Muslim World Music Day: April 12!

On April 12, 2011, the Archive of Contemporary Music (ARC) in New York City will become the hub of a global day dedicated to the music of the Islamic world.  ALL the music of the Islamic world, from rappers in Ramallah to a Muslim country and western singer in Oklahoma.  (Seriously.  Check out Kareem Salama.)  ARC founder Bob George describes the event as part crash course and part global town hall meeting.  We at Afropop found the event so intriguing that we decided to participate by producing a full-hour radio program on the effort.  That will air this coming weekend.  And we will post a lengthy interview with Bob about ARC and the whole notion of "world music days," and in particular, this one!


In the meantime, here are some excellent links to follow to find out more about Muslim World Music Day and how you can get involved.

First, the Muslim World Music Day website:

@  http://muslimworldmusicday.com/

Then, the blog, which gives an overview of the project, a list of suggestions for ways people can participate and a list of the people and organizations currently planning events:  @   http://arcmmcc.wordpress.com.     

A beta version of the ever growing Muslim World Music database:

@   http://arcmusic.heroku.com/muslim_albums      

And most delightful of all, the Muslim World Music Day YouTube channel, with superb hand-picked videos organized by country:
@  http://www.youtube.com/user/bbunchy

ARC is home to the largest collection of popular music in the world, and a powerful creative force in the world, as this one-of-a-kind event demonstrates.  If you want to get involved in Muslim World Music Day, write to ARC at arcmusic@inch.com.   And tell them Afropop sent you!