Music and the arts can be positive avenues of interaction among diverse peoples. Now as ever, and more than ever, it's important to look for positive ways to bridge our cultural differences and bring different cultures together.

Transpacific Sound Paradise: PLAYLISTS and REAL AUDIO ARCHIVES 2000-2001

Transpacific Sound Paradise: Popular and Unpopular Music from Around the World is heard on Sundays 8-10pm on WFMU 91.1 FM in the New York Metropolitan area and 90.1 in New York's Hudson Valley. Or click here and you can listen to us on the web through the wonders of RealAudio!

For current playlists visit http://www.wfmu.org/Playlists/Robw

For an alphabetical listing of archived shows featuring special guests and/or live music, click here.

For updated show info and links visit the Transpacific Sound Paradise homepage: http://www.wfmu.org/tsp
You may also enjoy Rob's World Music Shopping Guide, Fun World Music Facts, and NYC World Music Concert Calendar.

Contact Rob Weisberg by sending e-mail to Rob's Mail Page.

Playlists and Archives 2000-2001 (Click here for Playlists and archives after Jan. 1, 2002)

• December 30, 2001: Year-end Review: Favorite World Music-oriented (or should we say "marketed"?) releases of 2001 or thereabouts
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
  
• December 23, 2001: Transpacific Sound Paradise's Third Somewhat Annual Golden Hour of African Gospel
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
  
• December 16, 2001 (Playlist not posted): Noted Cuba-phile, singing cowboy and sometime auctioneer Ned Sublette regales us with tales of his recent travels to Cuba with the Afropop Worldwide posse. Plus lots of Cuban music, with a special emphasis on music of the Afro-Cuban Yoruba tradition.
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  For information about releases on Ned's QBAdisc label and the musical trips he leads to Cuba (the next one is tentatively scheduled for July), write to him: ned@qbadisc.com
  
  Read about the Afropop trip to Cuba in a series of articles by Larry Katz for the Boston Herald: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/katz12092001.htm
  
  
  
• December 9, 2001 (Playlist not posted): Music from Afghanistan with journalist Richard Gehr.
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  Read Gehr's article about music in Afghanistan: http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0147/gehr.php
  Some of Gehr's other articles on music, pop culture and the arts: http://levity.com/rubric/index.html
  
  Read ethnomusicologist John Baily's article about music and music censorship in Afghanistan: http://www.freemuse.dk/03libra/countries/afghanistan/texts/musicofafghanistan.html
  
  
  
• December 2, 2001: Raga Rock in memory of the youngest Beatle (first hour). Check out this related website: http://psychevanhetfolk.homestead.com/SITARfusions.html
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
  
• November 25, 2001: World music meets jazz (third in a very occasional series).
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
  
• November 18, 2001: Live Afrobeat with Kokolo. For Kokolo gig and cd info, write to kokolomail@aol.com.
  
  Click here to hear this now.
  
  
  
• November 11, 2001: Dum Dum Project live sitar and beats
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
  
• November 4, 2001: Mixed bag.
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
  
• October 28, 2001: Ghanaian gyil (xylophone) master Kakraba Lobi and collaborators Valerie Naranjo and Barry Olsen perform live in the studio.
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  Lobi's new cd with Naranjo and Olsen, Song of Niira, is available at Tribal Soundz, 340 E6 St in NYC or http://www.tribalsoundz.com.
  
  
  
• October 21, 2001: Ken Braun of Sterns Music presents a musical overview of the career of Congolese legend Franco, with expert commentary.
  
  Click here to hear this show.
  
  
  
• October 14, 2001: Mixed bag including new releases and more cross-cultural collaborations.
  
  Click here to hear this show.
  
  
  
• October 7, 2001 (playlist not posted). Concert preview double-header:
  First, an archival visit with Esma and her band (currently on the "Gypsy Caravan" tour - info http://www.worldmusicinstitute.org).
  Second, ethnomusicologist Tristra Newyear interviews Albert Kuvezin, founding member of the Tuvan Band Yat-Kha (touring with the early Russian silent film Storm Over Asia).
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
  
• September 29, 2001 (playlist not posted): Harmonia, from Cleveland by way of Central and Eastern Europe, performs at WFMU.
  Six live pieces from this highly accomplished pan-Slavic band plus interviews with bandmembers including leader and Midwestern / Eastern European music ombudsman Frank Mahovlich.
  
  Click here to hear this show.
  
  Harmonia on the web for background, bios, cds, and tour dates: http://www.harmoniaband.com
  
  
• September 22, 2001: Cross-cultural collaboration part 2 of 2.
  Click here to hear this show.
  
  
• September 15, 2001: Cross-cultural collaboration part 1 of 2: Positive connection between cultures, through music.
  Music and the arts can be positive avenues of interaction among diverse peoples. Now as ever, and more than ever, it's important to look for positive ways to bridge our cultural differences and bring different cultures together.
  
  Click here to hear this show.
  
  
• September 8, 2001: Music for the oral cavity with vocalizer Akim Ndlovu and jawharpist Lena Strayhorn.
  Click here to hear this show starting Tuesday, September 11.
  
  Lena and Akim will both lead workshops in September at Tribal Soundz, 340 E6 St, NY: http://www.tribalsoundz.com
  Akim's next show with his multicultural music / dance ensemble Dha Fuzion is Sept. 29 (evening) at Galapagos.
  The jaw-harping community in the U.S. and info on an annual festival are on the web: http://jewsharpguild.org/
  Also recommended is Henk Postma's bountiful international jawharping resource site: http://www1.zeelandnet.nl/paclax/jewsharp
  
  
• September 1, 2001: New and notable.
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• August 25, 2001: A radio project: "Global Manipulation."
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  One hour of ethnographic field recordings from the prestigious OCORA Radio France catalogue, followed by one hour of the same recordings cut, mixed, deconstructed and re-constructed. Rob selects the source material, sound artist Ken Garson (of Ken's Last Ever Radio Extravaganza) gives it the treatment.
  
  
• August 18, 2001: From Russia with Love... with Tristra Newyear
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  A lot of folks think of the former Soviet Union as one big monolothic culture. Not ethnomusicologist Tristra Newyear, however.
  She's just returned from the outer reaches of the Russian Federation and as guest dj she plays rarely heard music from a range of minority cultures there.
  Her selections include traditional and neo-traditional as well as some curious manifestations of Western pop, including all your favorite Mongolian heavy metal.
  
  Read Tristra's article about music in Buryatia today: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~asiactr/haq/200001/0001a007.htm
  
  
• August 11, 2001: "Curry and Chips".
  Click here to hear this show starting now.
  
  With the anniversary of Indian and Pakistani Independence from England coming up on August 15, this question came to mind: In Britain, a land where curry is the national dish, samosas and chicken tikka sandwiches are sold at every deli, and even the burger chains have served up McChicken Korma Nan sandwiches and Masala Burgers - who really was / is the colonizer and who the colonizee?
  
  We decided to find out by letting Anglo-Anglo music (specifically, British folk-rock and neo-traditional music (Sandy Denny, Martin Carthy and their ilk) go head to head with Anglo-Asian music (Anglo-Asian electronica and rock, bhangra, and the work of self-styled artists like Sheila Chandra and Nitin Sawhney).
  
  My partner Katie Gentile, violinist for the New York-based indie rock band Special Pillow selected the British folk material and I (Rob Weisberg) selected the Anglo-Asian tracks.
  
  
• August 4, 2001: Mixed bag.
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• July 21, 2001: New releases + French - North African music + Papa Wemba preview
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• July 14, 2001 (no playlist posted): Bastille Day Francophone Special with guest host Trouble
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• July 7, 2001: Bernard Woma, Valerie Naranjo and Barry Olsen: Powerful traditional marimba (gyil) music from northwest Ghana.
  Live performance, demonstration and conversation.
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  For information on this group and the tradition from which it draws, their cd Zie Mwea,
  marimba music in general and Naranjo and Olsen's many other musical activities: http://www.mandaramusic.com
  
  To learn more about Bernard Woma, master drummer in the Ghanaian national dance company: http://www.bernardwoma.com
  
  The cd Zie Mwea is available from Tribal Soundz, the world musical instrument shop and workshop center at 340 E6 St, and Stern's Music, the African / World Music shop at 74 Warren St in lower Manhattan.
  
  
• June 30, 2001: "Africa Unplugged" + a few new releases
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• June 23, 2001: Iranian-born vocalist Sussan Deyhim talks about her music, and we hear selections from her recent cds.
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  Sussan and her primary collaborator Richard Horowitz's early 80s recordings foreshadowed today's exotic electronica.
  They released a new cd together in 1997, Majoun, and Sussan's LP of Iranian songs re-interpreted, Madman of God, was released by Cramworld in 2000.
  Her film / video soundtrack / montage Turbulent (for multiple works by Shirin Neshat) is newly released.
  
  Sussan Deyhim will be performing in collaboration with Shirin Neshat at The Kitchen in New York in fall 2001.
  
  
• June 16, 2001: Banning Eyre, guitarist, writer, radio producer (Afropop Worldwide) returns from Afropop's trip to Madagascar
  with new cds and intimate field recordings highlighting guitar and other instrumental styles of the diverse and beautiful Indian Ocean island nation.
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  Find out about Banning's guitar workshops at Tribal Soundz in New York via http://www.tribalsoundz.com or http://www.banningeyre.com
  
  
• June 2, 2001: New York City world popular music summer concert preview.
  Selections by artists to perform at Central Park Summerstage, Lincoln Center Festival's Africa Out Loud series, Prospect Park Celebrate Brooklyn, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, etc.
  For NYC world music concert listings and festival links, go to http://www.wfmu.org/Robw/events.html
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• May 26, 2001: Special archival broadcast: Russian-born accordionist Yuri Lemeshev performs songs from his extensive repertoire of cabaret songs,
  Russian folk songs, movie songs, Brazilian songs and more. Plus lots of great recordings of accordion-centered music from around the world.
  Presented in conjunction with the 2001 Rootsworld Free Reed Festival. Originally broadcast in fall 1996.
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• May 19, 2001: Finnish-Sami joiker/songwriter Ulla Pirttijärvi
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  Ulla Pirttijarvi is a Finnish singer of Sami heritage. The Sami are an indigenous people of northern Scandinavia.
  First as a member of groundbreaking Sami singer Mari Boine's ensemble and the vocal trio Angelin Tytot
  and now in collaboration with Frode Fjellheim (leader of the Sami fusion band Transjoik),
  Ulla updates the traditional vocal style and vocal culture known as the joik.
  
  Ulla's cd Ruossa A Eanan on Atrium / Warner Sweden is widely available (Tower Records, CDNow, etc.)
  
  
• May 12, 2001: Mixed Bag featuring Japanese Golden Week week-late set (hour 2).
  Click here to hear this show starting now.
  
  
• May 5, 2001: Spotlight on the ongoing Friday night series Festival of Solitude at Exit Art, 548 Broadway NYC.
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  Guests: Performers featured in the May 11 concert:
  Series co-producer and hybrid instrument artist/designer and performer Ken Butler (http://www.mindspring.com/~kbhybrid/) +
  Ghanaian Master Drummer Kwaaku Kwaakye Obeng (http://www.obeng.org).
  
  
• May 4, 2001: Special 1-hour live remote from the WFMU Record Fair featuring Aoki "Pinky" of the Japanese garage band Phantom Gift debuting his new band's EP,
  plus Dan Cuddy and Katie Gentile of Special Pillow, Pat Longo of Hippopotamus, and Kevin Lee of Tool and Die
  playing favorite scratchy ethnic and international vinyl.
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• April 28, 2001 (show description only): Tom Van Buren of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance
  (CTMD) highlights his group's work with immigrant musicians in NYC, including production of a new series of cds for the Smithsonian Folkways label and participation in the 2001 Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife. Plus Andriy Milavsky of the New York based Ukrainian ensemble Cheres, a group based in the Soviet-era state folk ensemble tradition who is among the musicians working with CTMD.
  
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  Cheres' cd From the Mountains to the Steppes is available from Surma Ukrainian bookstore, 11 E7St NYC, 212 477-0729 http://www.brama.com/surma/.
  
  
• April 21, 2001: Greek music expert George Sempepos of the Greek-American band Annabouboula previews the World Music Institute's NY Greek Festival.
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  For info about Balkans Without Borders, an Ominum records benefit compilation for Doctors Without Borders
  featuring Annabouboula and Immigrant Suns (see TSP 4/14/01, below) and Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass band (see TSP 1/6/01, below):
  http://www.omnium.com/balkans/index2.html
  
  
• April 14, 2001: Immigrant Suns. From Detroit by way of Albania and beyond, avant-world hybridists perform an "unplugged" set in the show's second hour.
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  Immigrant Suns homepage for biography and recordings: http://www.phoneticrecords.com/immigrantsuns/
  
  
• April 7, 2001: Transjoik.
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  Featuring a visit with Transjoik, a band from Norway that mixes traditional Sami vocal joiks (live and sampled) with a broader range of gutteral singing, percussion inspired by shamanic drumming, electric guitar and beat-heavy electronics. Transjoik is one of several groups and artists in Scandinavia seeking to sustain the culture of the indigenous Sami people by interpreting Sami traditions in new ways.
  Related links:
  Transjoik homepage for info and Transjoik cds: http://www.transjoik.com
  Brief introduction to Sami culture: http://www.enontekio.fi/english/info/sami.html from the municipality of Enontekiö website
  For an excellent article about the joik from the Finnish Music Centre website, click here.
  
  
• March 31, 2001: Fundraiser Show #2 of 2. No Playlist posted. Click here to hear the show.
  
  
• March 24, 2001: Fundraiser Show #1 of 2. No Playlist posted. Click here to hear the show.
  
  
• March 17, 2001: Hour 1: Mixed Bag; Hour 2: From Buryatia (Siberia) and Mongolia: Uragsha (live performance) + Virlana Tkacz of Yara Arts Group.
  Click here to hear this show now.
  In second hour: Live mini-set by Uragsha featuring the full ensemble plus a demonstration of Mongolian/Buryatian throat singing.
  Related links:
  Uragsha bio: http://www.brama.com/yara/uragsha.html
  Yara Arts Group: http://www.brama.com/yara
  Shamanism FAQ: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/shamanism/overview/
  
  
• March 10, 2001: Patrick Brennan / sudani
  Click here to hear this show now.
  Saxophonist Patrick Brennan talks about his travels to Morocco and collaboration with Moroccan Gnawa musician Najib Sudani and friends that resulted in the collaborative recording project Sudani.
  Related links:
  Patrick Brennan: http://www.brickhaus.com/deepdish (general background) and http://brickhaus.com/deepdish/sudani_project.htm (Sudani project)
  Brennan workshops at Tribal Soundz, 340 E6St, NYC: http://www.tribalsoundz.com (212) 673-5992
  Coalition Against Slavery in Mauritania and Sudan (Najib Sudani's paternal grandfather was brought to Morocco as a slave and the practice of slavery and indentured servitude continues there and in other parts of the world to this day): http://www.members.aol.com/casmasalc
  
  
• March 3, 2001: Mixed Bag
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• February 24, 2001: Guests: Limor Tomer, producer, Exit Art Balkan Cabaret series + participants Marjana Sadovska and Matt Darriau.
  Click here to hear this show now.
  Sadovska talks about her interpretations of traditional Ukrainian village women's songs. Darriau describes how his music merges Balkan and Eastern European music with jazz and other forms. Short performance segments by Marjana (vocal with harmonium) and Matt (Bulgarian gaida) plus selections from their cds.
  Related links:
  Exit Art concert series: http://www.fileunder.org
  Yara Arts (212 475-6474), Ukrainian theatre arts group presenting Marjana's vocal workshops: http://www.brama.com/yara
  Global Village Music: Label for Marjana's debut cd. http://www.the-forum.com/globalvillage/index.htm
  Introduction to Matt Darriau's Paradox Trio: http://www.jewmu.com/darriau.html
  
  
• February 17, 2001: A visit with Cape Verdean singer Fantcha + More Malian Music
  Click here to hear this show now.
  Fantcha is the adopted musical daughter of legendary Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora. In the first hour we talk to Fantcha and listen to selections from her forthcoming cd Viva Mindelo on Harmonia Mundi / Lusafrica. The second hour, following up on last week's show, features Malian electric music.
  
  
• February 10, 2001: A visit with Banning Eyre, author, In Griot Time: An American Guitarist in Mali (Temple University Press).
  Click here to hear this show now.
  Banning Eyre, writer and guitarist, talks about his self-styled six month musical residency in Bamako, Mali. Features a little live guitar playing in hour 2.
  
  Banning Eyre homepage: http://www.banningeyre.com
  Afropop Worldwide radio program: http://www.afropop.org
  Tribal Soundz, 340 E 6 St, NYC where Banning and other musicians run workshops: http://www.tribalsoundz.com
  Sterns Records, 74 Warren St, NYC: Released companian cd and generally great source for African music: http://www1.sternsmusic.com/
  
  
• February 3, 2001: Mixed Bag + Bosnian Set
  Click here to hear this show now.
  Featuring Bosnian cassettes from Bosnia Music and Video World, 338 1/2 Franklin Ave, Hartford CT.
  
  
• January 27, 2001: Exit Art Balkan Cabaret Preview + Lunar New Year Set
  Click here to hear this show now.
  Guests: Limor Tomer, producer of the Friday night concert series (http://www.fileunder.org) at Exit Art, 548 Broadway in New York City [(212) 966-7745]; Romanian singer and series participant Sanda Weigl; plus a cameo visit from Matt Moran and Ted Reichman of series participants Slavic Soul Party.
  
  
• January 20, 2001: Music from the Dominican Republic
  Click here to hear this show now.
  Guest DJ Sean Harvey, author of The Rough Guide to the Dominican Republic and co-author of the Dominican Republic and Haiti chapters in The Rough Guide to World Music Volume 1.
  
  
• January 13, 2001: Percussionist Raquy Danziger + New Releases
  Click here to hear this show now.
  Guest: Raquy Danziger, a highly acclaimed young percussionist. Raquy's primary area of interest is Middle Eastern music and her primary instrument is the dumbek (with which she gives a short demonstration). Feauturing her debut cd Masmudi and her work with the group Pransamble.
  Special thanks to Tribal Soundz musical instrument / cd shop and world music clubhouse, where Raquy and other globetrotting musicians host ongoing workshops.
  
  
• January 6, 2001: Brass Band Spectacular Starring Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band Live
  Click here to hear this show now.
  Here are some useful related links:
  Zlatne Uste Balkan Brass Band: http://www.zlatneuste.org
  Eastern European Folkdance Website and e-mail list: http://www.mindspring.com/~ginbirch/eefc/
  Folkdancing in New York: http://www.nycfolkdance.org
  U.S. Folk Dance Directory: http://folkdancing.org/fd_directory.html
  
  
• December 30, 2000: Some Favorite Tracks from Y2K
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• December 23, 2000: African Gospel Spectacular
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• December 16, 2000: State of Bengal Interview and Music
  Click here to hear this show now.
  Guest: Anglo-Bengali DJ, remixer and recording artist Sam Zaman a/k/a State of Bengal.
  Featuring the U.S. version of State of Bengal's CD Visual Audio on Six Degrees Records, the UK version on One Little Indian; State of Bengal remixes of other artists, and tracks from the State of Bengal / Ananda Shankar collaboration Walking On on Real World Records.
  
  
• December 9, 2000: Mixed Bag + Spotlight on Amalia Rodrigues
  Click here to hear this show now.
  Guest: Bruno de Almeida, Director, The Art of Amalia,
  a documentary about Portuguese singer Amalia Rodrigues
  opening December, 2000 at the Quad Cinema, 34 W 13 St, NYC
  and elsewhere in the U.S.
  
  
• December 2, 2000: Spotlight on the Rough Guides
  Click here to hear this show now.
  Guests: Dave Wechsler of the Rough Guides and
  the band Pinataland; Ramiro Burr, journalist and author, Billboard Guide to
  Tejano and Mexican Regional Music; Dan Rosenberg, journalist, anthologist
  and producer of WCBN radio's Cafe International
  
  
• November 25, 2000: New Releases / Mixed Bag
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• November 18, 2000: Mediterranean Pop Madness: Guest DJ Geo Sempepos
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• November 11, 2000: New Releases / Concert Preview
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• November 4, 2000: Lusophone African Pop: Guest DJ Beto Barbosa
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• October 28, 2000: Zambian Independence Day
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• October 21, 2000: Holiday Booty Mixed Bag
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• September 30, 2000: Cameroon Gold + Jewish New Year
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• September 23, 2000: Mixed Bag. Note: Playlist not posted.
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• September 16, 2000: Mixed Bag / Coptic (Ethiopian) New Year
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• September 9, 2000: Balkanalia with Matt Moran
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• September 2, 2000: Mixed Bag
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• August 26, 2000: September Concert Preview
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• August 19, 2000: Indonesian Guitars / Mixed Bag
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• August 12, 2000: India Day Special
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• August 5, 2000: Guest DJ Pat Longo
  Click here to hear this show now.
  
  
• Click here for playlists prior August, 2000 (no archives - tapes of certain shows available upon request).
• Click here for Playlists and archives after Jan. 1, 2002
  

If you'd like information about any of the selections in the playlists above or have any comments or criticism, send an e-mail message to me, Rob Weisberg. I'm always interested in swapping cassettes with folks so if you'd like to hear a program from the archives or if you'd like to hear more of a particular type of music featured on my show, let me know.