Konnakol (also spelled konokol) (Tamil: கொன்னக்கோல்) is the Carnatic music - South Indian classical - performance art of vocal percussion. It is also a comprehensive language of rhythm which allows the composition, performance or communication of rhythms
Characteristics
The following characteristics are shared between Iranian and other Central Asian music:
* The music is mainly monophonic, with each instrument in an ensemble following one melodic scheme.
* The music is based upon a modal system; with each mode engendering different melodic types, called gushehs in Farsi. The execution of the melodic types are left up to the musician.
* The use of microtones divides the scales into more than twelve semi-tones.
* A priority is given to ornamentation.
* There are a number of substantial pauses in each piece.
The following are characteristics which distinguish Persian music from other Central Asian music:
* Melodies are concentrated on a relatively narrow register.
* Melodic movement occurs by conjunct steps.
* Emphasis is on cadence, symmetry, and motivic repetition at different pitches.
* Rhythmic patterns are kept simple.
* The tempo is often rapid, and the ornamentation is dense.
* Vocal parts are often decorated with Tahrir, a vocal ornamentation similar to yodeling.
* Also, Iranian music is unique in the Middle Eastern tradition in that the different melodic phrases, or gushes are supposed to model the rhythmic stamp and melodic pattern of poetry.
'This exquisite recording finds one of the most gifted percussionists in Latin music today working in what is perhaps his true element - the Santeria liturgy. The spiritual power of this Afro-Caribbean religious ceremony, sung in Yoruba to the accompaniment of a three-man percussion bata is awesome, but it is the intense articulation of rhythm that makes this music so devastating, incredible.'-JD Considine,Musician Magazine'A wonderful album - absorbing, mesmerizing, beautiful and fun, graceful and sensual. It draws ou into a space and reality all its own, with a mood and flow quite distant from the everyday and yet hauntingly familiar. I found myself playing it over and over...' - City Paper (Washington DC)'Is a stone soul picnic, so party down. If you're going to buy one record this summer, here is one that, in the words of Hebrew National, answers to a higher authority.' - Glenn O'Brien, Interview
Recorded in August 1985.
Personnel: Milton Cardona (vocals, percussion); Steve Berrios, Hector Hernandez (bata); Jose Fernandez (percussion); Amma Dawn, Teresa Gomez, Sandra Wiles, Linda Evans (background vocals).
Dhrupad was structured originally around the poetic and melodic- rhythmic material from the tradition of devotional music practiced in the Vaishnava temples. Its entry into a secular environment paved the way for the acceptance of appropriate changes in poetic content, and mode of presentation.
Studio Almaya is a studio for music studies founded by Yair Dalal, who dedicates himself to
continue the Jewish-Arabic musical heritage, and pass it to the future generations. His
Goals are to connect and advance young musicians towards the ethnic musical branch, encouraging ethnic
music creativity, and establishing an archive for ethnic music. Almaya became a meeting
Point for people from all ages and origins, which find the studio the only place in Israel
Where they can enrich themselves musically and intellectually in this unique tradition of Jewish-Arab music.
Studio almaya is located in the old Jaffa Port , Almaya means The Universe in Aramaic and On the Water in Arabic.
The classes and topics of the lessons are:
Middle eastern music
Rhythm
Scales
Tonality
Instrumentation:
Oud
Violin
Ney
Percussion
Vocal
Theory and practice
The Maqam phenomena and its philosophy
The history of Judeo- Arab music :
Composition
Songs
Composers and Singers as well as secular and religious songs
A few fans may find Latin roots-pop pioneer Lila Downs' return to old-fashioned, romantic ranchera music to be a retrograde move, but her commanding presence and the astonishing skill and economy with which she embellishes these old-school Mexican ballads with modern rock, electronica and even a tasteful dash of hip-hop will blow your mind, if you give it a close listen. Similarly, she weaves in the rich rhythms of Cuban son and Central American cumbia, reconciling and uniting several strands of Latin American popular music. The repertoire blends striking originals with classics from Jose Alfredo Jimenez, while Downs' dark, husky vocals give more than a mild nod towards the great Mexican diva, Lola Beltran, while Tex-Mex accordionist Flaco Jimenez anchors the album in a solid border vibe. You have to be willing to get into the style (and not everyone is, including plenty of folks who listen to other kinds of Latin American music...) But if you give it a chance, this is a pretty cool album, particularly how it points the way to a canny revitalization and modernization of one of the hemisphere's liveliest and most musically conservative genres. Oh, and Downs' old fans will not be disappointed: she's as authoritative, innovative and charismatic here as on anything she's done.
Something like hearing the rural roots of Roland Kirk. Voice & flute vocalize together. Luminous, haunting, joyous, grief-stricken, a cry, a laugh, a call, a weeping...Peul (Fulani) flute (tambin) music is masterful in Sylvain Leroux's charge...Echos of Baaba Maal's musical scales, tone, and tenor.
Listen to his strings (vocal, dan, n'goni, guitar) with his fellow citizens (Salif Keita, Ali Farka Touré, Habib Koïté, Oumou Sangaré, Guerebou Kounkan …) as well as on Mali lovers' artists (hip hop globetrotter Kwal, fiddled pop of Toma Side...
Something like hearing the rural roots of Roland Kirk. Voice & flute vocalize together. Luminous, haunting, joyous, grief-stricken, a cry, a laugh, a call, a weeping...Peul (Fulani) flute (tambin) music is masterful in Sylvain Leroux's charge...Echos of Baaba Maal's musical scales, tone, and tenor.
"One of the best cantaores, thanks to his ability to innovate, his mastery of all the palos (forms), both festive and solemn, and his "magnificent vocal chords made of excellent flamenco metal" (José Manuel Gamboa).
Yambu is a style of rumba characterized by it's slow pace and tempo; highly sensual and elegant at the same time, the rhythm "imitates" (or matches) the movements of older people's dancing.
Sharhabeel launched a new genre of Sudanese song, melding jazz vocals with a big band sound, and Sharhabeel and his band became Khartoum's most sought after ensemble. It was a popularity that mushroomed. His synthesiser-driven renditions of traditional songs brought further success and recognition. "It is ironic," he muses, "that in the 21st century, there is not a single recording studio in Sudan," in contrast to the exuberance & optimisim of the 1950s, after Sudan's 1956 independence from Britain. The pentatonic scale of Sudanese music contrasts sharply with the septatonic scale of Arabic music.