May 09, 2008
Min Xiao-Fen
The pipa, or Chinese lute, has been part of traditional music in China for more than 2,000 years. These days, a few intrepid players have been incorporating the pipa’s sound into jazz, bluegrass, and modern classical music. Pipa virtuoso Min Xiao-Fen finds it impossible to stick to just one genre. Produced by Studio 360's Lu Olkowski.
Min Xiao-Fen performs with Björk:
April 11, 2008
From Addis Ababa to Boston
Mulatu Astatke's mesmerizing soundtrack for the film "Broken Flowers" brought him a new generation of fans. But the Ethiopian musical icon has spent the last 50 years bridging western jazz with Ethiopia's indigenous sounds. Gideon D’Arcangelo first met up with him in Addis Ababa.
- Comments [8]
February 22, 2008
Thao Nguyen
At 23, Thao Nguyen is poised for her breakout. Her new record, We Brave Bee Stings and All, is getting national attention, but Thao's heart stays close to home in the Northern Virginia. That's where she taught herself guitar while working at the coin laundry owned by her mother, an immigrant bringing up Thao on her own. We sent Jesse Dukes to meet up with Thao and her mother Nanh at the laundromat to find out how she grew into a rock star.
- Comments [6]
February 22, 2008
Bonus Track: "Swimming Pools"
"Swimming Pools" from Thao Nguyen's album We Brave Bee Stings and All.
February 08, 2008
Ghazal
For hundreds of years, musicians from India and Pakistan have taken the poetry called ghazal and set it to music. The songs project such deep longing that you don’t need to know Urdu to feel the pain. Produced by Rob Weisberg.
- Comments [4]
February 08, 2008
Bonus Track: "Soch Ka"
Kiran Ahluwalia's "Soch Ka" from her forthcoming album Wanderlust.
