One of the great thrills, and souvenirs of one’s travel, is not only the experience of different foods, sights and smells, but sounds. I try to collect a sample of local music from the places I visit and have collected tapes/CD’s, from Nepali flute players through to African drummers.
Over the last 30+ years there has been a growth in the merging of western with ‘other’ genres of music. Ohannes and I (above picture) were doing this in 1979! One of the first commercially successful examples would have to be the Osibisa (African fusion funk/jazz) albums from the very early 1970’s and then Paul Simon with the album ‘Gracelands’.
From this point on there have been many examples where mainstream western artists joined foreign styles to their recordings. In addition, many of these ‘foreign’ artists recorded in their own right and the term ‘World Music’ now defines this genre.
Naturally your dollar also does great work in developing nations. Whilst travelling purchase some musical recordings in the countries you are visiting. There is a high chance that these local artists are not signed to multinational labels and so your funds have a greater chance of staying in the region where you spend them.