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Playlist.
June 10, 2004

ARTIST	SONG/ALBUM	COUNTRY	LABEL	YEAR
Kayhan Kalhor & Ali Akbar Moradi with Pejman Hadadi	“Sar Aghaz” “Showgh” “Maqam-e Gel-e wa Darreh-avaz” Gol wa khuk-Mogadameh” “Maqam-e gol wa khuk” “Gel-e wa Darreh Foroud” “Majnooni-Bedache bar Asaas-e Naghmeh Pani Zarb” “Maqam-e Alwand-avaz” ‘Foroud” “Choopi” from “The Mirror in the Sky”	Iran	World Village	2004
Behnam & Reza Samani	“Saqezi” from “Ensemble Samani vol. 3 Daf”	Iran
Kamkars	“Set me Free” from “Kani Sepi”	Iran	Kereshmeh	1997
Bijan Mortazavi	“Ronak”	Iran	Avang	2003
Falak	“Baladf” from “Falak”	Mali/Iran	Cobalt	2003
Tabu Ley Rochereau	“Muzina” from “Muzina”	D.R. Congo	Rounder	1994
Ruben Gonzalez	“Melodia del Rio” from “Introducing Ruben Gonzalez”	Cuba	Nonesuch	1997
Misia	“Da Vida Quero Os Sinais” from “Garras dos Sentidos”	Portugal	Erato	1998
Alkisti Protopsalti & Goran Bregovic	“Ederlezi” from “Paradehtika”	Greece/ Yougoslavia	Polygram	1991
Esma Redzepova & Ensemble Theodosievsky	“Dzelem Dzelem” from “Road of the Gypsies”	Macedonia	Network
Fanfare Ciocarlia	“Ciocarlia si Suite” from “Radio Pascani”	Roumania	Piranha
Ustad Bismillah Khan	“Purvi Dhun in Kaharwa Taal” from “Shehnai Recital”	India	EMI India
Said Berrada	track 1	Morocco
Beethoven arr. Franz Liszt performed by Cyprien Katsaris	“Symphony no. 9 in d Op. 125 transcribed for piano solo”	Germany/ Hungary/ Greece	Teldec	1996
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan	“Shahbaaz Qalandar” from “Shahbaaz”	Pakistan	Realworld	1989

Today I celebrated 10 years of my program on CKCU-FM with a special 4 hour show. I began in 1994 with an over nighter 2-7 a.m., technically Friday morning, but it felt like Thursday night. After enduring no sleep for 8 months, I switched to Thursday night’s 11 p.m. -2 a.m. which I did for 6 months before arriving at the Thursday afternoon slot where I have stayed since. My show has evolved tremendously over those 10 years, as I have discovered the enormous variety and richness of music in the world. For this show I chose to play some very important musical landmarks which have shaped the course of those 10 years.

Starting with the spectacular new album by Kayhan Kalhor and Ali Akbar Moradi, improvisations for Kamencheh and Tanbur with some vocals (I hope to write an extensive review of this album). Iranian music has played a very important role in my show for numerous reasons. Iran is a very ancient and culturally diverse place, where music has been developed to very sophisticated heights, expressing very dramatically and profoundly the essence of human experience. It is an ancient source for a lot of other musics which rank among the most important in my life. Kayhan Kalhor, Ali Akbar Moradi, and the members of the Kamkars family mark some of the most innovative and brilliant musicians in contemporary Iranian music.

The program continued with the Iranian/Malian collaboration Falak. Though they are recent, they provide a concrete example of a vital theme which has developed on my show over the years: connections between seemingly discrete traditions. I did not enter radio with this idea, it is something which became apparent to me while programming my show. Radio provides opportunities which are not so obvious when listening to recordings at home, filling 3 hours of time with music I disovered again and again how different musics complemented each other, or created striking, intelligent, contrasts. So many great musics, separated by time and/or geography can be found to share the same themes, express the same experiences. And culture has always been dynamic with constant sharing between groups. This may seem obvious as we all share a common humanity. But it is certainly an idea which does not exist in the larger world of the music industry. I place musics together in the same show, or even back-to-back, which you almost never see anywhere else. But it can often sound natural and beautiful.

The show continued with some important recordings, the 1^st album by Tabu Ley I heard, truly the golden voice of Africa. The album by Ruben Gonzalez, released in 1997 along with the Buena Vista Social Club and the Afro-Cuban All-Stars. Three albums which introduced me (and many others) to brilliance of Cuban music. The pianist Ruben Gonzalez became one of my favourite (naturally) of the many musicians involved, and Cuban music has multiplied many times since in my music collection and on my show. Three tremendous female voices follow. The song “Ederlezi” has appeared on my show many many times in many different versions, this one remains one of my favourite. Esma Redzepova has one of the most powerful Gyspy voices, a great feat when there are so many great Roma singers. Along with Ederlezi, “Dzelem Dzelem” has become almost a ubiquitous theme in Roma music. Of course, I have a great love for Brass instruments, and this love is no better served than by the many great Gypsy brass bands of the Balkans, as exemplified by Fanfare Ciocarlia playing the great theme from the Emir Kusturica’s masterpiece “Underground” (Which was a celebration of brass bands as much as anything).

It is no surprise that the double-reeded pipe makes an appearance next. As the double-reed most often plays the same role as brass instruments in music making. The double reed preceded brass instruments in much of Europe before being replaced by the latter. The great Ustad Bismillah Khan, shows the great artistry and sophisticated beauty this instrument is capable of. We have heard him on my show in countless recordings, but this one was the first I heard. It is followed by a recording of Aissaoua sufis from Morocco, who regularly use the double-reeded Ghaita in their rituals. As shown in this superb example, the Ghaita often takes over from the voices after a certain level of emotional, musical intensity has been reached. The Ghaita pushes the music to a new higher level with its piercing, nasal melodies. It makes me think of the last movement of Bach’s monumental Mass in b minor, in the climax of the concluding fugue, a piercing trumpet takes over the melody from the voices, with very much the same effect as the Ghaita in Aissaoua music.

Probably no other recording comprises so many different fundamental aspects of my musical esthetics than this recording of Liszt’s piano transcription of Beethoven’s 9^th—It is a stunning and rare transcription for the piano, my own instrument, and an instrument we hear in countless repertoire and traditions on my show. Franz Liszt, is one of the greatest composers and pianists, whose music I champion. And of course, the piece is a miracle, a supreme testament to everything good that humanity can achieve. It is an epic drama moving from violence and tragedy to ecstatic joy.

We end the show with an excerpt from Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, another voice we hear often on my show, from the first album which introduced me to his genius. His music often strives for the same magic and jubilant ecstasy Beethoven strives for in his Ode to Joy. And therefore I don’t believe it is an accident that the Ode to Joy is written in as variations in a call-and-response format, the same found in much of Nusrat’s music, and many Sufi and devotional musics. It is a very public, communual form, ideal for strengthening the bonds and uniting the hearts of a community.

Now with over 1600 hours of airtime logged on CKCU, I can safely admit that I have still only scratched the surface of what the world has to offer in music, it has been a very pleasurable voyage so far…let us continue.

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