Artist: Maldivian Traditional Music
Title: Vaavu Keyodhoo
Label: Asasi Records
Genre: Maldivian Traditional Music
The Maldives. With its blue seas and perfect weather, the islands in the Indian Ocean are a favorite vacation and honeymoon destination. But look past the tourist glitz and there are centuries of history and music here that have gone undocumented. All that changes, though, with Maldivian Traditional Music from V. Keyodhoo (released October 7th, 2014 on Asasi Records), a three-CD collection that offers the very first glimpse of the boduberu, thaara, and raivaru traditions from one of the islands in the chain. And it includes the singing of a woman who know those traditions well – she was already a centenarian when the recording was made.
“The music is in its traditional form as it would probably have sounded like even 100 years ago,” explains Abdulla Kaleem, the album’s producer. “It’s not practiced on every island, either, although it’s strong on V. Keyodhoo, which is about 90 minutes by speedboat south of the Maldives capital, Male.’
