branch out a little

Since we've been talking about Latin America in class, I've been thinking about this "band" that my dad introduced me to when I was about 5. Thinking now, I'm pretty impressed that my dad, a pretty conservative dude who really enjoys cowboy music (real cowboy music), would even own a CD by these guys. The name of the band is Cusco and is comprised of two German guys who explore the musical styles of other cultures in the composition of their own music. They focus very much on the music of Central and Latin America, which is appropriate as their band name is derived from the name capitol of the ancient Incan civilization--Cuzco, literally meaning "navel," considered to be the center of the earth. What these guys have cooked up is musik de über producción. Have a listen.



Flying Condor - Cusco



I'm not really a fan of the music, but I commend their creativity. What I'm really interested in is the following video.


As mentioned in class, the technical perfection of articualtion that Tabla players possess is just totally mindblowing. If I my fingers were that fast, I'd be playing Tchaik faster than Hillary Hahnn. However, if you watched the entire video and have at least some knowledge of music, you'll agree with me that although this clip is pretty cool, he's really only expressing one ability, and that is speed of fingers. The next video is much more impressive. The Chakardar Ensemble is performing in Royal Albert Hall, which alone is pretty impressive, but after glimpsing the technicality involved in playing tabla, the quality of this ensenmble is pretty amazing.


The bass tones are the best.