Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

March 2010

6 March

Music from Armenia and Georgia

The Soul of Armenia: Djivan Gasparyan

Music from one of the world’s foremost players of the duduk, an ancient oboe-like instrument traditionally made of apricot wood (Network Medien 495121)

The Fox and the Lion: Trio Kavkasia

Trio Kavkasia is a North American ensemble specialising in the performance of traditional music from Georgia, in particular the republic’s rich tradition of vocal polyphony (Traditional Crossroads CD 4331)

13 March

Indian slide guitar - O Shakuntala!

In his recent release O Shakuntala! acclaimed Indian slide-guitarist Debashish Bhattacharya is joined by his brother Subhasis, a master tabla player, and India’s only two female pakhawaj and mridangam artists: Chitrangana Agle Reshwal and Charu Hariharan. They perform Debashish’s tribute to the Indian masterpiece Abhigyana Shakuntalam – an epic love story written by the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa (Riverboat Records TUGCD 1053)

20 March

Classical music from Iran

To celebrate Nowruz (the traditional Iranian New Year), music from classical Iranian ensemble Dastan. The group perform instrumental music and songs to poems by the contemporary poet Sayeh, and the great mystics: Attar, Rumi and Hafiz (Network Medien 495120)

27 March

Traditional music from Italy

Italy: Traditional music

Recordings from the 1950s of traditional vocal music from throughout Italy (Ocora C 600016)

The Legend of the Tarantella: Arakne Mediterranea

The origin of the tarantella was thought to be connected to ‘tarantism’, a sort of illness or form of hysteria associated with the bite of the tarantula spider, which appeared in Italy between the 15^th and 17^th centuries. Victims were said to be able to cure themselves by ecstatic dancing. Traditional music ensemble Arakne Mediterranea performs examples of the three remaining forms of the folk dance: pizzica-taranta, pizzica de core and pizzica-scherma (ARC Music EUCD 1753)

February 2010

6 February

Sounds of Aotearoa

From examples of traditional waiata to contemporary compositions that combine taonga puoro with classical guitar (Creative New Zealand 897 570; Ode Records CDMANU 3003; Rattle RAT D004)

13 February

Traditional Chinese music

A programme of traditional Chinese music to welcome in the Year of the Tiger (ARC Music EUCD 2129; ARC Music EUCD 2193; China Intercontinental Press 1209; Naxos World 76002-2; Nimbus NI 7043/4)

20 February

Quebécois traditional folk song - Le Vent du Nord

Le Vent du Nord is an all-male folk band from Canada who specialise in playing the traditional music of Quebec (Borealis Records BCD199)

27 February

Dèria: Mara Aranda and Solatge

Dèria is the latest project from Valencian singer Mara Aranda and instrumental ensemble Solatge. Aranda uses traditional music and songs from the ancient kingdom of Aragon in northeastern Spain as the basis for new compositions (Galileo GMC033)

January 2010

2 January

Music Meeting: Highlights from the 2007 festival

Music from the 23rd Music Meeting, a world music festival held each year in Nijegen, The Netherlands. Musicians at the 2007 festival included Belizean singer/guitarist Andy Palacio, Chiwoniso Maraire – mbira player and singer from Zimbabwe, and Romanian gypsy brass band Fanfare Ciocarlia (Radio Nederland Wereldomroep MWCQ24)

9 January

English folk

True Stories: Martin Simpson

Nominated for 2009 Album of the Year in the UK music magazine fRoots, True Stories is the latest release from English folk guitarist and singer Martin Simpson (Topic Records TSCD578)

At the Wood’s Heart: June Tabor

Traditional and contemporary folk songs from the grande dame of English folk music (Topic Records TSCD557)

16 January

Spanish sounds

Que levante el dedo: Peret

Music from the master of rumba catalana, a mix of flamenco and Latin American styles (K Industria RCCD05)

Mi pasion: Armik

Iranian-born Armik is one of today’s leading nuevo flamenco guitarists, a modern derivative of traditional flamenco that that incorporates elements from rumba, jazz and Latin music (Bolero Records BOL7138)

23 January

Princes amongst men: Journeys with gypsy musicians

In 2003, New Zealand music journalist Garth Cartwright travelled across four Balkans states – Serbia, Macedonia, Romania and Bulgaria – meeting with Romani musicians and asking them about their lives, music and opinions. This compilation CD, which shares its title with Cartwright’s book of his experiences, features the music of some of these musicians (Asphalt Tango Records CD-ATR 1608)

30 January

Biram music from Niger

Niger musician Mamane Barka is the world’s only remaining master of the biram, a traditional harp-like instrument of the Boudouma nomads who live around the edge of Lake Tchad. On Introducing Mamane Barka, his first album, he’s joined by Oumarou Adamou who plays traditional percussion instruments from Niger: the kalangou, calebasse and the douma or spiritual drum (World Music Network INTRO 114CD)