The term "The Silk Road" was invented by a German geographer in 1877. He was describing trade routes that go back to the Han Dynasty of China over 2000 years ago, connecting Europe with the major cultures of the ancient Asian world by land and by sea. The driving force was commerce, but like the Internet today, it also enabled the spread of social communication, technology, culture, food...and music.
In 1940 American anthropologist ALBERT KROEBER came up with a fancy name for the process. He called it trans-cultural diffusion. In music, traditions from many countries and intersecting influences over many centuries make sorting it out a challenge. There are common instruments, rhythms, scales and approaches to making music. Each country added its own distinctive elements, and the process continues today — at electronic speed.
On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE… music derived from those cultural way stations on the Silk Road, on a program called TRANS-ASIAN DIFFUSION.
[ view playlist ] [ view Flickr image gallery ] [ play 30 second MP3 promo ]
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