#4144: Native American and First Nations Voices

Listen to contemporary music based on or built around the sounds of Native American or First Nations voices. From her recent record, Retribution, hear music by Inuk singer and composer Tanya Tagaq from northern Canada. There's also music by Chickasaw composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha Tate for the string quartet ETHEL from their "Documerica" project. 

Then, sample music by the Canadian production and DJ crew A Tribe Called Red. ATCR is a first nations group from Canada who blends the sounds of traditional drumming and chanting with elements of rock, hiphop and electronic music. Listen to "Ritual" by Native American flute player and composer R. Carlos Nakai. Plus, hear music by Robbie Robertson, of The Band, who is Mohawk, and grew up on reservation outside of Toronto. 

There's also a work by Phillip K. Bimstein, "Dark Winds Rising," for string quartet - in this case the Turtle Island String Quartet- and tape which features the sampled speech of members of the Kaibab Paiute tribe in southern Utah. The work tells in four movements of the tribe's successful fight against the installation of a toxic waste incinerator on their ancestral lands. Bimstein uses the sampled speech of three generations of the Jake family to "develop rhythmic patterns, melodies, and sound effects such as mesa winds, industrial ratchets, a snake pit, and bird calls." (Bimstein's Bandcamp)

Program #4144: Native American and First Nations Voices (First aired 8/30/2018)

ARTIST: R. Carlos Nakai
WORK: Ritual I [5:45]
RECORDING: Sundance Season
SOURCE: Celestial Harmonies #13024
INFO: harmonies.com

ARTIST: Peter Kater
WORK: The Counterclockwise Circle Dance (Ly-O-Lay Ale Loya) [5:10]
RECORDING: Sacred Spirits: Chants & Dances of Native Americans
SOURCE: EMI Music / Virgin
INFO: Available at Amazon.com or iTunes

ARTIST: A Tribe Called Red
WORK: Electric Pow Wow Drum [3:38]
RECORDING: A Tribe Called Red
SOURCE: Radicalized Records
INFO: atribecalledred.com

ARTIST: Turtle Island String Quartet
WORK: Phillip K. Bimstein: Dark Winds Rising - The Last Jake [3:29]
RECORDING: Garland Hirshi's Cows
SOURCE: Starkland Records
INFO: phillipbimstein.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Turtle Island String Quartet
WORK: Phillip K. Bimstein: Dark Winds Rising - Walking Barefooted [3:24]
RECORDING: Garland Hirshi's Cows
SOURCE: Starkland Records
INFO: phillipbimstein.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: Turtle Island String Quartet
WORK: Phillip K. Bimstein: Dark Winds Rising - With the Earth [3:18]
RECORDING: Garland Hirshi's Cows
SOURCE: Starkland Records
INFO: phillipbimstein.bandcamp.com

ARTIST: ETHEL
WORK: Jerod Impichchaachaaha Tate: Pisachi (You See) [12:25]
RECORDING: ETHEL: Documerica
SOURCE: Innova Records 936
INFO: innova.mu

ARTIST: Robbie Robertson & The Red Road Ensemble
WORK: Twisted Hair [3:22]
RECORDING: Music For The Native
SOURCE: Capitol / EMI Records 28295
INFO: Available at Amazon.com

ARTIST: Tanya Tagaq
WORK: Nacreous [4:01]
RECORDING: Retribution
SOURCE: Six Shooter Records
INFO: sixshooterrecords.com