I love how monumental Paul Simon’sGraceland recording has become in cementing and furthering the ties of American popular music with the syncopated rhythms of South Africa. Paul Simon and the musicians of South Africa have forged an indelible common bond that is strengthened by the 25th anniversary celebration of a very special concert and music recording experience in South Africa.
The story of the making of Graceland, and the controversy created when Paul Simon went to South Africa to record with local artists, is told in “Under African Skies,” the new full-length documentary by two-time Emmy and Peabody Award winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger (“Brother’s Keeper,” “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster,” the West Memphis Three/”Paradise Lost” trilogy) and producers@radical.media and A&E IndieFilms.
I urge you to visit Paul Simon’s Graceland page here. Discover more about this wonderful achievement in music sociological and cultural circles.
Watch the official film trailer here. I can’t wait to witness this heartwarming, engaging film on the big screen!
“When I think back On all the crap I learned in high school
It’s a wonder I can think at all
And though my lack of education Hasn’t hurt me none
I can read the writing on the wall“
“Kodachrome” - Lyrics by Paul Simon, Copyright 1972, Paul Simon Music
High school didn’t teach me very much. College was the real education, especially when I minored in music at the University of New Haven, from September 1972 – June 1974. I was exposed to audio experiences from music professors who were graduates of Wesleyan University‘s World Music program. Their knowledge of world music sounds, cultures and instruments expanded my horizons in ways I never imagined before. I took courses on the music of the Far East, where we studied such countries as India, China, Tibet, Bali and Japan. We studied Black Music, diving deep into the eras of jazz, deciphering John Coltrane and gaining a full appreciation for Miles Davis. We studied the music of Africa and its relationship with American blues and jazz. My favorite book we discussed and read was Savannah Syncopators: African retention in the blues by Paul Oliver . We also studied the music of Europe, especially the music of the gypsies and Django Reinhardt.
Brown wrote that he: “… invented the term ‘world music’ … to avoid using … ‘ethnomusicology’ for a new graduate program we were cooking up, and to emphasize music and music performance as the core of the program, as opposed to musicological research.” (Robert Brown, letter to the editor, “His fault,” Folk Roots (208 Oct. 2000), 1-2.).
I also had Paul Simon to thank as he championed world music in exciting, innovative ways. Simon’s relationship with world music began with Bridge Over Troubled Water, which featured an Andean song called el Condor Pasa. Then in 1972, when his first solo album Paul Simon was released he created the reggae influenced hit, “Mother and Child Reunion”. He continued on that path by adding layers, textures and world music influences by recording much of Graceland in South Africa.
Paul Simon continued to imbue world music cultures into his music, for example he moved on to the music of Brazil with The Rhythm of the Saints recording.
Another famous Wesleyan graduate, John Perry Barlow has worked with Gilberto Gil, Brazil’s Minister of Culture to create an online music archive to catalog all the music of Brazil. It is an open source initiative that I heartily embrace as it will make all the music available for free download.
