- "Mad" Mehmet from Nizip, a town close to Urfa in southern Anatolia, singing "Gitti kish, geldi bahar", "Winter is going, Spring is coming", as recorded in the 1920s or -30s. - -
Çekiç Ali was a renowned Turkish singer and bağlama player. Here are some of his songs:
- - Doğar yaz ayları "Summer months are born" - Kızılırmak "Red stream" - Sarı yazma "Yellow scarf" [thanks to Ahmet Toprak of turkradio.us for correcting the original, faulty translation] - - The excellent Turkish music label Kalan Müzik released a CD and an audio cassette of his folk songs in 1999 (Kalan 152). - -
Two pieces - similar, yet different - interpreted by Fateh Uddin, Durdana Khan, and Shuja ul-Haq. The songs were perhaps originally released on a 60-minute audio cassette, and were found on the excellent Shandur.com website - a 'site "dedicated to providing information about shandur polo festival and other tourist spot in the Northern Areas including Chitral". (Yasinvalley.com is another excellent source for music from Yasen, Chitral, Hunza, Shin, Wakhan, the Pamirs, Chilas, and Baltistan.)
(The opening instrumental solo of the second song ranks among the finest and most soulful entrées I know; and although the voice in both pieces is a little harsh to my ears, I find that "it grows on one". This is remarkable music, and I know of no other like it!)
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And from our friends on YouTube: A short documentary film on Chitral, which mostly deals with music and song. Well worth watching!
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Part 1 -
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"Chitral has a rich diverse cultural heritage.See the complete series of this movie and you ill find out pleasent and melody voice of various singers.....see the Baarwazi style dance and listen to Aamir Gul." -
Part 2 -
- - "Aamir Gul the famous poet and baba of Sithar....listen to him carefully .he is nt plain Sithaar ..He Speaks." -
Part 3
- - "The Romeo & Juliet Of Chitral. Muhammad Siyaar & Youman Hammeem. Listen the story and Siyaar poetry." -
Part 4
- - "Listen to the melodious voice of Mir Wali Khan Master of Koragh.He is singing of Siyaar's poetry." -
Part 5
- - "Here you can view old traditional dances and songes.The people of Chapali are very famous in dances. See the introduction of Sufism and Garba."
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This song is called "Canción de Canteros", and was recorded in Galicia (a province of north-western Spain) in the 1950s by Alan Lomax, folk- and ethno-musicologist extraordinaire. It is a remarkable example of a work-song; my guess is that the stonemasons use this song's powerful rhythm to synchronize their efforts whilst hoisting a heavy stone with the aid of a block and tackle. - Not only are the singing stonemasons speaking gallego - a dialect of Spanish spoken in Galicia, a mix of Spanish and Portuguese - but they are also using a secret language unique to their trade. It took me some time to find someone capable of translating the song for me. In the end, the (somewhat bewildered) patrons of the "Galicia" restaurant in West London were able to shed some light on the song's lyrics: "Rich or poor, fat or thin, we will all end up [buried] underground", etc. - -
Recorded in the city of Tashkurgan south of Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan in 1968, this song is an example of "teahouse music" (i.e. popular music performed in teahouses), and the players are none other than Bangecha (of "Bangecha and his Dancing Dog" fame - see photo above) and a certain Simorgh. The song (05:23) is called Laili Laili Jaan ("Dearest Laili"; Laili/Laila and Majnun are the eastern equivalents of our Juliet and Romeo). - The rhythm of this song is fantastic, and the musical performance quite impressive. The use of "dove's bells" marks the Uzbek influence of this piece; these bells (zang-i kaftar) are attached to the drummers' hands, and provide a nice counterpoint to their efforts whilst enhancing the effects of the rhythm. Another clue to Uzbek influence is the audience expressing their satisfaction or admiration by whistling in imitation of birdcalls. - The dancing dog ("Pupi") was part of Bangecha's act, a gimmick useful for building a reputation. (Apparently, a contemporary of Bangecha's used a goat to attract a crowd.) At 02:15 (just before the middle of the song), you can hear Bangecha saying "Wah, wah", "Woof, woof", which presumably triggers his dog à la Pavlov into doing a quick trick for the audience. And the crowd goes wild, and applauds, with congratulatory cries of "Wallah!" - For more on Uzbek music from northern Afghanistan, go to Mark Slobin's excellent website. (He's the genius who recorded this in the first place.) - -
