Microfundo :: Music Crowdfunding

Samba Tremeterra - Brazil Carnival!!

Carnival in Brazil opens this weekend!! But if you're not going to make it to Rio or Salvador here's the next best thing -- this live video of the dancers and drummers from Samba Tremeterra.

Samba Tremeterra has been playing in Boston under Deraldo Ferreira's direction for several years. Based out of the Brazilian Cultural Center of New England, the group is the real thing. The Cultural Center was recently named an international Culture Point by none other than Brazil's Minister of Culture, Gilberto Gil.

Here in Boston (where this video was shot) it is rare to have the chance to dance samba, outdoors, in the warm sun. Boston is home to one of the largest Brazilian populations in the U.S., so this could be as close to a carnaval atmosphere as you can get in North America. We are blessed to have this great resource here in New England!!

Get today's SONG: 'Alondra'

This is the first music video produced by Calabash!! Please watch our new video premier on youtube. Post a comment and give us a rating -- send it to your friends and help us make a youtube hit!!
Also, check out the Calabash Video Channel

Samba Dancers, Brazil Carnival, Rio Carnival, Brazilian Culture,

Deep Poets: 'Neegou Goor'!!

Today's Song is by Deep Poets:

Listen: 'Neegou Goor'

Deep Poets consists of four artists: Alibabeu, Kinkely, Architekt, and Baaboo Rhymz’. They created D.P. in the late 90’s in Dakar, Senegal, where the groups’ members wanted to give a new intelligent approach to the hip hop scene.

The music is created from a multitude of musical colors and languages (Arabic, English, French, Wolof). Even if the topics approached in the music remain traditional, even though the style is quite modern and eclectic. The beats are a vibrant mix between hip hop and soulful acoustic sounds, where the lyrics leave the listeners with care and appreciation for the written word. This is definitely something to check out!!

Get: 'Neegou Goor'

Get more music from Deep Poets here!!

 

Africa, Senegal, Hip Hop,

Jaojoby - FREE Song: 'Jaly Jery'!!

Today's FREE song is from Madagascar, an island nation east of Mozambique in the Indian Ocean, where salegy is very popular and Jaojoby is its acknowledged monarch.

FREE SONG:'Jaly Jery'

Born at the end of the 60s around the time the nation became independent from the French, salegy is electric music with no debt to the West. The compelling 6/8 rhythm, which descends from traditional, ancestral Malagasy music forms, entrances dancers.

It is said to date back to the 15th century when humans first settled on the Red Island. The term salegy, of Indonesian origins, emerged in the 1960s and refers to a new, electric music once Malagasy guitarists transposed popular and traditional music from instruments like the tube-zither called the valiha. We play folklore music that we have electrified, says Jaojoby. If we take away the electricity, it would be like the music of our ancestors. We have only added it to get people to dance; to get more [wide smile] decibels. Before Jaojoby and a few others popularized the sound in the 1970s, there were few salegy recordings, and they were only instrumental.

Jaojoby, the band, is a family affair with Jaojoby's wife Claudine on vocals, son Elie Lucas on guitar, and daughters Roseliane and Eusebia singing and dancing. And dancing is a big part of the show.

FREE SONG:'Jaly Jery'

Get more music from Jaojoby here!!

 

Africa, Madagascar, Malagasy Pop, World Pop,

Rajery - FREE Song: 'Realy'!!

Today's FREE Song is by Rajery:

FREE SONG:'Realy'

When Germain Randrianrisoa--a.k.a. Rajery--was just eleven months old, he was taken to a wedding ceremony where an old woman handed him a piece of poisoned meat. "I took it in my right hand," he recalls today, "and it stuck in my throat. Afterwards, my fingers on that hand became shrunken. A couple months later, they fell off. My hand was gone." With this handicap, it took some years before Rajery found himself and his own talents.

At the age of 14, he decided to try and play the valiha. The valiha is a tubular harp made from a large bamboo stalk and bicycle brake cable strings. It typically calls for busy fingers on both hands, so Rajery was at a distinct disadvantage. But Rajery developed his approach to the instrument, picking melodies with his left hand and strumming with the stub of his right hand. He also played bass, and he gained enough confidence that he was able to persuade a concert presenter to let him perform a song as part of a musical program the following years.

Rajery is respected as one of the most innovative valiha players working today. He is constantly invited to participate in projects by other musicians, be it traditional music, jazz, rock, or reggae. In addition, Rajery runs a valiha factory--Top Valiha--and a school, which he hopes to expand dramatically in years to come. In 1995, he initiated a festival for handicapped artists and athletes in Madagascar, with some funding from abroad. In musical, cultural, and social arenas, Rajery is a powerful progressive force in Madagascar today.

FREE SONG:'Realy'

Get more music from Rajery here!!

Africa, Madagascar, Traditional,

Dene Issebere - FREE Song: 'Ladilikan'!!

Today's FREE Song is by Dene Issebere:

FREE SONG:'Ladilikan'

Following her father who worked abroad for 14 years, she had the chance to soak up various musical cultures, and when she went back to Bamako, Dene choose to express herself through singing. Her first compositions, the results of her multiple encounters, enabled her to take part in several musical events in Mali. She was first noticed in parties organized by her school, and after that, she did not hesitate to take part in other concerts. Being the unique composer/ author/interpreter singing something else than the traditional folklore, Dene quickly raised the curiosity of Bamako’s audience.

Following a performance during a concert of the rap band "King Da Dja" (produced by Salif Kéita) called upon Déné to record their "Tougna". This collaboration would be the first of several very diverse musical collaborations!

Dene privileges 5 instruments in her music: the Calabash, the N’goni, the n’tamani, the guitar and the bass guitar.She likes working on two complementary musical universes, which allows her to associate a Dogon musical culture with pop, modern, inspiration and folk. Her register is not limited to the traditional Dogon inheritance as she also regularly approaches the music of other ethnic groups present in Mali (Songhai, Malinké…).

FREE SONG:'Ladilikan'

Get more music from Dene Issebere here!!

 

Africa, Mali, Malian Pop, Tradi modern,

Babaloo - FREE Song: 'Cherry yo yo'!!

Take the rock out of punk rock, add mambo, and you've got PUNK MAMBO! Meet Babaloo, and check out today's FREE Song:

FREE SONG:'Cherry yo yo'

Since 1994, the self-proclaimed inventors of Punk Mambo and Hardcore JuJu have been exposing their audience of loonies, clergymen, bearded ladies, acrobats and gangstas to the infectious rhythms and melodies of their unique multilingual sound.

So what are punk mambo and hardcore juju? It is a mix of soukous, mambo, chacha, samba, reggae, ska and cumbia, sauté with some special ingredients and blended with the energy and wise-guy antics of punk. Perhaps it is best to describe the music of Babaloo as the bastard child of King Sunny Ade and the Ramones or Tito Puente and the Sex Pistols. Either way, Punk Mambo will get you dancing and smiling. Impressed?

Babaloo plays a unique brand of international dance party music. Babaloo originated in Jamaica Plain, MA, a multi-cultural enclave of Boston, where the music of local punk rock bands mix with the sounds of Mambo, Bachata, Reggaeton, and Merengue that emanate from car stereos, front stoops, and bodegas. Their music is rooted in Latin and Afro-Caribbean styles, such as mambo, cha cha cha, samba, reggae, ska, and African soukous combined with the energy, presence and irreverence of the best punk rock. Babaloo creates music that is truly infectious in an atmosphere that resemble a trip through the southern hemisphere with Johnny Rotten or Joey Ramone as your tour guide. They are truly a one of a kind experience.

Babaloo is:
El Presidente al Dente AKA B - lead vocals and percussion, S. Goody - freebass, Captain Kickass - guitars and vocals, Washtub AKA Shubs - drumset, timbales, and vocals Nova AKA Ned Zeppellin - congas, percussion, and vocals Max Factoria - trumpet and percussionD AKA John Lebanon - trumpet and percussion.

FREE SONG:'Cherry yo yo'

Get more music from Babaloo here!!

 

Cumbia, Soukous, Latin Alternative

Thione Seck - FREE Song: 'Assalo (Candle Games) w/ Bombay Jayashri'!!

Former member of Star Band de Dakar and Orchestra Baobab, Thione Seck has been an important figure on Senegal’s music scene since the 1960s. In the late 70s and early 80s Seck was one of the originators of mbalax, which has been Senegal’s most popular sound since then. Check out today's FREE Song:

FREE SONG:'Assalo (Candle Games) w/ Bombay Jayashri'

Seck was always a fan of Egyptian superstars such as Abdel Halim Hafez and Oum Kalsoum as well as Bollywood playback singers Kishore Kumar, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. These singers have influenced his singing style, sometimes subtly, sometimes in a more obvious way. - An interesting mixture of Africa and Asia, - Senegal and India, among others...

Even though Seck grew up in Senegal, he says that a childhood fascination with Hindu films led him to favor Eastern modes. He told Afropop, "It's like the scales of the Spanish, Hindu, Greek, Arab musicians. Each time I compose a song, I put a few notes from this eastern scale, because that's what I love the most." The contrast between the band's edgy alertness and Seck's air of spiritual intoxication is likely to raise the hair on your spine. Do you agree?

FREE SONG:'Assalo (Candle Games) w/ Bombay Jayashri'

Get more music from Thione Seck here!!

Senegal, Mbalax, Senegalese Pop, World Pop,

Maraca - FREE Song: 'Tú Verá Tú Va' a Ver'!!

Today's FREE Song is by Orlando "Maraca" Valle, who was born in Havana, Cuba in September 1966.

FREE SONG:'Tú Verá Tú Va' a Ver'

Maraca is a child prodigy born to a musical family, who started his musical career at the age of 16 as flute player in the world famous Irakere, led by Chucho Valdez, where he departed at the ripe age of 24 to embark on his own career. One of his first tasks as a solo artist was writing and arranging several hit songs on the first Cubanismo album, which in turn led him to create his own group in 1996, Maraca & Otra Vision. Throughout the years he has produced many projects, one of which was nominated for a Grammy and toured all over the owrld sharing the stage with musical luminaries such as Oscar De Leon, Jose Alberto "El Canario", Cesaria Evora and many more. Maraca & Otra Vision have performed in the most prestigious festival and venues around the world, and are currently embarking on another world wide tour.

Maraca's initial effort could not have been more productive . He produced, directed, composed and performed the music of Passaporte (an album of Cuban percussioniats Tata Guines and Anga). This recording won Maraca, Cuba's Egrem national prize for that best album of 1994. He won the same prize the following year with his latin Jazz recording, Formula Uno, which featured him as solo artist and included the participation of numerous stars of the Cuban music. Enjoy!

FREE SONG:'Tú Verá Tú Va' a Ver'

Get more music from Maraca here!!

 

Cuba, Afro-Cuban, Son, Danzon,

Rosanna & Zelia - FREE Song: 'Medida'!!

Today's FREE song is by Rosanna & Zelia, and from Brazil:

FREE SONG:'Medida'

The story of Rosanna and Zelia is one of a journey which started in Minas Gerais and led the two musicians via Portugal and Finland to Frankfurt. At first, their aim was to find a new relationship with their own folk music and discover how musicians here interpret classical, jazz and pop music.

"Far from home, one sees one's culture in a different light and learns to understand it better. That was the first thing we realised. Everything suddenly sounded new again - even the Bossa Nova, which until then had seemed to us like outdated music. Here, we have rediscovered the beauty of this style in a completely unbiased manner. We wanted to play it in addition to all the other richly diverse forms of Brazilian music." -- Rosanna and Zelia.

The Brazilian duo Rosanna & Zelia marry jazz, chamber music and even pop with the indigenous sounds of Brazil and Latin America. Rosanna Tavares & Zélia Fonseca joined forces at the tender age of 14 in their native state of Minas Gerais. Since arriving in Germany in 1991, the two musicians have built up a solid reputation of intrepid and original artists, willing to turn classic Brazilian sounds on their heads by crossing them with traditional rhythms from the Old Continent and the New World.

The two women are experimenting with paintings in sound, artistic ballad-like moods, blends of reggae and samba and religious, ritual music. Enjoy!

FREE SONG:'Medida'

Get more music from Rosanna & Zelia here!!

 

South America, Brazil, Samba, World Jazz,

Eddie Bobe - FREE Song: 'El mas cumbanchero'!!

Today's FREE Song is by Eddie Bobe:

FREE SONG: 'El mas cumbanchero'

The sound of summer in Nu Yorica - the most northerly capital of the Caribbean. Organized by Eddie Bobe, on Sunday afternoons over the past 30 years, New York's Central Park has been the meeting place for celebrating NYC Rumba. Here a mixture of Nuyoricans (New York Puerto Ricans), Afro-Cubans and some Afro-Americans, drum, sing and dance from early afternoon until late into the evening.

Unofficial food vendors sell Puerto Rican and Cuban dishes as well as rum, beer and shots of "Mamahuana", a homemade alcoholic drink. Despite regular harassment by the authorities the gatherings continue to thrive.

Central Park Rumba is one of those rare recordings that succeeds in performing traditional genres in a fresh way. These New York rumberos have a profound knowledge of the roots of Afro-Cuban folkloric music, and they have the confidence to use this knowledge in unique ways. "Columbia de los guerreros" combines lyrics in Spanish, Lucumí and the esoteric Arará language. It is a unique combination, but true to the spirit of columbia, which allows for free combinations of secular and religious lyrics. They also perform an elegant Abakwá religious song, a style rarely heard on commercial recordings. This song inexplicably has no chorus, the only lapse in the otherwise impeccable good taste shown in the arrangements.Another strength is how these artists have mastered the contemporary expression of folkloric rumba, often known as guarapanchangueo, where the characteristic tumbadora rhythm patterns are subtly implied rather than repeated endlessly as in the rumbas of the last generation.

Finally, the rumberos transcend folklore by adding horns and other band instruments in various sparse, tasty combinations. "Respira profundo" excites in particular with its bluesy flute and piano solos. Some selections can hardly be categorized as rumba, salsa, or jazz. They are sui generis creations on boxes, drums and bells that swing hard and prove that the limits to Latin music have yet to be set.

FREE SONG:'El mas cumbanchero'

Get more music from Eddie Bobe and other Central Park musicians here!!

 

North America, Bomba, Afro Cuban, Rumba,