Fair Trade - Fair Trade - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Various Artists - World Travel Celtic [COMPACT DISCS] date 09/11/2007

Vanuatu, a small island nation, is located approximately 1800 miles north of New Zealand. Composed of 82 small islands (65 of which are inhabited), Vanuatu was initially under Spanish, then French, and finally British rule before the archipelago became an independent nation in 1980. It's name signifies it's newfound status Vanua (Inchland,Inch InchhomeInch), and tu (InchstandInch). The island of West Futuna is located on the southeastern edge of the archipelago, with five villages and a population of about 500. The lively music of West Futuna shows signs of Western influence with distinctive local twists, such as lyrics in a Pidgin English varietal called Bislama and use of the bottle piano A scale of glass bottles filled with different levels of water to produce different pitches. The music commonly features other popular Polynesian elements, such as ukulele, guitar, and hymn singing, brought over by 19th century missionaries. This album includes contemporary songs, church music, tagi (memorial songs), traditional dances, children's games, and malaria and AIDS awareness songs.

A selection of powerful pieces from the historical Amha Records catalogue Ayaléw Mèsfin, Gétatchèw Kassa and Sèyfou Yohannes, and other artists as yet unreleased or hardly known in the West. Bonus tracks two pieces by the young Mulatu Astatqé, recorded in the early 60s and two pieces by The Ashantis, a Kenyan band based in Addis Abeba, which was very influent in the early 70s.'