I first heard Tamer Pinarbasi play the kanun on our video for Amnesty International "The Price of Silence." Andres Levin, the producer, had him record the first layer of "world music" onto the existing basic track from Aterciopelados. As soon as I heard the results, I was entranced. Tamer just laid down one good take after another, plus it was all tasty stuff.  Later, when I was taping my first blog installment I caught Tamer playing again, with the New York Gypsy Allstars.  This time I was struck by his technique and velocity. He played some great solos, and even his backup (which I sometimes think is as much the measure of a musician as the solos) was great. So I contacted him and last week he gave me a quick interview and performance at our office before running off to a gig in Brooklyn.

I must say I got a bit hypnotized just looking at the kanun and at Tamer's hands...hope you do too!

New York City is a magnet for artists from all over the country and the world. That's why I thought it would be cool to make this blog as much (or more) about the musicians, clubs and entrepreneurs in town, as about new CD releases,  or music biz news. There's so much that goes on between the working musicians of New York-- connections made, ideas exchanged, and of course, bands formed. This week I interviewed Scott Kettner, who wears the hat of musician, bandleader and entrepreneur, and who is a passionate advocate for North Eastern Brazilian music.

Scott's first baby is Nation Beat, a band I'll profile later, but the other evening, his Forro Brass Band was in fine form, getting everyone up and dancing, and dancing very sexily, too as you can see from the video.  Although I'm a fool for the good old forro of Luiz Gonzaga and Dominguinhos, I liked the horn arrangements.  Well, MAYBE I'd still like to hear an accordion in the mix, but as Scott mentioned wryly in his interview, he'd have more musicians up there if he could only get a bailout.....

Today I want to discuss very bad world music videos.
While it's a given that it's hard to find the really GOOD videos, every now and then you find that truly awful video that crosses over from simply bad into a category all its own....and then, perversely, you end up wanting to share it.

So my first entry is by Bond, those Classical Babes.

"World music," you say?  "How is Bond world music?" Well, they are playing a classical piece to a Latin beat, and they are in Havana right? (And those Cuban hotties aren't dancing the minuet.) That's why the video was sent to us in the first place. "Oh why pick on those nice string playing women" you may ask. Well, my answer is: They can take it. They've made their dough and they know just what they are doing. And as someone once said, ANY publicity is good publicity. For me, I'm enthralled by the sheer kitsch of the video-- the premise itself is sooo specious-- oh those happy dancing Cubans, those big-finned cars from the 50's and sixties-- those crumbling Havana facades....It's just like Buena Vista!  Add to that the Babes playing their instruments IN THE OCEAN (guess no one is playing an Amati) with little Cuban boys doing aquatic dance moves, under a thundering sky! As Dan Akroyd used to say: There now, that wasn't so good was it?

As my blog progresses, I would like to share more of my favorite terrible world music videos. -And I hope that you will reciprocate and send me some of your faves too. I will only publish them if they are truly awful, so pick carefully!

I'd also like to mention two more cool web destinations: 

Lucid Culture is not really a world music site per se, but has complete listings of NYC live music plus (they are live music supporters) reviews of the CLUBS so if you are going to visit the Big Apple, you know what you might hear and what kind of scene you are letting yourself in for. This site has very definite opinions, which I enjoy.

..and Condé Nast has a treasure in John Oseid's blog "boom box" which will also keep you current on world music releases and performances not just in New York, but wherever the intrepid Oseid travels.

As promised here's part two of my visit with Julian Kytasty. It concerns itself with the folk tradition, and Julian gets pretty whimsical. But of course, he settles back into some good old Slavic Darkness at the end.

I'd also like to start calling your attention to some of the great blogs and websites on the net that foster World Music. You have to  know these are all labors of love!  First and foremost, RootsWorld should be on anyone's list for great critical reviews, knowledgeable essays, (hey, I've written for them!) and even for those hard to get CDs from all over the world. Check it out, you'll be wandering around on that site for days!  

And if you can't get to a cassette shop in Ghana, the next best thing is Awesome Tapes from Africa, where you can hear the stuff that NEVER gets here....it's just TOO funky. Highly recommended listening.

Just had a great visit with bandura virtuoso Julian Kytasty.  Ever since I heard him play this celestial instrument I've been wanting to spread the word, so on this particular installment of the blog I kept my mouth shut and just let Julian do his thing.

I hope you enjoy it; it's gonna be in two parts because it ran rather long, and I couldn't bear to cut it all down. The first post here is just one composed piece, and the second part is to come; it'll be more about the traditional repertoire. The meeting was also fun because he lives in what used to be the predominantly Slavic section of Manhattan, has lived there for 30 years and so knows where you can still get the best potato pirogy. (Which turns out to be a weekend church kitchen run by some sprightly elderly ladies.) And yes, we went there and had some mighty FINE home-made borscht and pirogy!

UPDATE on the Lost Fingers:  for those of you who got hooked on the band from my last post, Sony will be bringing them back to the US for an official PUSH in July. They're up for a Juno award, the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy.

UPDATE on the NY Gypsy Festival, the next event will be taking place at Le Poisson Rouge with Slavic Soul Party and Scott Kettner's Forro Brass band. Scott Kettner is a true Brazil Nut, who fronts  his own Nation Beat band, fusing the music of Northeastern Brazil with -gulp- Country classics.

Don't laugh, Willie Nelson loves them! Hmmmmm...Maybe it's time to vlog the guy. (Scott, not Willie.)