Happy Christmas!

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable holiday.  Here is a beautiful performance to warm up your evening.

Det Norske Jentekor

In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, we often forget to take some time to enjoy it.  Well, it is time to take a break and enjoy a selection of beautiful Norwegian Christmas songs performed by the incredible Norwegian youth choir.

The entire album can be purchased from Amazon.

An Evening of Mongolian Entertainment

Pop a bottle of wine, clear an half of an hour from distraction, and join me on a wonderful feast for the eyes and ears: a two-part tour of Mongolian folk music.

Instead of embedding all of the videos in one, long page, I decided to use a YouTube playlist.  This should make it much easier to sit back and enjoy the music, especially if you are watching this on a TV.

Свети Георги – Ђурђевдан – Ederlezi

Called by many names (Свети Георги – Sveti Georgi – Saint George; Ђурђевдан – Djurdjevdan – Saint George’s Day) Ederlezi is a traditional Balkan tune (though there is some debate about its exact origins).  It was also my first encounter of Eastern European folk music; although I didn’t know this at the time.  It was a millennium ago, in a time known as the 1990’s.  My Bulgarian roommate and I wore down several tapes of Каналето (Kanaleto’s) “The Best” CD, the finale of which is:

Sakura

If you are the performer, or know who is, please contact me!  This performance is amazing and I want to buy every CD you sell.

No, even the poster doesn’t know where the music came from.  Please help us solve this mystery.  I am not the only one who wants to know.

Triakel is Back

Over a year ago we were enticed with the promised of Triakel’s return with the announcement of a new CD in the works.  Well, after a long period of absence, the group has returned.  Their website has been complete overhauled and they released a wonderful new CD (samples available here, can be purchased from Amazon.com).  Alas, there is nothing new on YouTube yet, but they do keep their Facebook page up-to-date.

Degrees of Separation (Part 4.5: Again With The Germans)

Follow me as I take you on a journey around the globe to explore new types of early and folk music, discover amazing musicians, and possibly find something we are missing along the way.  In this fifth part, we will conclude our travels in Germany.

Vallo de Alto on the Erhu

Two groups, East River and Andes Fusion, playing together. I have never heard Vallo de Alto (a song composed by a friend of mine in a traditional Andean style) played on an erhu before!

Martine Lund Hoel

For more than decade I have joined millions of people in trying to encourage Martine Lund Hoel to create a CD. It looks like she finally did: two actually.

Degrees of Separation (Part 2: The Swedes)

Follow me as I take you on a journey around the globe to explore new types of early and folk music, discover amazing musicians, and possibly find something we are missing along the way.  In this second part, we move on to Sweden.