The Mehterhane or
Mehter, as they are often known, are thought to be the oldest military marching band in the world. Starting around the 13th century, the
band accompanied the Ottoman empire troops (
Janissaries, or
yeniçeri, roughly meaning "new troops" and were comprised mostly of young men from the Balkans) into battle, spreading their music along the way and influencing western classical composers like
Mozart and
Beethoven.
[more inside]
posted by sleepy pete
on Jul 19, 2008 -
14 comments
On November 25th, 2006, Valentin Elizalde was killed in the city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Elizalde, a singer of a style of song known as the
narcocorrido, was warned not to step foot in Tamaulipas because of a video for his song “A mis Enemigos,"
which showed footage of (WaPo article) the deaths of drug traffickers from the
Gulf Cartel. In
December of 2006, Javier Morales Gómez was killed in Huetamo, Michoacán while talking on his cell phone. Morales Gómez was the singer for Los Implacables del Norte, another group closely associated with
narcocorridos. The most famous death of a narcocorrido writer/singer has to be
Chalino Sanchez, killed in 1992, and spawning several imitators known as
Los Chalinillos that are still prevalent 15 years after Sanchez's death. (
previously) [more inside]
posted by sleepy pete
on May 25, 2007 -
17 comments
