Located about 50 kilometers from Barcelona, Manresa is a small, laid back Catalonian city. It has its picturesque Old Section as well as an impressive, well-appointed cathedral, and the famous monastery of Montserrat is perched on a nearby rocky mountaintop. But the Fira Mediterránia de Manresa, a four day celebration and Trade Fair going into its 16th year, stirs the place up and brings the population into the concert halls and out onto the streets to enjoy a meticulously programmed whirlwind of music, cinema, dance, theater and more. The joint gets jumpin'. If you’ve got a trip to Spain planned in November, make sure you include this festival in your itinerary.

Because the event takes place all over town, it was necessary to pick and choose my coverage and up front I'll tell you that what I have captured in my video is only a small slice of it. In particular, I did not cover the imported acts, because I was curious about the local Catalan culture specifically, and fine as these other artists were, I felt they would divert me from my focus. I'll always regret not catching Hermanos Cuberos, who according to the festival book combine music from the Alcarra region of Spain with bluegrass!

And I also have to say a word about the food. It was everywhere, and if you knew where to go, (and could deal with the siesta closings) it was excellent. I brought back 2 bags of little dried local mushrooms which I am using slowly, when the dish calls for their distinctive taste and texture. They are tiny treasures.

I was fortunate to be staying at the same hotel as Dave Ellwand who has researched and written about Catalan food, music and mores. Our conversations over breakfast were informative and tantalizing, so I simply had to include him at some point in the video; credit where credit is due. He has provided some links to further information and events below.

And because this video is just a quick survey, here are links to full songs.

To see the full song by Evo, go to: inter-muse.com/blog/2013/04/16/evo-performs-at-fira-mediterrania-de-manresa/

To see a (different) full song by Els Berros de la Cort go to: inter-muse.com/blog/2013/01/11/medieval-songs-of-sex-from-catalonia-els-berros-de-la-cort/

For full performance of "Waka Waka" by Els Laietans go to: inter-muse.com/blog/2013/03/16/els-laietans-at-the-fira-mediterrania-de-manresa/

For more information about the festival visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fira_Mediterrania_in_Manresa

For an archived radio programme about the previous year's festival: prx.org/pieces/85507-mediterrania-taste-of-the-music-of-people-of-ca

Links to Catalan Music resources:

Government culture ministry sites: Catalan!Arts: traditional music cd (free) catalanarts.cat/web/?q=en/node/412

And a free E Magazine: issuu.com/catalanarts/docs/catalan__music_emagazine_eng_4

An earlier edition about Roots music from the region: issuu.com/catalanarts/docs/catalan__music_emagazine_eng_2/1

CAT centre has an annual festival of Catalan/Valencian/Balearic/Basque performances from January to April as well as year round music teaching and summer schools.* Information about all festivals is easiest to get on catalanarts.cat/web/?q=en

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

From an entire night of a capella magnificence and magic at DROM, comes this praise song for inventor Nikola Tesla. (Surprise of evening was the presence of Debbie Harry in the audience.)

Here are Svetlana's notes on the song:

"The song in honor of Serbian Scientist Nikola Tesla, made by my old godfather Milan Bilbija from Cirkin Polje, Prijedor, Bosnian Krajina. He died in 2008. Melody made by Svetlana Spajic."

The brief shot of the overhead image of the gusle, the Serbian instrument upon which the epic singers (guslars) play, with image of Tesla, is the property of multi-instrumentalist Darco Macura, who I finally met face to face along with Svetlana, in Belgrade in 1997. I had used several of his musical performances in a compilation of music I was producing. He was also Svetlana’s first mentor.

Lyric translation by Svetlana Spajic:

My soul is in pain, but I sing this song, I sing the song from Nikola Tesla

Oh Nikola, brilliant and smart, you invented electric power, magnetic waves and transformers

Oh Nikola if you'd lived longer, you would have made electric power from the sun. Where are you now?

Where are your New York doves? Does the new America remember you?

Scientists don't care for monuments; yours, Nikola, stands at Niagara Falls

Oh Nikola, from the village of Smiljan, the gusle is adorned with your image

Oh Nikola, it doesn't matter that you are a Serb, the generations of the world will remember you

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

Maria Pomianowska Plays the Suka

I met Maria Pomianowska in Samarkand, where she attended the Sharq Taronalari festival as a guest speaker. But as you can see, this woman could well have been not only one of the musicians performing, but one of its finest. I heard her jamming out on the terrace of the Afrasiyob hotel, and immediately knew that I wanted to get her and that unusual instrument of hers alone for a solo videotaping. We found a room between the basement floor lobby and the kitchen that had decent acoustics and was reasonably quiet (considering its proximity to the kitchen). I just said "play" and off she went. The room was not that well lit, so please forgive the somewhat grainy image.

Maria's credentials are impressive. She graduated in cello at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw. There she was granted a scholarship to learn the sarangi under the guidance of maestro Pandit Ram Narayan in India. From 1997-2002 she lived in Japan, and in 1999 she started composing cross cultural works which were commissioned by cellist Yo Yo Ma. In her continuing efforts to find connections between Asian music with her own cultural heritage, together with Dr. Ewa Dahlig and violin maker A. Kuczkowski she managed to successfully reconstruct a Suka from Bilgoraj, which is what you see and hear in this video.

There are many kinds of "fusions" happening in music these days. Maria seems to be her own personal reactor, following her love of western classical music to an equal devotion to Indian classical music, and then adding a dash of Polish gestalt to the mix.

Ms. Pomianawska teaches music and runs a festival of world music in Warsaw. For more information on this amazing woman and musician, click here.

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