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Music of the Americas in Global Context James Hayes-Bohanan, Ph.D. Dept. of Geography Bridgewater State College Revised: April 5, 2008 The page got too big --
the real stuff is on these pages:
TEXAS/MEXICO
--- CUBA
-- BRAZIL
-- ECLECTIC -- |
I was honored to have been chosen as the MaCIE Lecturer for the 2006-2007 academic year by the Massachusetts Council for International Education. I have been giving a presentation entitled "The Cultural Geography of Contemporary Music in
FALL 2006 Presentations
Bristol Community College Middlesex Community College - Lowell Cape Cod Community College University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth |
SPRING 2007
Presentations Bunker Hill Community College Bridgewater State College SPRING 2008 Presentations Your campus? |
I first became interested in Latin America twenty years ago, because of the problem of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Since then, I have enjoyed visiting, studying, and living in various parts of the region, and in recent years I have been teaching its human and physical geography to undergraduates, in-service teachers, and general audiences. I have even gotten involved in the geography of coffee. Whatever else I am doing, I always find myself attracted to the diverse music of the region. I have found that the music is an excellent means for exploring its geography. (I should make it clear that I am not a trained musicologist.)
| AFRICA
BAMBA |
I start all of my
presentations with this song from Santana, because it so nicely
connects Latin American music both to its roots in Africa and to its
contemporaries in North America and Asia. About 4 minutes into the
song, many of these communities are mentioned and celebrated. This
particular version (filmed in Argentina) has decent musical fidelity
and a nice instrumental riff at the end. I also recomment the Barack Obama
version and the Sony
BMG version, which has beautiful stage effects. |
Wherever I travel, I ask a local person who is interested in music to go to a CD shop with me, and to show me what is current and interesting. The store clerks usually love to get involved, and I get to sample a wide variety of exciting music. Technology is lowering the barriers to producing music, so an amazing variety can be found. I look for music that people are actually listening to, and that I can somehow connect to music I have already heard. It is great fun!
Most of the CDs for which no link to Amazon.com is provided were purchased in Latin America, in one case directly from the artists, but one benefit of globalization -- and world music activism -- is that you can support many of these artists by purchasing their work online. I am providing links wherever possible to facilitate this support. In some cases I am providing short clips, or links to clips that already are online.
In all cases, these clips are limited to 30 seconds, which is the maximum for what is considered educational "fair use." If you like the clips, buy the CDs! Most of what I have learned has come from listening to the CDs in their entirety many times. I often understand only a few words the first time, but my ear and brain eventually become attuned. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised by a discovery in a song I have heard dozens of times.
Although Amazon.com is the most convenient source for much of this music, I also encourage you to consider supporting one of the specialized online stores listed at the bottom of this page -- or your local music store if you are lucky enough to have one.
Thanks to Kelli Bennett for her help in preparing this page, to Jacqie Lourenco and Andrea Peters for ongoing technical support, and to the many students and educators who have encouraged this work. Most of all, thanks to my friends in Brazil, Texas, and elsewhere who have helped me to find the coolest music!
I am just starting to put some Latin music on my YouTube channel -- both the MaCIE list mentioned above and other groups of videos by category. Go to the channel and explore all the play lists.
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The Greater Boston area
has a lot of live Latin music and dance events. Go to Viva411.com to see what is coming
up, and to get email updates. |
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Gilberto Gil is a national
treasure and the Minister
of Culture in Brazil. We were thrilled to hear him
live at the Zeiterion in New
Bedford on March 21, 2007. |
This iceberg is a reminder that whatever we may learn from music, food, or dress, a great deal more remains below the surface. We gain a deeper understanding if we use the music or other surface features of a culture as a point of entry -- a beginning of dialog. Thanks to Ambrizeth Lima for this insight!
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Scholars are not in agreement about what is meant by the phrase "Latin America." Some include only Spanish & Portuguese-speaking countries, while others exclude the island nations of the Caribbean. I use the term very broadly, to include all of Middle America, South America, and the Caribbean, as well as border areas of the United States in which linguistic and cultural influences are both long-standing and growing.
Although I am interested in learning whatever I can about the music of this entire region, I have the most experience with the music of the places I know most directly: the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, Brazil, and Cuba.
¡ Con Salsa ! is a great resource for people in the Boston area. Sunday mornings from midnight to 5:00 a.m., host José Massó plays the best of Afro-Cuban music, Salsa, Latin-jazz, Merengue, Nueva Trova and World Music. Listen online or at 90.9 FM in the Boston area.
The family of Daniel Pearl honors his commitment to cross-cultural communication through the annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days .
