Musique du Viet-Nam [BAM LD 365] a 7-inch EP released in France in 1960

Here is a delightful 7-inch, 33RPM "EP" released from the french label BAM (which apparently stands for Boîte à Musique -- or, "music box" to Anglophones).

I'm not sure if this music ever appeared on an LP.

The internet has provided me with this information about Tran Van Khe:

Trần Văn Khê (July 24, 1921, Binh Hoà Dông, Viêt-Nam – June 24, 2015, Hồ Chí Minh City, Việt-Nam) is a Vietnamese Dàn kim, Dàn co, Dàn tranh, Trông player and ethnomusicologist. 

Director of research at Centre national de la recherche scientifique for 16 years. Professor of ethnomusicology at Université de la Sorbonne during 19 years. 

Trân was a member of the laboratory team UPR 298 "Comparative studies on Southeast Asia", board member of Unesco-IMC project entitled "The Universe of Music : a History" (UMH)", and also honorary member of Conseil International de la Musique (Unesco).

Equipment used in transfer:

Preparation: Ultrasonic cleaning for 20 minutes in pure clean water
Turntable: Audio-technica AT-LP-1240
Cartridge: Shure M97xE
Pre-amplification: Vintage refurbished Pioneer SX-780.
Recorder: Sony PCM-M10 at 24bit/96kHz resolution
Software: Audacity, ClickRepair, and xAct.

downloads:

24bit, 96kHz FLAC files (304 MB)

highest resolution files I am capable of producing

16bit, 44.kHz FLAC files (71 MB)

after decoding to WAV files, these can be burned to CDR

320 kbps mp3 files (42 MB)

highest quality mp3 files possible 

For a good explanation of what FLAC files are and why you should be listening to them if you can, please click on these words.

Tunde Nightingale - The Bird That Sings All the Night - an LP recorded in Nigeria and released in England in 1968

Here we have another LP from the Boston Public Library collection, digitized for the Internet Archive (those original, unrestored transfers can be found here) and repaired and restored by me.

Tunde was born in 1922 and died in 1981. He recorded 40 albums and is cited as an influence to later "juju" musicians such as King Sunny Ade.

downloads:

24bit, 96kHz FLAC files (704 MB)

higher-than-standard-CD resolution files

16bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC files (192 MB)

after decoding to WAV files, these can be burned to CDR

320 kbps mp3 files (100 MB)

highest quality mp3 files possible

Folk Music of Afghanistan -- an LP recorded in Afghanistan in 1966-67 and released in the US in 1971

Another vinyl transfer from the Boston Public Library via the Internet Archive and restored by me. This LP was later reissued with additional music, but that compact disc is now unavailable except in the second hand market.

Of note is that the list price of this LP was $5.95 in 1970, which in inflation-adjusted 2020 dollars is about $40. This, interestingly, is about what used copies are listed at on discogs.com (US sellers only, for a fair comparison).

Economists playfully use something called a "Big Mac Index," which measures purchasing power among various world currencies by comparing the cost of a rather disgusting Big Mac sandwich at McDonalds "restaurants" around the world. We can do the same with comparing 1970 USD vs 2020 USD... the price of a Big Mac sandwich was 49 cents in 1970 and $5.74 (average) in mid-2019. Therefore the method results in a 2020 retail list price for this LP of right around $70.

Another way of looking at it is that in 1970, if one had $6, one could purchase either 12 Big Macs or this LP. Therefore we again derive a theoretical retail list price of this album today of around $70. Keep that in mind when people scoff at paying $20 for a newly-issued LP.

A1 Pashtu Landay
Lute [Dambura], Voice – Alladad
Voice – Painda Gul 2:18
recorded in Deh Raud on November 10, 1966

A2 Pashtu Ghazal
Rabab [Robab] – Zahir Jan
Voice – Musa Jan 4:43
recorded in Bakhtu on October 31, 1966

A3 Pashtu Ensemble
Drum [Zerbaghali] – Shazad
Harmonium, Voice – Mira Jan
Rabab – Yar Mohammad
Tabla – Baz Mohammad 4:50
recorded in Tirin on November 8, 1966

A4 Babulala
Lute [Dambura], Voice – Alladad
Voice – Painda Gul 3:09
recorded in Deh Raud on November 10, 1966

A5 Song From Nangarhar 2:50
recorded in Kama on February 9, 1967

A6 Sorna And Dhol
Dhol – Baydo
Horn [Sorna] – Saydo 6:03
recorded in Dadshan on March 6, 1967

B1 Char Bayti
Voice – Habibullah 1:17
recorded in Nehshin on March 7, 1967

B2 Herat Ensemble
Drum [Zerbaghali] – Ghausuddin
Lute [Dotar] – Khan Mohammad
Performer [Tasak], Voice – Mohammad Rahim 2:56
recorded in Qala-i Rig, Zindajan district on March 9, 1967

B3 Olang Olang
Drum [Dayra], Voice – Baba Moqim 2:44
recorded in Qala-i Rig, Zindajan district on March 9, 1967

B4 Song From Northern Herat
Lute [Dotar], Voice – Mullah Haqdad 3:43
recorded in Qara Bagh, Gulran district on March 13, 1967

B5 Tula
Flute [Tula] – Mohammad Akbar 2:16
recorded in Qara Bagh, Gulran district on March 13, 1967

B6 Ghichak And Zerbaghali
Drum [Zerbaghali] – Abdul Qadir
Fiddle [Ghichak] – Mohammad Nazar 4:10
recorded in Balkh on March 27, 1967

B7 Ensemble Of Northern Afghanistan
Drum [Zerbaghali] – Mohammad Rahim
Lute [Dambura], Voice – Khaistamir
Performer [Tasak], Voice – Sayid Murad 6:44
recorded in Sholgera on March 26, 1967


Recorded By – Lorraine Sakata, Tom Sakata

Tom Sakata worked for Boeing as an engineer and interrupted his career several times so that he could accompany (and protect) his ethnomusicologist wife on long trips to Afghanistan in the 1960s.

Lorraine grew up in California and spent several years as a child growing up in an internment camp in the United States during the second World War. She first studied the piano as well as traditional Japanese instruments. After that she closely studied South Indian classical music, becoming a student of T. Ranganathan and S. Ramanathan. She wrote her Masters thesis on the topic of varnam.

A very good 2016 interview with Sakata focusing on her life and career is available here.

An excellent LP transfer of folk music from Afghanistan is available at the fantastic "MusicRepublic" blog.

The République Musique blog is certainly the best currently-active general world music blog of which I am aware. Go there and download everything and revel in the musical treasures being obtained, preserved and shared!

A different transfer of the same LP is available here.

The second volume is available as a vinyl transfer here.

A transfer of a wonderful and extremely rare Japanese 5-LP set of Afghan folk music is still available at the "Oriental Traditional Music" blog.

Dozens of other transfers of cassettes and LPs of music from Afghanistan are available from the "Oriental Traditional Music" blog here.

The blogger who maintained the above-mentioned blog is now deceased and I strongly urge you to visit his blog and download everything you might remotely be interested in before the hosted links expire.

downloads:

24bit, 96kHz FLAC files (973 MB)

higher-than-standard-CD resolution files

16bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC files (288 MB)

after decoding to WAV files, these can be burned to CDR

320 kbps mp3 files (166 MB)

highest quality mp3 files possible