World Music with Deirdre Saravia takes you on a musical journey to some of the world’s most fascinating places. From China to Brazil and the Balkans to Indonesia, World Music will introduce you to sounds from a world far from your own. A world traveler herself, the Belfast, Northern Ireland native introduces each piece with details about the music, the musicians and the culture that produced them.
Saravia credits the work of performers like Peter Gabriel and Paul Simon for bringing world music to the attention of American audiences, but she has also seen a change in attitude in America towards foreigners.
Today foreigners feel more comfortable in celebrating their uniqueness, and as a result, there is a burgeoning interest in world music. "Not understanding the language is no longer a problem," says Saravia. "People enjoy the music for the beat, the instrumentation."
Though each World Music show is built around a central theme, it will rarely center on one type of music. Saravia strives for variety, though there will always be a connection between the songs she plays; music from as many as 15 countries can be represented in the same show.
"You come to learn that people are basically the same throughout the world," she says. "They sing about the same things."
-
For over four decades, Khalife has made music amid political turmoil and social upheaval. His latest album, Andalusia Of Love, is brooding and wistfully optimistic.
-
Tagaq, an Inuk throat singer, marries modern pop with deeply-vested tradition to gobsmacking effect. The songs on her new album, Retribution, encompass terror, rage, ecstasy and bone-leeching sadness.
-
Derek Gripper's exploration of West African kora music has produced two acclaimed albums — and, he says, a better understanding of the classical music he played as a kid.
-
The vocalist from Mauritania intertwines heritage and innovation in the first song from her new album, Arbina. The video gives audiences abroad a glimpse of her homeland in all its melancholy beauty.
-
Frankie Reyes is a Los Angeles-based artist who remakes classic Mexican and other Spanish-language ballads and waltzes using a vintage synthesizer. His new album is called Boleros Valses y Mas.
-
Here & Now's Robin Young takes a musical tour through Brazil with Betto Arcos, host of the podcast “The Cosmic Barrio.”
-
Female K-pop performers can face strong pressure to meet the industry's beauty standards. Some, like Park Boram, are starting to sing about it, while others are bucking the trend.
-
Banning Eyre reviews two albums from artists who are reinventing classic sounds from Puerto Rico: iLe's iLevitable and Miramar's Dedication to Sylvia Rexach.
-
As Latino populations grow in locations far from large urban centers, local music scenes are thriving. This week, Alt.Latino showcases a few artists from places off the beaten path.
-
The last living member of Bob Marley and the Wailers recently finished his first U.S. tour in more than 20 years. "That's my legacy: to sing for you people," says the 69-year-old musician.