World Music: A Global Journey, w/CDs.(Book review)

* World Music: A Global Journey, w/CDs, by Terry E. Miller and Andrew Shahriari. Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group, (www.routledge-ny.com; 1(800) 634-7064), 2006. 460pp. $59.

Two compact discs with 70 audio examples and hundreds of pictures of performers in varied cultural environments set the stage for this world-wide musical trek. Replete with excellent ideas, efficiently organized and sharing the personal stories of music makers from every continent, this volume is a must for the private studio. It is a wonderful "sampler" of the sounds and sights one would experience in a well-planned musical tour. But much more than that, the book's easy language educates us with accurate geographical and social information, leads our first impressions into each sound sample, and provides a structured analytical approach for those who want it. The authors bring ethnomusicological insights to the reader in clear observations linking each culture's realities with its music.

This publication and its extensions offer answers to many questions about the variety and meaning of traditional, folk and popular music, ranging from songs and instrumental selections by performers in the largest countries to the tiniest islands. Somehow the authors have done the unbelievable--sampled the mass of our world's music and made sense of it.

Conceived as a textbook for college and university world music classes, this new volume has already achieved success in the classroom because it is accessible to non-music majors as well as those emphasizing music study. The ...