I first met Josh Norek about ten years ago when he sent me a low budget video of his Latino-Jewish band the Hip Hop Hoodíos. It was a song about Chanukah sung in Spanish and English, and there were plenty of surreal shots of the "Bagel Babe" - a hot young thing wearing a bra made from that circular staple - even in a Jacuzzi! I sensed there was an unusual mind behind this.

Further down the road, Josh sent me an email about a new event: the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) that he was co-organizing in New York City. I wished him well. He continued to send me press releases about bands I had never heard of but which were pretty damned good. I started to trust his taste.

Five years ago, he helped Tomas Cookman launch the company Nacional Records. Between them, they had tons of experience managing and promoting "Rock en Español" acts, and soon they began aggregating the strongest roster of Latin Alternative Music extant. Then, prior to the past presidential election, Josh sent an email around, saying he was taking a sabbatical (or should that be shabattical?) from the music biz, and donating significant time to his favorite grassroots organization, Voto Latino, working to register and activate young Latinos in battleground states to get the vote out. Since then he has also gotten his radio show "The Latin Alternative" up and syndicated. So when I heard that Josh was going to be in town, I jumped at the chance to interview him. His time as usual, was tight; we had just half an hour, so we plowed into it despite the noise from construction on an adjacent floor.

No matter where we fall on the immigration issue, the undeniable fact is that the burgeoning Latino population is changing the face and culture of the USA. I wanted Josh to talk about this, to reflect on the relationship between music, demographics and activism. He did that and more; his conversation was so far ranging that I may have to present those parts of it that dealt specifically with Rock en Español, Nacional, the LAMC and the state of the music industry in general, at a later date.

I have nothing against the idea of the latest fundraising video for Haiti because the cause is certainly a great one; it's just that I tire of the usual bevy of First World entertainers belting it out. That's why it's refreshing to meet someone like Mark Johnson, one of the founders of Playing for Change.  By now you've all probably heard about this organization through the widely seen globetrotting video of "Stand By Me." The first time I saw it, I thought it was pleasant enough, but what was it for, what was the next step -- what was the substance? Mark clarified it all for me in an eloquent interview, in which he laid out a vision for using music as a catalyst for social change. I've heard my share of pie-in-the-sky blah blah about using music for this or that, but Mark's ideas are not dreams -- they are based on solid reality and hard work.

Can any of us deny that one of our greatest achievements to date is our unprecedented technological connectivity? Playing for Change is not just about making pretty videos. It's about connecting a global community where access to medicine, education, and mutual respect are a given.

I had a conversation many years ago with Christoph Borkowsky, one of the founders of the World Music Expo, WOMEX. At the time he said to me that the music of every nation should be treated as a natural resource. He chafed at the lack of market exposure great world artists got, and was certain that significant revenue streams could result from a level, truly international marketplace. Now that a new generation can access global content with ease, perhaps the idea finally has the proper soil in which to grow. And perhaps the next great musical outpouring of support for a cause will well up spontaneously, from another part of the world, and have a truly international face and sound.

Just as we start to take a nice deep breath from all that holiday partying, along comes globalFEST to rev up the energy again. For those of you who don't know, there are two major entertainment events that happen here in NYC in January: APAP, which is where presenters and presentees gather from all walks of the performance arts, and globalFEST, a one night showcase of world music acts held at Webster Hall (125 E. 11th St.) on January 10th. So here's a little preview of what's going to be there (a very little but tantalizing one!) from Vietnamese jazz guitarist Nguyen Li and a capella group Concordu de Orosei.

I'll be blogging the whole thing when it happens, so for sure there will be plenty more about this!

WOMEX 09 Part 4 brings us another performance from this substantive musical event. Yves Lambert and Le Bebert Orchestra turned in a great, tight show -- the band (Olivier Rondeau, Tommy Gauthier, Robin Boulianne and Jean François Déry) was a well-oiled machine, barreling through dance tunes and songs with verve and professionalism.

Lambert himself is an almost legendary character in Quebecois music, having been a mainstay of La Bottine Souriante for years; you can see from his spoken interlude he is larger than life. (And if you are going to play the Stomach Steinway, it helps to have a stomach!) I just wish I had kept the camera rolling a little longer, to catch the rest of the great song that followed that instrumental...

Here comes my rant: These days it seems we throw the term "throat singing" around a bit loosely. It can get confusing. After all, Mongolian and Tuvan overtone singing (the technique of singing more than one note simultaneously) is called throat singing. But as far as I can hear, the Inuit singing technique does not deal with overtones.  Rather, it is about vocalising on both the inhaled and exhaled breath. Yet it is referred to as throat singing.  Personally I'd rather just call one overtone singing, and call the other Inuit singing (or two-way singing?).
That said, Tanya Tagaq visited us in the summer, and she was a trip, as you'll see from our interview.

We were also sent a fantastic short film that called "Tungijuq" in which she stars and provides soundtrack.  We're still trying to figure out if it's too strong for broadcast. It concerns itself with the cycle of life and death from an Inuit perspective, and it is not for the squeamish...or prudish. Be on the lookout for it, as it is just about to hit the film festival circuit.

The Hip Hop Hoodios are a unique band who layer Latin and American Jewish cultures over rap. We've broadcast their videos "Ochos Kandelikas" and "Gorito Cosmico" and thoroughly enjoyed the band's cheesy, smart (and smartass) attitude.  I really like their latest video "Times Square," but it simply won't fit into the definition of "world music" with a shoehorn. And you KNOW I'm a moderate when it comes to that category. But still, the subject is close to my heart, so I'm presenting it here anyway. 

I went to high school in Manhattan, on 46th Street and 6th Avenue, and so I have watched the gentrification of Times Square with a combination of nostalgia and unease.  I don't know if it makes sense to mourn the passing of an area that was admittedly dangerous and seedy. It's easy to say the place has "lost its edge" and is now totally "Disneyfied." Yet, for some reason, I do feel that there is something that has been lost...and what about the ongoing re/de-construction on the Bowery (lower 3rd Avenue) where a new generation of young professionals will soon be living in renovated flophouses? On the bright side, maybe they can exorcise the sad karma of a million ruined lives. But what has happened to those souls who used to inhabit both of these urban areas; the impoverished, the hopeless and the addicted. Where do they go now? Is our trend towards gentrification simply putting a bandaid over a larger social wound?

Keeping a band together in NYC is TOUGH.  I know because I've done it -- or tried to do it -- myself. So I have to hand it to Scott Kettner for sheer tenacity, regarding his pet project "Nation Beat." You may remember Scott as one of my very first interviews for this blog, about his Forro Brass Band. He made me promise back then to blog something about Nation Beat, so I started collecting and shooting footage, and letting the story develop.

Scott does raise an interesting issue, regarding "world music." In the fledgling days of the term, it was assumed that Cajun, Zydeco, Tex-Mex, Bluegrass, etc. were all part of world music. (Just check out the landmark "Rough Guide to World Music" published in 1994.) Since then, the term has expanded to include all kinds of hybrids. So in my opinion it's a kind of daft political correctness to exclude the Country Music influences in the Nation Beat repertoire...after all they aren't getting up there and doing an all-Country set; it's American Country filtered through Brazilian Country.  And anyway, our Country Music derives from our Scots-Irish heritage, does it not?  Or does that not qualify as world music to some folks any more? 

Rupa, who fronts the April Fishes is certainly a multi faceted creature. A doctor, a musician, a painter, a linguist, she is someone who doesn't just sing about life, she plunges in with both feet.  She spent quite a bit of time talking to me in New York about the various bandmembers and singing their praises (sorry Fishes, I didn't use that stuff --and readers, it IS an excellent band!) but eventually we got down to some of the subjects that drive her.

A documentary about the band's trip along the border between Mexico and the USA is in production.

On another note, there is a very moving video that while as commercial as it gets, cuts to the heart. It is an homage to Neda, and all the young people who have demonstrated and suffered during the recent government crackdown in Iran. The majority of people living in that country are now below the age of 30-- Possibly the largest demographic on earth of educated young people to be held back by their own government. These days we all know we are watching history when we watch Iran.

The ripples continue to spread outward.

On April 21, 2009 I went to see "The Lost Fingers", a trio from Canada who do Django-esque covers of 80's hits. The guys were amiable as you'll see in my hyper interview... they took my needling in good stride.

I confess I have a low tolerance for an evening's worth of even a master like Birelli LaGrene, but these guys put on a good show. Tight tight tight, and great arrangements. Plus they all sing, the backup harmonies are excellent (accurate falsettos) and they don't take themselves all that seriously. Highlights were a fabulous cover of "Belleville Rendez-vous," and Kool and the Gang's "Fresh, Exciting."

But of course, I still have to ask (since I think it is open to debate) is Gypsy Jazz really world music?  I know, I know, he's got his own chapter in the "Rough Guide to World Music," but we'll never know how Django's being a gypsy influenced the music he made. And yes, by now there are thousands of Roma out there who claim the music as their own. But there are equally as many gadjé who play le jazz hot.  Feel free to weigh in on this one, folks.

This is Day One: the first installment of Link TV's World Music Blog coming to you from Link's New York City office.
I just got a hand-me-down Flip camera and I'm loving it.  Sure, the zoom stinks, and it has a nervous breakdown in a dark rock club, but really, it's a valiant little thing, and it's also great to be able to just take it out of my purse and capture the moment.  And NYC is full of amazing musicians I've been wanting to interview or to talk to about their music, so WATCH THIS SPACE. I'm also inviting y'all to write in and make this a two way conversation. Hey, I don't want to have to float the whole boat!

04.11.09
I went to the "preview" of the NY Gypsy Festival and caught the first few hours - take a look.

It went on till 4 AM, but hey, I've got a day job, so I just couldn't stay for the whole thing.  You can catch an insightful evaluation of the total event on the Lucid Culture blog.

And my co-worker Deepak Unnikrishnan had this summation:
"Call me clichéd but I fell hard for the dark ambience, the palm readers and certain over-the-top touches of the event. But frankly, none of the props would have meant a thing if the musicians weren’t anything but outstanding. At one point it wouldn’t have surprised me if I looked at my shoes, saw smoke, and smelled burnt rubber from all the dancing." He stayed till they were putting the chairs on the tables.

Like I said, this was a preview of a series of Gypsy festivals to come, so there will be more!