Roots revival
Encyclopedia
A roots revival is a trend which includes young performers popularizing the traditional musical styles of their ancestors. Often, roots revivals include an addition of newly-composed songs with socially and politically aware lyrics, as well as a general modernization of the folk sound.
After an American folk music revival
in the 1950s, a wave of roots revival swept the world in the 1960s and 70s. In most cases, the folk music
being revived was not quite extinct, though some hadn't been played for years or was moribund; such cases include the Celtic music
of Cornwall
and the Isle of Man
, for example. In other cases, such as Cameroon
and the Dominican Republic
, no revival was necessary as the music remained common, and was merely popularized and adapted for mainstream audiences at home and abroad.
The term roots revival is vague, and may not always refer to identical events. Characteristics associated with a roots revival include:
With such a vague and variable definition, roots revival could be seen as referring to the creation of any kind of pop music
industry, though there are countries with well-developed pop traditions that have not had a period referred to as a roots revival (such as Jamaica, India, Cuba and Kenya). For example, homogenized pop has long had its fans in most every country in the world, but many of these nations have created their own indigenous pop styles out of folk music; this process could be called a roots revival, though in some cases the folk musics in question were still widespread and did not need to be revived.
: Beginning as early as 1964, gaining steam in the 70s and continuing through the 1980s, a mainstream raï
revival occurred, and pop-raï stars like Khaled
and Chaba Fadela
gained worldwide audiences; the same period saw similar trends occur among Kabylian musicians like Idir
, Ferhat
and Lounis Ait Menguellet
, who popularized the native sounds of their people
Argentinian music
: In the 1960s, Andean nationalism was spreading across Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru. Argentina's nativist scene includes landmark performers like Mercedes Sosa
and Atahualpa Yupanqui
, who helped spawn the nueva canción
scene.
Belgian music
: Starting early in the 1960s, a wave of popular folk-based performers emerged, led by Wannes Van de Velde
, who drew primarily on Flemish
traditions. By the 1980s, popular bands included Brabants Volksorkest and the folk rock
band Kadril.
Beninese music
: Artists like Tohon Stan have created a popular version of Benin's numerous styles of indigenous folk music, such as tchink-system, a derivative of the funeral
genre of tchinkoumé
Bolivian music
: The 1950s saw an increase in nationalist identity surrounding the Quechua and Aymara peoples, and a number of intellectuals began associating themselves with folk music, clothing, cuisine and other elements. By the mid-1960s, a folk revival was blossoming, led by Edgar Jofré.
Brazilian music
: Beginning in the 1950s and continuing for several decades, a multitude of Brazilian styles (most importantly samba
) and imported American jazz
combined to create the wildly popular bossa nova
scene. This soon evolved into the politically charged Tropicalia genre, which starred controversial and acclaimed singer-songwriters Caetano Veloso
and Gilberto Gil
.
Cambodian music
: The early 1960s saw a revival of classical music and dance, inspired by Princess Norodom Buppha Devi and led by Sinn Sisamouth
, though the rise of the Khmer Rouge
largely ended this trend.
Cameroonian music
: Beginning with bikutsi
in the 1950s and continuing with makossa
into the end of the 20th century, Cameroon's popularized folk musics have become among the most prominent in Africa. Messi Me Nkonda Martin undoubtedly did the most to evolve bikutsi from its folk origins into a popular style using electric guitars and other importations, while Manu Dibango
brought makossa to new audiences around the world.
Chinese music
: Partially as a reaction against attempts by the Communist government to subvert traditional styles to drum up patriotism and loyalty, the 1970s saw the creation of Chinese rock
and Cantopop
(in Hong Kong), both of which made some use of native folk styles, especially in vocal techniques. The leader of Chinese rock is undoubtedly Cui Jian
.
Chilean music
: In the early to mid-1960s, the burgeoning nueva canción
movement spread throughout Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru, featuring a wave of singer-songwriters who incorporated folk elements and nationalist lyrics, often critical of governmental authorities, and achieved great acclaim. Violeta Parra
is sometimes viewed as the founder of the scene, for she popularized Quechua and Aymara songs and provided an outlet for performances by future luminaries like Victor Jara
.
Ivorian music
: Ernesto Djédjé
's ziglibithy
style incorporates a number of folk genres from across Côte d'Ivoire, a diverse country with hundred of ethnic groups; Djédjé's most immediate influence was the folk rhythms of the Bété
.
Croatian music
: By the 1980s, Croatian pop-folk had seen some mainstream success, and a wave of bands appeared, inspired by Vještice, who combined Međimurje folk music with rock in an innovative fusion of sounds.
Cuban music
: By the 1960s, Cuban music had seen international success in the form of pop-mambo, chachacha and other genres, and many artists were disillusioned with these styles, which were seen as watered-down. A vanguard of singer-songwriters like Silvio Rodríguez
and Pablo Milanés
arose, composing politically aware songs in a style that came to be called Nueva Trova
.
Czech music
: In 1966, the Porta Festival was held, and a wave of singer-songwriters inspired by the likes of American Pete Seeger
arose.
Danish music
: In contrast to its neighbors, Denmark did not see a roots revival until to the late 1990s, when performers like Morten Alfred Høirup gained a widespread following in the country.
Dominican music
: Merengue had been popular in the Dominican Republic for decades since evolving out of confusing folk origins, but did not truly become a form of pop music until the early 1960s, when legends like Johnny Ventura
brought the music to new audiences at home and abroad.
Egyptian music
: The city of Cairo is the most important center for Egyptian music, which includes a variety of popularized folk styles, including northern sawahii and southern saiyidi.
Finnish music
: Finland's folk styles include a variety of national genres and ballads, while the traditional rhyming sleigh songs rekilaulu
have become an integral part of many pop singers. In 1967, the Savonlinna Opera Festival
, the first of several similar festivals, contributed to a revival of Finnish opera and other more traditional styles.
French music
: Though many of France's regional styles have seen popularization, the most vibrant scene is undoubtedly the traditional music of Brittany
. The region boasts a uniquely Celtic heritage, which has been emphasized by the revival since its beginnings in the early 1970s, led by Alan Stivell
. Corsican music
has also seen a revival, though with little popular success, concurrent with the rise of Corsican nationalism in the 1970s. See also the Québécois under Canadian music.
Gambian music
: By the 1970s, Gambian musicians were mostly playing popular merengue or other styles. A visit by pop band The Super Eagles to London to record saw a change, as they were encouraged to continue their practice of Gambian folk. The band became known as Ifang Bondi, and their music was called Afro-Manding blues.
Garifuna music
: Starting in the 1970s and continuing into the following decades, the Garifunas, an Afro-Caribbean people found throughout Central America, began turning to their native punta
sound and creating popular styles like punta rock
, which found an audience across the area. Pen Cayetano
was the most important figure in this scene.
German music
: Following the 1968 student revolution in West Germany, singer-songwriters playing a kind of expressive, melancholy music with traditional influences became popular. Due to governmental interference, East Germany did not see much of this influence until the mid-1970s.
Ghanaian music
: Ghana is best-known for the highlife
style of music, which has been popular throughout the 20th century. By the late 1960s, however, the pop scene was dominated by generic guitar bands that imitated Western acts. The 1971 Soul to Soul
festival, however, featured a number of African American
musicians (like Wilson Pickett
and Tina Turner
), which had the effect of legitimizing African culture, thus causing a major roots revival that brought highlife to international audiences.
Greek music
: The late 1960s and early 70s coup repressed rembétika, a style which had developed earlier in the century. This oppression ironically created a major boom in popularity for the genre, which became associated with political resistance and rebellion. Singer-songwriters like Dhionysis Savvopoulos also became wildly popular, and were seen as voices of the Greek nation.
Music of Israel
: Early Zionist settlers in Palestine, as far back as the 1880s, sought to create a new mode of Jewish folk music that was based on Biblical musical modes that had long since been abandoned. These composers, who included Matityahu Shelem, Yedidiah Admon, and many others, drew on Yemenite, Arabic and other antique sources to create a unique style that they considered a revival of ancient Jewish music. The songs that they and their followers composed constitute a canonical body of folk music called "Songs of the Land of Israel." These songs are still widely performed today by popular artists.
Another example of roots revival in Israel is the preservation of regional Jewish musical styles. The music of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish communities has morphed into an eclectic new style called "Muzika Mizrahit". Folksongs in Yiddish and Ladino have been revived and recorded by artists like Chava Alberstein
and Yehoram Gaon
. Yair Dalal
incorporates stylistic elements of the music of his native Iraq in his synthetic musical style.
Italian music
: The diverse regions of Italy are home to dozens of varieties of folk music. By the 1950s, their popularity was declining rapidly and a group of musicians and musicologists founded organizations like Istituto de Martino and Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano
to help preserve folk cultures. The following decade saw a revival of a number of traditions, including Ciccio Busacca
's fusions of Sicilian folk styles, central Italy's jazzy modern folk, pioneered by Canzoniere del Lazio, the re-appearance of the lira through the work of Re Niliu, the popularization of diverse genres of northern Italian music and some of the work of world-famous tenor Enrico Caruso, who revitalized Naples' canzone napoletana
tradition. In contrast to many country's, Italy's roots revival has resulted in very little mainstream success.
Japanese music
: Though elements of traditional Japanese music can be found in some rock and pop from the country, the only major roots revival was Okinawan, and began in the late 1980s. Popularized Okinawan folk music includes genres like kawachi ondo
and goshu ondo
.
Korean music: In the early 1970s, a genre called t'ong guitar
developed, performed by singer-songwriters inspired by the likes of American Bob Dylan
and Joan Baez
. Korean folk has seen little popular success, though there has been some for the pansori
, nongak and sanjo
styles.
Latvian music
: Its traditional long suppressed or appropriated by the Soviet Union
, Latvia's kokle
(an instrument similar to a zither
) was revived and popular in the 1970s, led by Jānis Porikis.
Lithuanian music
: The Soviet Union
had sponsored some music festival
s, such as the Dainu Sventes, but did not allow for much lyrical or musical innovation, and kept all songwriters from experimenting with politically aware and dissident lyrics. An active cultural rebellion occurred in the 1960s, based around a series of national music festivals and concerts.
Malian music
: Cuban music
had become extremely popular in Mali by the 1960s, and little folk music could compete. The country's second president, however, Moussa Traoré
, encouraged the growth of a Malian music industry, resulting in a revival of some kinds of folk music, and a popularization led by Salif Keita
. Later Fanto Sacko's bajourou music and wassoulou music
also became popularized. However, by the 1980s, Malian pop had lost most traces of its folk origins and was simply dance music, even topping the European charts; another roots revival occurred, led by Guinean acoustic singer and kora player Jali Musa Jawara.
Mozambiquan music
: Music was used in the 1960s by the independence movement in Mozambique. Leaders in this movement encouraged the growth of a national music industry. By the 1970s, native forms of music, such as marrabenta
, had been popularized.
Dutch music
: The late 1960s saw a revival of Dutch folk music, led by performers like Gerard van Maasakkers; popularity was limited, and soon ended, though region of Friesland
has maintained a strong traditional music scene.
Portuguese music
: In the 1960s and 70s, José Afonso led a return to more traditionally styled fado
music, which later evolved into a number of new song forms that incorporated socio-political lyrics and foreign influences.
Russian music
: Starting in about 1966, a group of bards
arose, most prominently including Vladimir Vysotsky
, and Vyacheslav Shchurov organized a number of concerts for folk singers. This led to a revival and revitalization of Russian folk songs, a trend which continued in ensuing decades.
Sami music
: The Sami
, an indigenous people found in central and northern Scandinavia, northern Finland and northwestern Russia, have a tradition of folk songs called joiks, which have been popularized by the likes of Mari Boine
, who remains a legend in the field.
Spanish music
was incorporated into Spanish Baroque music in the harpsichord works of Soler. Later composers such as Albeniz, Falla, Rodrigo and Giuliani used the dance rhythms of Spain. The classical guitarists Andres Segovia, John Williams and Julian Bream popularised the music through their recordings. Current popular folk musicians include Susana Seivane
, Hevia
and Milladoiro
. A roots revival Nueva canción
, which also evolved into new form of socially committed music occurred in several Spanish speaking countries.
Australian music
: Beginning in the 1980s, Australian Aborigines began turning to their native styles of folk music, which were updated, creating popular bands and styles like Aboriginal rock
Canadian music
: Though some artists, like The Band
, Neil Young
and Joni Mitchell
, had been integral parts of the 1960s American folk rock scene, Canada has seen its own distinctive revival of styles. This includes the late 1970s scene in Maritime Canada, which glorified the area's Celt
ic heritage and was led by regional legends Figgy Duff
and Stan Rogers
, as well as the mid-1960s Quebec
ois revival led by Gilles Vigneault
. More limited revivals of Acadian, Inuit and other folk styles have also occurred.
English music
: There were two folk music revivals in England. The first, led by Cecil Sharp
was academic. It involved the collection of songs and tunes and publishing them in journals. It was at its peak about 1910. The second revival involved large-scale public performances of English music, beginning with the appearance of the Copper Family
at the Royal Albert Hall in 1952. Starting in the late 60s the songs were performed in a contemporary style; this was the origin of the Electric folk
style.
Irish music
: There was a revival of Irish folk music that began in the early 20th century, based both in Dublin and Ireland, though the longer-lasting and more famous revival began in 1955 with the album "The Lark in the Morning
," whose recording was supervised by Diane Hamilton
and which featured Liam Clancy
and Tommy Makem
prior to their involvement with the influential but U.S.-based Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Later famous groups include The Dubliners
(founded 1962), The Chieftains
(1963), Ceoltóirí Chualann
, and Clannad
(1973). Later, singer-songwriters such as Christy Moore
were inspired by American popular folk singers, and they took to modernizing and adapting Irish music for modern audiences. The result was a dramatic change from folk traditions, including the introduction of the bouzouki
and influences including soul
and rock
.
Scottish music
: The Scottish folk revival begin in 1951 when Hamish Henderson
created the People's Festival
. The Boys of the Lough
were one of the first instrumental Celtic groups to tour the world.
US music
: A traditional music revival started the American folk music revival
that began in the 1940's and led to a new genre, contemporary folk music. A group of American archivists and researchers that included John A. Lomax, his son Alan Lomax
, poet Carl Sandburg
, musician and activist Pete Seeger
and others collected, recorded, and published old ballads, prison songs, Appalachian folk music and black blues
. A number of performers influenced by traditional music, like Josh White
, Burl Ives
, and The Weavers
, enjoyed considerable commercial success in the 1940s, leading to a broader commercial revival in the late 1950s through the mid 1960s with performers like The Kingston Trio
, Joan Baez
, and Peter, Paul and Mary
selling millions of record albums. The 21st century saw a smaller revival of Appalachian folk music with the release of the 2000 motion picture soundtrack to "O Brother, Where Art Thou?
". Singers such as Gillian Welch
and Alison Krauss
and the bluegrass
performer Ralph Stanley
were featured on the album.
After an American folk music revival
American folk music revival
The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Richard Dyer-Bennett, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob...
in the 1950s, a wave of roots revival swept the world in the 1960s and 70s. In most cases, the folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
being revived was not quite extinct, though some hadn't been played for years or was moribund; such cases include the Celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
of Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
, for example. In other cases, such as Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
and the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, no revival was necessary as the music remained common, and was merely popularized and adapted for mainstream audiences at home and abroad.
The term roots revival is vague, and may not always refer to identical events. Characteristics associated with a roots revival include:
- Popularization of previously non-mainstream folk music
- Adaptation of folk styles to pop (or rock) structures
- Invention of new formats like bands where only solo acts had existed before
- Introduction of new instruments
- Composition of works by those who perform them, as opposed to folk tunes mostly passed down orally (see singer-songwriterSinger-songwriterSinger-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
) - Incorporation of politically aware lyrics, often critical of a government, religion or other authority, or society in general.
- Lyrics are the first from the nation to express more than simple desires and problems, and are often seen as the embodiment of a national character or literary tradition (in comparison to the legendary American songwriter, such composers are often said to be the "XXX Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
", as in Wannes Van de VeldeWannes Van de VeldeWannes Van de Velde , born in Antwerp as Willy Cecile Johannes Van de Velde was a Flemish singer, musician, poet and artist....
is the Belgian Bob Dylan) - Roots revival performers will often come from very different social and economic backgrounds compared to the people whose style of music they are popularizing.
With such a vague and variable definition, roots revival could be seen as referring to the creation of any kind of pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
industry, though there are countries with well-developed pop traditions that have not had a period referred to as a roots revival (such as Jamaica, India, Cuba and Kenya). For example, homogenized pop has long had its fans in most every country in the world, but many of these nations have created their own indigenous pop styles out of folk music; this process could be called a roots revival, though in some cases the folk musics in question were still widespread and did not need to be revived.
Roots revivals
Algerian musicMusic of Algeria
Algerian music is virtually synonymous with raï among foreigners; the musical genre has achieved great popularity in France, Spain and other parts of Europe. For several centuries, Algerian music was dominated by styles inherited from Al-Andalus, eventually forming a unique North African twist on...
: Beginning as early as 1964, gaining steam in the 70s and continuing through the 1980s, a mainstream raï
Raï
Raï is a form of folk music that originated in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds, mixed with Spanish, French, African and Arabic musical forms, which dates back to the 1930s....
revival occurred, and pop-raï stars like Khaled
Khaled (musician)
Khaled Hadj Ibrahim , better known as Khaled, is a raï singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in Sidi El Houari in Oran Province of Algeria...
and Chaba Fadela
Chaba Fadela
Chaba Fadela , is an Algerian Raï musician and actress.Raised in a poor neighborhood, she starred in the Algerian film Djalti at the age of 14. She launched her musical career as a singer in Boutiba S'ghir's band and began recording with producer Rachid Baba Ahmed in the late 1970s...
gained worldwide audiences; the same period saw similar trends occur among Kabylian musicians like Idir
Idir
Hamid Cheriet better known by his stage name Idir is an Algerian musician of Berber origin.- Biography :...
, Ferhat
Ferhat
-Given name:* Ferhat Abbas, Algerian political leader* Ferhat Bıkmaz, Turkish footballer* Ferhat Cerci, German footballer* Ferhat Çökmüş, Turkish footballer* Ferhat Kıskanç, Turkish footballer* Ferhat Öztorun, Turkish footballer-Surname:...
and Lounis Ait Menguellet
Lounis Ait Menguellet
Lounis Aït Menguellet was born in Ighil Bouammas in Tizi Ouzou Province, is a Berber singer from Algeria, who sings in the Berber language...
, who popularized the native sounds of their people
Argentinian music
Music of Argentina
The music of Argentina is known mostly for the tango, which developed in Buenos Aires and surrounding areas, as well as Montevideo, Uruguay. Folk, pop and classical music are also popular, and Argentine artists like Mercedes Sosa and Atahualpa Yupanqui contributed greatly to the development of the...
: In the 1960s, Andean nationalism was spreading across Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru. Argentina's nativist scene includes landmark performers like Mercedes Sosa
Mercedes Sosa
Haydée Mercedes Sosa, known as La Negra, was an Argentine singer who was popular throughout South America and some countries outside the continent. With her roots in Argentine folk music, Sosa became one of the preeminent exponents of nueva canción. She gave voice to songs written by both...
and Atahualpa Yupanqui
Atahualpa Yupanqui
Atahualpa Yupanqui was an Argentine singer, songwriter, guitarist, and writer. He is considered the most important Argentine folk musician of the 20th century....
, who helped spawn the nueva canción
Nueva canción
Nueva canción is a movement and genre within Latin American and Iberian music of folk music, folk-inspired music and socially committed music...
scene.
Belgian music
Music of Belgium
The music of Belgium is a cultural crossroads where Flemish Dutch-speaking and Walloon French-speaking traditions mix with those of German minorities and of immigrant communities from Democratic Republic of the Congo and other distant countries....
: Starting early in the 1960s, a wave of popular folk-based performers emerged, led by Wannes Van de Velde
Wannes Van de Velde
Wannes Van de Velde , born in Antwerp as Willy Cecile Johannes Van de Velde was a Flemish singer, musician, poet and artist....
, who drew primarily on Flemish
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
traditions. By the 1980s, popular bands included Brabants Volksorkest and the folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
band Kadril.
Beninese music
Music of Benin
Benin has played an important role in the African music scene, producing one of the biggest stars to come out of the continent in Angélique Kidjo. Post-independence, the country was home to a vibrant and innovative music scene, where native folk music combined with Ghanaian highlife, French...
: Artists like Tohon Stan have created a popular version of Benin's numerous styles of indigenous folk music, such as tchink-system, a derivative of the funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
genre of tchinkoumé
Bolivian music
Music of Bolivia
The music of Bolivia has a long history. Out of all the Andean countries, Bolivia remains perhaps the most culturally linked to the indigenous peoples. Like most of its neighbors, Bolivia was long dominated by Spain and its attendant culture. Even after independence, Bolivian music was largely...
: The 1950s saw an increase in nationalist identity surrounding the Quechua and Aymara peoples, and a number of intellectuals began associating themselves with folk music, clothing, cuisine and other elements. By the mid-1960s, a folk revival was blossoming, led by Edgar Jofré.
Brazilian music
Music of Brazil
The music of Brazil encompasses various regional music styles influenced by African, European and Amerindian forms. After 500 years of history, Brazilian music developed some unique and original styles such as samba, zouk-lambada, lambada, choro, bossa nova, frevo, maracatu, MPB, sertanejo,...
: Beginning in the 1950s and continuing for several decades, a multitude of Brazilian styles (most importantly samba
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
) and imported American jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
combined to create the wildly popular bossa nova
Bossa nova
Bossa nova is a style of Brazilian music. Bossa nova acquired a large following in the 1960s, initially consisting of young musicians and college students...
scene. This soon evolved into the politically charged Tropicalia genre, which starred controversial and acclaimed singer-songwriters Caetano Veloso
Caetano Veloso
Caetano Emanuel Viana Teles Veloso , better known as Caetano Veloso, is a Brazilian composer, singer, guitarist, writer, and political activist. Veloso first became known for his participation in the Brazilian musical movement Tropicalismo which encompassed theatre, poetry and music in the 1960s,...
and Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Gil
Gilberto Passos Gil Moreira , better known as Gilberto Gil or , is a Brazilian singer, guitarist, and songwriter, known for both his musical innovation and political commitment...
.
Cambodian music
Music of Cambodia
The music of Cambodia is derived both from traditions dating back to the ancient Khmer Empire and from the rapid Westernization of the popular music scene in modern times.-Folk and classical music:...
: The early 1960s saw a revival of classical music and dance, inspired by Princess Norodom Buppha Devi and led by Sinn Sisamouth
Sinn Sisamouth
Sinn Sisamouth was a famous and highly prolific Cambodian singer-songwriter in the 1950s to the 1970s.Widely considered the "King of Khmer music", Sisamouth, along with Ros Sereysothea, Pan Ron, and other artists, was part of a thriving pop music scene in Phnom Penh that blended elements of Khmer...
, though the rise of the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
largely ended this trend.
Cameroonian music
Music of Cameroon
The best-known Music of the Cameroon is makossa, a popular style that has gained fans across Africa, and its related dance craze bikutsi.The pirogue sailors of Douala are known for a kind of singing called ngoso, which has evolved into a kind of modern music accompanied by zanza, balafon and...
: Beginning with bikutsi
Bikutsi
Bikutsi is a musical genre from Cameroon. It developed from the traditional styles of the Beti, or Ewondo, people, who live around the city of Yaounde. It was popular in the middle of the 20th century in West Africa...
in the 1950s and continuing with makossa
Makossa
Makossa is a type of music that is most popular in urban areas in Cameroon. It is similar to soukous, except that it includes strong bass rhythm and a prominent horn section. Makossa, which means " dance" in Duala, originated from a type of Duala dance called kossa, with significant influences...
into the end of the 20th century, Cameroon's popularized folk musics have become among the most prominent in Africa. Messi Me Nkonda Martin undoubtedly did the most to evolve bikutsi from its folk origins into a popular style using electric guitars and other importations, while Manu Dibango
Manu Dibango
-External links:*...
brought makossa to new audiences around the world.
Chinese music
Music of China
Chinese Music has been made since the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artifacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty...
: Partially as a reaction against attempts by the Communist government to subvert traditional styles to drum up patriotism and loyalty, the 1970s saw the creation of Chinese rock
Chinese rock
Chinese Rock , occasionally referred as Mandorock or Cantorock depending on the language of the song in question, is commonly used to describe a wide variety of forms of rock and roll music, in connection with the rock bands...
and Cantopop
Cantopop
Cantopop is a colloquialism for "Cantonese popular music". It is sometimes referred to as HK-pop, short for "Hong Kong popular music". It is categorized as a subgenre of Chinese popular music within C-pop...
(in Hong Kong), both of which made some use of native folk styles, especially in vocal techniques. The leader of Chinese rock is undoubtedly Cui Jian
Cui Jian
Cui Jian is a Beijing-based Chinese singer-songwriter, trumpeter and guitarist. Affectionately called "Old Cui" , he is considered to be a pioneer in Chinese rock music and one of the first Chinese artists to write rock songs...
.
Chilean music
Music of Chile
The music of Chile ranges from folkloric music, popular music and also to classical music.-Folk music:Chile has a very rich folklore music that has three different continental geographical zones: northern, central, and southern, each with their own characteristics and sounds. Also it has other...
: In the early to mid-1960s, the burgeoning nueva canción
Nueva canción
Nueva canción is a movement and genre within Latin American and Iberian music of folk music, folk-inspired music and socially committed music...
movement spread throughout Chile, Argentina, Bolivia and Peru, featuring a wave of singer-songwriters who incorporated folk elements and nationalist lyrics, often critical of governmental authorities, and achieved great acclaim. Violeta Parra
Violeta Parra
Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval was a notable Chilean composer, songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist...
is sometimes viewed as the founder of the scene, for she popularized Quechua and Aymara songs and provided an outlet for performances by future luminaries like Victor Jara
Víctor Jara
Víctor Lidio Jara Martínez was a Chilean teacher, theatre director, poet, singer-songwriter, political activist and member of the Communist Party of Chile...
.
Ivorian music
Music of Côte d'Ivoire
-Traditional music:Each of the more than sixty ethnic groups of Côte d'Ivoire have their own folk music traditions, most showing strong vocal polyphony , especially the Baoulé. Talking drums are also common, especially among the Appollo, who are also known for their abissa purification dance, part...
: Ernesto Djédjé
Ernesto Djédjé
Ernesto Djédjé was an Ivorian musician from Daloa. His parents were Wolof and Bété. Djédjé began playing music at fifteen when he became a guitarist with Ivoiro Star, a leading dopé band, in 1962. He moved to Paris in 1968 and became a student...
's ziglibithy
Ziglibithy
Ziglibithy is a style of Ivorian popular music that developed in the 1970s. It was the first major genre of music from the Ivory Coast. The first major pioneer of the style was Ernesto Djedje.-References:*...
style incorporates a number of folk genres from across Côte d'Ivoire, a diverse country with hundred of ethnic groups; Djédjé's most immediate influence was the folk rhythms of the Bété
Bété
Bété may refer to:*Bété people of Côte d'Ivoire*Bété language or languages spoken by them*Bété alphabet*Bété , a small citrus fruit grown in southern Nigeria. Closely related to the lime....
.
Croatian music
Music of Croatia
The music of Croatia, like the divisions of the country itself, has two major influences: the Central European one, present in the central and northern parts of the country, as well as in Slavonia, and the Mediterranean one, particularly present in the coastal regions of Dalmatia and Istria.In...
: By the 1980s, Croatian pop-folk had seen some mainstream success, and a wave of bands appeared, inspired by Vještice, who combined Međimurje folk music with rock in an innovative fusion of sounds.
Cuban music
Music of Cuba
The Caribbean island of Cuba has developed a wide range of creolized musical styles, based on its cultural origins in Europe and Africa. Since the 19th century its music has been hugely popular and influential throughout the world...
: By the 1960s, Cuban music had seen international success in the form of pop-mambo, chachacha and other genres, and many artists were disillusioned with these styles, which were seen as watered-down. A vanguard of singer-songwriters like Silvio Rodríguez
Silvio Rodríguez
Silvio Rodríguez Domínguez is a Cuban musician, and a leader of the nueva trova movement.He is considered Cuba's best known folk singer and known for his highly eloquent and symbolic lyrics. Many of his songs have become classics in Latin American music, such as Ojalá, Playa Girón, Unicornio and...
and Pablo Milanés
Pablo Milanés
Pablo Milanés Arias is a Cuban singer-songwriter and guitar player. He studied at a conservatory in Havana. He is considered one of the founders of the Cuban nueva trova, along with Silvio Rodríguez and Noel Nicola...
arose, composing politically aware songs in a style that came to be called Nueva Trova
Nueva trova
Nueva trova is a movement in Cuban music that emerged around 1967/68 after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, and the consequent political and social changes....
.
Czech music
Music of the Czech Republic
- Traditional and Classical :The traditional music of Bohemia and Moravia has been well documented and influenced the work of composers like Leoš Janáček, Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, and Bohuslav Martinů. Janáček made his recordings at an auspicious time...
: In 1966, the Porta Festival was held, and a wave of singer-songwriters inspired by the likes of American Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
arose.
Danish music
Music of Denmark
Denmark's most famous classical composer is Carl Nielsen, especially remembered for his six symphonies while the Royal Danish Ballet specializes in the work of Danish choreographer August Bournonville. Danes have distinguished themselves as jazz musicians, and the Copenhagen Jazz Festival has...
: In contrast to its neighbors, Denmark did not see a roots revival until to the late 1990s, when performers like Morten Alfred Høirup gained a widespread following in the country.
Dominican music
Music of the Dominican Republic
The music of the Dominican Republic is known primarily for merengue, though bachata, salsa and other forms are also popular. Dominican music has always been closely intertwined with that of its neighbor, Haiti .-Merengue:...
: Merengue had been popular in the Dominican Republic for decades since evolving out of confusing folk origins, but did not truly become a form of pop music until the early 1960s, when legends like Johnny Ventura
Johnny Ventura
Juan e Dios Ventura Soriano, better known as Johnny Ventura is a singer and band leader of merengue.- Early History :...
brought the music to new audiences at home and abroad.
Egyptian music
Music of Egypt
The music of Egypt has been an integral part of Egyptian culture since ancient times. The ancient Egyptians credited one of their Gods Thoth with the invention of music, which Osiris in turn used as part of his effort to civilize the world...
: The city of Cairo is the most important center for Egyptian music, which includes a variety of popularized folk styles, including northern sawahii and southern saiyidi.
Finnish music
Music of Finland
The music of Finland can be roughly divided in the following three categories.Folk music is typically influenced by Karelian traditional tunes and lyrics of the Kalevala metre. Karelian heritage has traditionally been perceived as the purest expression of Finnic myths and beliefs, thought to be...
: Finland's folk styles include a variety of national genres and ballads, while the traditional rhyming sleigh songs rekilaulu
Rekilaulu
Rekilaulu is a type of rhymed stanzaic folksong in Finland.This musical form was influenced by German, Swedish, and British traditions of ballads and broadsides. The actual term rekilaulu may be a corruption of the German terms Reigenlied or Reihenlied....
have become an integral part of many pop singers. In 1967, the Savonlinna Opera Festival
Savonlinna Opera Festival
Savonlinna Opera Festival is held annually in the city of Savonlinna in Finland. The Festival takes place at the medieval Olavinlinna , built in 1475...
, the first of several similar festivals, contributed to a revival of Finnish opera and other more traditional styles.
French music
Music of France
France has a wide variety of indigenous folk music, as well as styles played by immigrants from Africa, Latin America and Asia. In the field of classical music, France has produced a number of legendary composers, while modern pop music has seen the rise of popular French hip hop, techno/funk,...
: Though many of France's regional styles have seen popularization, the most vibrant scene is undoubtedly the traditional music of Brittany
Music of Brittany
Since the early 1970s, Brittany has experienced a tremendous revival of its folk music. Along with flourishing traditional forms such as the bombard-binou pair and fest-noz ensembles incorporating other additional instruments, it has also branched out into numerous sub-genres...
. The region boasts a uniquely Celtic heritage, which has been emphasized by the revival since its beginnings in the early 1970s, led by Alan Stivell
Alan Stivell
Alan Stivell is a Breton musician and singer, recording artist and master of the celtic harp who from the early 1970s revived global interest in the Celtic harp and Celtic music as part of world music.- Background: learning Breton music and culture :Alan was born in the Auvergnat town of Riom...
. Corsican music
Music of Corsica
Outside of France, the island of Corsica is perhaps best known musically for its polyphonic choral tradition. The rebirth of this genre was linked with the rise of Corsican nationalism in the 1970s...
has also seen a revival, though with little popular success, concurrent with the rise of Corsican nationalism in the 1970s. See also the Québécois under Canadian music.
Gambian music
Music of the Gambia
The Gambia is a West African country closely linked musically with its neighbor, Senegal. Griots, , a kind of hereditary praise-singer, are common throughout the region, a legacy of the ancient Mande Empire...
: By the 1970s, Gambian musicians were mostly playing popular merengue or other styles. A visit by pop band The Super Eagles to London to record saw a change, as they were encouraged to continue their practice of Gambian folk. The band became known as Ifang Bondi, and their music was called Afro-Manding blues.
Garifuna music
Garifuna music
Garifuna music is quite different from the music of the rest of Central America. The most famous form is punta. Its associated musical style, which has the dancers move their hips from right to left in a circular motion...
: Starting in the 1970s and continuing into the following decades, the Garifunas, an Afro-Caribbean people found throughout Central America, began turning to their native punta
Punta
Punta is a Garifuna music and dance style performed at celebrations and festive occasions. Contemporary punta, including Belizean punta rock, arose in the last thirty years of the twentieth century in Belize, Honduras and Guatemala. It also has a following in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Southern Mexico...
sound and creating popular styles like punta rock
Punta rock
Punta rock or Belizean punta is a form of the traditional punta rhythm of the Garifuna people of Honduras, Belize and Guatemala.Punta rock is distinctive from traditional punta in that the language and concepts are more adapted to the general Belizean identity...
, which found an audience across the area. Pen Cayetano
Pen Cayetano
Delvin "Pen" Cayetano is a Belizean artist and musician living in Germany 1990-2009. He and his German wife Ingrid returned to Dangriga in July 2009 and they openend the Pen Cayetano Studio Gallery 1...
was the most important figure in this scene.
German music
Music of Germany
Forms of German-language music include Neue Deutsche Welle , Krautrock, Hamburger Schule, Volksmusik, Classical, German hip hop, trance, Schlager, Neue Deutsche Härte and diverse varieties of folk music, such as Waltz and Medieval metal....
: Following the 1968 student revolution in West Germany, singer-songwriters playing a kind of expressive, melancholy music with traditional influences became popular. Due to governmental interference, East Germany did not see much of this influence until the mid-1970s.
Ghanaian music
Music of Ghana
Ghana has many styles of traditional and modern music, due to its multiplicity of ethnic groups and its cosmopolitan geographic position in West Africa. The best known modern genre that originated in Ghana is Highlife.-Traditional music:...
: Ghana is best-known for the highlife
Highlife
Highlife is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920...
style of music, which has been popular throughout the 20th century. By the late 1960s, however, the pop scene was dominated by generic guitar bands that imitated Western acts. The 1971 Soul to Soul
Soul To Soul (film)
Soul To Soul was a concert held in Accra, Ghana on March 6, 1971 by an array of American R&B, soul, rock, and jazz musicians. It is also the name of a 1971 documentary film recording the concert.-Concert:...
festival, however, featured a number of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
musicians (like Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
and Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
), which had the effect of legitimizing African culture, thus causing a major roots revival that brought highlife to international audiences.
Greek music
Music of Greece
The music of Greece is as diverse and celebrated as its history. Greek music separates into two parts: Greek traditional music and Byzantine music, with more eastern sounds...
: The late 1960s and early 70s coup repressed rembétika, a style which had developed earlier in the century. This oppression ironically created a major boom in popularity for the genre, which became associated with political resistance and rebellion. Singer-songwriters like Dhionysis Savvopoulos also became wildly popular, and were seen as voices of the Greek nation.
Music of Israel
Music of Israel
The music of Israel is a combination of Jewish and non-Jewish music traditions that have come together over the course of a century to create a distinctive musical culture. For more than 100 years, musicians have sought original stylistic elements that would define the emerging national spirit...
: Early Zionist settlers in Palestine, as far back as the 1880s, sought to create a new mode of Jewish folk music that was based on Biblical musical modes that had long since been abandoned. These composers, who included Matityahu Shelem, Yedidiah Admon, and many others, drew on Yemenite, Arabic and other antique sources to create a unique style that they considered a revival of ancient Jewish music. The songs that they and their followers composed constitute a canonical body of folk music called "Songs of the Land of Israel." These songs are still widely performed today by popular artists.
Another example of roots revival in Israel is the preservation of regional Jewish musical styles. The music of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish communities has morphed into an eclectic new style called "Muzika Mizrahit". Folksongs in Yiddish and Ladino have been revived and recorded by artists like Chava Alberstein
Chava Alberstein
Chava Alberstein is an Israeli singer, lyricist, composer, and musical arranger.-Biography:Chava Alberstein, born in Szczecin, Poland, moved to Israel with her family in 1950. She grew up in Kiryat Haim....
and Yehoram Gaon
Yehoram Gaon
Yehoram Gaon is a Jewish Israeli singer, actor, director, producer, TV and radio host, and public figure...
. Yair Dalal
Yair Dalal
Yair Dalal is an Israeli musician of Iraqi-Jewish descent.His main instruments are the oud and the violin, and he also sings as accompaniment. He composes his own music and draws on Arab and Jewish traditions, as well as European classical music and Indian music...
incorporates stylistic elements of the music of his native Iraq in his synthetic musical style.
Italian music
Music of Italy
The music of Italy ranges across a broad spectrum of opera and instrumental classical music and a body of popular music drawn from both native and imported sources. Music has traditionally been one of the cultural markers of Italian national and ethnic identity and holds an important position in...
: The diverse regions of Italy are home to dozens of varieties of folk music. By the 1950s, their popularity was declining rapidly and a group of musicians and musicologists founded organizations like Istituto de Martino and Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano
Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano
Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano, was a music magazine created in 1964 in Milan by a group of musicians linked to the same left ideological political-cultural movement of the late sixties...
to help preserve folk cultures. The following decade saw a revival of a number of traditions, including Ciccio Busacca
Ciccio Busacca
Ciccio Busacca , born in Paternò, Province of Catania,was one of the best known Sicilian ballad singers.Playwright and composer Dario Fo wrote "Ci ragiono e canto N.3" for him.- References :* at nobelprize.org* at worlddiscoveries.net...
's fusions of Sicilian folk styles, central Italy's jazzy modern folk, pioneered by Canzoniere del Lazio, the re-appearance of the lira through the work of Re Niliu, the popularization of diverse genres of northern Italian music and some of the work of world-famous tenor Enrico Caruso, who revitalized Naples' canzone napoletana
Canzone Napoletana
Canzone Napoletana, sometimes referred to as Neapolitan song, is a generic term for a traditional form of music sung in the Neapolitan language, ordinarily for the male voice singing solo, although well-represented by female soloists as well, and expressed in familiar genres such as the lover's...
tradition. In contrast to many country's, Italy's roots revival has resulted in very little mainstream success.
Japanese music
Music of Japan
The music of Japan includes a wide array of performers in distinct styles both traditional and modern. The word for music in Japanese is 音楽 , combining the kanji 音 with the kanji 楽...
: Though elements of traditional Japanese music can be found in some rock and pop from the country, the only major roots revival was Okinawan, and began in the late 1980s. Popularized Okinawan folk music includes genres like kawachi ondo
Kawachi ondo
Kawachi Ondo is a kind of Japanese folk song that originates from Yao City in the old Kawachi region of Japan, now part of modern-day Osaka Prefecture. This song's style and melody are said to have evolved from another folk song called Gōshū Ondo from Shiga Prefecture, known as Goshu in earlier days...
and goshu ondo
Goshu ondo
The is a type of ondo , a traditional Japanese dance song. It originated in Shiga Prefecture which was formerly known as Gōshū. It is believed to have been perfected around the Meiji Era.- Form :...
.
Korean music: In the early 1970s, a genre called t'ong guitar
T'ong guitar
T'ong guitar was a form of Korean music developed in the early 1970s. It was heavily influenced by American pop music, and artists in the genre were considered Korean versions of American folk singers, such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan....
developed, performed by singer-songwriters inspired by the likes of American Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
and Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
. Korean folk has seen little popular success, though there has been some for the pansori
Pansori
Pansori is a genre of Korean traditional music. It is a vocal and percussional music performed by one sorikkun and one gosu . The term pansori is derived from pan , and sori .- Overview :...
, nongak and sanjo
Sanjo (music)
Sanjo, literally meaning 'scattered melodies' and is a style of traditional Korean music, involving an instrumental solo accompanied by drumming on the janggu, an hourglass-shaped drum...
styles.
Latvian music
Music of Latvia
Traditional Latvian music is often set to traditional poetry called dainas, featuring pre-Christian themes and legends, drone vocal styles and Baltic zithers.-Dainas:...
: Its traditional long suppressed or appropriated by the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Latvia's kokle
Kokle
The kokle is a Latvian plucked string musical instrument , related to the zither. It is similar in construction and origin to the Lithuanian kanklės, Russian gusli, Estonian kannel and Finnish kantele.-Origin:...
(an instrument similar to a zither
Zither
The zither is a musical string instrument, most commonly found in Slovenia, Austria, Hungary citera, northwestern Croatia, the southern regions of Germany, alpine Europe and East Asian cultures, including China...
) was revived and popular in the 1970s, led by Jānis Porikis.
Lithuanian music
Music of Lithuania
Lithuania has a long history of folk, popular and classical musical development.- Folk music :Lithuanian folk music belongs to Baltic music branch which is connected with neolithic corded ware culture. In Lithuanian territory meets two musical cultures: stringed and wind instrument cultures...
: The Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
had sponsored some music festival
Music festival
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending machines,...
s, such as the Dainu Sventes, but did not allow for much lyrical or musical innovation, and kept all songwriters from experimenting with politically aware and dissident lyrics. An active cultural rebellion occurred in the 1960s, based around a series of national music festivals and concerts.
Malian music
Music of Mali
The Music of Mali is dominated by forms derived from the ancient Mande Empire. The Mande people make up most of the country's population, and their musicians, professional performers called jeliw , have produced a vibrant popular music scene alongside traditional folk music...
: Cuban music
Music of Cuba
The Caribbean island of Cuba has developed a wide range of creolized musical styles, based on its cultural origins in Europe and Africa. Since the 19th century its music has been hugely popular and influential throughout the world...
had become extremely popular in Mali by the 1960s, and little folk music could compete. The country's second president, however, Moussa Traoré
Moussa Traoré
General Moussa Traoré is a Malian soldier and politician. As a Lieutenant, he led the military ouster of President Modibo Keïta in 1968. Thereafter he served as Head of State from 1968-1979, and President of Mali from 1979 to 1991, when he was overthrown by popular protests and military coup...
, encouraged the growth of a Malian music industry, resulting in a revival of some kinds of folk music, and a popularization led by Salif Keita
Salif Keita
Salif Keïta is an internationally recognized afro-pop singer-songwriter from Mali. He is unique not only because of his reputation as the Golden Voice of Africa, but because he has albinism and is a direct descendant of the founder of the Mali Empire, Sundiata Keita...
. Later Fanto Sacko's bajourou music and wassoulou music
Wassoulou music
Wassoulou is a genre of West African popular music, named after the region of Wassoulou. It is performed mostly by women, using lyrics that address women's issues regarding childbearing, fertility and polygamy...
also became popularized. However, by the 1980s, Malian pop had lost most traces of its folk origins and was simply dance music, even topping the European charts; another roots revival occurred, led by Guinean acoustic singer and kora player Jali Musa Jawara.
Mozambiquan music
Music of Mozambique
The native folk music of Mozambique has been highly influenced by Portuguese forms. The most popular style of modern dance music is marrabenta. Mozambican music also influenced another Lusophone music in Brazil, like maxixe , and Cuban music like Mozambique.Culture was an integral part of the...
: Music was used in the 1960s by the independence movement in Mozambique. Leaders in this movement encouraged the growth of a national music industry. By the 1970s, native forms of music, such as marrabenta
Marrabenta
Marrabenta is a form of Mozambican dance music. It was developed in Maputo, the capital city of Mozambique, formerly Lourenço Marques. The name was derived from the Portuguese rebentar , meaning to break. Marrabenta is influenced by Mozambican and Portuguese folk music and the Western popular music...
, had been popularized.
Dutch music
Music of the Netherlands
The Netherlands has multiple musical traditions. Contemporary Dutch popular music is heavily influenced by music styles that emerged in the 1950s, in the United Kingdom and United States. The style is sung in both Dutch and English...
: The late 1960s saw a revival of Dutch folk music, led by performers like Gerard van Maasakkers; popularity was limited, and soon ended, though region of Friesland
Friesland
Friesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the ancient region of Frisia.Until the end of 1996, the province bore Friesland as its official name. In 1997 this Dutch name lost its official status to the Frisian Fryslân...
has maintained a strong traditional music scene.
Portuguese music
Music of Portugal
Portugal is internationally known in the music scene for its traditions of fado, but the country has seen a recent expansion in musical styles, with modern acts from rock to hip hop becoming popular...
: In the 1960s and 70s, José Afonso led a return to more traditionally styled fado
Fado
Fado is a music genre which can be traced to the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. Fado historian and scholar, Rui Vieira Nery, states that "the only reliable information on the history of Fado was orally transmitted and goes back to the 1820s and 1830s at best...
music, which later evolved into a number of new song forms that incorporated socio-political lyrics and foreign influences.
Russian music
Music of Russia
Music of Russia denotes music produced in Russia and/or by the Russians. Russia is a large and culturally diverse country, with many ethnic groups, each with their own locally developed music...
: Starting in about 1966, a group of bards
Bard (Soviet Union)
The term bard came to be used in the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, and continues to be used in Russia today, to refer to singer-songwriters who wrote songs outside the Soviet establishment, similarly to beatnik folk singers of the United States...
arose, most prominently including Vladimir Vysotsky
Vladimir Vysotsky
Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky was a Soviet singer, songwriter, poet, and actor whose career had an immense and enduring effect on Russian culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often humorous street...
, and Vyacheslav Shchurov organized a number of concerts for folk singers. This led to a revival and revitalization of Russian folk songs, a trend which continued in ensuing decades.
Sami music
Sami music
In traditional Sami music songs and joiks are important musical expressions. The Sami also use a variety of musical instruments, some unique to the Lapp, some traditional Scandinavian, and some modern introductions....
: The Sami
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
, an indigenous people found in central and northern Scandinavia, northern Finland and northwestern Russia, have a tradition of folk songs called joiks, which have been popularized by the likes of Mari Boine
Mari Boine
Mari Boine, previously known as Mari Boine Persen, is a Norwegian Sami musician known for having added jazz and rock to the yoiks of her native people...
, who remains a legend in the field.
Spanish music
Music of Spain
The Music of Spain has a long history and has played an important part in the development of western music. It has had a particularly strong influence upon Latin American music. The music of Spain is often associated abroad with traditions like flamenco and the classical guitar but Spanish music...
was incorporated into Spanish Baroque music in the harpsichord works of Soler. Later composers such as Albeniz, Falla, Rodrigo and Giuliani used the dance rhythms of Spain. The classical guitarists Andres Segovia, John Williams and Julian Bream popularised the music through their recordings. Current popular folk musicians include Susana Seivane
Susana Seivane
Susana Seivane Hoyo is a Galician gaita player. She was born in Barcelona, Spain, into a family of well-known Galician luthiers and musicians, the Seivane family, whose workshop is the Obradoiro de Gaitas Seivane. She started her musical career at the age of three...
, Hevia
Hevia
José Ángel Hevia Velasco, known professionally as Hevia , is a Spaniard bagpiper – specifically, an Asturian gaita player. He commonly performs with his sister, Maria José, on drums...
and Milladoiro
Milladoiro
Milladoiro is a music band from Galicia. Often compared to the Chieftains, it is among the world's top Celtic music groups.- Biography :Rodrigo Romaní and Antón Seoane had released in 1978 an album named Milladoiro, on which they were joined by Xosé V. Ferreirós, then credited as a guest artist...
. A roots revival Nueva canción
Nueva canción
Nueva canción is a movement and genre within Latin American and Iberian music of folk music, folk-inspired music and socially committed music...
, which also evolved into new form of socially committed music occurred in several Spanish speaking countries.
English-speaking countries
- Includes English and Celtic revivals
- For additional Celtic music, see the French section above
Australian music
Music of Australia
The music of Australia is the music produced in the area of, on the subject of, or by the people of modern Australia, including its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Indigenous Australian music is a part of the unique heritage of a 40–60,000 year history which produced the iconic...
: Beginning in the 1980s, Australian Aborigines began turning to their native styles of folk music, which were updated, creating popular bands and styles like Aboriginal rock
Aboriginal rock
Aboriginal rock refers to a style of music which mixes rock music with the instrumentation and singing styles of Aboriginal people. Two countries with prominent Aboriginal rock scenes are Australia and Canada.-Australia:...
Canadian music
Music of Canada
The music of Canada has influences that have shaped the country. Aboriginals, the British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between...
: Though some artists, like The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
and Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, had been integral parts of the 1960s American folk rock scene, Canada has seen its own distinctive revival of styles. This includes the late 1970s scene in Maritime Canada, which glorified the area's Celt
Celt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic heritage and was led by regional legends Figgy Duff
Figgy Duff
Figgy Duff was a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland. They played a major role in the Newfoundland cultural renaissance of the 1970s and 80s. Formed in 1976 by Noel Dinn, who named the band after a kind of traditional white pudding, Figgy Duff travelled across Newfoundland, learning...
and Stan Rogers
Stan Rogers
Stanley Allison "Stan" Rogers was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter.Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his finely crafted, traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and the daily lives of working people, especially those from the fishing...
, as well as the mid-1960s Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
ois revival led by Gilles Vigneault
Gilles Vigneault
Gilles Vigneault, is a Canadian poet, publisher and singer-songwriter, and well-known Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist.A poet deeply rooted in his native Quebec, Vigneault has become an icon at home and Quebec ambassador abroad...
. More limited revivals of Acadian, Inuit and other folk styles have also occurred.
English music
British folk revival
The British folk revival incorporates a number of movements for the collection, preservation and performance of traditional music in the United Kingdom and related territories and countries, which had origins as early as the 18th century...
: There were two folk music revivals in England. The first, led by Cecil Sharp
Cecil Sharp
Cecil James Sharp was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early 20th century, and many of England's traditional dances and music owe their continuing existence to his work in recording and publishing them.-Early life:Sharp was born in Camberwell, London, the eldest son of...
was academic. It involved the collection of songs and tunes and publishing them in journals. It was at its peak about 1910. The second revival involved large-scale public performances of English music, beginning with the appearance of the Copper Family
Copper Family
The Copper Family are a family of singers of traditional, unaccompanied English folk song. Originally from Rottingdean, near Brighton, Sussex, England, the nucleus of the family now live in the neighbouring village of Peacehaven.-History:...
at the Royal Albert Hall in 1952. Starting in the late 60s the songs were performed in a contemporary style; this was the origin of the Electric folk
Electric folk
Electric folk is the name given to the form of folk rock pioneered in England from the late 1960s, and most significant in the 1970s, which then was taken up and developed in the surrounding Celtic cultures of Brittany, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man, to produce Celtic rock and its...
style.
Irish music
Music of Ireland
Irish Music is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the island of Ireland.The indigenous music of the island is termed Irish traditional music. It has remained vibrant through the 20th, and into the 21st century, despite globalizing cultural forces...
: There was a revival of Irish folk music that began in the early 20th century, based both in Dublin and Ireland, though the longer-lasting and more famous revival began in 1955 with the album "The Lark in the Morning
The Lark in the Morning (album)
The Lark in the Morning is an album by Liam Clancy, Tommy Makem, family and friends.It has the distinction of being the first album-length recording of Irish music to be recorded in Ireland. It was recorded by Diane Hamilton and Catherine Wright on portable equipment, between August and December...
," whose recording was supervised by Diane Hamilton
Diane Hamilton
Diane Hamilton was the pseudonym of Diane Guggenheim , an American mining heiress, folksong patron and founder of "Tradition Records".-Personal life:...
and which featured Liam Clancy
Liam Clancy
William "Liam" Clancy was an Irish folk singer and actor from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest and last surviving member of performing group The Clancy Brothers. The group were regarded as Ireland's first pop stars...
and Tommy Makem
Tommy Makem
Thomas "Tommy" Makem was an internationally celebrated Irish folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, guitar, tin whistle, and bagpipes, and sang in a distinctive baritone...
prior to their involvement with the influential but U.S.-based Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. Later famous groups include The Dubliners
The Dubliners
The Dubliners are an Irish folk band founded in 1962.-Formation and history:The Dubliners, initially known as "The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group", formed in 1962 and made a name for themselves playing regularly in O'Donoghue's Pub in Dublin...
(founded 1962), The Chieftains
The Chieftains
The Chieftains are a Grammy-winning Irish musical group founded in 1962, best known for being one of the first bands to make Irish traditional music popular around the world.-Name:...
(1963), Ceoltóirí Chualann
Ceoltóirí Chualann
Ceoltóirí Chualann was an Irish traditional band, led by Seán Ó Riada, which included many of the founding members of The Chieftains. Ceoltóirí is the Irish word for musicians, and Cualann is the name of an area just outside Dublin where Ó Riada lived...
, and Clannad
Clannad
Clannad are an Irish musical group, from Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal. Their music has been variously described as bordering on folk and folk rock, Irish, Celtic and New Age, often incorporating elements of an even broader spectrum of smooth jazz and Gregorian chant...
(1973). Later, singer-songwriters such as Christy Moore
Christy Moore
Christopher Andrew "Christy" Moore is a popular Irish folk singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He is well known as one of the founding members of Planxty and Moving Hearts...
were inspired by American popular folk singers, and they took to modernizing and adapting Irish music for modern audiences. The result was a dramatic change from folk traditions, including the introduction of the bouzouki
Bouzouki
The bouzouki , is a musical instrument with Greek origin in the lute family. A mainstay of modern Greek music, the front of the body is flat and is usually heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl. The instrument is played with a plectrum and has a sharp metallic sound, reminiscent of a mandolin but...
and influences including soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
.
Scottish music
Music of Scotland
Scotland is internationally known for its traditional music, which has remained vibrant throughout the 20th century, when many traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music...
: The Scottish folk revival begin in 1951 when Hamish Henderson
Hamish Henderson
Hamish Scott Henderson, was a Scottish poet, songwriter, soldier, and intellectual....
created the People's Festival
Edinburgh Folk Festival
The Edinburgh Folk Festival has had a shadowy existence since about 1951. Hamish Henderson was instrumental in creating the first "People's Festival" in 1951, with funding from the British Council, The Communist Party and the Scottish TUC, this was revived in 2002 by the Scottish Socialist Party...
. The Boys of the Lough
The Boys of the Lough
-The early years:Their first album, called Boys of the Lough consisted of Aly Bain , Cathal Mc'Connell , Dick Gaughan and Robin Morton ....
were one of the first instrumental Celtic groups to tour the world.
US music
Music of the United States
The music of the United States reflects the country's multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. Among the country's most internationally-renowned genres are hip hop, blues, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, barbershop, pop, techno, and rock and roll. The United States has the...
: A traditional music revival started the American folk music revival
American folk music revival
The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Richard Dyer-Bennett, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob...
that began in the 1940's and led to a new genre, contemporary folk music. A group of American archivists and researchers that included John A. Lomax, his son Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax
Alan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
, poet Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg
Carl Sandburg was an American writer and editor, best known for his poetry. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, two for his poetry and another for a biography of Abraham Lincoln. H. L. Mencken called Carl Sandburg "indubitably an American in every pulse-beat."-Biography:Sandburg was born in Galesburg,...
, musician and activist Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger
Peter "Pete" Seeger is an American folk singer and was an iconic figure in the mid-twentieth century American folk music revival. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, he also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of The Weavers, most notably their recording of Lead...
and others collected, recorded, and published old ballads, prison songs, Appalachian folk music and black blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
. A number of performers influenced by traditional music, like Josh White
Josh White
Joshua Daniel White , better known as Josh White, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He also recorded under the names "Pinewood Tom" and "Tippy Barton" in the 1930s....
, Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
, and The Weavers
The Weavers
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
, enjoyed considerable commercial success in the 1940s, leading to a broader commercial revival in the late 1950s through the mid 1960s with performers like The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio
The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds...
, Joan Baez
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....
, and Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary were an American folk-singing trio whose nearly 50-year career began with their rise to become a paradigm for 1960s folk music. The trio was composed of Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey and Mary Travers...
selling millions of record albums. The 21st century saw a smaller revival of Appalachian folk music with the release of the 2000 motion picture soundtrack to "O Brother, Where Art Thou?
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000 comedy film directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning. Set in 1937 rural Mississippi during the Great Depression, the film's story is a modern satire loosely...
". Singers such as Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely...
and Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...
and the bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
performer Ralph Stanley
Ralph Stanley
Ralph Stanley , also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley, is an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing.-Biography:...
were featured on the album.
Further reading
- Broughton, Simon, Mark Ellingham and Jon Lusk (2006) The Rough Guide to World Music: Africa and the Middle East v. 1
- Ellingham, Mark, James McConnachie and Simon Broughton (Editor) (2000) The Rough Guide to World Music Vol 2 (Including Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific)
- Rosenberg, Neil V. and, W.V. Rosenberg (Editor (1993) Transforming Tradition: Folk Music Revivals Examined
- Bohlman, Philip V. (2002) World Music: A Very Short Introduction
- Fujie, Linda, David Locke and Jeff Titon (2004) Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples
- Czulinski, Winnie (2006) Drone On!: The High History of Celtic Music
- Racy, A. J. (2004) Making Music in the Arab World: The Culture and Artistry of Tarab
- Bakan, Michael B. (2007) World Music: Traditions and Transformations
- Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation (1997) International Folksongs
- Smith, C. C. (1998) Spanish Ballads
- Lyle, Emily B. (2001) Scottish Ballads
- Wilentz, Sean (2005) The Rose and the Briar: Death, Love and Liberty in the American Ballad
- Sawyers, June Skinner (2001) Celtic Music: A Complete Guide
- Bohlman, Philip V. (1988) The Study of Folk Music in the Modern World
- Rice, Timothy (1994) May It Fill Your Soul: Experiencing Bulgarian Music
- Rosenberg, Neil V. (1993) Bluegrass: A History
- Hart, Mickey and Karen Kostyal (2003) Songcatchers: In Search of the World's Music
- Morrish, John, English Folk Dance and Song Society, Martin Carthy et al. (2007) The Folk Handbook: Working with Songs from the English Tradition