World Music Quiz JukeBox Index

INTRODUCTION: SETTING THE STAGE Setting encompasses multiple contexts. Soundscapes within several urban settings Most communities are complex environments. CASE STUDY: ACCRA, GHANA Hearing Highlife in Accra Highlife is a musical style. The name comes from the 1920s. Bands playing popular tunes Unites several streams of the Ghanaian musical past sea shanties military bands piano music and church hymns Central to Ghanaian life Multicultural Accra Location makes it a magnet for cultural exchange. British Empire English is the official language. Settlements by the Ga people in the fifteenth century Portuguese were the first Europeans. Followed by the Dutch, Danish, and English Ga ethnic community lent distinctive cuisine and traditional music. Homowo Festival "mocking hunger" Various other festivals Elaborate funerals Expensive, can tax the resources of a family Voluntary funeral associations: Milo Mianoewo. Three-day affair Agbadza dance Popular social dance performed by men and women Agbadza rhythms are, for many listeners, the most familiar aspects of the music. Drums and their music are linked to other Ghanaian ethnic groups. Atumpan: a drum associated with the Akan people Are also "talking drums" used in the past for communication Ghanaian Christian Music A substantial amount of music-making in Accra occurs within the context of organized religious life. Churches on virtually every block The music unites Western musical influences with Ewe rhythmic complexity. Many churches in Accra hold healing rituals. The Kwabenya Prayer Camp of the Bethel Prayer Ministry International Church Songs, accompanied by instruments, are the main venue through which healing is accomplished. Accra's Global Connections The complex blend of local and international give the city's music a distinctive, cosmopolitan flavor. Many different musics heard on Ghanaian radio. Accra maintains an active cassette culture. A number of musical ensembles reinforce national identity. Blend of traditional and international summed up in composers J. H. Kwabena Nketia Fuses the sounds and styles of traditional Akan music with an European musical idiom Cow Lane Sextet CASE STUDY: MUMBAI, INDIA The Ganesh Chaturthi Festival Hindu Ganesh Chaturthi festival leads off the pan-Indian festival season every fall. Hindus are the majority, but there are many Muslims and Christians. Community-wide festival promoting solidarity and independence from the British Marks the birthday of Lord Ganesh, a popular Hindu deity Music of Mumbai's Ethnic Communities The Koli community, who were the first residents of the area, continue to be a presence in Mumbai. Mumbai is home to musical traditions transplanted through migration. Many gurus migrated around independence. The four Jhaveri sisters were important dancers. Studied with guru Bipin Singh Made subtle changes to dance style North Indian classical music is also actively represented in Mumbai. European classical music has exerted an influence since British arrival. National Center for the Performing Arts Bombay Chamber Orchestra Film Music Film music is everywhere in Mumbai. Indian film industry mushroomed: Bollywood Mass-marketed films known as "masala movies" Stereotyped, romantic plots with elaborate song and dance interludes throughout Films used the Hindi and Urdu languages of Northern India. Urdu language song genre, the ghazal, most influential Accompanied by sarangi the tabla Popular music from abroad and the transnational music industry have deeply influenced Indian film music. Beyond Film Some film composers have moved beyond the boundaries of film. A. R. Rahman and musical theater Eclectic musical background. Bombay Dreams CASE STUDY: BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, US Why Boston? Boston provides both a long history and exceptional ethnic, institutional, and musical diversity. Boston provides a stimulating counterpoint to Accra and Mumbai. Many Boston neighborhoods are also home to different socioeconomic and ethnic groups. Former minorities within the city's longtime mainly Euro-American population became a majority. Multicultural mixture of peoples has transformed the South End. What Elements Make Up Boston's Musical Life? The Boston Globe has a weekly musical calendar; provides a starting place for mapping musical Boston. Genre categories for musical events include Pop and Rock; Folk, World, and Country; Jazz, Blues and Cabaret, etc. Early music Where and When Is Music Performed? Many music cultures are associated with specific places and times. Symphony Hall Many other well-known performance spaces Churches Neighborhoods provide venues for many musical events. Indoor and outdoor phenomena Buskers in Harvard Square City streets also provide a venue for special music events. City Hall Boston Common and Public Garden Who Makes the Music? Irish Immigration since the eighteenth century Pubs, civic and cultural events Boston College's Gaelic Roots Festival each summer Narrative songs, known as ballads, commemorate important events and memorable individuals. The Ballad of Buddy McClean Simple and repetitive melody Portuguese Mostly from Cape Verde Islands and the Azores A musical form popular with Bostonians of Portuguese descent is the fado. Closely associated with the Portuguese capital, Lisbon. Fado is sometimes compared to the blues. Portuguese Americans hear the fado largely through recordings imported from Portugal. Amália Rodrigues is thought to have personified the fado. Ethiopians One of the newest immigrant communities Gala party and feast mounted by Boston's Ethiopian community each September in honor of their New Year. City Hall atrium Blend Western with Ethiopian dance, the esskesta Festive occasions are opportunities for immigrants both to come together and to reminisce. Poignant song, Hagerei, recalls the beauty of Ethiopia and expresses the singer's homesickness. Uses pentatonic melody based on Ethiopian mode tizita Other communities contribute as well. Japanese music Swiss-based yodeling is popular. Boston's Defining Musical Communities Campus music Many colleges and universities New England Conservatory and Berklee College of Music Each campus is a "city" with its own distinctive soundscape. Tufts University's Balinese gamelan MIT's Javanese gamelan Gamelan as a symbol of Indonesian identity Popular throughout the world Folk music Traditional folk music and folk music revival Boston's importance in the folk music world Boston's long liberal tradition and its many colleges made it a magnet for singer-songwriters. Over two hundred venues for live folk music performance in the Boston area MTA Song Early Music Boston provided all the ingredients that allowed early music to flourish. Magnet for professional musicians Many instrument builders Many early music professionals are interested in cross-cultural musical styles. Connections between early music and cross-cultural musical styles can be found in their roots and performance practices. Boston's Distinctive Musical Profile All three of Boston's major music cultures—campus music, folk music, and early music—are local as well as international, with deep roots in Boston as well as connections to other places. The campus music scene is the most heterogeneous. The folk music revival is the most unified. Early music frequently crosses over to folk and ethnic. University town par excellence CONCLUSION

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