Cool Stuff!

I just started poking around YouTube for some Native American music, but I wanted to find a clip that syncretized the traditional music with the modern world. I came across Jana Mashonee. Her first album, Flash of a Firefly, was a 2006 Nammy Award winner. Did you know the Native American Music Awards even existed? Also, her album, American Indian Story, was nominated for a Grammy in 2007. I attached “The Medicine Woman’s Vision” from the album below:

Mashonee also compiled an album of Christmas songs, but she sang them in native languages. “O Holy Night,” which she sang in Navajo, had a transcription that I thought was neat. I pasted it below the video clip so you can follow along!

  O Holy Night (Written in Navajo)

Hodiyin tł’ée’go Sǫ’ bee da’dinnídíingo Áko Yisdá’iiníiłii bi’dizhchį́ Diné ti’dahooníhę́ę baazhníyáago Bijéí biyi’di haa bił dahóózhǫǫd ’Áádóó ch’ééh deeskai yę́ę bił nídahoozhǫǫd Háálá chohoo’̨́ bee ’adideezdláád Yaa ’ádaahnééh diyingo nidaal’a’í ’Éí deísółts’ą́ą́’! Christ yizhchį́ yaa dahalne’ Hodiyin tł’éego Christ ’éí bi’dizhchį́!

 

I wish there was some way for me to insert sound clips because the next thing I discovered is truly amazing. It’s actually another blog on Blogger called Analog Africa. Samy Ben Redjeb travels to Africa and hunts down West African music. His latest album focuses on the music of Luanda. He has sound clips from every album he’s released in the series. I like “Macongo Me Chiquita” from the ninth release. I’ll leave a link to that specific page (http://analogafrica.blogspot.com/2010/10/blog-post.html), but feel free to roam around the entire blog.

 

This last clip is from the documentary, “Playing for Change: Peace Through Music.” It encompasses a wide variety of musical cultures, but African countries are particularly prevalent. There is even some African “clicking” incorporated into the song.