World Music
The other thing from my trip yesterday was the amount of world music I was listening to. I started with the Cuban retro-music of Buena Vista Social Club. That remains one of the significant albums of world music of the past number of years. Ry Cooder recorded the frozen in time music of Cuba before it disappears. Old Cuban musicians playing music as it was played when Castro came to power. It has that retro feel, but there is no mistaking it as "old" and cast-away. It is the music of a people from a time past that still speaks of their lives today.

Then I listened to a compilation CD with Latino, African, Caribbean and other music. Each one has its own unique flavor. Each one has its own style. Sometimes it's the tone and chord structures, other times it's the way the vocals harmonize or contrast with the instruments. There is not the homogeneity to world music that tends to happen in "pop music." There is a blending, to be sure, of cultural and musical elements from different places, but each one reflects the people it comes from.

Under it all, though, is the power of rhythm and/or percussion. Rhythm is the heartbeat of music. Percussion is often the heart. Again, each has its own unique style that gives the flavor to each music. Perhaps one of the greatest musical advances of the past 75 years is recorded music that truly allows us to celebrate and enjoy this wide range of music from all over the world.