I thought I'd give y'all an upbeat nugget for the holiday season.

I met this lovely duo in Samarkand where they competed for a prize at the Sharq Taronalari festival. They invited me to videotape their rehearsal, which turned out to be lucky for me, as I have not been able to obtain any of the footage from the main stage of the Festival, even though it was promised to me many times over!

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for Malagasy music. And as soon as I heard these two musicians, I knew there was something sweet and special about them. I crossed my fingers that they would get some sort of prize, and they did. Despite the extraordinarily political machinations of the prize-giving, they placed third!

"Talilema" is Talika and Kilema, both from Madagascar, now living in Europe. They are both engaging, lovely people.  And I think you will agree that you can enjoy this informal performance and not miss any amplification or further instrumentation. It works just fine as it is. They should be stars.

The song is about keeping your spirits up through your troubles. Is it right for this time of year or what?

I hope this music brightens your days. Have a great holiday!

To find out more about Talilema click here, or visit their Myspace page.

For more of Michal's original music videos, visit inter-muse.com.

The Sharq Taronalari festival/competition takes place every two years in Samarkand and draws artists from all over the word with an obvious concentration on Central Asia. Personally I do not approve of musical "competitions" but that reservation can be overlooked given the spectacular setting of the Registan for the main venue, and the opportunity to experience the Uzbeki culture and people. This year saw Jivan Gasparyan the younger win the UNESCO prize there. He gave a wonderful performance for which the festive lights in the Registan were hushed to a dreamy ultramarine blue.

The name of Jivan Gasparyan (Sr.) has been synonymous with Armenian duduk for over 60 years. His exquisite tone, control and interpretations have garnered him countless accolades. Now in his eighties, he had the pleasure of being in the audience during his grandson's award-winning performance.

The duduk is a simple instrument; but deceptively so, in that it requires an embouchure (and diaphragm) of steel plus circular breathing to elicit its haunting, cool sound. The younger Jivan has all these attributes, as well as technical agility, as this piece demonstrates.

I was covering the festival, toting my trusty camcorder, and had the good fortune to arrange this spontaneous shoot with Gasparyan Jr. in a room just adjacent to the hotel kitchen. My thanks to his two stalwart accompanists, and to my various friends who guarded the doors and kept waiters and dishwashers at bay.

Gasparyan senior was there too, and at the very end of this video you can see Jivan Jr. slide his eyes sideways, to see if his grandfather approved of the performance.

He did.

For more of Michal's original music videos, visit inter-muse.com.

One of the real hits at WOMEX was the band Kenge Kenge. They rocked the hall with traditional Kenyan party music based on the Benga beat. With the exception of the electric bass, it was entirely acoustic, with sweet harmonies and two hot dancers. Hang in till the end of this clip-- it just gets better and better, and you'll be grooving in your chair before you know it!

Yours truly had been requested by management to videotape the whole performance, and I had a perilous perch: just on the apron of the stage, straddling a five foot drop, with one foot on a walkway with rotating spotlights on it, and the other on an inclined plane. Taking a step backwards or forwards meant taking my eye off the band, hence the charming ceiling shot...

Link TV viewers may already be aware of the band Deolinda from their video "Fado Toninho." I was impressed with their CD "Canção ao lado," so I made it a point to video part of their showcase at WOMEX. Although it is tempting to say that the group comes solely out of Fado, as I reviewed my footage I was also reminded of Madredeus, the Portuguese super group -- even though front woman Ana Bacalhau sings in a deeper register than Teresa Salgueiro. (Still, there is something quite bel canto about the sound of each of these songbirds.) The band performed the songs from their CD with precision and sensitivity, and Bacalhau had the audience in thrall. I actually like this rendition better than the one on the CD, perhaps due to the exquisite sound at the venue (provided by the Roskilde festival) which enhanced Bacalhau's rich low resonances.

And of course, my usual apologies for the shaky camera work...it's tough to hold your hand up steady for long periods -- especially when you are getting jostled by the audience!

Just as you can never see every single showcase at WOMEX, it is almost equally hard to take in every booth at the trade fair. Each one has something special to offer: new music to discover, friends to greet, connections to be made, and (yes) parties to attend, because there are lots of little celebrations going on throughout the day. This is the first time I tried to blog the fair, and I have to admit it is only a small sampling of what was going on. But hopefully it does give some feel for the event. It's lively, it's fun and you never know quite what to expect. I decided to give a "most cool booth" award only AFTER I encountered the winners (Country & Eastern)! I thought they were such interesting folks, and their offerings were heartfelt, diverse and original. I think you'll agree.

A symphony of crickets. Now THAT'S world music!