The Country, Folk & World Recommendation Thread

[Safar]

Nominated for the Latin Grammy Awards in 2020 for best album Cumbia/Vallenato, Los Cumbia Stars are a band that performs Colombian tropical music, and the only one of tropical genre signed by the legendary record label Discos Fuentes.
Composed by the singer Cristina Escamilla, one of the most important voices of the genre in Colombia, and eight musicians with extensive experience and recognized musical quality, this band is directed by composer, guitarist and accordion player Juan Pablo Acosta.

Los Cumbia Stars & ‪OndaSabanera‬ - Wepa Wepa (Colombia)

Oaxacan singer Lila Downs takes a break from her U.S. tour to promote education in favor of women in Oaxaca, and at the same time presents her song “Cariñito”, included in her most recent album Al Chile, which this time has the collaboration of Panteón Rococó and the Mexican Institute of Sound, under the direction of Camilo Lara.

Lila Downs, Panteón Rococó - Cariñito (Mexico)

The 2-time Grammy nominated group Los Cojolites is a young Son Jarocho band that is a major part of the resurrection of this vital Mexican folk tradition that combines indigenous, African and Spanish elements. Their music combines youthful energy and a spirit of joyous improvisation based on the traditional forms and poetry.

Los Cojolites - Sembrando Flores (Mexico)

A native of Colombia, Latin jazz guitarist Juan Carlos Quintero began his recording career with two albums on Nova, a self-titled debut released in 1990 (remastered and reissued in 2000 by Native Language Music under the new title Medellin) and 1992's Through the Winds, recorded with composer/arranger Todd Cochran, pianist Otmaro Ruiz, and percussionists Munyungo Jackson and Walfredo Reyes.

Juan Carlos Quintero - Mi Tierra (Colombia)

Candelario Orlando López Vergara (born February 2, 1933 in Havana, Cuba; died February 9, 2009) was a Cuban bassist. Cachaíto” became famous as the bassist and founding member of the band Buena Vista Social Club. He was also a well-known soloist. In 2002, he received the “BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music” for his debut album “Cachaito”.

Orlando 'Cachaíto' López - Mis Dos Pequeñas (Cuba)

“In Latin American music, the women sing and the men do everything else. I decided to tackle this new record without a music producer. I came into the studio with all the scores I had written for a sextet, instrument by instrument. I have a classical background, I can play Brahms or Shostakovich, whose music is complicated. So why not take on a new challenge: to produce a whole Latin album......the desire for a positive celebration of the here and now, of 'alegria', of spontaneous joy".

Ana Carla Maza - Caribe (Cuba)

[Safar]

Founded in 1992, Son de Madera forms part of the current jaranero movement. Its main goal is to diffuse son jarocho based on the research of traditional forms, the incorporation of new sounds, and the revival of community gatherings of music-making and dance called fandangos. Their recordings have been used in film soundtracks, television documentaries, and theater. * Ramón Gutiérrez Hernández, guitarra de son * Natalia Arroyo, violin * Rubí del Carmen Oseguera, tarima * Juan Pérez, bass * Rubén Vázquez Domínguez, arpa jarocha * José Tereso Vega Hernández, jarana

Son de Madera - El Amanecer (Mexico)


The "Playing for Change" cover is with subtitles.

[Safar]

Music has always been an important part of my life. I was born in Lima, Peru, and grew up in the rain forests of northeastern Peru. At an early age I began learning the traditional and popular music of the region as well as of the neighboring countries Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil.

Ciro Hurtado - Pobre Palomita (Peru)

A mystical, consciousness-expanding journey into Afro-Ecuadorian folklore, Juyungo (Afro-Indigenous Music From The North-Western Andes) is a collection of field recordings and live takes of various artists and bands nested in the Esmeraldas province, most of them marimba players and master percussionists.

bandcamp: Rosa Huila - Andarele (Ecuador)

[Safar]

We are the crumbs (Las Migas) of the bread that is flamenco. Las Migas are inspired by traditional flamenco, but go beyond its language. The Barcelona-based musicians from Andalusia and Catalonia bring two guitars, a violin, a cajón, extraordinary voices and their accumulated experience to the music. “The music of Las Migas blends flamenco with Latin American elements, pop and folk sounds and a jazzy note in an inimitable way to create a melodious whole.”

Las Migas - BULERÍAS DE LA ZARZAMORA (Spain)

[Safar]

The daughter of flamenco maestro Enrique Morente and dancer Aurora Carbonell grew up among flamenco artists and has internalized its soul since early childhood.
It is therefore not so much the big name that makes Estrella Morente so successful, but rather her deep emotional connection to the music, which allows her to combine traditional influences with modern trends and create a unique musical experience that goes beyond flamenco, a magical moment.

Estrella Morente - En lo alto del cerro (Tangos) (Spain)

[Safar]

Manuel Pareja-Obregón García (Seville, May 4, 1933-ibidem, July 24, 1995) was a Spanish musician and composer. His compositions include sevillanas and fandangos de Huelva, having participated in the introduction of Andalusian popular music into mass culture, introducing orchestral arrangements where previously only guitar and palillos (drumsticks) were played. In addition to being a musician, he was also a sculptor.

Manuel Pareja-Obregón García (Composer) - Sevillanas de Triana (Spain)


The first beats of "Spells" could be fast Flamenco rhythm, couldn`t it?

"Spells" provides the 12-minute climax to Nils’ main set, its percussive pitter patter, sparkling synths and disembodied choral voices ultimately congregating like a luminous cloud of butterflies.

Nils Frahm - Spells [Paris] (Germany)

[Drjohnrock]

I'm amazed by your vast and wide ranging musical knowledge, Safar. Keep 'em coming.

[Safar]

Thx, Drjohnrock. The squirrel eats with difficulty, as we say in Germany. Most of it is "recent discoveries", but looking for new (nuts) sounds for some years now has helped to extend the stock of understanding.

[Safar]

Stephen Wilson, Jr. grew up with his father, the junior followed the senior into the boxing ring as a child before deviating from his father's path to become a scientist and eventually finding his home in songwriting.

Stephen Wilson Jr. - "Stand By Me" (USA)

Guy Clark doesn't just write songs, he crafts them with the kind of hands-on care and respect that a master carpenter (one of his favorite comparisons) would bring to a piece of rare hardwood. Clarks works slowly and with uncompromising dedication to detail... he has produced an impressive range of timeless jewels...

Guy Clark - Magnolia Wind (USA)

A great storyteller and eccentric lyricist, Warren Zevon created some of the most haunting songs of his time and was respected and celebrated by everyone from Bob Dylan to Bruce Springsteen. Zevon grew up in California and studied classical music before moving to New York at the age of 16, where he worked as a folk singer, studio musician and songwriter for The Turtles and later toured as bandleader for The Everly Brothers. His solo career was unsuccessful, however, and he lived on the outskirts of Barcelona, performing in an Irish bar, before being brought back to Los Angeles by Jackson Browne, who produced and promoted his self-titled second album in 1976.

Warren Zevon - Keep Me in Your Heart (USA)

He has played blues, bluegrass and country. His companions include George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Jerry Garcia, Willie Nelson, Vince Gill and Linda Ronstadt. Bromberg is a virtuoso guitarist, but plays the violin just as passionately. When he had had enough of being a musician, he opened a workshop in Delaware and started making violins.

David Bromberg Band - Midnight On The Water (A Texas Waltz) (USA)

Tam-Lin Reel/Glasgow Reel is associated with Davey Arthur who used to play with the Fureys. It is probably based around a traditional melody as the style of flipping between strings is reminiscent of many fiddle tunes.
TAM LIN is a 16th century ballad from the Scottish Borders, it tells the story of Jenny, a girl who defies social expectations to turn a bad situation good, pursue an unconventional love, and then perform a daring rescue of her beloved from the fairy world.

PeakFiddler - Tam Lin /Glasgow Reel (UK)

For 50 years, the cult band from Dublin ensured that melodies and songs from the Emerald Isle also became popular on the European mainland and in the USA. The Dubliners not only conveyed the fun of drinking through their songs, but often also political content. With their music, the Irish folk band influenced a number of colleagues around the globe. Under the title “The Dubliners Encore”, violinist John Sheahan and Phil Coulter, the group's original record producer and current musical director of the upcoming concerts, are bringing the music of the global pioneers of Irish folk back to life on stage.

The Dubliners - The Musical Priest / The Blackthorn Stick (Ireland)

[Safar]

The only vinyl I bought abroad and carried home. Love the sound of the Shehnai which Ustad Bismillah Khan introduced to Indian classical music. It doesn`t get any better than with this two legends of the Indian classic.

Bhairav raga is an ancient raga that is considered to be extremely old and originated many centuries ago. According to Indian classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj, Bhairav is a "morning raga, and solemn peacefulness is its ideal mood."

Vilayat Khan & Bismillah Khan - Bhairavee Thumree (India/Bangladesh)


Another nice version.

Spoiler for Ustad Bismillah Khan - Raag Bhairav:

Bamboo, a few holes, and it sounds wonderful! This is how Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia described the Indian bamboo flute bansuri. He is considered the most important musician of this instrument.

John McLaughlin · Vikku Vinayakram · Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia · Ustad Zakir Hussain · Uma Metha - Lotus Feet (England/India)