Today is STILL Friday, Janurary 2nd, 2009 and it is now 6:30 PM here in the Philippines.
I have one more song, this one is HOT. Some here may or may not know of a Jazz group, Modern Jazz, not Smoothe Jazz, called the "Crusaders." They had a massive R and B hit in 1979 called "Streetlife," with Randy Crawford on vocals.
That song is fantastic as they did it, but I recently came across a French documentary on Randy Crawford and Joe Sample and their recent collaborations. Joe Sample, for those who do not know, is a fantastic pianist, absolute genius. They were filmed performing new and acoustic arrangements on some standards at Apple Studios in London.
One of these songs happens to be "Streetlife" and between Sample's piano and the Upright Bass and heavy funky bass line, this shit is off the hoook as the kids like to say (or maybe they are saying something newer as I have been away from NYC for a second or two). GIVE IT A GOOD 30 SECONDS TO KICK IN (like a good drug!)!!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBB1UQMT4hU
In CE and P Forum there is a current thread dealing with one professor's controversial theory concerning the origin of "Rap." He does not posit that ALL HipHop started in the same manner, only that Rap itself was not rooted in the West African custom of "Griot." Griot were highly esteemed men who performed, via chanting, entire geneaologies as well as ancient folk tales. Like Jews most West Africans belonged to Rote and Memory Cultures, meaning that they kept records orally as opposed to writing them down.
The professor however believes the true roots of Rap lie in Scottish ballads!!! Yep, can you imagine? But before you dismiss him out of hand as a racist or maybe just a nutjob, I have found proof that actually confirms his theory!
As I posted in that afore mentioned thread, it not only originated with the Scots but with Scots-Irish. In the 1600s England encouraged the Scots who had long ben pacified subjects to colonise Northern Ireland. The Brits rightly assumed that the Scots would gravitate towards the Brits out of shared religious belief (the Church of Scotland of course being the Presbyterian Church).
Today those Protestants in Northern Ireland are almost entirely descended from these Scottish colonists. Sometimes called "Orangemen," or more rudely simply "Prods," these People have a very rich cultural tradition that is all too often overlooked.
I have found a modern offspring of the original Scot Rap, that has developed in an amzing parallel into what is now known as "Scot Gangsta' Rap." See how close it is to the American West Coast "Gansta' Rap" genre. You just might be amazed!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBeiQvFsQLM
Then, finally, I have a great song that is also accompanied with an absolute masterpiece of a video. IF you do not get the jist of the video, or the running joke, give the song a real chance because I am sure many will find it truly infectious (in a good way, not like a case of staph hahaha).
The group is "The Bird and the Bee" and the song is "Polite Dance Song." I really dig the video because it is directed by "Eric" from the duo "Tim and Eric" who are a bit popular in an underground sort of way. Give the song a chance, it sounds like shit for the first 30 or so seconds but once that register is acclimated you will not be able to stop thinking about the song OR the video!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI3g9RaVkdY
So...Regressing to the first post today, where I finished with a description of Magellan's death in Cebu, here in the Philippines, and Magellan of course being the first RECORDED European to sail to the Philippines.
I say "recorded" though because he certainly was not the first. The world is not as small as we are taught to think in most schools. "Columbus discovered America" EXCEPT that the Vikings were living in New Foundland a few hundred years before him... except that "Kenniwck Man", a European skeleton found in a Washington State river was here in the late stone age!!!
In the case of the Philippines, China was trading here 1000 years ago, Arabs not long after, and so on. Since Romans used to trade directly with Chinese it is certainly not inconcievable that some other Europeans along the way had made their way here one way or another.
When Magellan first met with the Bisay Datu who would be known to history as "King Antonio" he was told by the Datu that he must pay a "Port Tax." Magellan in typical European arrogance was aghast thinking that he was the first European to arrive there and therefore dealing with an entirely "primitive" People.
When Magellan balked at the fee the Datu haughtily told him that just 4 days before a large ship had made a port call, and had come all the way from Siam (Thailand), paid the fee and also traded several Thai women to the Datu for pearls and other local tradegoods.
Furthermore, when Marco Polo the Ventian adventurer was delegated by Kublai Khan the Mongol emperor of China, to escort a Mongol princess to Persia so that she might wed a Persian prince, the ship was laid at port in present day Sarawak as they waited for the Monsoon to come in autumn so that they could continue with their voyage.
"Sarawak" is an Indonesian province on the island of Borneo, which is a relatively short ferry ride from southern Mindanao. It is quite probable that all through that long summer in Sarawak that Polo would have somehow come to the Philippines.
At the very least those southern most islands in the Province of Jolo and Sulu (Sulu is a chain of islands stretching almost to Malaysia and Indonesia) must have seen Polo. Actually Moros have an oral legend, that alot of people on Jolo are direct descendants of Alexander the Great's men, and that Alexander himself visited on Jolo!
When the Spanish came in the wake of Magellan's discoveries they found the entire Sulu chain inhabited by the People today known as "Bangsamoros," meaning "Nation of Muslims."
At the time most people living in these islands were Animist, while a very few on this island, Mindanao, practiced a hybrid Islam/Animist religion with Hindu overtones, but only on the southern and western shores of Mindanao. On the north, east, and in all parts of the interior the very few tribes living here were antirely Animist.
Spanish, being the typical Europeans that that they were set about hastily converting the "pagan savages," and pressing upon them their cultural imprint.
In most countires colonised by Spaniards the Spanish men usually took local women as wives, and produced offspring of varying hues and features. Not the case in the Philippines. Look far and wide in everyone of these 7,107 islands and you will probably never find a naturally blue eyed Filipino, and even light skin is exceedingly rare.
Each population center had its monastery and mission, and priests were very corupt, treating the locals as chattel and in many cases there are reports of priests fathering local children but for whatever reason, only very few Filipinos have any Spanish blood at all.
Catholicism did become trhe religion of the so called "Lowland" tribes, like my wife's Bisaya Tribe, along with Tagalog, Iloco, and several other large groups.
Spanish was the administrative language but in another unusual instance Spanish failed to catch on as the true lingua franca of the country. Malay languages heavily peppered with the Spanish of the oppressor still survive and indeed the national language , "Filipino" based on the former nationa language "Tagalog," still carry wight.
I speak Spanish as a native speaker, since "Ladino" is a Jewish language. Ladino is based primarily on an 800 year old form of Catillian Spanish, and is the language of "Sephardim," one of the 2 main Jewish ethnicities. Speaking Ladino allows me to pick up alot of the Philippine languages.
I speak Bisaya, which is actually a misnomer because "Bisaya" is a family of languages with some of the languages being wholly mutually unintelligible. In terms of the specific Bisaya language I speak, I speak 2, Cebuano - my wife's language," and Waray Waray which I learned from our Labourers who speak Waray Waray and another Bisay tongue that is endemic to the Cotabato Region of Mindanao, south of Davao City.
There is one Philippine language that is a true Spanish creole, and mutually intellligble with Spanish, "Chavocano" which also denotes an ethnicity. Chavacanos are the People who live in a major portion of the Zamboanga Peninsula here on Mindanao, on the isalnd's western potion.
i will end on that note and pick it up in the next entry...
I have one more song, this one is HOT. Some here may or may not know of a Jazz group, Modern Jazz, not Smoothe Jazz, called the "Crusaders." They had a massive R and B hit in 1979 called "Streetlife," with Randy Crawford on vocals.
That song is fantastic as they did it, but I recently came across a French documentary on Randy Crawford and Joe Sample and their recent collaborations. Joe Sample, for those who do not know, is a fantastic pianist, absolute genius. They were filmed performing new and acoustic arrangements on some standards at Apple Studios in London.
One of these songs happens to be "Streetlife" and between Sample's piano and the Upright Bass and heavy funky bass line, this shit is off the hoook as the kids like to say (or maybe they are saying something newer as I have been away from NYC for a second or two). GIVE IT A GOOD 30 SECONDS TO KICK IN (like a good drug!)!!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBB1UQMT4hU
In CE and P Forum there is a current thread dealing with one professor's controversial theory concerning the origin of "Rap." He does not posit that ALL HipHop started in the same manner, only that Rap itself was not rooted in the West African custom of "Griot." Griot were highly esteemed men who performed, via chanting, entire geneaologies as well as ancient folk tales. Like Jews most West Africans belonged to Rote and Memory Cultures, meaning that they kept records orally as opposed to writing them down.
The professor however believes the true roots of Rap lie in Scottish ballads!!! Yep, can you imagine? But before you dismiss him out of hand as a racist or maybe just a nutjob, I have found proof that actually confirms his theory!
As I posted in that afore mentioned thread, it not only originated with the Scots but with Scots-Irish. In the 1600s England encouraged the Scots who had long ben pacified subjects to colonise Northern Ireland. The Brits rightly assumed that the Scots would gravitate towards the Brits out of shared religious belief (the Church of Scotland of course being the Presbyterian Church).
Today those Protestants in Northern Ireland are almost entirely descended from these Scottish colonists. Sometimes called "Orangemen," or more rudely simply "Prods," these People have a very rich cultural tradition that is all too often overlooked.
I have found a modern offspring of the original Scot Rap, that has developed in an amzing parallel into what is now known as "Scot Gangsta' Rap." See how close it is to the American West Coast "Gansta' Rap" genre. You just might be amazed!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBeiQvFsQLM
Then, finally, I have a great song that is also accompanied with an absolute masterpiece of a video. IF you do not get the jist of the video, or the running joke, give the song a real chance because I am sure many will find it truly infectious (in a good way, not like a case of staph hahaha).
The group is "The Bird and the Bee" and the song is "Polite Dance Song." I really dig the video because it is directed by "Eric" from the duo "Tim and Eric" who are a bit popular in an underground sort of way. Give the song a chance, it sounds like shit for the first 30 or so seconds but once that register is acclimated you will not be able to stop thinking about the song OR the video!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI3g9RaVkdY
So...Regressing to the first post today, where I finished with a description of Magellan's death in Cebu, here in the Philippines, and Magellan of course being the first RECORDED European to sail to the Philippines.
I say "recorded" though because he certainly was not the first. The world is not as small as we are taught to think in most schools. "Columbus discovered America" EXCEPT that the Vikings were living in New Foundland a few hundred years before him... except that "Kenniwck Man", a European skeleton found in a Washington State river was here in the late stone age!!!
In the case of the Philippines, China was trading here 1000 years ago, Arabs not long after, and so on. Since Romans used to trade directly with Chinese it is certainly not inconcievable that some other Europeans along the way had made their way here one way or another.
When Magellan first met with the Bisay Datu who would be known to history as "King Antonio" he was told by the Datu that he must pay a "Port Tax." Magellan in typical European arrogance was aghast thinking that he was the first European to arrive there and therefore dealing with an entirely "primitive" People.
When Magellan balked at the fee the Datu haughtily told him that just 4 days before a large ship had made a port call, and had come all the way from Siam (Thailand), paid the fee and also traded several Thai women to the Datu for pearls and other local tradegoods.
Furthermore, when Marco Polo the Ventian adventurer was delegated by Kublai Khan the Mongol emperor of China, to escort a Mongol princess to Persia so that she might wed a Persian prince, the ship was laid at port in present day Sarawak as they waited for the Monsoon to come in autumn so that they could continue with their voyage.
"Sarawak" is an Indonesian province on the island of Borneo, which is a relatively short ferry ride from southern Mindanao. It is quite probable that all through that long summer in Sarawak that Polo would have somehow come to the Philippines.
At the very least those southern most islands in the Province of Jolo and Sulu (Sulu is a chain of islands stretching almost to Malaysia and Indonesia) must have seen Polo. Actually Moros have an oral legend, that alot of people on Jolo are direct descendants of Alexander the Great's men, and that Alexander himself visited on Jolo!
When the Spanish came in the wake of Magellan's discoveries they found the entire Sulu chain inhabited by the People today known as "Bangsamoros," meaning "Nation of Muslims."
At the time most people living in these islands were Animist, while a very few on this island, Mindanao, practiced a hybrid Islam/Animist religion with Hindu overtones, but only on the southern and western shores of Mindanao. On the north, east, and in all parts of the interior the very few tribes living here were antirely Animist.
Spanish, being the typical Europeans that that they were set about hastily converting the "pagan savages," and pressing upon them their cultural imprint.
In most countires colonised by Spaniards the Spanish men usually took local women as wives, and produced offspring of varying hues and features. Not the case in the Philippines. Look far and wide in everyone of these 7,107 islands and you will probably never find a naturally blue eyed Filipino, and even light skin is exceedingly rare.
Each population center had its monastery and mission, and priests were very corupt, treating the locals as chattel and in many cases there are reports of priests fathering local children but for whatever reason, only very few Filipinos have any Spanish blood at all.
Catholicism did become trhe religion of the so called "Lowland" tribes, like my wife's Bisaya Tribe, along with Tagalog, Iloco, and several other large groups.
Spanish was the administrative language but in another unusual instance Spanish failed to catch on as the true lingua franca of the country. Malay languages heavily peppered with the Spanish of the oppressor still survive and indeed the national language , "Filipino" based on the former nationa language "Tagalog," still carry wight.
I speak Spanish as a native speaker, since "Ladino" is a Jewish language. Ladino is based primarily on an 800 year old form of Catillian Spanish, and is the language of "Sephardim," one of the 2 main Jewish ethnicities. Speaking Ladino allows me to pick up alot of the Philippine languages.
I speak Bisaya, which is actually a misnomer because "Bisaya" is a family of languages with some of the languages being wholly mutually unintelligible. In terms of the specific Bisaya language I speak, I speak 2, Cebuano - my wife's language," and Waray Waray which I learned from our Labourers who speak Waray Waray and another Bisay tongue that is endemic to the Cotabato Region of Mindanao, south of Davao City.
There is one Philippine language that is a true Spanish creole, and mutually intellligble with Spanish, "Chavocano" which also denotes an ethnicity. Chavacanos are the People who live in a major portion of the Zamboanga Peninsula here on Mindanao, on the isalnd's western potion.
i will end on that note and pick it up in the next entry...