today's song, Cowboi, is in the more traditional camp of Celtic music. The artist, Julie Murphy, has risen in the past 15 years to the upper echelons of British folk. Her debut solo album was named 1999's Folk Album of the Year by Mojo Magazine and earned her a spot as the opening act for Robert Plant during his concert tour that year. She has collaborated with such diverse musicians as Ayub Ogada of Kenya, the Welsh hip-hop band Tystion and ex-Velvet Underground instrumentalist and vocalist John Cale. Since 1996 she has performed with her Welsh folk band. A native of Essex, England, she was initially drawn to R&B artists such as Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, and while attending art school she played with a punk band, but after moving to a Welsh-speaking village she became fascinated with traditional Welsh music. She formed a duo with Nigel Eaton in 1994, Whirling Pope Joan, and then worked with an early music ensemble called Sinfonye on an album of songs by mediaeval composer Hildegard von Bingen.

Cowboi can be found on the Putumayo compilation, Women of the World Celtic II.