Sandy’s Gumbo

Folk Music & Beyond Playlist for July 23, 2016
Sandy’s Gumbo with Guest Host Sandy Miranda

Leyenda (released 7/24/16 in the USA) is a magical journey into the world of feminine legends by world music singer and composer Ana Alcaide. It’s a world of all-powerful flying goddess, tempting water sirens, and magical creatures lurking deep in caves.

First we’ll hear a song called “Tlalli,” a tribute to Mother Earth and her life cycles featuring Ana’s folk instrument of choice, the Swedish nyckelharpa. Tlalli is literally the old native Mexican word for Earth.

Next, we’ll hear “La Ondina de Vacares,” set deep in the heart of Grenada’s Lake Vacares, home to the magical water spirits or “undines” who reside in forest pools and waterfalls. These sirens adopt the form of birds to attract unsuspecting travelers and, using words of love, lure them into water where they will be dragged down to the murky depths and devoured (contrast mermaids in American literature vs. the rest of world).

Ana says, “Leyenda is a tribute to all women and to the feminine side, because our lives are reflected in those of the protagonists of these songs, and, through that, we become part of the legend ourselves. I invite you to go through that mirror daring to feel their stories; after all, their light and darkness are ours, too. Their strength and power reflect aspects of the feminine essence as an extension of nature, across the spectrum of light and shadow.”

Ana closes, “These are women who burn bridges, are killed in fights, devour men, cut their wings, or shed their skin. Stores of love and hate, kindness, sacrifice, obsessions, and desires, reflecting timeless human passions.”

Last we hear “La Esposa Selkie,” about the mythological creatures found in Scottish, Irish, and Faroese (islands above Scotland) folklore. They are said to live as seals in the sea but shed their skin to become human on land. A story of love, abandonment, and nostalgia inspired by a legend from the Orkney Islands, this song tells the story from the selkie’s side. A fisherman meets her and takes her skin, promising to give it back to her if they stay married for seven years. After seven years, she asks the fisherman for her skin back, but he refuses. Faithful to her marine nature, she returns to the sea, but her son remembers her every time he goes to the water’s edge (as in The Secret of Roan Inish).

Alcaide says she wanted to explore the dark side that lives in all humans, and also to discover the ancient world of the feminine that has been passed down through the generations, but that the modern world has largely lost touch with.

Ana Alcaide / #1. Tlalli / Leyenda / ARC

Ana Alcaide / #3. La Ondina de Vacares / Leyenda / ARC

Ana Alcaide / #10. La Esposa Selkie / Leyenda / ARC [16:00]

Next, Greek, Portuguese fado, Brazilian, and Cabo Verdian music from women.

Kristi Stassinopoulou & Stathis Kalyviotis / Ouden Oida (I know nothing) / NYN (rel. 8/16) 4:32

Ana Moura & Omara Portuondo / #7. Eu Entrego / Moura / Universal Portugal 2:46

Céu / Arr-Astarte-El / Tropix / Six Degrees 3:39

ZME13 / Mai (2nd of May) / Rough Romanian Soul / Six Degrees 6:19

Cesária Évora / Isolada / Voz d’Amor (Cabo Verde) / Blue Bird Jazz 5:27 [24:00]

[45:00]

Sam Bush / I Just Wanna Feel Something / Storyman / Sugar Hill 5:36

Shawn Colvin & Steve Earle / You’re Right (I’m wrong) / C&E / Fantasy/Concord (p. Buddy Miller)4:14

Sam Bush / Carcinoma Blues / Storyman / Sugar Hill 3:56

New Set:

Paul Simon / Street Angel / Stranger to Stranger / Concord 2:08

Conrad Praetzel / A Mysterious Light / The Greatest Show on Mars / Paleo Music 2:22

Paul Simon / Hearts and Bones / Hearts and Bones / Warner 5:34

New Set:

António Zambujo / #1. Fado Desconcertado / Quinto / Universal 1:47

António Zambujo / #9. Milagrariio Pessoal / Quinto / Universal 3:10

Gotan Project / #5. Santa Mario (del buen ayre) / Gotan Project / Ya Basta! 5:57

Eliades Ochoa & Alma Latina / #1. Brisa Mañanera / Guajira + Mas Guajira / Tumi 5:14

Los Warahuaco / #11. El Pescador de Baru / Cumbias, Cumbias / World Circuit 2:50

Kenge Kenge / #4. Obama for Change (Kenya) /( Lua roots Benga) 5:35

S.E. Rogie / #8. African Gospel / Dead Men Don’t Smoke Marijuana / Realworld 4:18

(Sierra Leone)

Le Zagazougou Coup / #1. Allah Ma Diana / Le Zagazougou: Accordeons Go to Abidjan / Piranha Berlin ’93 5:22 (Cote de Ivory) 3rd largest French-speaking city

Billy Bragg & Wilco / #2. California Stars / Mermaid Avenue / Electra 4:57