As promised, here is more from the interview with Sertab Erener and Demir Demirkan. I was very interested in how Sertab had migrated from opera to pop singing, and in the process of explaining, Demir suggested she sing one song (Aşk) that demonstrated both techniques...which it certainly does!

I have to say that after listening to Sertab sing in our studio and in concert, there is a real difference between that and her formally recorded vocals.... and the same goes for the sound of the two of them unplugged. (Check out the previous blog post and interview video on Sertab and Demir here.)

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.

My colleague Fernando Gonzalez has graciously contributed this exclusive eulogy for Mercedes Sosa who passed away last week. We both agreed that the video of her performance of "Todo Cambia" captures her passion, charisma and the love she elicited from her fans. Thank you, Fernando.

Mercedes Sosa

By Fernando Gonzalez

For an artist, becoming a political symbol is a double edged sword.
Argentine singer Mercedes Sosa, who died of in kidney failure in Buenos Aires on October 4, at age 74, was for many Mother Courage, The Voice of the Americas, The Mother of the Americas, The Voice of the Voiceless, and more.
Sometimes obscured by the mythmaking was the fact that she was an extraordinary artist.
A short, stocky woman, with Indian facial features and jet black hair (she was nicknamed La Negra, the black one), Sosa possessed an extraordinary alto voice, rich and powerful but also remarkably expressive. She could go from a whispered love song to a rousing flag-waver with stunning ease. Sosa was not a songwriter. But, quoting an old line, when Sosa sang a song, it stayed sung. She made her own songs such as “Gracias a La Vida,” “Alfonsina y el Mar,” and “Maria, Maria,” even when the songwriters were themselves major figures such as Violeta Parra and Milton Nascimento. 
She performed usually sitting center stage – although before health problems pretty much confined her to a chair on stage, she would also get up and dance, a memory perhaps from when Sosa was a teenager in Tucumán, a province in Argentina’s northwest, and she was a teacher of folk dances.
She started as a traditional folk singer but soon she was part of a group of poets and musicians who were, sometimes literally, rewriting folk music with what became known as Movimiento del Nuevo Cancionero, the New Song Movement, updating the standard folk lyrics to address the plight of the poor and disenfranchised. It set the tone for her entire career.

 “We were looking for a different poetic language, and musically we looked at jazz,” she once explained. “We spoke from truth and poverty, but didn´t forget about the landscape, because we didn’t want to grow apart from the people. They called us communists because any revolutionary act provokes fear and culture is the most important revolution. Governments don’t last. Culture is the greatest power.”
Notably, and especially after her return to Argentina in 1982 after a three year self-imposed exile, Sosa not only maintained a progressive attitude regarding the lyrics but applied it to her music, collaborating, for example, with rockers such as Charly Garcia and Fito Páez, and opening her repertoire to young, sometimes unknown, songwriters.
In recent years, in 1997 and again in 2003, she struggled with various health problems. In ‘97 the situation was so dire that, she acknowledged years later, she wrote her testament. Her problems in 2003, including severe depression, kept her off the stages for two years.
Sosa died after 13 days at the hospital. Her illness canceled plans to present a new two-disc set of duets featuring an all star cast of collaborators including García, Páez, Shakira, Julieta Venegas, and Joaquín Sabina. (It was released in the U.S. as one disc including selections from the two volumes.) It was, appropriately, called “Cantora,” singer.
For all the names she was called, this was the only title Sosa claimed for herself.
"Sometimes, one is made to be a big mouth or some sort of Robin Hood and it's not like that," she once told me, in the 90s. "I am a woman who sings, who tries to sing as well as possible with the best songs available. I was bestowed this role as big protester and it's not like that at all. I'm just a thinking artist."

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!

As promised, I am writing to you from WOMEX in beautiful Seville, Spain, where each night there is a music festival on three different stages. Last night's highlights were A Filleta, an exquisite a capella ensemble from Corsica. Like the medieval European artisans who never thought of themselves as individuals, who subordinated themselves to a greater goal, A Filleta build musical cathedrals. The other hit of the night was the ragged but right, electrified oud played by Mehdi Haddab of Speed Caravan. This band definitely knows how to get an audience jumping. I'm hot on the trail of videos for each band, so hopefully, in a few weeks you'll get to see these two excellent and totally different bands.

For the next few weeks I will be your travelling world music correspondant,  writing my note from Spain and Portugal. First stop is WOMEX, the premiere world music conference, where everyone who makes, sells, and books world music will be meeting, greeting, and playing. It's an amazing event and we always come away from it with loads of DVDs to sort through. Many of the programs and videos that you see here on Link TV were discovered at this wonderful conference. This year there will be performances from some of our favorite bands, like Väsen, and artists like Magnifico and Salamat Sadikova. WOMEX is a forecaster of who is going to be hot in the world music biz for years to come, so stay tuned - let's see who really knocks my socks off this time around. Then I'm off to Torres Vedras, in Portugal, for an International Accordion Festival. I can't wait for that one-- there'll be lots of tango, fandango, Gypsy soul, and plenty of unexpected delights as well. I'll report all of that to you, too!

For those of you who are night (or early morning) owls, may I recommend our World Music Video Block #85, airing this week. This block is all about visual creativity, so you will see great graphics, animation, and skewed visuals all over this one. The Warsaw Village Band give us a stop animation drama about tempestuous relationships, while Polvorosa present us with a bizarre ode to delayed romantic gratification. MIA delivers a graphic tapestry of her own invention, and Cankisou takes some hallucinogenic mushrooms and goes tripping Castaneda-style. My own favorite, however, is the ever popular Juanes, singing "La Camisa Negra" (and no, he is not talking about Mussolini's black shirts) throwing down a deadly cumbia beat straight from Hell...well, watch it and you'll understand.

This week we are showing Amandla! A Revolution in Four Part Harmony as part of our continuing theme of "What change looks like." The film focuses on the role that singing played in the successful struggle against apartheid, and ends with a message of hope and joy. But since those days, much has changed and along with the sweet has come the bitter. The issue of poverty has not been sufficiently addressed in South Africa and when people are poor, crime rises. The country lost one of its most significant musicians, in the senseless murder of Lucky Dube at the hands of a carjacker. When I spoke to Vusi Mahlasela (one of the artists featured in Amandla!) about contemporary music in South Africa, he did not hide his disappointment with how easily so many of the youth turn away from their roots to embrace Western pop or expect musical mastery to come easily. In his efforts to turn this trend around, he has established music schools to revitalize traditional music. So, when we watch Amandla, let's keep in mind that what change looks like keeps changing.

This week we're airing The Festival in the Desert: the Tent Sessions. This isn't a new program by any means, but it put me in mind of two very good friends and heroes of world music: Banning Eyre and Sean Barlow. Together, they are the heart and soul of Afropop Worldwide, the pioneering radio program and website that has been bringing the sounds of Africa and the African diaspora to millions of listeners. It was their idea to go to Timbuktu and videotape the festival. Had they ever done anything like it before? No. Did this discourage them? No. They came back with hours of remarkable footage - and with some expert editing - made the program you can enjoy in the comfort of your own home. Sean and Banning definitely "roughed it" making this film, but when you watch it, all you will feel is the joy of music - and their joy of capturing it.