Title of piece:
Urr Hooyo
Performers:
Hudeidi and Aar MaantaCulture or Origin:
Somalia, England
Orchestration:
Vocals, Oud, Djembe, Electric Bass, Drum Set, Keyboard.
Uur Hooyo is a collaboration between two generations of Somali-British musicians. I chose this piece due to the large Somali population in Minneapolis and the possibility of finding live Somali music to use for my upcoming field research project.
Hudeidi is a Somali born musician who learned the Oud as a teenager from Abdullahi Qarshe, who is considered the father of Somali music. In 1973, Hudeidi settled in the United Kingdom after the Somali government deemed music a distraction and moved to ban it's performance.
Aar Maanta's family fled Somalia in the 1990's following the Civil War and moved to the United Kingdom where he attended school. In 2004, Aar Maanta began recording music because he was concerned with the lack of new Somali music being created. His style blends Somali and Western musical traditions. You can hear this blend of styles in the pentatonic vocals and Oud playing, which are Somali, with the Djembe drum which was originally a West African instrument. The drum set and Electric Bass show the influence of western pop and jazz music. Aar Maanta's band is made of members from different backgrounds and musical traditions.
Systems can be used to classify the instruments heard into different categories.
AS OBJECTS:
Oud - composite Chordophone
Djembe - directly struck Membranophone
Electric Bass - composite Chordophone
Drum Set - directly struck Membranophones (drums), directly struck Idophones (cymbals)
Keyboard - Mechanical and Electric
SEXUALITY AND GENDER
Djembafolas (people who play the djembe) in West Africa are traditionally men. Even today, it is rare to find women djembafolas. he performer in this piece is Nahini Doumbia, a master Djembafola from Mali.
Electric Bassists, except in the subcategory of Alternative Rock, are predominantly men. In this instance, the performer, Ruth Goller, is a female from Italy.
This is awesome, and new to me as I have never studied or heard of Somali influenced music. I think it is great that you are attempting to complete your field study on music which is so close to your home. What a story this culture's music holds as it was banned in 1973. The fact that Aar Maanta began making this music again in 2004 shows the strength of this heritage and how deep this music runs within it's people. I also like that he mixed his home heritage music with Western music so that it fit more of his new life while still holding on to his roots. What a great tribute to his home country to begin making it's music when he feared it would die out. The instruments explanation is so interesting and really makes me what to dig deeper into this culture's music. How interesting that genders play a role in the orchestration of the music. Great choice with such an interesting culture!
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