The Country, Folk & World Recommendation Thread

[Safar]

Martin Hayes’ fiddle playing style is characterised by his unique laid back approach to the music. While he’s fully capable of playing tunes at a rip roaring pace (and occasionally does), more often than not, he chooses to drastically slow the tempo of the tunes he plays.

Martin Hayes - Paddy Fahy's Jig/Sean Ryan's Jig (Ireland)

[Safar]

It takes a lifetime of playing to sound as effortless as these guys...
The superstar trio of Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker and John Doyle put a couple of Scottish piper Fred Morrison’s tunes together during the Saturday Night at the Savoy concert in Glace Bay on October 7, 2017. ( live at Celtic Colours.)

Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker & John Doyle - Leaving Uist / Lochaber Badger (England, Scotland, Ireland)

The legendary Carlos Santana, Cindy Blackman Santana, Becky G, Tito Puente, Jr., Tal Wilkenfeld, Rubén Rada, along with 20 other musicians from around the globe, join together for this energetic, classic, feel-good groove.
"Music is the mystical medicine that heals the listener from the infection of fear, the infection of separation, the infection of thinking you’re not worthy." —Carlos Santana

Oye Como Va ft. Carlos Santana & Cindy Blackman Santana | Playing For Change | Song Around The World (USA/Around the Globe)

[Stephen]

Leenalchi: Bandcamp

[Safar]

Thanks for the "archaic" sound in a contemporary gown, Stephen.

Leenalchi shows us just how experimental and avant-garde the K-pop scene can be. The band from Seoul has dedicated itself to reinterpreting the Korean storytelling genre "Pansori", which is characterised by a special style of performance with vocals and percussion. The band sings verses from traditional Korean fairy tales and draws musical inspiration from alt-rock and eighties new wave. By breaking down and rearranging traditional elements, they create music that is future-orientated but at the same time strongly anchored in tradition.
The band has a unique lineup, with two female and one male traditional Korean singers, two bassists and a drummer. The traditional singers are graduates of Seoul National University's traditional music department.

Spoiler for Leenalchi - A Tiger is coming down:

Creating some of the most innovative sounds in East Asia’s underground scene, Jambinai are an award-winning post-rock/world music hybrid act that was formed in Seoul, South Korea in 2009 by guitarist and piri (oboe) player Ilwoo Lee, haegum (a fiddle-like instrument) player Bomi Kim, and geomungo (zither) player Eun Young Sim.
Ilwoo, Bomi, and Eun Young became acquainted while studying at the Korea National University of Arts. After graduating, they ran into each other after a mutual friend’s concert. They began chatting about Korean traditional music and how they felt it needed to find a new way to present itself. That chance encounter led to the birth of Jambinai.

JAMBINAI잠비나이 - ONDA온다 (South Korea)

Spoiler for JAMBINAI 잠비나이 - THEY KEEP SILENCE 그들은 말이 없다:

[Safar]

Epirus (/ɪˈpaɪrəs/) is a geographical and historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. The largest city in Epirus is Ioannina, seat of the Greek region of Epirus, with Gjirokastër the largest city in the Albanian part of Epirus. A rugged and mountainous region, Epirus was the north-west area of ancient Greece...

Antonis Kiritsis - Konstantinopel (Αντώνης Κυρίτσης - Κωνσταντίνα) (Greece)

Spoiler for Antonis Kiritsis - Where We Were Born (Αντώνης Κυρίτσης - Εκεί Που Γεννη:

Glykeria - Stis Pargas ton Aniforo (Greece)

[Safar]

Petroloukas Halkias is a living legend of the clarinet and one of the most important representatives of Greek traditional music at the present time. He was born in the village Delvinaki in Pogoni, Epirus where he began learning music from a young age next to the maestros of the Epirotic clarinet; Phillipas Rountas and Kitsos Harisiadis.

Petroloukas Halkias (Epirus/Greece)



Τι να σου κάνω Χάιδω μου (Epirus/Greece)

A gentleman from the southern United States discovers folk music in rural Greece that is full of purpose--the music here is meant to heal those who hear it, participate in it.

Spoiler for The Healing Music of Epirus | Christopher C. King:

[Safar]

Albanian Folk Song - Jarnana (Albania)

Alycia plays a variety of styles of fiddle music ranging from foot stompin’ Celtic, to more eclectic music, and incorporates these diverse influences into her shows.
An engaging and entertaining selection from one of North America’s finest young fiddlers – …

Alycia Putnam - Trolley’s Reel / Dunmore Lasses / Balmoral Castle / Edinburgh Rock (Nova Scotia, Canada)

Ivo Papasov is a Bulgarian clarinetist. He leads the Ivo Papasov Wedding Band in performances of jazz-infused Stambolovo music, and is one of the premier creators of the genre known as "wedding band" music in Bulgaria, along with the violinist Georgi Yanev, saxophonist Yuri Yunakov and accordionists Neshko Neshev, Ivan Milev and Peter Ralchev.
"Ivo's album of wedding music, played first thing in the morning, provides thorough and long-lasting attitude adjustment for the busy executive." (Frank Zappa)

Ivo Papasov - Ivaylovsko Horo (Bulgaria)

[Safar]

A young guitarist from Geneva, Louis Matute, is a musician recognized for his talent as a performer and composer...a group with "variable geometry", as he says himself, with Latin reminiscences and aiming to create a soundscape based on harmonic work and, above all, the communication of colleagues on the journey.

Louis Matute Large Ensemble - Renaissance (Switzerland)

Lars was an auto-didact and multi-instrumentalist (accordion, keyboards, voice, melodica, etc.) who was completely fearless in his approach to music. He could be unabashedly sentimental (Boeves Psalm, Soon Song), write incredibly dense and complex counterpoint with the best of them (Pas de Valse, Utflykt med Damcyckle), and be mischievous and joyfully wacked-out (Circus I, II).

Lars Hollmer - Boeves Psalm (Sweden)

Sharon Shannon has music at her fingertips....literally! The accordionist from Ireland has achieved legendary status throughout the world and has made the much-maligned accordion 'cool' in her home country...
Natalie MacMaster CM ONS (born June 13, 1972) is a Canadian fiddler from Troy, Inverness County, Nova Scotia, who plays Cape Breton fiddle music. She has toured with the Chieftains, Faith Hill, Carlos Santana and Alison Krauss, and has recorded with Yo-Yo Ma...

Sharon Shannon & Natalie MacMaster - Jean's Reel (Ireland/Canada)

[Safar]

Marta Pereira da Costa begins her musical training on the piano at the age of 4; she studied 2 years of classical guitar at age 8; At 18, she started playing Portuguese guitar.
She graduated in Civil Engineering, and after working for 8 years, in 2012, she abandoned the activity and dedicated herself exclusively to music and the Portuguese guitar, thus starting her solo career.

Marta Pereira da Costa -Fado Lopes (Portugal)

Formed in 2006, Beirut is an American folk pop outfit, originally the brainchild of Zach Condon, who hails from Santa Fe, New Mexico. They are a concoction of indie - rock and world music.

Beirut - Serbian Cocek (USA)

Spoiler for Beirut - Gulag Orkestar:

[Safar]

This 8-strong collective from England, Italy, France, Congo, Argentina and New Zealand combine traditional afrobeat and hi-life with funk, jazz, Latin and dub to deliver party music born of their truly global DNA.
Sung in Lingala by lead vocalist Juanita Euka.

London Afrobeat Collective - Topesa Esengo Na Motema (England)

Yeghish Manoukian is an Armenian duduk player, performing since 1967.

Yeghshe Manukyan - I Beg You Mountains (Armenia)

Steeped in the cadence of her native County Cavan, it is by turns raw and wild, warm and melodic, grief-stricken and exuberant, driven always by the drama inherent in the song.

Lisa O'Neill - Old Note (Ireland)

The Mary Wallopers are a folk group from Dundalk, breathing new life into both well known & rare ballads. Travelling the length & breadth of the country singing & collecting songs, they exude a raw energy that could be described as the Clancy Brothers meet John Lydon.

The Mary Wallopers - Cod Liver Oil & The Orange Juice (Ireland)

Spoiler for The Mary Wallopers - Eileen Og:

Caravan is a jazz standard composed by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington.
The melody is emphatically chromatic, mysterious, almost oriental. Ellington arranged the song with additional orientalisms and gave it a new, more conventional middle section, which contrasts strongly with the main melody in terms of rhythm and tone. The piece draws its particular strength from this contrast.
It's no wonder that greats like .... and Tommy Emmanuel don't want to miss out on joint concerts with Joscho Stephan. The German is one of the great innovators of the genre.

Tommy Emmanuel & Joscho Stephan - Caravan (Australia/Germany)