Stories about Music from May, 2011
Azerbaijan: Eurovision win, but…
Unzipped: Gay Armenia reflects on last night's win in this year's Eurovision Song Contest by Azerbaijan. In particular, the blog rounds up reaction from Azerbaijanis critical of their government's human rights record and also ponders the likelihood of Armenia participating if the contest is held in Baku given the still...
Brazil: Young Man Recycles Wood by Building Instruments
David Rocha, a talented young man from São Paulo outskirts, has been building instruments from any kind of used wood, as the video in this post illustrates. Some of his accomplishments so far are a cavaquinho, a Brazilian rebec and an acoustic guitar made with wood from a cod box, all with...
May 11, 1981: 30 Years Ago, Bob Marley and François Mitterrand
“François Mitterrand and Bob Marley, united for eternity on May 11th 1981″, [fr] is a post on the blog Calédosphère commemorating the 30th anniversary of the passing of the “God of Reggae”, Bob Marley, and the election of former French President François Mitterrand. Bob Marley fans can visit the blog [fr]...
Cuba: The Beauty of Flamenco
Havana Times interviews Flamenco dancer Ana Rosa Meneses.
Dominican Republic: “Son” Singer Passes Away
Repeating Islands reports that “Santiago Cerón, the Dominican Republic’s first internationally known salsa singer, died Tuesday in New York City at the age of 70 from a heart attack.”
Costa Rica: When National Music Turns out to be Copied
Some Costa Rican bloggers were terribly disappointed with their musical memories after reading Luis Alonso Murillo's blog post: 11 songs we all believed were national and turned out to be covers [es]. As one commenter wrote: the foundations of national “chiqui-chiqui” music… weren't even national.
Ethiopia: In search of genuine musicians
Endalk is in search of genuine music artists in Ethiopia: “Although we had remarkable artists like Tilahun Gessese and Ali Bira singing “political” music way back during the imperial regime in the 1950’s and 1960’ the influence of music on the general public came into the forefront during election 2005...
Senegal: “Enough is Enough” Movement: First the Web, Now the Presidential Palace
As the uprisings continue across the Arab World, several incidences of angry young people have sprung up on Senegalese websites. Since early March, this activism has left the web behind and a group calling itself "Y'en a marre" (Enough is Enough) has now become the main symbol of the protests. Founded in January 2011, Y’en a marre arose from frustration built up during power cuts that brought Senegal to a standstill. The group hails from the Dakar suburbs and is led by several local rappers, including Fou Malad, Thiat (from the group Keur Gui) and Matador.
Colombia: The Vallenato Legend Festival
Vallenato is one of the most popular and representative music genres in Colombia. There is a whole culture around Vallenato, and the city of Valledupar is paralyzed by the Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata (Vallenato Legend Festival), a festival that takes place during late April.
Haiti: Interview with Suki Guerrier
AfriClassical interviews Haitian-American pianist Suki Guerrier.
A Blog on Music in Portuguese and Lusophone Artists
To learn about music in Portuguese or by Lusophone artists, visit Caipirinha Lounge [en, pt], a bilingual blog “born out of a sincere belief that Lusophone music should reach a much larger audience”.
