Posts tagged singing
"The Arabic Singing Dispora," by Brian Eno, in the exhibit Bye bye blackboard ... from Einstein and others, April–September 2005 :: via VSL Science
In homage to their treasured 1931 blackboard full of Einstein equations, Oxford's Museum of the History of Science asked scientists, artists, etc. to each fill up a blackboard with something interesting. Here's what musician Brian Eno came up with: "This is the depiction of a theory that Arabic singing bounced around the world in several directions creating what we call popular music, and how the British Isles were central to this." Astute geographers will notice that Asia seems to have been omitted ... I'm sure there are plenty of arrows to be drawn up the Silk Road, down into India, across to the Indonesian archipelago ... culture, after all, gets around.
re:
africa, asia, brian eno, cultural worlds, europe, immigration, middle east, music, singing, south america
Nate: 
video 
Portland Sacred Harp
Portland Sacred Harp
from Oregon Art Beat, 16 October 2008, on Oregon Public Broadcasting
My local PBS arts show just replayed this great story about Portland Sacred Harp, a community group that cultivates the American tradition of shape-note singing. I love the inward-facing seating—the performers are simultaneously the audience!
Nate: