Explorer Brings Back Music from Across the Globe

... the Nonesuch Records "Explorer" series, that is. The classic series is back, now on CD.

Nonesuch broke new ground from 1967 -1984 by capturing music from all around the world and releasing it for the masses. By dispatching intrepid travelers to every corner of the planet -- and arming them with high-quality recording equipment -- the original Explorer series was able to transport listeners to remote rendezvous with distant cousins.

Many of today's most innovative artists have recalled how "life changing" the Explorer series was to them., and with the CD re-releases, a new generation of listeners can now travel the world.

Over a period of three years, Nonesuch will release re-mastered versions of the entire Explorer collection. Already available are the recordings from Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, and Indonesia/Pacific. Each region's collection offers 7 - 15 individual releases, plus a sampler disc that contains highlights of each.

Next up is the set of recordings from Tibet & Kashmir; the sets from India, East Asia, Europe, and Central Asia will follow over the next 2 years.

In his April 29, 2003 column in the Wall Street Journal, Ed Ward recalls experiencing the Explorer series in his youth (back when each LP cost around $2.00). He points out how the Explorer music captures mostly non-Western music, "some of which you could call 'folk,' some 'pop,' and some 'classical' within the traditions of its culture.

Ward's favorite of the first round of re-releases is the Indonesian gamelan music, "recorded on site, with the ambient sounds of bird dimly audible through the ringing, the squeaking of the fiddle-like rebabs, and the sometimes reedy singing." He looks forward most to the India series, whose original LP releases changed the way he heard all music.

Read Rootsworld reviews of the Africa series and Pacific series

Read a Rootsworld interview with musicologist David Lewiston

Read a press release or two about the new series, or better yet, visit Nonesuch Records' elegant site, which contains maps, sound clips, images, history, news, newsletter, tour info, essays

You can find the series in such places as Amazon.com, where you can read more reviews as well as customer comments