PRI’s The World presents the Global Hit, a daily spotlight on international musical artists or trends. Created by The World’s Marco Werman, the Global Hit features interviews with musicians, critics and deejays around the globe. He is also one of the curators of the South By Southwest Musical Festival (SXSW) – “All Music Is World Music.” Subscribe and follow:
Global Hit
Mehmet Ertegun and jazz
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Bruce Wallace reports on jazz concerts being hosted by the Turkish Embassy in DC. The performaces commemorate a series of ground-breaking concerts organized in the 1930′s by the sons of Ambassador Mehmet Ertegun. Ahmet Ertegun went on to form Atlantic Records. Download MP3
Dylan plays safe in Vietnam
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Many of Bob Dylan’s biggest hits were written and recorded in the 1960s during the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement. Last night the folk music hero performed in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam and he played it safe. Dylan did not play Masters of War or Blowing in the Wind. BBC reporter Nga Pham went to the show and talks to Marco Werman about the expectations some Vietnamese had. Download MP3
What song do you think he should have played in Ho Chi Minh City?
Peruvian singer Susana Baca
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Anchor Marco Werman talks to Peruvian singer and songwriter Susana Baca who has recently released a new album called Afrodiaspora. Download MP3
Swedish Movits!
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Hip-hop, swing, Gypsy jazz is how members of the Swedish trio Movits! describe their music. They also find inspiration from 1950s Rat Pack member Sammy Davis Jr. Anchor Marco Werman speaks with members of the band.
Moroccan musicians Malika Zarra, Karim Ziad and Hamid El Kasri
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
DJ Betto Arcos tells anchor Marco Werman about two CDs by Moroccan musicians.Download MP3
Michel Martelly, singer, president!
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Today’s Geo Quiz welcomes a new president. We’re looking for a nation in the Caribbean where people just found out who their new president is going to be. Voters first went to the polls in November but a second round of voting had to be held to settle the matter. Download MP3‘Songs of Migration’
Zambian DJ and music critic Mannasseh Phiri tells us about a recent musical stage show by South African musician Hugh Masekela. The show is called “Songs of Migration.”
Cumbia old, or cumbia new?
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Anchor Marco Werman tells us about two new CDs that include the sounds of cumbia. One is the traditional 1960 sounds from Colombia, the other is digital cumbia from Argentina. Download MP3
Which one do you prefer? Old cumbia or new? Share your thoughts with us.
French-Malian chamber music
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
For today’s geo quiz, we’re looking for a West African country and its capital. The capital sits on the banks of the Niger River and it’s deemed to be one of the fastest growing cities in Africa. For decades, this city has played a major role in world music. Download MP3Country music attracts German tourists
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Germans are fond of American country music and are Country Music Awards fans. Caitlin Carroll has the story from Berlin.
Download MP3
British singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Anchor Marco Werman speaks with British singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson. The last name may be familiar to fans of British folk music. That’s because Teddy is the son of folk legends Richard and Linda Thompson. Download MP3Video: Thompson performs “Looking for a Girl” live
Shayan Parsai’s Persian classical music
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Reporter Bruce Wallace introduces us to violinist Shayan Parsai. He is an accomplished western classical violinist, but has recently started delving into Persian classical music. Download MP3
If By Yes releases ‘Salt On Sea Glass’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
If By Yes is the name of a new band that’s just out with its debut album. At the same time, The World’s Marco Werman reports, the band members are having to process the distressing news from their native Japan. Download MP3Video: If By Yes performs “Mogawai” live
Sussan Deyhim and ‘Neda’s Eyes’
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with Iranian musician Sussan Deyhim who moved to the United States after Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979. She’s been outspoken critic of Iran’s fundamentalist government ever since. Deyhim dedicates a new song to a young woman who was killed during Iran’s recent Green Revolution. The song is called “Neda’s Eyes.” Download MP3Video: Sussan Deyhim performs Neda’s Eyes
Soul singers Eliza Doolittle and Charles Bradley
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
British singer Eliza Doolittle is getting attention in the United States and veteran American soul singer Charles Bradley finds love and support in Europe. The World’s Marco Werman explores this two-way flow of soul. Download MP3Video: Eliza Doolittle’s “Pack Up”
Additional funding for PRI's The World is provided by:
