The NPR Curious Listener's Guide to World Music

By Chris Nickson

Book Overview

Discover world music and you'll be illuminated, enlightened, and inspired. Like few other musical forms, world music encompasses so many different traditions and cultures, so many intoxicating moods-and such a diverse catalog of music and musicians. It can be risky, it can be daunting, it can be unexpected, it can be-to borrow Duke Ellington's famous expression-simply "beyond category." It's across the ocean, it's right here at home, it's from places you've never been, it's from generations long gone, and it's forever growing, enriching the world, and enlivening the very heart and soul of music. From Japan to Africa to Brazil to the Middle East, and back again, this is its living history. Book jacket.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399530320
• ISBN13: 9780399530326
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Perigee Trade
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.8" x 5.2"

Customer Reviews

Good, thorough, correct.

This is the best book of its kind on the market today - it's simple, thorough, direct, and comprehensive, and serves exactly the purpose it sets out to serve - helping people find new music to listen to from around the world. It's not as dry as I expected it to be, either - Nickson peppers the chapters (divided by country and region) with anecdotes about the artists who make the genres great, thereby humanizing the music. The recommended listening section at the end is also very good, though as he was really only able to choose one or two recommended CDs per genre, it's easy to bicker with his choices if you have a different favorite. All-in-all, a winner, though.