#4275: Music Inspired by the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts
Hear music inspired by the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts, with music not only from Chinese and Mongolian musicians, but also musicians from Turkey, Japan, Germany and America.
There’s Asian desert blues, electronic music, and a collaboration inspired by the Gobi Desert. From the Guo Gan Trio, listen to Guo Gan’s erhu (Chinese fiddle), in collaboration with Emre Gultekin, playing a Turkish lute called the baglama, and Levent Yildirim, playing an Egyptian drum doholla from a record called, Gobi Desert.
Listen to an electronic evocation of the Gobi Desert by the outfit, Monolake. The two initial members of Monolake, Gerhard Behles and Robert Henke also founded the Ableton software company in 1999 together with Bernd Roggendorf. Then, hear Chinese group Hanggai, an inner-Mongolian folk-punk band, and music by the Uyghur band Qetiq from Xinjiang province, where overtone singing meets country music, and old desertsongs meet rock and funk.
Also, there’s music by Betty Anne Wong and the Phoenix Spring Ensemble, a group of intrepid musical travelers from San Francisco. Their music draws on folk music of Tajikistan, Kazhakstan, Turkey and Iran. Hear music by Wu Man – her “Gobi Desert at Sunset” for the Kronos Quartet’s laudable repertoire commissioning effort, Fifty for the Future, inspired by traditional music in China familiar, including Uyghur Maqam of Xinjiang province.
Hear “Gobi Penetrating The Soul” from the six-piece Mongolian folk band Egschiglen whose epic, sweeping music evokes the vast, empty plains and deserts that make up much of their homeland. Plus, music of Kitaro, featuring Chinese Hulquin (violin) player, Yu-Xiao Guang.
Program #4275: Music Inspired by the Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts (First aired 9/12/2019)
ARTIST: Guo Gan Trio
WORK: Tera Kiya [1:30]
RECORDING: Gobi Desert
SOURCE: Felmay Records 8260
INFO: felmay.it
ARTIST: Monolake
WORK: Gobi, excerpt [12:52]
RECORDING: Gobi: The Desert EP
SOURCE: imbalance computer music | ML 003
INFO: roberthenke.com | Also available at Spotify
ARTIST: Hanggai
WORK: Gobi Road 3:33
RECORDING: He Who Travels Far
SOURCE: FQT-CD-1827 World Connection/Four Quarters
INFO: fourquartersent.com
ARTIST: Qetiq
WORK: Qizdar [3:28]
RECORDING: Rock from Taklamakan Desert
SOURCE: Eastern Voices 21077
INFO: easternvoices.com
ARTIST: Kronos Quartet, Wu Man
WORK: Four Chinese Paintings: Gobi Desert at Sunset [5;15]
RECORDING: Fifty for the Future
SOURCE: kronosquartet.org
INFO: wumanpipa.org
ARTIST: Betty Anne Wong & Phoenix Spring Ensemble
WORK: Pamir Trance [6:25]
RECORDING: In Xinjiang Time
SOURCE: Betty Anne Siu Junn Wong
INFO: store.cdbaby.com
ARTIST: Guo Gan Trio
WORK: Tera Kiya [8:24]
RECORDING: Gobi Desert
SOURCE: Felmay Records 8260
INFO: felmay.it
ARTIST: Egschiglen
WORK: Setgeld Shingesen Govi (Gobi Penetrating The Soul) [4:39]
RECORDING: Gobi
SOURCE: Dunya/Felmay #8005
INFO: www.felmay.it
ARTIST: Yu-Xiao Guang
WORK: Taklamakan Desert
RECORDING: Kitaro's World Of Music
SOURCE/INFO: yu-xiaoguang.bandcamp.com
