I am amazed that I only met Nora Balaban recently. I had known about her store "Tribal Soundz," the East Village haven for world music lovers and musicians for years (it is gone now, like the community that suppported it). Somehow our paths never crossed, and it was only when I saw her play in the group "Timbila" that it occurred to me that hers was a story worth telling. I started out by interviewing her, videotaping the band and as we spoke, she brought out photos, CDs, movies and even a 45! (The record, not the gun.) To try to put everything into one short piece was a bit beyond me, so I decided to split the info into two installments.  The first segment concentrates on how she "found" the timbila, and the second will focus more on the mbira and her work with Timbila the band.

A few weeks ago I received a hip hop video "B Sotak" from NasJota records aimed at getting out the vote in Sudan. It was a very good video and song, so I made an appointment to interview E-Hab Abasaeed, the president of NasJota. The elections are the first in over 20 years, and I wanted some insights. As anyone following events knows, the lead up to Sudan's elections had been riddled with problems, with claims of vote-rigging and threats, but the biggest complication was the withdrawal of main opposition parties. This automatically gave incumbent president Omar al-Bashir an obvious advantage, offering him a "mandate" to govern that the international community would be forced to recognize regardless of his indictment by the ICC for crimes against humanity. And no less a VIP than Jimmy Carter initially legitimized the election. But what is the experience of those in Sudan who are actively trying to instill the roots of a democracy in their homeland? We couldn't go to Sudan, but in a sense Sudan came to us, when we interviewed E-Hab who in turn connected us with Hisham Haj Omar, a member of Girifna, a youth movement in Sudan that tries to raise awareness of the election process and promote political dialogue in Sudan. In addition to their grassroots activism they have produced entertaining videos with a message.

Obviously both of these men are anti-Bashir. And as of this writing, with the election just recently over and votes not completely tallied, it remains hard to know how representative the vote will be. First the Polish air crash, and now the volcanic cloud that is paralyzing air flight has swept the election off the front pages, making it appear that our own politicos and media seem to be resigned to Bashir's win. Witness this recent article that appeared in the New York Times as if paving the way for acceptance of his victory.

If you are interested in seeing both videos excerpted here in their entirety, go to girifna.com.

It did not occur to me when I referenced the "venerable Kronos Quartet" in an earlier blog here, that I would run into David Harrington, the founder and musical director of the Quartet, a few weeks later. When I mentioned the article he sighed whimsically. "Has it finally gotten to that? Have we actually become venerable?" "I'm afraid so," I joked back.

Harrington was in town for a series of concerts at Zankel Hall, playing with a host of world music artists, and I snagged him for an interview. In the process he gave insight into his early years as a musician, and the early days of the Quartet. They have become such an institution that we tend to forget just how groundbreaking they are, how difficult it was to gain recognition and acceptance at first, and just how BADLY NEEDED an ensemble like this was and still is. Harrington's fascination with music from other cultures has contributed to a heightened awareness of world music in classical circles as well as an appreciation of classical music in the broader listening public. I wanted to draw him out about the world music aspects of the Quartet's work, but found that it is all inextricably part of Harrington's fascination with SOUND.

Harrington may play the violin, but to me, he actually "plays the quartet." He's in love with the way that specific combination of instruments and teamwork creates the timbres he so enjoys experimenting with. This is apparent in his musings on those pieces of music in his life that had a profound effect upon him, from the acoustic sonorities of Beethoven's late quartet in E-flat major to the electrified keening in Crumb's "Black Angels."

He's musical in his speech too. In particular, check out the subtle tonal spin he gives the word "k" in the last part of the interview.

Here's another cool showcase from GlobalFEST, the gift that keeps on giving. We had heard about Alif Naaba from a former Linker from Burkina Faso. She wrote and said "keep an eye out for this guy, he's good!" Well she was right, and he is. As usual it's hard to get good footage when there are lights flashing directly into the camera lens, but it's worth it to hear an artist who has not gotten much coverage in the USA. In his homeland, Naaba is known as the "prince with bare feet." As you'll hear, he has a lovely voice, and here sings in Mooré.  His songs are mostly topical and socially conscious; something we love here at Link.

NEXT WEEK: A very special interview with David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet!

Five years ago Link TV sought to capture on videotape one of the BBC's most beloved deejays. Charlie Gillett was one of those great music people who had an unerring ear and a true passion for good music wherever it was from. (He quite literally discovered Dire Straits.) He seemed a natural for us to collaborate with, and we sent the filmmaker Celia Lowenstein into one of his radio shows with a camera to see what it would be like to film right there in the studio. We were all very excited with the result. Charlie had such knowledge and charm (and as you will see, was also quite a handsome gentleman) that we thought we had the making of a fine series. It was only a few short weeks later that we found out that Charlie had been diagnosed with a serious desease that could be kept at bay, but not cured. He discontinued his show, and we scrapped our idea and filed the tape away.
Charlie died last week. It took some searching, but we found the old tape.  Here is a brief snapshot, if you will, of the music he loved, and just how engaging a presence he was.

To find out more about Charlie, there is a good obit in the Guardian UK.
Click here to find out more about the BBC radio episode with Justin and Seckou.