#4047: Instruments of the Mediterranean

For this New Sounds, listen to music featuring instruments of the Mediterranean, including Greece, Tunisia, Turkey & Morocco. From the Greek Rebetika or Rembetika tradition, which is often  thought of like the blues of Greece, with songs of love, loss and poverty, hear the group Rebetiki Istoria, who are leaders of the rebetika revival. (They play Saturday night, 11/18, at Roulette in Brooklyn.) Also, hear folk-rock from George Xylouris, who plays laouto, the traditional lute from the Mediterranean island of Crete together with drummer Jim White, who also plays in the band, Dirty Three.

Then, listen to music from Benjamim Taubkin, a Brazilian pianist who made a record with Moroccan musicians, called Al Qantara/The Bridge.  Hear a piece written by the group’s oud player, Farid El Foulahi, which incorporates guembri (Moroccan bass lute), percussion and accordion. Hear music that brings together North Africa with Eastern end of Mediterranean in trio music from Tunisian violinist, Zied Zouari, bass player & singer from Turkey, Aburrahman Tarikci, and Armenian percussionist Julien Tekeyan, off their recent record Maqâm Roads. A maqam is a melodic mode, part of the system used in Arab classical music, much like a raga in Indian classical music, or a scale in Western classical music.

Plus, hear music by Victor Herrero for the 12-string Portuguese guitar, along with music from the Epiros region of northwestern Greece, which perhaps has a bit of maybe Delta blues to it.

PROGRAM #4047,  Instruments of the Mediterranean (First Aired: 11/16/2017)

ARTIST: Benjamim Taubkin
WORK: Salsabile (Farid El Foulahi), excerpt  [1:00]
RECORDING: al qantara & the bridge
SOURCE: Adventure Music AM1087
INFO: store.cdbaby.com

ARTIST: Rebetiki Istoria 
WORK: 'O Amanes: Xtipo Nekroi Ki'Anoikste Me (I Am Knocking Dead, Open for Me) [3:39]
RECORDING: Rebetika Songs of Greece
SOURCE/INFO: rebetikiistoria.com

ARTIST: Xylouris White
WORK: Forging, live [4:29]
RECORDING: Live, Dublin 2016
SOURCE/INFO: soundcloud.com/bella-union/xylouris-white-forging-black-peak

ARTIST: Victor Herrero
WORK: Tibi seris tibi metis [10:20]
RECORDING: Astrolabio
SOURCE: Feeding Tube Records
INFO: victorherrero.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Zied Zouari, Julien Tekeyan, Abdurrahman Tarikci
WORK: La Sfeqas [6:16]
RECORDING: Maqâm Roads
SOURCE: Accords Croisés
INFO: accords-croises.com

ARTIST: Benjamim Taubkin
WORK: Salsabile (Farid El Foulahi) [4:15]
RECORDING: al qantara & the bridge
SOURCE: Adventure Music AM1087
INFO: store.cdbaby.com

ARTIST: Halkias Family Orchestra
WORK: Skaros, excerpt [7:02]
RECORDING: Songs & Dances of Epiros
SOURCE: Cassette release via Ethnic Folk Arts Center, now the Center for Traditional Music and Dance. 
INFO: Out of print, but Library of Congress has a listing. 

ARTIST: Rebetiki Istoria 
WORK: To Ouest [3:54]
RECORDING: Rebetika Songs of Greece
SOURCE/INFO: rebetikiistoria.com

ARTIST: Various Artists: Petroloukas Chalkias
WORK: Mariola [6:36]
RECORDING: World Routes - On The Road
SOURCE: Nascent NASCE 001
INFO: Available at Amazon.com or Apple Music, or Spotify