The Grooved Whale Project

An interesting transcription of music from Mali in 6/8 – useful for those wanting to analyze how a rhythmic pattern is expanded upon by a master drummer.

The book/cd set can be purchased from Earthcd’s site.

I always thought of the violin as a western instrument and was pleasantly surprised to find out it has a long history in west Africa. Check out Senegalese musician Issa Sow’s tunes on his nianiooru.

The whys and wherefores of our present form continue to be revealed in this article on the  short legs of our ancestors. I can only wonder how our sense of balance must have been challenged as we left the tree canopy and began foraging on the ground. Did our sense of rhythm change?

I love this line in this article:

“We don’t really know how aggressive australopiths were,” Carrier says. “If they were more aggressive than modern humans, they were exceptionally nasty animals.”

The mystery of how we evolved fascinates me, especially since we carry so many vestigial features within our present day bodies. I’m glad we let go the hairy female chest but perhaps we aren’t really all that different from Ardipithecus?

Interesting article on Transcendental Meditation and how this form of meditation involving  ‘repetitions of a single sound or mantra’ helps reduce the risk of heart attacks.  The comments on the article are worth a read as well.

“Inside the Music explores the whys and wherefores of music, through documentaries and radio series about the lives and work of great Canadian musicians.”

I received an invite to be interviewed by the CBC Radio series “Inside the Music” .  I am honored as this was an opportunity to inspire and share my work, but also to be considered among the great names in Canadian music was humbling.

Presented by National Geographic Explorer Wade Davis, the Interview will be aired this Sunday, November 22nd at 3:00pm on Radio 2 or 9:00pm on Radio 1.