A few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to have Sertab Erener and her partner Demir Demirkan come by the studio to talk about their latest project "Painted on Water." For those you who are not familiar with them, Sertab is a pop diva from Istanbul, and her rendition of "Every Way That I Can" (written by Demirkan) which won the Eurovision Song contest in 2003 cemented her place in the hearts of the Turkish public. During the time we spent here, one couldn't help but see that the couple truly enjoy each other's company, and the interview went on for quite a while, as they talked about their music, how they met, their work method, and how the "Painted on Water" project developed. This was a tough one to edit, because it was all so interesting.

I really wanted them to demonstrate how the songs went from Turkish folk to mainstream pop, and they did that and more.

Keep an eye out for more from this very rich interview in upcoming blogposts-- like a performance where Sertab demonstrated her operatic chops and her pop stylings, all in one song!

One of the most wonderful things that happens when you watch the documentary we are showing on the channel this week, "Intangible Asset No. 82", is how much you learn about a culture that is often hard for Westerners to understand. In particular, I have found much of Asian music to be difficult to enjoy. I am on record for maintaining that the phrase "music is the universal language" is glib nonsense. (In my opinion the universal language is food.) But "Intangible Asset No. 82" gave me a way to enter what has seemed an impenetrable genre; no small feat!

The film documents the journey of jazz drummer Simon Barker, as he seeks to find the shaman whose music has made a huge impact on him.  His guide is Kim Dong-Won, a master of Korean Pansori.

We were fortunate indeed that Dong-Won was in town performing with YoYo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, and he spent some time with me answering my quesions about the movie, and about Korean music. Dong-Won apologized profusely for his English skills, but actually, although he hesitates a bit, he is really quite eloquent.  The interview has three sections, which concern themselves with the film, drumming and Pansori singing.

Two years ago I was fortunate enough to attend the Sharq Taronalari festival that is held every two years in Samarkand, as a guest. It has given me a bug for the place, and I recommend Uzbekistan as a travel destination, as not enough people really know or understand this part of the world. The country is rich with historical monuments, extraordinary textiles, warm and hospitable people and of course, music.  Not that the music is immediately accessible to the Western ear, and I was finding it quite demanding. One day I sat my assigned interpreter, Dilnoza Mamadaliyeva, down and said "Tell me about Muggam. Maybe you can help me to appreciate it better." So here is Dilnoza doing just that.

Much later on, we were able to acquire the fine Smithsonian series you have been watching on Link, but the other day, I discovered this tape from years ago.  Hey Dilnoza! I hope you're still singing.

A word about the technical problems...I should have known better than to place Dilnoza in front of a bright window. Every time she waved her hands, my camera tried to compensate, resulting in a flicker. Apologies.  And if anyone wants to know more about my travels in Uzbekistan, a memoir is available on request ;-) 

I headed over to Drom the other night to catch The Shin, a great band from the Republic of Georgia. The place was packed, which made it hard to get good shots, and as usual, the club was dimly lit, even on stage. Even more frustrating, I am finding that while this little Flip camera shines in an acoustic setting, just get an electric bass in there and that's all you hear. Fortunately, though, the band had a folk dancer, David Ninoshvili, who turned in some pretty dynamic moves.

I was sitting in a tiny space by the stage, so I had a great view of Ninoshvili's footwork.  I captured a fair amount, but at one point (after my batteries had run out!!!) the man actually got on his tippy-toes (yes, just like in "Titanic") and proceeded to go through some truly punishing choreography; he wasn't wearing anyting remotely like ballet shoes, which have a built in box to protect the dancer's foot. Don't mess with those Georgian folk dancers.

Also: just found out about a great site : http://www.radiovideotrad.com

Check out their videos-- the accent is on ethnographic, but from Cajun to Balkan Brass to Bellydance, most of them are a lot fun!

I’ve been trumpeting our acquisition of the Aga Khan Trust/Smithsonian Folkways’ wonderful series about the music of Central Asia for quite a while, and we are starting to role it out this week. The first two are now streaming, and we will commence broadcast of the others on the 28th.  While the music captured in the series may strike our Western ears as dissonant or long-winded, it gives us a chance to step outside of our listening “comfort zones” and imagine ourselves to be from this part of the world. The programs help us do that by transporting us to places like the sweeping steppes of Kazakhstan, where people still live a nomadic life in round tents called yurts, to wedding celebrations and intimate personal reflections by the artists.  I hope you will find this series as fascinating as I do, and if as the series rolls out, you want to hear more of the music, you can visit the Smithsonian website.

Note:  My first foray into blogdom starts soon, and we’ll be posting my coverage of the NY Gypsy Festival—and who knows, maybe some other goodies, too. I’ll keep you posted, so keep checking in.

This week we are showing the fine Chinese film "Dam Street." It runs a little bit short of our usual Music and Culture slot, so I was asked to put together a special music block geared specifically to follow the film. At first glance, the list of videos might seem to be a mixed bag.  But actually, I decided to pick videos that enhanced the ambience of the film.  I decided that "Longing" fit the mood, and so I chose "Nuahulwana", one of the most beautiful and haunting of songs, in which a lover is admonished not to go out to find love at the local bars, like a "night bird." I followed that with the brooding and surreal "O Labarinto Parado" by the Portuguese group Madredeus. China's Sa DingDing gives us a fantasy of a former life, one at the pinnacle of an ancient civilization now long dead, and in a field of ice, Uzbekistan's Sevara Nazarkhan sings a poem written about the lights of a beautiful, distant city.  We end with Patrick Bruell's rueful reminiscence of puppy love in Tunisia, at "Café de Delices."

We're in the midst of another pledge drive, and you may have noticed a bit less music programming as a result. But never fear-- on the other side of that event you'll find some fascinating new music documentaries.  We'll be debuting films about Balkan, South Asian and Central Asian music; all of them filled with beautiful images and haunting music. And who knows, you might even be seeing some new music blocks! All of this programming is made possible by your contributions, so I hope you'll take the time to show your support.

Closer to home, I want to plug a dear colleague's debut solo CD: If you were wondering about the vivacious lady singing the Yoruba chants in our video "The Price of Silence", that was Cucu Diamantes, one of the founders of the Pan Latin pop group Yerba Buena. She really made a splash with us with her enthusiasm, professionalism and terrific pipes. And now that she is stepping out with her solo CD "Cuculand", releasing March 17, we wish her all the success she richly deserves.

This week, I went to hear a fine Korean singer named Jang sa-ik, started reviewing the series on Central Asian music that we will be bringing you soon, and revisited the music of the Master Musicians of Jajouka, from Morocco, because they are performing in New York City this weekend. In the case of both the Central Asian and Moroccan music, there is no western harmony to speak of, and although the music of Jang sa-ik had been orchestrated, his most powerful songs were those which were sung against a drone, and unconcerned with harmony. I'm a harmony freak, so it wasn't  "easy listening."  But here is what I have found: the first time I heard Central Asian music I was at a festival in Samarkand, and after listening to it performed for a while, the western music played afterward sounded rather saccharine.

Similarly, I once went to a demonstration of the oud. After hearing a number of intricate melodies played, one of the audience members asked if it were possible to play chords on the instrument. Sure, said the lecturer, and strummed a "c" chord. It sounded positively mundane. What had changed in the way I heard music in that short space of time?  Perhaps music, like food or wine has "acquired tastes" and we just have to keep listening until we start to enjoy it. These days, though, when we tend not to make that effort…how many wonderful flavors do we miss out on?

Every country has its character cliché. Hot Latin temperaments, Asian industriousness, Brazilian sexiness; the list goes on and on. Russia conjures up a ponderous, intellectual penumbra. Okay, maybe for ME that's what it is. Endless days thumbing through Pushkin, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky isn't conducive to dancing a jig, unless it's as a survival mechanism. The music of Moussourgsky and Shostakovich is not a romp in the park. Don't get me wrong, I think these guys are GREAT.  Maybe that's because there's a streak of that old Slavic Doom in my DNA. So if you feel like wallowing in a murky mood, may I suggest you grab a bottle of vodka, pull down the shades, turn out the lights and seek out the video "Belaya Noch" by DDT playing as an interstitial this week. Let it carry your spirit along its alleys, canals, museums, and graveyards. Drink in the waxworks, funerary effigies and angels. Ponder the vanity of history. Then open the window, take a deep breath and have a nice Thanksgiving.

I'm so excited to tell you that we just received a big shipment of programs about Central Asian music through the Aga Khan Foundation. Although the geostrategic importance of Central Asia is rising by the minute, it has not been spotlighted in the mainstream media very much, although here at Link TV we've been showing music videos from Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan for years. Now, we have even more to bring you from this fascinating area. It is indeed one of the last bastions of an ancient and rich culture that was shaped by the Silk Route. These programs take you into the day-to-day and spiritual lives of the inhabitants, while opening a door to places we should all know more about. Stay tuned for these remarkable programs...and as we head into our crucial pledge week, I hope you'll take some time to make a donation to Link TV.