Africa News, PanAfrica; Hip Deep Series On Afropop Worldwide Launched >>
Afropop Worldwide, the groundbreaking public radio series hosted by Georges Collinet and distributed by PRI to over 100 stations in the U.S., is pleased to announce the launch of its new series-within-a-series -- Hip Deep.
Hip Deep programs will give listeners a rump-shaking education in the musical history and culture of the African Diaspora, produced in collaboration with scholars, writers, and leading experts who will present their insights and discoveries in a framework of compelling music and sound. Listeners will also hear from the artists who have lived this history. Public radio listeners can catch Afropop Worldwide's Hip Deep programs on their local station or hear them webcast by stations through afropop.org. Extensive companion feature stories, interview transcripts and photographs will also be available on www.afropop.org. Updates on Hip Deep programs will be sent via the weekly Afropop e-Newsletter available to those registering on afropop.org.
Highlights include:
*) Afropop Worldwide producer Ned Sublette is preparing Cuba and Its Music, a multi-part series on the history of Cuban music based on his book of the same title (Chicago Review Press, 2004). An upcoming program in February, "The Liberation of the Drum," spotlights 1937 to 1945, a crucial period in the formation of modern Cuban music. During this time, the conga drum - which had previously been prohibited in public places where whites went - took its place in the popular Cuban dance band. While the US was allied with Stalin in World War II, Cuban President Batista's temporary political alliance with the Cuban Communists made for relative domestic stability in a time of prosperity, and it was during that period that modern Cuban dance music as we know it appeared. Ned talks to other experts in the field and plays unbelievably great tunes, showing us how the music evolved.
*) Longtime Afropop Worldwide producer Banning Eyre, author of In Griot Time (Temple, 2000), offers a three part series on the legacy of Arab music around the world, focusing on medieval Spain when Muslims, Christians and Jews coexisted, creating styles of music and poetry that changed the world. The trans-Saharan slave trade brought black African slaves into the Muslim world from its earliest beginnings, where they often were performers of music and greatly influenced the course of music in the Arab world. "The Musical Legacy of Al-Andalus: Europe" takes a provocative look at instruments--especially the lute and the violin--at ideas of orchestration, at the tradition of troubadours, at singing styles, the possible Muslim roots of flamenco, and much more. The enigmas remain, but listeners may never hear European music in quite the same way after this venture into the heritage of Al-Andalus. Produced by author and afropop.org Senior Editor Banning Eyre in collaboration with leading researchers in the field. "Tarab" with commentary by author and artist A.J. Racy, gives listeners deep insights about tarab, the art of ecstasy in Arab music.
*) Other Hip Deep programs include: *) "Tropicalia Revolution" will focus on the seminal work of Jorge Benjor, whose nearly 40-year career includes bossa nova standards (as Jorge Ben, he wrote "Mas que nada," "Chove Chuva") and a pioneering fusion of of samba, bossa nova, rhythm 'n' blues and soul, starting in the early 1960s. Together with Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, he participated in the watershed cultural movement, Tropicalia. Jorge Benjor has granted Afropop Worldwide a rare interview. He will be profiled by Christopher Dunn, author of Brutality Garden: Tropicalia and the Emergence of a Brazilian Counterculture (University of North Carolina Press, 2001).
*) The story of one of West Africa's greatest dance bands, Bembeya Jazz from Guinea, including their very first recording in 1962 as well as interviews with founding members of the group and author Eric Charry.
*) Hip Deep will also look at the story of music in South Africa, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary of achieving a multi-racial democracy. Afropop Worldwide creator Sean Barlow will return to South Africa to record leading artists reflecting on where South Africa has been, where it is now, and where it is going. The special three part series airs in April, ten years after Nelson Mandela was elected the president of the new South Africa.
Hip Deep will present "Carnival Reflections" this March when leading artists, music journalists and cultural leaders in Port of Spain comment on the deeper meaning of carnival for Trinidadian society. Plus highlights from the hits, stories, and scandal from this year's carnival in T&T. Co-produced by longtime music journalist and commentator Debbie Jacob, based in Port of Spain.
Support from the National Endowment for the Humanities makes Hip Deep possible. Other funders of Afropop Worldwide include the National Endowment for the Arts, PRI affiliate stations, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, ChevronTexaco, and Merck & Co., Inc.
Afropop Worldwide is produced by World Music Productions, a Brooklyn based multi-media organization dedicated to promoting understanding and enjoyment of contemporary music from Africa and the African Diaspora. For further information or to schedule press interviews, contact Afropop Worldwide at 718-398-2733 or e-mail: info@afropop.org. More details about Hip Deep and Afropop Worldwide are available on the web: www.afropop.org. 01/14/04
|
