World Music Generations

Once again it's field-recording pioneer Alan Lomax's birthday, and that gets us thinking about history and continuity. Both of which turn our ears back to a fascinating if somewhat uneven album that came out in 2004 on Zoe Records (part of Rounder). Producer Tangle Eye took old Lomax recordings, spliced them up, and added new supporting music. Some tracks go for an electonica sound, while this selection dips into reggae. The voices sampled here were first released on the 1960 recording "Menhadden Chanteys" by the Bright Light Quartet.

[mp3] Tangle Eye: "Chantey"
from the album Alan Lomax's Southern Journey Remixed

Read more about Lomax at last year's birthday post.

In thinking about generations of world music, we got to thinking about famous parent-offspring musicians. Although many global musical traditions are passed through family lines, it seems rare that more than one generation attains real global prominence in music. I made a quick list (and admittedly, "global prominence" is a stretch in some cases):

• The Kutis (Fela and Femi)
• The Shankars (Ravi and Anoushka)
• The Velosos (Caetano and Moreno)
• The Farka Toures (Ali and Vieux)
• The Markovics (Boban and Marko)
• The Marleys (Bob and, well, his many offspring)

Are there other obvious ones I'm missing?

tags: worldmusic,, alan, lomax,, reggae