A Musical Tour of the World: All Countries A-Z One Per Day

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by HitAndRun, Jun 7, 2020.

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  1. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks again for all the music.

    Today's country as Azerbaijan. It's been described as a country where Turkish and Iranian musical cultures mix.

    The artist I've known of for the longest is pianist and singer Aziza Mustapha Zadeh. Here she is performing Shamans Pt 2.



    And of course, I don't stop with one. I include here a number of tracks with descriptions so that people can pick and choose what they wish to give a listen to.

    A major stream in its traditional music is Mugham music. From Wikipedia: "a highly complex art form that weds classical poetry and musical improvisation in specific local modes. Mugham is a modal system. Unlike Western modes, "mugham" modes are associated not only with scales but with an orally transmitted collection of melodies and melodic fragments that performers use in the course of improvisation"

    Here is Mugham (also spelt Mugam) singer Fargana Quasimova performing with Mahmut Cemal Sari. Quasimova is the daughter of long established mugham singer Alim Quasimov, who appeared at Eurovision in a short break during a more straightforward pop song - though I'm not sure I find that worked well.

    I haven't yet been to Azerbaijan, but I have been to the Azeri Turkish part of Iran. (Though only briefly and I didn't see any concerts or other music there.) But, I recognise the similarities in style between traditional Azerbaijani and Iranian music. Note that mugham isn't the only traditional Azerbaijani musical style, but my posts are getting longer and longer and I can't cover everything.

    The country was part of the Soviet Union for many decades, and here is Soviet era vocal group Gaya performing Aman Yar. Comments on youtube will immediately correct anyone who calls this a Russian group - they were Azerbaijani.

    A track I found that I particularly liked is this more electronic version of Planets by Isfar, perhaps better known as a more traditional jazz pianist. I really like this. The version on Spotify is much more 'normal Jazz'.

    Also, I wanted to include something more standard rock, and found: Sevimli Hiyleger by the band Old Baku.

    And finally (yes, at last), an Azerbaijani folk music orchestra Bizimkiler does covers of well known songs in the style of Azerbaijani folk music. Here is their cover of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall.
     
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2020
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  2. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Tomorrow we will take a pause. I'll also post the updated list of countries and regions that I'm working from, and we can discuss what should or shouldn't be in it. Also, it would be a good time to recap any of the countries starting with 'A'. Then we can start with the 'B's on Friday.
     
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  3. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    I've been a few times to Azerbaijan and yeah, both the Turkic and Persian influences are obvious. I also didn't see a concert there, unfortunately, but I can tell you that the food is delicious :). Anyway, I've been familiar with one particular song from Alim Qasimov for a long time. It's called Bagishlamani and is absolutely gorgeous:
     
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  4. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks @Jamsterdammer. That really is nice. I sampled a few of his tracks online before posting, and I didn't find one nearly as good as your choice.
     
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  5. olegrayman

    olegrayman Senior Member

    Location:
    IL, USA
    Credit should be given to Vagif Mustafazade, founder of mugam jazz and Aziza's father. Here is a footage from 1978, totally mesmerizing.

     
  6. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    It's included on the album "Hommage A Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan" from Network Meridien in 1998 (Various - Hommage À Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ) and released shortly after the Ustad's death. By the way, if you don't know these Meridien compilations, they are almost all very excellent. I remember running into three Iranian women in Tajikistan tracking down traditional singers to bring them to Paris in order to record songs for these compilations. I had the privilege of attending some very private Falak performances in Tajikistan as a result and hear some of the songs that ended up on their compilations.
     
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  7. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    That sounds like a fascinating experience. I'll check out the compilations!
     
  8. Flaevius

    Flaevius Left of the dial

    Location:
    Newcastle, UK
    I'm going folk-pop for today's offering: Safura Alizadeh singing Sari Gelin, a traditional folk track across the southern Caucasus with numerous covers and versions in differing styles and languages. (Un)interesting fact: Safura was Azerbaijan's entrant in Eurovision 2010. She is now an artist.



    I happened to stumble across this gem: Yuxu - Xezerin Sahilinde. Active from the late 80s through the 90s, this sits very comfortably on my ears indeed and Yuxu (/Yukhu) are firmly on my 'to listen to' radar.

    And whilst you guys have posted the intellectual stuff, I'll finish by lowering the tone with some modern Azerbaijani metal: Sirr - Yoruldum (or full album here).
     
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  9. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    That Sirr track is a blast! Nice video also.
     
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  10. Flaevius

    Flaevius Left of the dial

    Location:
    Newcastle, UK
    That's what I thought too. Almost retro, nice to see something which hasn't been overproduced to within an inch of its life.

    I'm going to throw one more into the fire:



    This track temporarily confused me. Searching 'Cingiz Mustafayev' returned a National Hero Azerbaijani journalist who died in the early 90s reporting on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. I assumed it was a track released in tribute by another artist - and confusingly there is also a current Russo-Azerbaijani singer of the same name - but no, this was produced by the aforementioned journalist in 1983 and was Azerbaijan's 'first hip-hop record' (according to Wiki - and I'd missed that nugget of info when first looking at his bio).

    Listen to it though, it's funky as hell. Starts off with a warning alarm before a beat comes in that sounds like the lovechild of Kraftwerk and Daft Punk with a bit of James Brown funk thrown in as it grooves throughout.
     
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  11. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Great find and interesting/sad backstory. Not sure I want to listen to a entire album of this, though :)
     
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  12. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Thanks for the music, everyone. A wide range of different styles from Azerbaijan. I'll widen things even further by including a song from the famous Azerbaijan musical comedy Arshin mal Alan. Well, it may be famous, but I didn't know about it before googling. That is what this thread is about for me - learning about new music.



    I haven't yet visited any of the ex-Soviet republics at all. However, if certain future travel plans I have come to fruition - who knows in these uncertain times - I will.
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2020
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  13. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Today we take a one day break, and everyone is free to discuss whatever they want. Particularly from the countries we've covered so far. All the 'A's.

    Here is the list of countries and some distinctive regions, that I'm working from. Discussion on which countries/areas should be included is welcome.

    Afghanistan
    Albania
    Algeria
    Andorra
    Angola
    Antigua and Barbuda
    Argentina
    Armenia
    Australia
    Austria
    Azerbaijan

    (Above all covered already)

    Bahamas
    Bahrain
    Bangladesh
    Barbados
    Belarus
    Belgium
    Belize
    Benin
    Bhutan
    Bolivia
    Bosnia and Herzegovina
    Botswana
    Brazil
    Brunei
    Bulgaria
    Burkina Faso
    Burundi
    Cabo Verde
    Cambodia
    Cameroon
    Canada
    Central African Republic
    Chad
    Chile
    China
    Colombia
    Comoros
    Congo
    Costa Rica
    Croatia
    Cuba
    Cyprus
    Czech Republic (Czechia)
    Côte d'Ivoire
    Democratic Republic Congo
    Denmark
    Djibouti
    Dominica
    Dominican Republic
    Ecuador
    Egypt
    El Salvador
    England (UK)
    Equatorial Guinea
    Eritrea
    Estonia
    Eswatini
    Ethiopia
    Fiji
    Finland
    France
    Gabon
    Gambia
    Georgia
    Germany
    Ghana
    Greece
    Grenada
    Guatemala
    Guinea
    Guinea-Bissau
    Guyana
    Haiti
    Hawaii (United States)
    Honduras
    Hong Kong
    Hungary
    Iceland
    India
    Indonesia
    Iran
    Iraq
    Ireland
    Israel
    Italy
    Jamaica
    Japan
    Jordan
    Kazakhstan
    Kenya
    Kiribati
    Kosovo
    Kurdistan
    Kuwait
    Kyrgyzstan
    Laos
    Latvia
    Lebanon
    Lesotho
    Liberia
    Libya
    Liechtenstein
    Lithuania
    Luxembourg
    Madagascar
    Malawi
    Malaysia
    Maldives
    Mali
    Malta
    Marshall Islands
    Mauritania
    Mauritius
    Mexico
    Micronesia
    Moldova
    Monaco
    Mongolia
    Montenegro
    Morocco
    Mozambique
    Myanmar
    Namibia
    Nauru
    Nepal
    Netherlands
    New Zealand
    Nicaragua
    Niger
    Nigeria
    North Korea
    North Macedonia
    Northern Ireland (UK)
    Norway
    Okinawa (Japan)
    Oman
    Pakistan
    Palau
    Panama
    Papua New Guinea
    Paraguay
    Peru
    Philippines
    Poland
    Portugal
    Qatar
    Romania
    Russia
    Rwanda
    Saint Kitts & Nevis
    Saint Lucia
    Samoa
    San Marino
    Sao Tome & Principe
    Saudi Arabia
    Scotland (UK)
    Senegal
    Serbia
    Seychelles
    SierraLeone
    Singapore
    Slovakia
    Slovenia
    Solomon Islands
    Somalia
    South Africa
    South Korea
    South Sudan
    Spain
    Sri Lanka
    St. Vincent & Grenadines
    State of Palestine
    Sudan
    Suriname
    Sweden
    Switzerland
    Syria
    Taiwan
    Tajikistan
    Tanzania
    Thailand
    Tibet
    Timor-Leste
    Togo
    Tonga
    Trinidad and Tobago
    Tunisia
    Turkey
    Turkmenistan
    Tuvalu
    Uganda
    Ukraine
    United Arab Emirates
    United States
    Uruguay
    Uzbekistan
    Vatican City (Holy See)
    Vanuatu
    Venezuela
    Vietnam
    Wales (UK)
    Yemen
    Zambia
    Zimbabwe



    I find it interesting to google artists we cover in this thread. For quite a few of these artists, they've never been mentioned in these forums before. And some have only one or two mentions before.
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2020
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  14. john hp

    john hp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Warwickshire, UK
    Antigua - King Short Shirt celebrating the island's cricket legend Vivian Richards

     
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  15. john hp

    john hp Forum Resident

    Location:
    Warwickshire, UK
    Australia - 'Cattle and Cane' - Jimmy Little

     
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  16. Rick Robson

    Rick Robson

    Location:
    ️️
    Gorgeous and very enjoyable, especially the elegant and melodic piano playing. And the uplifting musical mood enhanced by the singer approach well reminds me of some typically energetic Italian folk songs :)
     
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  17. Rick Robson

    Rick Robson

    Location:
    ️️
    I'm pretty curious about the success outside Argentina of a nationally very cherished artist that remaining as one of the most popular musicians in that country's music scene, especially in the Argentinian pop music. But the few tangos he did are among the most celebrated there ever, as this one that I love and is amongst my favourites:

    Cacho Castaña - Café La Humedad


    Unfortunately Cacho has passed away last year.... R.I.P. Cacho!
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2020
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  18. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Should Hong Kong be allocated a day?
     
  19. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    I’ve been to Hong Kong but didn’t pay much attention to the music, except the inevitable cacophonous confrontation with open air karaoke stalls.:)
     
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  20. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Better than me. I've never been out of the airport in Hong Kong. Though, I have flown into the old airport where you flew between the buildings and could see people through their windows.

    I wasn't aware of him but will check him out later.

    I like both the tracks you posted. And, they add to the range of styles and song topics were have here.
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2020
  21. Laibach

    Laibach Forum Resident

    Excellent thread idea. I think you could fill an entire Steve Hoffman forum board (and still wouldn't be enough) with just discussion of Argentinean bands (not to mention Brazilian). I'm not a music expert nor analyst but I think that Argentina carried an "invasion" of Latin America (and in no small measure the Iberian peninsula as well) especially during the 1980s in a way that might as well could be compared with the "British invasion" of the 1960s in the United States.

    Certainly I'll be interested in hearing music from every other country in the world and will post when the occasion arises.
     
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  22. Jeff Kent

    Jeff Kent Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mt. Kisco, NY
    Great idea! I'll just drop this here for a palate cleanser...

     
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  23. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    We don't have 'West Xylophone' in the country list at the moment :D :D :D

    I'll look forward to your contribution when we get to Slovenia :D (And hopefully before then too.)
     
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  24. Jeff Kent

    Jeff Kent Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mt. Kisco, NY
    Back when I was doing my music blog I had a series of posts featuring music from each of the countries mentioned...with the above exception...though I believe I added some appropriate "West" Xylophone music in its place. TMBG even saw the Twitter post and retweeted it with a thumbs up.

    The Alphabet of Musical Nations
     
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  25. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    That's a real claim to fame!

    Since we can revisit nations already covered today, I'm going to post another clip from Australia, one of my favourite songs from the great band Hunters and Collectors.



    PS: If anyone's wondering about a lack of Crowded House in my posts, it may be that as a Kiwi I'm a bit reluctant to admit that the band was formed in Australia and originally had two Australian members out of three, or three Australians out of four depending on when you identify their beginning. :D :D :D
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2020
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