Huun‐Huur‐Tu Live at KEXP

Oh man, this is so good.

From Episode 19 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow:

“Huun-Huur-Tu are a music group from Tuva, a republic of Russia located right on the border of Mongolia and Russia. Huun-Huur-Tu is internationally known for their throat-singing, also known as “over-tone” singing. The singer produces “both the note (drone) and the drone's overtone(s), thus producing two or three notes simultaneously.”

“KEXP presents Huun‐Huur‐Tu performing live in the KEXP studio. Recorded August 15, 2017.”

Setlist:

1. Chyraa-Khoor (Yellow Pacer)

2. Konguroi (Sixty Horses in My Herd)

3. Odugen Taiga

4. Aa-Shuu Dekei-oo

Other Details:

• Host: DJ Rhythma

• Audio Engineer: Kevin Suggs

• Cameras: Jim Beckmann, Alaia D'Alessandro & Justin Wilmore

• Editor: Justin Wilmore

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• Like Huun-Huur-Tu on Facebook

• Purchase Huun-Huur-Tu’s music on Amazon

• Listen to ““Chyraa-Khoor” by Huun-Huur-Tu on Episode 19 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow or on the Holiday at the Sea music playlist Apothecary of Wonders.

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Zakir Hussain & Rakesh Chaurasia at ICE Kraków 08.07.2015

Thanks to my friend Alex for the tip on this 2015 live set featuring Zakir Hussain on tabla, percussion instruments and Rakesh Chaurasia playing bansouri.

The video’s page gives the following info:

“ZAKIR HUSSAIN is undoubtedly one of the greatest legends of world music, virtuoso of the tabla, and artist who tours and records with many other acclaimed musicians, including those form the world of jazz. His father was the famous musician Ustad Alla Rakha. Thanks to his father, Zakir learned to play musical instruments from his youngest days. He started performing as a teenager, and when he was 19 years old, he travelled to the US for the first time, appearing alongside Ravi Shankar. Audiences remember Hussain’s acclaimed albums, especially “Making Music” recorded for the famous ECM label. It is regarded as one of the finest musical fusions of the East and the West. Hussain was accompanied by John McLaughlin, Jan Garbarek and the legendary Hariprasad Chaurasia – uncle of Rakesh, who joins Hussain in Kraków. Hussain has worked with McLaughlin many times, for example when creating recordings with his groups Shakti and Remember Shakti. He also worked alongside Bill Laswell, leading the group Tabla Beat Science bringing together acclaimed tablists and percussionists. He has also co-created the outstanding projects Planete Drum and Global Drum, and worked with some of the greatest musicians of all time, from George Harrison and Van Morrison to Pharoah Sanders and Charles Lloyd. He is a living legend himself.

RAKESH CHAURASIA is more than just a nephew of Hariprasad Chaurasia – he is also one of his most talented pupils. He plays the bansouri, a traditional South Asian bamboo flute. He has worked with musicians including Talvin Singh, participated in recording dozens of albums, and he leads the RAF ensemble – Rakesh and Friends. Recorded at ICE Kraków 08.07.2015.”

• Visit Zakir Hussain’s official website

• Follow Zakir Hussain on Facebook

• Purchase Zakir Hussain’s music at Amazon

• Listen to “Raga Kedar: Gat In Ektaal” by Pandit Shivkumar Sharma & Ustad Zakir Hussain on Episode 17 of the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Superhsow.

• Visit Rakesh Chaurasia’s official website

• Follow Rakesh Chaurasia at Facebook

• Purchase Rakesh Chaurasia’s music at Amazon

Alan Namoko and Chimvu Jazz

Last year I did a weekly 30-minute music podcast dedicated to overcoming Xenophobia by exploring music from all over the world. I did 52 episodes and loved every minute of it.

One of the joys of doing something like the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow (find out more about the podcast here and/or stream/download every episode here) is discovering terrific music from all around the world. One of the downsides of doing something like the Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow is not taking good notes which results in not remembering where you came across certain albums, especially in the digital age.

Allmusic says:

Here's a gem indeed -- an acoustic quartet: two singers, guitar/banjo, drums -- with music closer to the grass roots than anything since Africa Acoustic and From the Copperbelt. Namoko hews to a pure rural acoustic string sound: precious people music. The packaging of this privately issued CD is odd, but the sound is fine.

I don’t know where I got this album and informationa about Alan Namoko is sparse, even in this abundant internet age. I featured the title track "Ana Osiidwa (The Orphans)" from Namoko’s 1992 album on Episode 04 of The Global Elite Music Radio Podcast Supershow and here’s what I wrote at the time:

Alan Namoko was a blind blues and jazz musician from Malawi. Namoko played the banjo and sang in the Lomwe, Chewa and Nyanja languages. Namoko became an influential figure in Malawi's music scene in the 1970s and 1980s and around the world with the Chimvu Jazz band and was even featured on several episodes of the John Peel show.

Namoko’s music is folk blues that transcends borders. The music is nostalgic and familiar (in the best way) despite the language barriers (at least for me). The album cover says that it was put out on Pamtondo Records, but the Pamtondo website doesn’t appear to be a record label or store of any kind. The page listing their titles says: “At first a small amount was put out on cassette and CD format for sale but now most remains as a collection for research purposes.”

According to Wikipedia, he put out 9 albums, but I haven’t had much luck tracking any of the others down. Maybe you can do better? In the meantime, stream or download the album here.

Tracklist:

1. Achilekwa (Mr. Chilekwa)

2. Gitala Kulira Ngati Chitsulo (Playing Guitar Like A Ringing Bell)

3. A Namoko Akulira (Namoko Mourns)

4. Kakhiwa Miyene (And When I Die)

5. Lameki (Lameck)

6. Ana Osiidwa (The Orphans)

7. A Chilenga (Mr. Chilenga)

8. Mwandilanga (You Have Punished Me)

9. Mwalimba Mtima (You Can Be So Heartless)

• No purchase or artist links available

• Download the album as a zip file.