اغاني يمنيه ، أغاني يمنية Yemen music, Yemen songs

If you've heard any Yemeni music at all, it's probably Yemen Blues, the Bill Laswell-produced ode to all things blue and all things Semitic, Hamitic, and Cushitic, the middle Eastern cacophony of cultures that forms a strong third branch of world music, after sub-Saharan African and Latino.  There's only one problem: it's really not Yemeni.  It's Jewish Yemeni.  Not that it's hard to find 'real' Yemeni music.  It's not.  It's only hard to find a name attached to any of it.  So I chose this video as representative, since it shows scenes I witnessed every day while there, including my hotel.  I hope it's still there.

Fahrettin Güneş - Terekeme Klip 2013 [Azeri, Karapapak, Kafkas, Kars, Ar...

If music is the universal language, then finding each country's sweet spot for sweet talk and sweet music is the fruit of love's labor.  The Internet is a universe composed of Swiss cheese, though, of course, so the long winding roads only lead forever inward--to frequent dead ends.  It's there, though, if you look hard enough, and often in the strangest places.  In Zambia I found it in church.  In Azerbaijan I find it at weddings, no big shock since that's where I ended up hanging out every night in Samarkand, with similar culture.  Azerbaijan is the missing link of Turkish culture--the link between east and west, from the eastern Asian homeland to the modern western sorta-European Turkish state. You get the feeling that the whirling dervishes here are real, not just tourist programs.  Enjoy.

United Church of Zambia

Like so many countries, the best music in Zambia is not necessarily the newest. Unlike many others the best I can find comes straight from the mouth of babes, invoking the words of the Christian God, utilizing the universal language of music. You can get religion fast this way...