The Romani, or Roma, are believed to have originated in northern India and to have begun dispersing from that area sometime around 1000CE. Sometimes known as Gypsies, in some cases, even among themselves, but some consider the term to be a racial slur. The attendees at the first World Romani Conference voted unanimously to reject all non native identifiers of their people. Generally, they have been discriminated against and persecuted wherever they have traveled. Further information on the Romani people may be found, among other places, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people
On this day in history:
1093 – The new Winchester Cathedral was dedicated.
1820 – The Venus de Milo was discovered.
1895 – In Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. the US Supreme Court declared unapportioned income tax to be unconstitutional.
1911 – Heike Kamerlingh Onnes discovered superconductivity.
1913 – The 17th Amendment to the US Constitution, became law requiring direct election of US Senators.
1935 – The WPA was formed.Unbelievably, it was not "market based".
1946 – Électricité de France, was formed by the nationalisation of electricity producers, transporters and distributors.
1953 – Mau Mau leader Jomo Kenyatta was convicted by Kenya's colonial rulers.
1959 – A team led by Grace Hopper met to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be COBOL.
1961 – An explosion sank the MV Dara and killed 238. The British eventually blamed Russia rebels, but produced no evidence whatsoever.
1970 – The Israeli air force bombed an Egyptian primary school but only managed to kill forty-six children.
2008 – The world's first skyscraper to integrate wind turbines was completed in Bahrain.
Some people who were born on this day:
I don't think much of the journalism that I see.
~~ Seymour Hersh
1859 – Edmund Husserl, mathematician and philosopher
1896 – Yip Harburg, lyricist
1905 – Helen Joseph, activist
1917 – Winifred Asprey, mathematician and computer scientist
1922 – Carmen McRae, singer, songwriter, pianist, and actress
1927 – Ollie Mitchell, trumpet player and bandleader
1929 – Jacques Brel, singer-songwriter and actor
1937 – Seymour Hersh, journalist and author
1941 – J. J. Jackson, singer, songwriter, and arranger
1944 – Deke Richards, songwriter and producer
1947 – Steve Howe, guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1949 – Brenda Russell, singer, songwriter, and keyboard player
1951 – Mel Schacher, bass player
1951 – Joan Sebastian, singer, songwriter, and actor
1962 – Izzy Stradlin, guitarist and songwriter
1963 – Julian Lennon, singer, songwriter, and photographer
Some people who died on this day:
We all know that Art is not truth. Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.
~~ Pablo Picasso
1950 – Vaslav Nijinsky, dancer and choreographer
1973 – Pablo Picasso, painter and sculptor
1993 – Marian Anderson, singer
1997 – Laura Nyro, singer,songwriter, and pianist
Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such: International Romani Day Hana Matsuri (Japan) National Empanada Day
Today's Tunes
New Winchester Cathedral
Venus de Milo
Yip Harburg
Carmen McRae
Ollie Mitchell
Jacques Brel
J. J. Jackson
Deke Richards
Steve Howe
Brenda Russell
Mek Schacher
Julian Lennon
Marian Anderson
Laura Nyro
The Romani are known, among other things, for their music, which is invariably an amalgm of the local traditions with other background traditions. The next two videos are from a genre that used to be called "Gypsy Flamenco":
Manitas de Plata and Jose Reyes
Jose Reyes and Manitas de Plata
A different genre with The Barcelona Gypsy Klezmer Orchestra:
Djelem Djelem was written by Žarko Jovanović and is often used as the anthem of the Romani people.
The Rus
Hungary
Cuba?
"Gypsy Jazz"
EDIT — attempted to restore some of the original formatting
Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?
Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com Open Thread, Roma, Romani, Yip Harburg, Carmen McRae, Jacques Brel, Mek Schacher, Marian Anderson, Djelem Djelem, Manitas de Plata, Jose Reyes, Django Reinhardt, Stephane Grapelli