Music From Around The World Will Get Your Heart Pumping



by Stacie Allison


With the proliferation of a rapidly expanding global culture, music from around the world has taken on a new sophistication. Since the eighties when Sting, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel and David Byrne showcased indigent styles in their recordings, roots music has come along way. Adding depth to Western popular tunes, appreciation for this genre has grown.

These sounds consist of ethnic music of assorted geographical regions. Though certainly not of the same strain, they are categorized together because of their indigenous roots. Musicians from diverse cultures and locations can now access other styles, assimilate those of other cultures and create a mixed bag of influences.

International groups now regularly tour Britain and North America. Once playing small venues, they are now playing larger concert halls with sold-out shows. A billing trend to have indigenous groups open for major pop stars has added to their stature and record sales.

If you are interested in hearing some Tibetan chants, Japanese koto or Indian raga, all are increasingly booked to play for Western audiences. Offered up, tribal music from the Middle East, Asia, Central America and Africa are proliferating. Reggae as been assimilated so deeply into the mainstream it almost seems like an American roots style instead of Jamaican.

This genre has become a hybrid of assimilated styles. We now see categories called World Fusion, Global Fusion, Ethnic Fusion and Club Beat that all have similarities but the various strains are fusing into separate idioms. And it is only just beginning. They crossover into new age, pop, ska, jazz, lounge and blues. Eastern European folk evolves into American country and western.

Today, West and North Africans offer a thriving musical scene and nowhere is it more prevalent than in Paris. France offers support through its many cultural institutions that promote diversity in the arts. Algerian and Moroccan sounds are widely presented in this European capital. Middle Eastern groups tour the United States and Canada. South American rhythms are thrilling audiences everywhere.

A great way to learn about what is being produced is by visiting the Internet. It is a great source of information on what is new and exciting as well as an archive of indigenous music. You can listen to a diverse collection of sounds, purchase CDs or MP3s, find out where the festivals are taking place this summer and expand your musical horizons in numerous ways. With stunning photography, you can do some armchair traveling.

If those old Rolling Stone records are wearing thin, if you have heard Led Zeppelin one too many times, if you think Pink Floyd could use another brick in the wall, expand your horizons with exhilarating music from around the world. A jolt of unexpected rhythm may be just the thing to get your mojo working, your fingers snapping and your heart pumping. Globalization has its perks.




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