Genghis Blues and Samba On Your Feet The 1999 film Genghis Blues explores the journey of American Paul Pena, a master of the Tuvan singing technique “khoomei”, or throat singing. Throughout this essay I will discuss how the culture and musical techniques presented in and those of the 2005 Afro-Cuban ethnic dance film Samba On Your Feet, while on the surface seem completely unrealted, actually share more similarities than one would assume. Discussion of the Cultural Background of Each Ensemble's Music In Genghis Blues, Paul Pena, a talented American blues singer, travels to the Republic of Tuva, a small remote land in central Asia, that is just northwest of Mongolia (Bakan, 30). Tuva is where the unique singing technique called throat …show more content…
However, freedom shortly ended when Russia seized the country in 1944, declaring it a republic of the Soviet. For centuries before their annexation, however, various nomadic groups ruled Tuva; notably Mongolian warrior Genghis Khan who had a strong impact on the Tuvan people. To this day, one-third of the 300,000 citizens continue animal herding and similar nomadic traditions, such as sheep sacrifices, a ritual said to be introduced by the Mongolian ruler himself Genghis Khan (Vainshtein, 60). However, the most notable art form emerging from the nomadic ways is known as “khoomei”, or throat singing. Traditionally Tuvan nomads would throat sing during their long travels, using their voice to mimic and interact with nature as the multitone technique often replicates the sounds of birds, streams, brooks, and wind (Levin, Oxford). However, today throat singing is widespread around the republic, to the point where young boys are taught the technique as though it is a second …show more content…
One reason why Paul Pena’s performance is so exceptional is that he fully emerges himself into the Tuvan culture. His ability to pluck the traditional Tuvan instrument igil, or a two-string fiddle, shortly after teaching himself minutes before, awed me as a viewer and shows the skills Pena truly has. He also took the time to learn the Tuvan language, a language that is alien to most Americans, as you have to translate Tuvan to Russian and then Russian to English. His extensive effort and dedication to really learn about the Tuvan culture produced a greater performance in my opinion. The timbre of Paul Pena’s voice is so unique. His ability to incorporate blues in with a style of singing so rare is something that never has been seen before, by not only the Tuvan people but Americans as well. In Samba On Your Feet, the performers really made the viewer interested in the Brazilian customs, especially during the scenes on Carnaval. The colorful clothing, quick tempo, fast-paced dance moves, and catchy melodies all attract the audience. As a viewer, I felt excited to find out about the festival and the history behind
For centuries, music has been defined by history, time, and place. To address this statement, Tom Zè, an influential songwriter during the Tropicália Movement, produced the revolutionary “Fabrication Defect” to challenge oppression as a result from the poor political and social conditions. On the other hand, David Ramsey discusses, in mixtape vignettes, the role of music to survive in New Orleans’ violent setting. Furthermore, “The Land where the Blues Began”, by Alan Lomax, is a film and perfect example to understand under what musical conditions profound ways of communication are made to stand the hard work of cotton plantations. As a result, music plays a crucial role in the sources’ cultures and its creation relies on particular conditions such as the social
Canciones de arargue, or songs of bitterness – was the original name for the creolized form Bachata. Many closely associate Bachata with the other Caribbean styles of the African diaspora such as merengue and son. In Intro to Music Cultures of the World we were tasked with attending a world music concert. I chose to attend a Bachata concert because I already had an interest in Caribbean music. The concert was not as I had expected, but was rather intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable. In this report I hope to analyze Bachata’s roots, report on its concert style, and compare it to another piece in the genre.
On October 23, 2016 I went to a concert type of event that different music groups were performing. This event is what Hispanics call a “Jaripeo Baile,” which is a place that people can see other people bull riding like in the rodeo, but this event was only about music groups performing. One of the music groups that performed was a band called “Josecito Leon y Su Internacional Banda Roja.” While I watched the band’s performance it reminded me of how it relates to the themes that were from our readings and discussions that we had throughout the semester.
Gottschalk’s unique blend of exotic cultures was key to perpetual fame during his time. By examining the compositions Bamboula (Op. 2) and Souvenir de Porto Rico (Op. 31), I will demonstrate how Gottschalk’s musical style represents an integration of Creole, New Orleans, West Indian, and Afro-Caribbean backgrounds he was exposed to throughout his life.
Over the course of history, music has developed from a personal, academic pursuit to an extension of a global marketplace and an attribute of this global community. In order to better address this conversation and the surrounding idea, Feld utilizes the platform he has developed to pose the argument that music has long been cultivated as a means of communication and interaction. This relationship is developed and analyzed as a case study in this article, which happens to be in discussing a traditional lullaby first developed in the Solomon Islands, which was in turn recorded by a European pop group that sold millions of copies of a rendition of the song. Furthermore, the article goes to show the trend of music to be redistributed and developed in the sense that it is later reused by a popular jazz musician in Europe. Feld then begs the question about the nature of the redistribution of music and whether this facilitates a hybridization of music or an alienation and artistic degradation of the original work for the indigenous artists.
Although folk music played a big role in most of these artists’ performances, folk links back to the blues, and is similar...
Through dance and movement, the storyline were expanded with the assistance of choreographer, Garth Fagan. A well-renowned choreographer for his innovative choreography primarily for Garth Fagan dance, Fagan used his unique style of choreography to the Lion King by combining a variety of Ballet, Jazz, Modern Dance, African Dance and Balinese Dance to suggest representations of nature without making a replica itself and use dance to help tell the story (Exploring the Lion King, 2010). Taymor’s idea of expanding the film by adding in choreographic elements not only will set the overall concept, it would additionally guide the visual aesthetic by allowing dance as the main element that balances musical numbers in all categories: effects, music and so on into the choreography (Bluemental et al 210:1999). Both Fagan and Taymor gave major contributions to the different styles of dance and performance techniques from around the world creating the precision and versatility that is being portrayed in the musical. In order to create the ideal staging of the hunting lionesses, flying dancers in the aerial ballet to the takeover of the hyenas at Pridelands, the collaboration between Fagan and Taymor gave suggestions of how these movements being performed with grace and poise using different dance styles and are cultural based be the forefront of the production(Taymor 148:1997). By looking at three notable dances in the musical, this chapter will analyse the presence of dance and movement being portrayed in the musical and how are these dances create the drama, still giving the idea of moving in an African Savannah. Furthermore, this will give an insight to all challenges and pitfalls both Fagan and Taymor endured during the development of the...
After Christopher Bruce received a letter from a widow of a Chilean folk singer who had been murdered the very inspirational and symbolic ‘Ghost Dances’ work came about. In 1981 Bruce obtained Rambert’s trust and knowledge that he can create dance movements of a high quality and very symbolic to scenarios. Rambert asked Bruce to compile a work for the Chilean Human Rights Committee; who gave him South American styled music which he immediately adored. The tragic place in South America where dreadful situations affect the poor: father figures being pulled away from their loving families and tortured to death, friends murdered and the children taken away. Knowing of all these horrid acts stirred Bruce to be overwhelmingly sympathetic towards the causes and people who faced these unnecessary killings among their homes and neighborhood. Bruce incorporates many dance techniques and elements to portray and recognize the difference between good and evil, heaven and hell. A major aspect of this work is the characters involved and what they do to rule power and domination.
According to Albert Murray, the African-American musical tradition is “fundamentally stoical yet affirmative in spirit” (Star 3). Through the medium of the blues, African-Americans expressed a resilience of spirit which refused to be crippled by either poverty or racism. It is through music that the energies and dexterities of black American life are sounded and expressed (39). For the black culture in this country, the music of Basie or Ellington expressed a “wideawake, forward-tending” rhythm that one can not only dance to but live by (Star 39).
“How Musical is Man?” was published in 1974. This book was written by John Blacking, a musician turned social anthropologist. His goal in writing this ethnography, and several other papers during this same time period, was to compare the experience of music-making that takes place within different cultures and societies throughout the world. In this book, he discusses and describes the musicology of the Venda people in South Africa. Though he does go to Africa to research and learn about the Venda people and their music, he specifically states that his book is “not a scholarly study of human musicality” (ix), but rather it is a summary (written from his point of view), which is both expressive and entertaining, of several different issues and ideas that he has seemingly been contemplating for some time.
The blues, a uniquely American art form, was born on the dusty street corners of the Deep South in the late 1800s. An evolution of West African music brought to the United States by slaves, created the blues which was a way for black people in the south to express their hardships, heartbreaks, religion, passion, and politics that they experienced in their day-to-day lives. The majority of blues songs were never written down, let alone recorded, but instead, were passed on from one musician to another and played on a variety of instruments including a number of stringed instruments, harmonicas, and horns. Once blues songs began to be officially recorded in the 1920s, the most frequently found instruments were guitars and pianos. However, the basic 12-bar style and three.-chord progression have remained the same throughout the years and continue to be key components of the blues.
During the course of this semester, the several musical styles that have been discussed and analyzed have displayed various similarities and differences. These differences in certain musical elements have accounted for the distinctiveness and uniqueness of each style of music. The culture behind these countries’ music adds even more to their individualism. Cultural aspects such as religion play a huge role in the music of each country as well. Styles of music in Africa might be more upbeat than certain styles in India, for example. Some cultures use music in religion, while others may not. Aspects such as dance are important factors in all three types of music. Despite the differences and similarities, however, without music, these cultures would perhaps not be as fascinating and unique as they are now.
The musical performance aspect of my paper was not an issue to complete. If you go to Little Italy, New York on any given weekend, especially around the holiday season or the San Gennaro Festival, musical performers are usually playing on the streets. There are many restaurants in Little Italy, Manhattan that have live entertainment; most of these musical performers will come to your table. When it came to comparing the musical traditions of Italy to the Italian-American performance that I observed, I had a little more trouble. Italian music is such a large topic to delve into–there are so many composers and different types of music that it made it difficult to narrow down my research for this paper. In future research among this community, I would suggest that the student is aware of what type of performance they are going to observe—I was unaware of whether the musician would be a Classical Italian performer or an Italian American performer. In my opinion, most of the performers in Little Italy, Manhattan seems to be Italian-American.
The Latin American music scene is an amazingly diverse, engaging and entertaining music culture. Thomas (2011) explains, “…Latin American music has engaged in ongoing dialogue and cultural exchange that has profoundly affected music making in Europe and the United States and, more recently, in Africa and Asia as well”. This paper will be describing different aspects of the music culture from its musical features, to the historical aspect of this interesting music culture. Also, I will discuss a personal experience with Latin American music. After researching the music culture, I attended a concert performed by Boogat, an Emmy award nominated Latin American musician from Quebec who has toured all over North America.
Music has played a role in society since the dawn of man. Said to be the beginning of communication in early civilization, music and dance have influenced how we think, act and treat members of our own society. Song and dance is used in rites of passage ceremonies such as births, weddings and funerals throughout the world. Jamaican and Yoruba cultures have made many contributions to our society. The uses of this music as a vehicle for political issues, values, and beliefs have been used by many musicians from different cultures. I intend to discuss the Contribution of these two contemporary cultures music and their effect on society.