As featured in the January/February 2009 (#57) issue of Songlines, Nigel Williamson unearths the endlessly rich source of archival world music footage available online at YouTube.

You don’t have to look very hard and you will find that just about the entire history of what we have come to call ‘world music’ is there on YouTube.

You never got the chance to see Fela Kuti, Celia Cruz or Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan live in concert before they died? Never mind, there are dozens of YouTube clips waiting to enlighten you.

If you want to remember what a stunning figure the youthful Miriam Makeba cut when she first left South Africa 50 years ago, the memories are all readily available.

And all those old guys from Buena Vista Social Club who are no longer with us? Well, they’re up there at different stages of their long careers, and you can also check out footage of Beny Moré from half a century ago and see why most Cuban musicians to this day still rate him as the greatest of them all.

At the link below, Songlines presents their favourite YouTube world music moments. But they are the tip of the global iceberg. Write or email with your own favourites…

http://songlines.co.uk/youtube

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Tags: songlines, World Music