The World in Chicago is a recently released album/book pairing of traditional music and oral histories shared by master musicians who have immigrated to the United States from Argentina, Thailand, Jordan, Ghana, and Serbia. The book and CD complement one another and are best enjoyed together; the songs mentioned in the stories are played on the CD, and the stories in the book come directly from the featured performers on the CD. Buy them together and save $5.
About the CD:
The album presents over an hour of original arrangements of music taught to us by master musicians from Argentina, Thailand, Jordan, Ghana, and Serbia, who join the string quartet as featured artists on several tracks.
Click here to preview and/or download a digital version of the album.
Track list:
1. Tinta Roja
2. Balderrama (feat. Alba Guerra)
3. Un Candombe Para Gardel (feat. Alba Guerra)
4. Si Se Calla El Cantor
5. Thai Cha-Cha-Cha: Bu Kai Gai Lohng / Dek Bam
6. Lam Vong Medley: Lam Vong Dor Pra Suk / Sam-Rueh Loom Kam / Loy Krathong (feat. Phiwan Phonwiang)
7. Deuan Pen (feat. Phiwan Phonwiang)
8. Yae Kai Mot Dang
9. Jamila
10. Jordanian Folksongs: Billah Ya Nijem Ya Wadah / Ridaha Ridaha (feat. Baha’a Abu-Taha)
11. Anshudat Filastin (feat. Baha’a Abu-Taha)
12. Yaa Amponsah
13. Odo Ye Owu / Towobo Ase (feat. Abee Mensah)
14. Comedy Songs: Audu / Akwele Ya Medya (feat. Abee Mensah)
15. Yen Ara Asase
16. Bojarka (feat. Jovan Mihailović)
17. Jedno Malo Čivuče (feat. Jovan Mihailović)
18. Čoček Iz Vranja / Nizamski Rastanak
19. Songs for the People / Lift Every Voice and Song (feat. Sojourner Zenobia)
The Quartet:
Lucia Thomas, violin
Sam Hyson, violin
Robert Fisher, viola
Ellen Frolichstein, cello
Featured Artists:
Alba Guerra, singer from Buenos Aires, Argentina
Phiwan Phonwiang, singer and khaen player from Taphan Hin, Thailand
Baha’a Abu-Taha, singer and oud player from Amman, Jordan
Abee Mensah, singer and keyboard player from Cape Coast, Ghana
Jovan Mihailović, violin player from Belgrade, Serbia
Sojourner Zenobia, storyteller
Arrangements by Lucia Thomas & Sam Hyson
Recording & engineering by Gene “Zhenya” Nemirovsky
Artwork by Jovan Mihailović
About the Book:
The book includes five chapters of oral history narratives featuring master musicians who immigrated to Chicago from Argentina, Ghana, Jordan, Thailand, and Serbia. Each chapter is accompanied by beautiful illustrations. The book also includes an introduction by Chicago Folklore Ensemble founders Lucia Thomas and Sam Hyson, and appendices with background information on the music, history, and culture of the respective countries and regions.
“Everything I play evokes some kind of memory. When I play I am in communion with my past, and everything in my past becomes alive again. I see people whom I liked and whom I loved, and they are still with me, because I play this music, and the music brings them back from that great void of nothingness. And that’s beautiful. Maybe, in some very intricate way that science cannot yet explain, music creates life again.”
-Excerpt from the oral history of Jovan Mihailović, violinist from Serbia
Cover art by Jovan Mihailović; inside illustrations by Lucie van der Elst and Nick Jackson.
