Written by Tom Schnabel

There are restaurants and shops in Little Ethiopia on Fairfax Avenue playing African beats and a vibrant Mariachi and Tejano scene in El Mercado of East Los Angeles. Even now, at the turn of the millennium, the English and Irish Pubs continue to strum melodies about God, love, and whiskey, following a tradition that goes well back into the 19th century. The list goes on and on. It's not exactly armchair traveling, but still all this musical delight is just a short drive away.

Here in Los Angeles we not only find places where purist traditional music is heard, such as the Armenian church choirs in Glendale; on the club scene, we also find groups that mix deejay culture with ethnic rhythms, sampling everything under the sun into an eclectic and enticing musical concoction.

This amazing musical syncretism was not only determined by the massive migration of ethnic groups into the area, but also defined by the political and social forces that have shaped the United States in the last forty years.

The Voice of America (VOA), acting like a politicized early American version of MTV, broadcast Willis Conover's Jazz Hour behind the red curtain, influencing a generation of Soviet citizens both in Russia and in USSR member nations. Johnny Pacheco, along with the infectious Nuyorican sound, was heard - thanks to the VOA - by newly independent African nations in the early 60s.

A decade later, Armed Forces Radio beamed 60s American soul, psychedelic sounds, and Motown grooves throughout South-East Asia, influencing Thai, Cambodian, and Vietnamese music. Then came MTV in the 80s, which now broadcasts hip-hop and other new music around the globe. And now the Internet cross-pollinates music even further.

If we add to all this mix the popularity and demand of world music - the new hybrid genre that during the 50s, 60s, and 70s percolated globally, mixing local with imported sounds, usually American, but also French in francophone Africa, and Cuban, especially in Senegal, Mali and Congo - then we have music that defies geography, creating a global beat in a local setting.
Now, at the turn of the millennium, the dance between what we know as local and understand as global is creating an unprecedented musical and cultural diversity in Los Angeles.