Mr. Cronshaw's World

My friend and co-fanatic in music, Andrew Cronshaw, has been writing for many years about the world's musical gems, and at long last, he has taken all of the reviews he has done in fRoots Magazine and put them online in an archive. It's all neatly arranged and cleanly presented, in typical Cronshaw style. 1500 recordings, primarily from northern, central and eastern Europe and Iberia, with interesting forays into the rest of the world. He can be loving or searing as needed, and I hope you will take some time to just wanted aimlessly through this treasure chest in the months to come.

Check them all out here

Here is a sampling of the reviews you will find there:

Since Andrew and I first met in Finland in 1994, I thought that was an appropriate time and place to begin:

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Entiset Etniset - Historical direct disc recordings of Finnish folk music 1935-1954
Kansanmusiikki-instituutti KICD 29 (1993)

EINO TULIKARI
Traditional Finnish kantele music
Kansanmusiikki-instituutti KICD 1 (1993)

AARNION SISARUKSET (The Aarnio family band)
Hameen Polkka; Finnish folk music from the 1930s
Kansanmusiikki-instituutti KICD 28 (1993)

RÖNTYSKÄ
Röntyskä Songs
Mipu Music MIPUCD 203 (1993)

From 1935 until 1954 performances for A.O.Väisänen's Finnish radio programme Puoli tuntia kansanmusiikkia ("Half an Hour of Folk Music") were pre-recorded on 8-minute acetates. Most of these were scrapped after use, but a random selection were preserved, and selected items have now been No-Noise reprocessed and released on CD as Entiset Etniset. The result is a collection of music, much of it unheard since the 30s, produced by rural traditions around Finland before the Winter War changed everything - kantele masters such as the Karelians Vanja Tallas and Antero Vornanen, Ingrian-born wind-instrumentalist Teppo Repo, singers in the old styles, a scattering of ocarina, clarinet, harmonium and melodeon, and of course fiddlers.

Eino Tulikari appears too, but there are more recent recordings of him, in fact a whole LP, made in 1975 in the front room of the Folk Music Institute's beautiful wooden Pelimannitalo at Kaustinen, when this leading exponent of the still-flourishing Perho River Valley style of kantele playing was 70. (This CD reissue of that album adds four tracks from a recording made for radio twenty years earlier.) He played the large "board kantele"; in his Ostrobothnian regional style it's played with the shortest string toward the player and without damping. On record, the sound is attractively music-box-like, but the intricate and ingenious techniques Tulikari used in these tunes, largely polkkas, marches and waltzes, are a continuing strong influence on today's players, and to see someone today using what he had a major hand in developing makes clear how important he was. Kantele is music for the eyes as well as the ears.

Incidentally, I'm not a harp player but it occurs to me that some kantele techniques, particularly the ways of slipping across strings for fluid fast playing and grace-note turns, might be worth the attention of those who are.

The Aarnio Family Band album is also compiled from acetates from Väisänen's radio programme. Until this century instrumental folk music was played solo; folk bands didn't really exist until after the 1940s, though there were popular music dance bands and a considerable brass band tradition. Nevertheless, in a home with a number of instrumentalists it was natural that they'd play together. The Aarnio family, from Humppila, SW Finland, started performing in ceremonial wedding plays, with an unusual line-up featuring Väinö Aarnio on clarinet, fiddle and occasional ocarina and his sisters Lempi on fiddle and Hilja on a 24-string kantele (played in the hand-damping, strummed chordal style very unlike Tulikari's, but still with shortest string nearest the player). A third sister, Rauha, played fiddle in the band too but not on these recordings, made in 1936 and 1941. The material here is virtually all polkkas and waltzes, with three mazurkas and a polska, with some influence evident from brass band music, perhaps partly because of Väinö's earlier experience playing cornet. His fiddle solos in particular show him to have been a very able and lively musician.

The recordings of the Röntyskä group of women singers from Rappula in Ingria (the Finno-Ugrian territory in the part of Russia between Finland and Estonia at the head of the Gulf of Finland) aren't from the archives but were made in 1993 of a group formed by Hilma Biss in 1977 on her return from deportation to Siberia and a stay in Karelia to sing the old songs from her home region - ring dances and game songs. The Röntyskä song, a quick 2/4 or 4/4 ring dance after which the group is named, is of antiphonal form; the leader sings a couple of lines of usually light-hearted lyrics reflecting village life and the group repeats them, in unison, sometimes adding a refrain. The singing is straightforward, without grace-noting or harmony, and the main interest of this album, while it has unpretentious charm, probably lies for most listeners largely in the material. The Ingrian tradition is continuous with that of Finland, but until recent developments communication and movement across the border were difficult. Now this group's songs, some of which arrived in Ingria from Finland in the first place, are finding their way back into the repertoire of Finnish musicians.

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Another thing Andrew and I share is a passion for this unique American artist of Latvian descent:

INGRID KARKLINS & BACKBONE
Red Hand
Willow Music IK001 (1997)

I guess at first listen some Folk Roots readers might regard this album as pretty far from folk music. Ingrid Karklins is, though, a classic example of post-traditionalism, in which each musician has in effect a personal tradition built from all their influences. We just don’t live in villages, largely unaware of any ways of making music other than those in our immediate geographical vicinity, any more. Some of us give in more or less to the pressure of one or other global mainstream; Ingrid Karklins doesn’t.

Her name first appeared in Folk Roots when cassette releases were still reviewed, then again with her first two CDs (on Green Linnet), and in an interview piece. Having parted company with the label, she resolved to make the whole project of her next recording as deeply personal as her songs, and indeed it is, dramatically so. Red Hand comes in a package hand-made by her, using fine papers and red braids, bearing a red imprint of her right hand. The natural impulse of the recipient is the childlike and fundamental one of matching hands, and unwrapping like a present the entirely red, unmarked CD.

The main features of the sound are her voice, which as others have said has some similarity to Laurie Anderson’s, and her piano (and occasional Latvian kokle and fiddle) with Steve Bernal’s bass, Craig No.7’s guitars and the remarkable, innovative and powerful percussion of Thor, who was a shaping factor in her compelling first CD, A Darker Passion, and has returned for this one.

Karklins makes absolutely no claim to performing Latvian traditional music, but her songs, minimal in lyrics, showing her compelling tension between self-exposure and extreme privacy, combine what is deeply personal to her with the oblique symbolism of the Latvian dainas (folksong verses tunnelling through the Latvian experience of many centuries) which are a strong influence. She draws on Malayan pantun, Scottish song, Alexander Pope, Nick Drake, a Dobu Island charm and Randy Newman, but there’s no complete exposition of any of them - they’re threads in the weave.

Remarkable and bold, and, like much great art, on the jagged edge between the mainstream and non-existence. Strangely liberating and encouraging.


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And finally, a bit of the acid that is an essential element of the Cronshaw DNA:

Oreka Tx
Quercus Endorphina
Elkarlanean KD-579 (2001)

Txalaparta. Two rough, thick planks of wood, resting on soft furs, leaves or cloth draped over upturned baskets or trestles. Two players strike them with thick wooden batons, one held vertically in each hand. A strange, old, minimalist music that explores the slight tonal and timbral variations to be drawn out of each plank by hitting it at the ends, in the middle, on the edge. A subtle musical conversation between two people, each appreciating and responding to the pitches and patterns made by the other.

Along come social and occupation changes, in Euskadi as elsewhere, and the txalaparta tradition gets close to dying out. But some young players, among them Igor Otxoa and Harkaitz Martínez who are Oreka TX, take it up, becoming skilful. They naturally experiment, not only with playing techniques but the instrument’s possibilities.

Why not add a whole lot more planks? Tune them to a scale. And of course if you’re going to want to play with other instruments, it’ll probably need to be that universalised sterilised equal temperament scale, not the old way of notes that sound right to the individual player. And look what you’ve got now! Hey, a rather big and dead-sounding xylophone!

And so, having created a “revamped, stronger and more attractive variant”, to quote the press release, you’re in a position to make it “a feature of cultural distinction, with a touch of ethnic flavour”. But surely the concept of extracting minute subtleties of tone, microtone and rhythm from a pair of heavy rough-hewn planks is more culturally distinctive than a big xylophone playing accordion tunes?

Oh sure, traditions must evolve or they die, and noticeable evolutionary clicks of the cog are usually criticised as crass and destructive, but no amount of criticism ever stopped the process and they often give rise to a new flowering; indeed Oreka TX and this album are a significant part of a considerable upsurge in txalaparta playing. It’s a well-made, stylishly presented record, destined to widen international knowledge and esteem of the instrument, with very skilful txalaparta players (who also make some use of tobera, the iron txalaparta, and the stone, lithophone version), neat trikitixa style tunes, and excellent Euskal and international guests (producer Kepa Junkera, Mikel Laboa, Glen Velez, Phil Cunningham, Justin Vali, Ibon Koteron’s alboka, Michel Bordeleau’s feet).

But something’s missing...
And then, in the 2 minutes 59 seconds of track 8, Oreka (“balance, equilibrium”), suddenly there it is. And on the last track, not just in the woody staccato from a 1990 recording of a pair who carried txalaparta through the thin times, Pello Zuaznabar and Ramon Goikoetxea, but also in the overlapping speaking voices, there it is again. Not neat tunes scored and transferred, not one-note-per-plank, but that sensitivity to mere hints of pitch variation, that delight and intensity of concentration of two people improvising in rhythmic co-operation. Txalaparta.


All these reviews appeared in fRoots over the years

All are ©Andrew Cronshaw

RootsWorld's future depends on you

RootsWorld needs your help to survive

Back in 1992, the dawn of time by internet reckoning, I decided to do something unheard of, and create an online global music resource. As it grew, I began to call it a "sharezine," an hommage to my many years as a volunteer DJ at various non-commercial radio stations, who share the music for free, and then ask you to voluntarily support it after the fact - free and open to all, access permitted at all times, to everyone. It just seemed like the right way to do it.

As RootsWorld grew over the years, it has been a search engine, a magazine, a juke box and much more, evolving, changing - growing and shrinking and growing again. It was sometimes a part time endeavor, sometimes my life's work. It has been a series of experiments. Some failed, some thrived.

But it has always been, in my opinion, about quality, not quantity, and it still is. We do not publish more reviews than most online resources - we publish more thoughtful reviews. We do not put out a steady stream of reiterated and regurgitated press releases and blurbs - we tell you about things we find interesting, important or inspiring. We do not flood you with content (how I hate that bit of internet phasing!) - we send you good reading and listening, only when we have it to send you - no filler, no dross. The volunteers who contribute to RootsWorld are free to tell you what they think - to enlighten you, not please an advertiser, a record label, an artist or a publicist. They write with passion, with spirit, with wit and intelligence.

So you know what comes now: the pitch.

This is the first time in the history of RootsWorld that I have dedicated this much space and time to asking you for your help, but today is that day. A few years ago, I changed RW's funding to a low-key voluntary system of support, and it has paid some of the bills. I added cdRoots to the mix and it was a successful subsidy for a while, as well, offering you a place to find the music you read about (and much more). But as I am sure you know, things change. CD retailing is waning. The internet is awash in "free information" (judge it as you will for value) delivered amid a sea of visual flotsam. Little discrete text ads and Amazon links do not pay the bills.

SO: The pitch is pretty simple:
Contribute to RootsWorld - I cannot do it without your support.

Many of you have responded over the last year with just that - generous financial support that allows me to continue to publish these newsletters and the web site without blocking it from all who want to read it - that SHAREZINE idea. I thank you for that support.

Now I need to ask YOU to join them, to make a financial contribution in lieu of a formal "subscription" to help me keep RootsWorld 'on the air.'

Please consider making that contribution right now, by clicking the button below, or ssimply drop a check to:
RootsWorld
Box 1285
New Haven CT 06505

Let's show the big business analysts, the flash-splash video ad-sellers and commercial nay-sayers that a small community can prosper in the big corporate world of the World Wide Web.

Thanks
Cliff Furnald
Writer wrangler, code puncher, web rider

If you have not yet decided to contribute, but you would like to be on our mailing list for a while to check it out, please sign up

Your e-mail address will NEVER EVER be given to anyone else, for any purpose.

Mandolin, tuba and voice: the new sound of old Marseille

Daniel Malavergne, Patrick Vaillant and Manu Théron
Chin Na Na Poun
Daqui (www.daqui.fr)

I have been following mandolinist Patrick Vaillant's career for pretty much its entirety (well, its recorded entirety, anyway), from his folk and avant garde work in various ensembles with Riccardo Tesi through remarkable ensembles like the mando-centric Melonious Quartet. Of late he has been exploring songs instead of strictly instrumental work and Chin Na Na Poun offers one of his most unique works to date in a trio with Daniel Malavergne and Manu Théron .

Victor Gelu was a songwriter and poet of nineteenth century Marseille, classically trained but enamored with the streets of this rough and tumble seaport. The poems are earthy, sometimes crude in both content and construction, and the offer a clever musical ensemble an opportunity to expand their meaning. Singer Théron, tuba player Malavergne and Vaillant take full advantage of the structural quirks of Gelu and create a compelling poetry of their own, a conversational approach that is at times lyrical, at times confrontational. Their reinterpretations are not meant to be period pieces, and bear little resemblance to what Gelu might have intended for his times, but they are certainly of a street-wise style he would have embraced.

Victor Gelu's poetry was all written in Occitan, so the booklet's French translations of the title track (no other lyrics are included) are a welcome aid to exploring the poetry a bit, but for the most part, the instrumental arrangements provide their own rich, if more cryptic, interpretation of life in 19th Century Marseille, even if seen through a 21st Century 'world music' lens. - CF

Listen

CD available from cdRoots

Toubab Krewe surf the world

Toubab Krewe
Live at the Orange Peel
Upstream Records (www.toubabkrewe.com)

Detractors no doubt dismiss North Carolina-based Toubab Krewe as a bunch of white guys trying to Africanize jam-band music. Then again, that's probably exactly why their fans (of which I am one) love them. Whatever led them to visit Africa multiple times to discover and embrace the sounds of Mali, Guinea and Ivory Coast, the results of their having done so can be heard in the authenticity of their own music, which combines the guitar/bass/drums toughness of rock with kora, ngoni and percussion straight out of West African griot tradition. And as to what side of it gets the upper hand, well, I hear more Africa than America on both their very good self-titled debut CD and this blazing follow-up, recorded before an appreciative audience in their hometown of Asheville, NC.

It's an hour's worth of taut, expertly played tunes, predominantly instrumental but with a couple of spoken word overlays (more on those in a moment) that give the mind a little extra to mull over amidst a party atmosphere. Specifically African textures often take the lead melodically as occasional harder bursts of electric instruments help with tightly accomplished changes in tempo and feel as well as detours into surf rock, reggae, highlife and psychedelia that display the same spirit of give and take between hemispheres as Africa's emerging "desert blues" bands of today.

If I could change anything here, it would be to reign in the contributions of spoken word artist Umar Bin Hassan, best known for his work with the Last Poets. His guest spots occur on the disc's two longest pieces ("Roy Forester" and "Moose" respectively), and while the first is an eloquently engaging perfect fit, the second- despite justly celebrating some blues greats and Jimi Hendrix in verse -gets too shrill and goes on for too long. The intention is good, but by that point (the next-to-last track) I was totally absorbed in the band's amazing playing and wanted to hear more of it without distraction. Of course, someone else could hear the track and disagree with me entirely. And I still would recommend this disc most highly. It's a praiseworthy work by an emerging band that knows the power of West African music and how to harness it. - Tom Orr

Read more in RootsWorld

Afro-Latin from Austin - Brownout

Brownout
Homenaje
Freestyle (www.freestylerecords.co.uk)

Austin, Texas, long a pace-setter, has more recently broadened its horizons to boast a growing contingent of Latino bands. Tapping its South Texas roots, Brownout serves up a sizzling, mostly instrumental repertoire heavy on guitar, sax, brass, and congas, recalling but never imitating precursors like Joe Bataan, Santana, Tower of Power, Dr. Loco's Rockin' Jalapeño Band, Los Lobos, Los Mocosos, and Grupo Fantasma (where some players do double duty). No wonder the Austin Chronicle named Brownout the city's "Best Live Act," nodding to a dance frenesí of boogaloo, soul funk, salsa, Afro-Latin, Afro-beat, and acid jazz sounds. To wit, "Con el Brownout no se juega" ("don't mess with Brownout") could be a latter-day reincarnation of Cal Tjader and Mongo Santamaria, while "Chafa Khan Artistry" constitutes a head-on collision between Willie Bobo, King Tubby, James Brown, and a sonic barrage of unidentified flying objects. Take cover! - Michael Stone

CD available from Amazon.com

Read more on RootsWorld

Tango, or something like it....

The 1930s brought recording technology to Argentina, which sparked local exposure to jazz via the big-band recordings of Ellington, Basie, Goodman, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw and others. In rough chronological order, guitarist Oscar Alemán (who backed Josephine Baker and played with Django Reinhardt), bandoneon master Dino Saluzzi, Juan Carlos Cáceres (piano, trombone, voice), saxophonist Gato Barbieri, and composer Lalo Schrifrin are important seminal figures in Argentine jazz. It was only in the 1960s, however, after visits by Dizzy Gillespie among others, that local figures like Schifrin, Caceres, Barbieri, and Astor Piazzolla began to garner international notice. Military dictatorship suppressed jazz's development, although Piazzolla recorded with the likes of Gerry Mulligan and Gary Burton in the 1970s and 1980s. Today a younger generation has enjoyed the benefits of conservatory training and broad exposure to international jazz. Argentina boasts numerous jazz festivals and radio stations, and a lively club scene that values originality over slavish emulation of the neo-bebop canon.... RootsWorld world music reporter Micheal Stone explores a parcel of recent recording of the new century's tango, or something like it

Read More in RootsWorld

Galician chanteuse offers beach-warmed songs with elegant arrangements

Uxia
Eterno Navegar
World Village/ Nordesia (worldvillagemusic.com)


It's -6° F in Cleveland as I write this. Eterno Navegar gave me a little over an hour's holiday from the bone-biting cold here on America's North Coast. It's a breezy collection (just try writing a review of an Uxia CD without using the word breezy; it can't be done) of beach-warmed songs with elegantly light-handed arrangements. A little samba, a little fado, a little tango, a little cabaret, all wrapped in gauzy layers of piano, guitar, accordion, muted trumpet, with a little bagpipe and hurdy-gurdy thrown in for color.

The Galician chanteuse has been knocking around for over 20 years, and she knows her way around a song. She keeps things playful and full of delightful surprises. Each track here is a little gem. "Unha noite na eira do trigo" is a loopy waltz with a hint of cabaret and tasteful touches of theremin. "Alalá de Muxia" has the tender restraint of a lullaby, with vocals that go barely above a whisper and gentle piano, cello, and soprano sax. "A lira" is a traditional song from the Azores with a simple, almost child-like melody. It starts out quietly with just a little piano, and then builds to a big sing-along with a full chorus, bagpipe, and a Tom Waits sound-alike on harmony vocals.

The packaging is as beautiful as the music, with some gorgeous and inspired seashore photography by Quim Farinha. Rarely are the aural and the visual so charmingly paired. You'll want to dig your toes into this one like warm sand. - Peggy Latkovich

CD available from cdRoots

Read more about Uxia's past recordings in RootsWorld

Quebec's band of tricksters: Genticorum

Genticorum is a band of trickster conjurers, performing rhythmic sleight-of-hand on the dance music of their native Quebec. They have the wry, slightly skewed attitude of a cabaret emcee, dropping the occasional naughty joke into their songs just to watch the audience titter in guilty delight. Even the band's name is nonsensical, evoking what? A quorum of gentle folk? A gentleman's forum? Who knows?

The trio has three albums under its belt, the second of which, Malins Plaisirs, garnered a Best Ensemble award at the 2005 Canadian Folk Music Awards. The band is currently globe-hopping in support of its latest release, La Bibournoise. RootsWorld reporter Peggy latkovich caught up with flute/fiddle/bass player Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand by phone between tours.... Read the full interview and see a liver video performance

Buy their new CD

Listen to La grondeuse opossum

RootsWorld, cdRoots

Tuaregs are roots-rocking the world: Tinarwen on tour

Tuareg roots-rock band Tinariwen tour the U.K. and U.S. in March and April 2009

MARCH - UK
18 De La Warr Pavilion Bexhill
19 De Montfort Hall Leicester
20 Manchester Academy Manchester
21 Edinburgh Picture House Edinburgh
22 Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Liverpool
23 Leeds Irish Centre Leeds
25 Komedia Bath
26 Koko London
27 Reading Town Hall Reading
28 The Rainbow Warehouse Birmingham

APRIL 0 USA
16 Palace of Fine Arts Theatre San Francisco
17 Rio Theatre Santa Cruz
18 Coachella: Empire Polo Field Indio
19 Santa Fe Brewing Company Santa Fe
21 KTAOS Solar Center Taos
22 Old Town School Chicago
24 Le Poisson Rouge New York
25 Heineken TransAtlantic Festival Miami

Read the latest RootsWorld review

Tinarwen: Live in London (DVD)

Other fine rock-and-blues-influenced Saharan guitar bands have followed in their wake (including Etran Finatawa, Toumast and Terakaft), but Tinariwen beat the rest to wider recognition and remain either the best of the bunch or the first among equals depending on how you look at it. Great though their albums are, Tinariwen also deliver in concert. I caught them live at the Houston International Festival in 2006, and they managed to do a lot with a little. Standing in an all but stock-still row on the stage and barely speaking between songs, they attracted a large and attentive crowd in remarkably short order with nothing but pure hypnotic guitar and bass riffs, sparse percussion and vocals that split the difference between Timbuktu and the Mississippi Delta.

The group's new Live in London DVD similarly finds them making magic with the simplest of ingredients, though here the lineup is expanded to include female backup vocals (which they didn't have on their '06 U.S. jaunt), a guest turn by Justin Adams (the versatile U.K. guitarist and producer who helped bring Tinariwen to the attention of the world) and of course production values including cameras zooming in on the little nuances that make the music all the more persuasive. By and large, though, the presentation of the concert portion of the DVD is as simple as the music, so the featured songs from Tinariwen's three albums get by unassumingly and brilliantly on the strength of indomitable Touareg spirit, non-indulgent guitar mastery and spellbinding, repetitive rhythms.

This would be enough to make this release a must-have, but consider the bonus material as well. There's a lengthy interview with band founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, conducted by a desert campfire at night, in which he speaks in riveting detail about the hardships of post-colonial Mali and how he embraced music to overcome them. A shorter interview with Adams and a mini-documentary provide further elucidation as to the band's origins, outlook and creativity. It all makes for a combination of music and imagery that provides nothing glossy or clever in the way of visuals, yet scores an absolute knockout in presenting what Tinariwen does best and the story behind it. - Tom Orr

DVD available from cdRoots

More reviews available on RootsWorld

Requiem for 1847: remembering the famine

From the RootsWorld archives, some words to remember for St Patrick's Day.

1997 marked the 150th anniversary of the worst year of the Great Irish Potato Famine. 1847 was the nadir of a natural calamity that could have easily been reversed. Instead, it was crafted via human agency into a holocaust. Descendants of the victims world-wide still refer to it as "Black '47" Farm By the middle of the 19th century, the potato was the Irish peasantry's major source of sustenance. It adapted well to growing conditions in Ireland and produced large yields from small plots. Eaten with buttermilk for protein, it was a nutritious complex carbohydrate rich in vitamins and minerals. However, an entire race's hand-to-mouth dependence on a single foodstuff was a precarious thing and presaged disaster... In Christina Roden's article from 1997, she talks about the Irish famine of the 1840's with The Chieftains' Paddy Moloney, Black 47's Larry Kirwan, and composer Patrick Cassidy.

Read the article

Randy Newman sings of the afterlife and history

Randy Newman
Harps and Angels
Nonesuch

Harps and Angels reprises a droll, garrulous, heartfelt Crescent City gospel-blues sensibility that longtime Newman fans will happily recognize. The good old boy-struck down by a heart attack, hearing the angel band before copping a pearly gate reprieve-might be the singer himself, or anyone who's confronted the inexorable finality of life as we know it. Newman combines a smart (ass) show-tune sensibility ("A Piece of the Pie," "Laugh and Be Happy") with wry sentimentality ("Losing You," "Feels Like Home"), provocative social commentary ("A Few Words in Defense of Our Country"-in ironic country western mode, with a righteously aggravated Supreme Court critique), the certain fate of rich old men ("Only a Girl"), political incorrectness ("Korean Parents"), senior moments ("Potholes," as in "God bless the potholes down memory lane"), and a prickly finger on the absurd, entropic pulse of the human condition (listener's choice). Harps and angels, hallelujah. - Michael Stone


Available from Amazon.com

Read more reviews on RootsWorld

Amparanoia's last licks

Amparanoia
Seguire caMinando
Via Lactea

Spain's Amparanoia have reportedly called it quits, with singer Amparo Sanchez's solo career already mapped out and set to commence soon. The band's blend of flamenco roots and global sounds never had the same go-for-the-throat intensity as Ojos de Brujo or the eclectic finesse of Radio Tarifa, but it's still damn good and will be missed. And as long as they're bowing out, it's proper that they're doing it right with this smashing CD/DVD box set featuring a 2006 performance in Barcelona and a disc of rarities and remixes spanning the decade that came before. Sanchez and company absolutely soar on the live stuff, tightly locking down tunes that move from flamenco and rumba to funk, rock, reggae and jazz with a combination of anthemic passion and celebratory energy. The crowd is with them at every turn, and even those (like me) whose understanding of Spanish ranges from rudimentary to non-existent will get pulled in, caught up and completely bowled over. All the visual fire of the same concert that CD #1 covers is on the DVD, plus a smartly done documentary that chronologically tells the Amparanoia story from Sanchez's perspective. Further evidence as to how solid this band was can be found on the studio disc, particularly the remixes, which hint at how Amparanoia might well have incorporated a little more of the cutting edge without tossing aside their largely organic approach. Whatever Sanchez has on the way, let's hope it sticks to the same high standards as this fond and fitting farewell to the group she no longer fronts. - Tom Orr

The artists' web site (www.amparanoia.com) has dozens of live and studio clips, including this live perforamnce of "La vida te da"


Their music is available from Amazon.com

RootsWorld: Twittering into the new century

Twittering into the new century

One of our younger contributors is constantly trying to drag me into the current century of technology, with much resistance on my part. But she might have something with Twitter, and odd little bit of social networking that allows people to "twitter" on about what they are doing. In my daily rounds of searching for audio and video I often find myself e-mailing links and quotes to friends. So I figure: why not send them to you, the RootsWorld reader, as well.

If you don't 'twitter' it is pretty easy to set up, and if you do, you can 'follow' mine if you like: Twitter @rootsworld

Is it useless nonsense or another interesting communications device? We shall see. Remember, in 1993 when I put my first review online, the internet was seen as a silly trifle in a vast electronic desert. - Cliff

Saving children in Mali, one at a time

A Malian proverb says that a woman in labor has one foot on earth, and one foot in the grave. The proverb is all too true: a woman in Mali has a 1 in 15 lifetime chance of dying from childbearing complications... For most Malian women, auxiliary midwives, or matrones, are first and only health care provider they will ever see. Mali Midwives facilitates continuing education opportunities for rural matrones in Mali.

Former RW reporter Craig Tower has a new mission in Mali. Read about his work in Mali today

Coro Bajolese: spiritual voices in Turin, Italy

Coro Bajolese
O Maria béla Maria
FolkClub Ethnosuoni (www.folkclubethnosuoni.com)

While the tired old concept that music is a "universal language" is open to debate, the fact that the timeless human drive toward choral singing is a near global phenomenon cannot be argued. From gospel choirs in the United States to Bulgarian women's choruses to Slovenian singing societies to South African isicathimiya groups, people are drawn to the blending of disparate voices into an architectural whole.

Coro Bajolese has been joining their voices in song since 1966, when they formed in Bajo Dora, a small hamlet in the province of Turin. O Maria béla Maria was made in 2007, the centenary of the death of Costantino Nigra, the group's founding director. The group's current 26 members, all but one of whom are male, are lead by Amerigo Vigliermo. Their music has the robust reverence of a church choir. Formally, most of the songs consist of call-and-response passages, with a soloist or small group singing a short phrase which is then answered by the whole. The soloists vary not only in range, but in timbre and grasp of tonality. Some voices are more accurate and polished than others, but this is what gives the music its democratic appeal. If you're looking for slick perfection, look elsewhere. This music is earthy and earnest, proof that the whole is much more than the sum of its parts. The blend of all of these incongruent voices is rich and warm, with the nubby texture of raw linen. - Peggy Latkovich

Listen to "La casun ed Mariantun"

CD available from cdRoots

Greek artist Savina Yannatou sings 'Songs of an Other'

Since 1993, singer Savina Yannatou and Kostas Vomvolos (qanun, accordion, musical direction) have stood at creative core of Primavera en Salonico (nay, oud, guitar, violin, viola, double bass, percussion). While rooted artistically in Thessalonica, for Yannatou and Primavera, their Greek and Sephardic roots are only a jumping-off point in a project that covers the Mediterranean waterfront and ranges far beyond... Recorded in Athens, Songs of an Other comprises a dozen varied settings for Yannatou to conjure her delicate yet commanding vocal instrument, confirming the power and primacy of the human voice throughout her work...
Read the full review and watch a video

Chango Spasiuk - Pynandí (Los Descalzos)

Chango Spasiuk - Pynandí (Los Descalzos)

Argentinean accordion virtuoso and composer’s 2009 release is Pynandí -- Los Descalzos (Barefoot, from an indigenous Guaraní word, referring to the rural poor) Like American blues, Portuguese fado and Argentina’s own tango, the sunny, lilting chamamé was at one time considered too lower-class to be of interest to educated listeners. This recordin is a love letter to the land of Spasiuk’s birth, capturing the red earth, blinding heat, rough good humor and warm fellowship of laborers heading out for an evening’s fun. But while cheerful on the surface, it also harbors edgy moments of dissonance. Suite Nordeste opens with an accordion astride a staggering percussion motif. Guitars, fiddle and other instruments fight to create luchness and roughness, always seeking a contradiction of some kind. Spasiuk engenders the best of the tradition, then tosses it into his own unique mix.

Buy it here

"This is it, OK. Have a good time." Goodbye, Lars Hollmer

It is with some sadness that I pass on the news of the passing of Lars Hollmer, a long time friend of RootsWorld, and a regular contributor to our past Free Reed Festivals. Listen to Lars' contribution to one of our festivals, including a little talk about his piece "Sudaf".
So, Lars, "this is it, OK. Have a good time. Goodbye." - CF

Fellow musician Guy Klucevsek sends this tribute to his friend and fellow accordionist/musician.


My dear friend and Accordion Tribe colleague, Lars Hollmer, passed away on Dec. 25, 2008, at the age of 60.

I first heard Lars's music in the early 90s, through singer-songwriter and DJ extraordinaire, David Garland. I instantly recognized a kindred spirit and he was the first person I invited to be a part of what eventually became the Accordion Tribe. We began the group in 1996 and continue to this day, although there will be a gaping void on stage and in our hearts from now on.

Lars was an auto-didact and multi-instrumentalist (accordion, keyboards, voice, melodica, etc.) who was completely fearless in his approach to music. He could be unabashedly sentimental (Boeves Psalm, Soon Song), write incredibly dense and complex counterpoint with the best of them (Pas de Valse, Utflykt med Damcyckle), and be mischievous and joyfully wacked-out (Circus I, II). And that's only the Accordion Tribe repertoire! He managed to record about 30 albums in all, mostly in his legendary home studio, the Chickenhouse, both solo (11), and with his many groups, including The Looping Home Orchestra and Samla Mammas Manna.

What is the common element in all these? To quote Lars from the documentary film, "Accordion Tribe: Music Travels" (Stefan Schwietert, Maximage Films, 2002), "It all begins here," (he says, pointing to his heart); "it may go through here eventually," (he points to his head), "but it all begins with the heart." - Guy Klucevsek

The Return of the Policewomen of Guinea

Les Amazones de Guinée
Wamato
Sterns

Ahmed Sékou Touré, the leader of Guinea’s liberation struggle against French colonial rule and president of the independent African nation from 1958 until his death in 1984, remains a controversial and polarizing figure. Revered as a freedom fighter by revolutionaries in Africa and elsewhere, he later was reviled as a dictator who trampled on human rights and mismanaged Guinea’s economy.

Touré’s one-party regime undeniably deserves the criticism. But it’s hard to argue with the results of his cultural policy, which he called authenticité. Guinea’s president made culture central to his government’s nation-building program. Artists, and especially musicians, were encouraged to create works that were modern in style but rooted in African tradition. Authenticité spawned such great bands as Bembeya Jazz, Keletigui and his Tambourinis, the Horoya Band and Les Balladins. But I can’t imagine Touré being prouder of any Guinean musicians than the women of Les Amazones de Guinée.

The band was originally called the Women’s Orchestra of the Guinean Militia, and the members indeed all were soldiers. (Some still are, with titles like “Commandant” and “Capitaine.”) They made their first and still unreleased recording in 1961, as an acoustic band. Au coeur de Paris, recorded 21 years later in the old colonial power’s capital, was their first album as Les Amazones. Sekou Touré was still alive at the time, and the propagandistic side of authenticité is evident in tracks like “PDG (Parti Démocratique de Guinée),” a praise song for the president’s political party.

But Les Amazones’ debut also displayed their feminism, in songs that urged African women to reject patriarchal tradition and claim their place in post-colonial society.
Les Amazones, notes Pierre René Worms of Radio France Internationale, “set the standard for female groups in post-independent Africa; a symbol of African woman’s emancipation, they remain a rarely imitated example.”

Now, 26 years later, we have Les Amazones’ second album, Wamato, and it is a beauty, easily the equal of the recent acclaimed release by another veteran but far better known African band, Orchestra Baobab’s Made in Dakar. Recorded in Bamako, Mali, in the same studios used by Ali Farka Toure and Oumou Sangaré, among other notables, Wamato grabs the listener from the jubilant cry of “ah-hah!” that opens the album.
The production, by Afropop veteran Ibrahima Sylla, is clean and unobtrusive, putting the focus on the guitar-driven ensemble and the amazing vocalists who front it. There are 11 core Amazones, some of whom replaced original members who died or retired. They are augmented by a dozen guest vocalists and instrumentalists, all women. But the music, thanks to Sylla and chef d’orchestre Commandant Salématou Diallo, on bass, never sounds cluttered or cacophonous.

The title track has the three main vocalists, Fatoumata N’Gady Keita, Daloba Keita, and M’Mah Sylla, trading verses while the guitarists, Yaya Kouyaté on lead, N’Sira Tounkara on rhythm, spin intertwined lines around them. And voices and guitars are the stars here, notwithstanding the tight horn section and surging percussion. Each of the vocalists has a distinctive timbre, roughly corresponding to Western categories of vocal range -- one low and earthy (contralto), another mid-range (mezzo), another high and strident (soprano). Each singer has a strong individual vocal profile and a powerful presence.

As if having three terrific lead singers wasn’t enough, the Amazones supplement them with stellar guests -- Fatou Nylon Barry, a full-throated, exuberant wonder on “Ndaren,” and Les Zawagui de Macenta, a trio of Valerie Keba, Helen Pivie and Blandine Komessa. The two tracks featuring the marvelous trio, “Deni Wana” and “Zawi,” are both exceptional, but they really kill on the latter, a joyous welcome-back to the Amazones. “Alhamdoulilah,” a rhythmic tour de force, is a showcase for the sharply contrasting but complementary voices of M’Mah Sylla, cutting yet supple, and Fatou Nylon Barry, deeper and more rough-edged.

Much of Wamato’s considerable pleasure comes from the interplay of the voices and the guitars, the pealing, dancing guitars of Yaya Kouyaté and N’Sira Tounkar. “Be Ni Son” features some of their most captivating work. “Meilleurs Voeux,” a wish for a Happy New Year, begins as a syrupy ballad sung in French by M’Mah Sylla. But, like Guinea shaking off its colonial masters, the band shifts into a quicker tempo, changes the rhythm, and surges ahead, with Yaya Kouyaté’s guitar and the horns calling and responding to each other.

It’s amazing that a band that has released only two records in nearly 50 years would sound so vibrant and confident, as if they’d never left the scene. One can only hope that Wamato, their superb return, means we’ll be hearing more from Los Amazones de Guineé, and that we won’t have to wait another 26 years for the follow-up. - George De Stefano

CD available from cdRoots

Sephardic roots, Mediterranean sounds

Amán Amán (L'Ham de Foc)
Música i cants sefardis d'orient i occident
Galileo

Al Andaluz Project (L'Ham de Foc and Estampie)
Deus et diabolus
Galileo (www.galileo-mc.com)

From Valencia, L'Ham de Foc approaches the Sephardic repertoire by turning east, exploring how the traditional repertoire changed as it moved from the Iberian Peninsula in the post-1492 diaspora, taking on new life in the exile communities of Sofia, Thessalonica, Istanbul, and Izmir. There is no shortage of contemporary Sephardic recordings, but the present work turns away from a certain slavish celebration of an imagined medieval multicultural sound toward a living if lesser-known Levantine tradition, complemented by instrumentation of the region (ud, tanbur, cümbüs, kopuz, santur, kemençe, various flutes, and percussion). Hence, alongside "Sien drahmas al día," the opening dance from Smyrna (a 9/8 karsilama rhythm divided in 2/2/2/3), or the hybrid "La galena y el mar" (one of many Sephardic wedding songs, a Salonika processional sung as the bride is led to her ritual bath, here with original lyrics over a Bulgarian melody), the early 20th-century Turkish curcuna (a 10/8 rhythm divided 3/2/2/3), or the Sofia lullaby "Durme," come more familiar Sephardic songs such as "El Rey Nimrod" and "Los guisados de la berenjena" (seven ways to prepare eggplant), albeit with a decidedly eastern modal makam feel. This is the spirit of "Aman, Aman," a phrase-common to many eastern Mediterranean languages-that expresses surprise, longing, or lovesickness. Notes are in Ladino, Spanish, German, and English, with lyrics in Ladino.

The Al Andaluz Project unites L'Ham de Foc with Estampie, the Munich group led by Michael Popp, better known for its dedication to medieval music. Beginning with informal collaboration based on mutual interest in older repertoires, the ensembles first shared the stage at the July 2006 Landshut Hofmusiktage festival, a performance recorded and broadcast live by Bavarian state radio. As heard on Deus et Diabolus, they followed with a November 2006 studio session at the Dominican monastery of La Cartuja de Cazalla, near Sevilla. In the spirit of Moorish Iberia, three superb female singers interpret medieval Sephardic, Arabic, and Christian traditions: Sigrid Hausen (who also plays flute), L'Ham de Foc's Mara Aranda, and Iman al Kandoussi, singing variously in Ladino, Spanish, and Arabic. Estampie's Popp (ud, saz, violin, production), Ernst Schwindl (hurdy gurdy, nyckelharpa), and Sascha Gotowtshikow (percussion) join L'Ham's Efrén López (ud, saz, rabab, hurdy gurdy, production), Aziz Samsaoui (quanun), and Diego López (percussion). Contrast the lively drone and glorious vocal harmonies of the Christian song "A virgen mui groriosa" (one of three songs dedicated to Santa María) with the driving call-and-response of Arabic-Andalusian songs like "Nassam alaina lhawa" for a sense of this recording's enchanting range. Notes are in Spanish, German, and English. - Michael Stone

Artists' web site: www.lhamdefoc.com

CDs available at cdRoots.com

Huong Thanh & Nguyen Le: the new Vietnam

Huong Thanh & Nguyen Le
Fragile Beauty
ACT Music (www.actmusic.com)

I am not familiar with a lot of Vietnamese music, so it is nice to ease into it with this set of fusion-minded songs by vocalist Huong Thanh and guitarist Nguyen Le. There's a fair number of traditional pieces interpreted here, though the arrangements incorporate African and Latin rhythms, jazz structures, Japanese splendor and more, along with an unforced grace that never piles on too much diversity for the sake of making 'world music.' Huong Thanh's voice reflects what the title suggests: grace without excess, whether the song is rich with instrumental interplay or unadorned. Guitars, bass, piano, brass, reeds, synthesizer and a range of percussion blend unassumingly with bamboo balafon and flutes, monocorde and koto, bringing out the best of several respective worlds while giving Huong Thanh's measured, solitary singing a support that varies nicely in tone and intricacy. There are hints of electronica here and there, moody interludes between easygoing grooves and above all a sense of blissful throughout. I've no idea what Vietnamese music purists would make of a disc like this, but it sounds great to me. - Tom Orr

CD at cdRoots

Faroe Islands roots and modern jazz from Yggdrasil

Kristian Blak & Yggdrasil
Risastova
Tutl (www.tutl.com)

Danish pianist-composer-producer Kristian Blak has been integral to propagating and promoting music made in the Faroes Islands since founding Yggdrasil in 1980. The Norse "World Tree" of destiny, Yggdrasil is a powerful mythological ash whose three roots reach into the underworld, devoured by serpents even as the tree reaches for heaven, while at its pinnacle sits a watchful eagle. Yggdrasil brings a contemporary jazz-classical-rock sensibility to an original repertoire inspired by traditional island dances, ballads, children's rhymes, chants, hymns, and poetry. Guitarist-singer-composer Kári Sverrisson, a startling vocalist, shares writing duties with Blak, a nimble pianist, on Risastova ("Giant's House," the name of an imposing Faroe Islands rock formation). Rounding out the octet are saxophones, violin, cello, electric guitar, bass, drums, and percussion. The music is as craggy, windswept, overcast, brooding, remote, and unforgiving as the Faroes of its origin. The closing piece, "Vágatunnilin," a moody Blak suite in five parts, was initially performed at 100 meters below sea level, to commemorate the opening of the first underwater tunnel in the Faroes, plumbing the roots of Yggdrasil itself. - Michael Stone

CD available from cdRoots

Tarantolati di Tricarico: a primal, visceral musical experience

I Tarantolati di Tricarico
U'Squatasce
CNI (www.cnimusic.it)

This dynamic band has been a driving force in Southern Italian culture, interpreting and performing their music with an incredible dynamism. There is no shortage of groups resuscitating the ancient music of tarantism in the South of Italy these days, but I Tarantolati di Tricarico have been involved in this endeavor since the 1960's (the band's biography indicates that they were officially 'born' in 1975. This was the time of the first wave of the Southern Italian folk revival, a time when the music of the pizzica was, in the words of the historian Luigi Chiriatii, a "broken memory": painful to listen to, as many people emigrated from Southern Italy to escape the poverty and hardship of the land. Performing the ritual music and old folk songs was a political act, a way of giving voice to expressions experienced and felt but oppressed in the modern age.

I Tarantolati di Tricarico's latest CD is a writhing, unusual beast; the cover art depicts a be-ribboned person in the throes of ecstasy, a tarantula dead center on the belly, surrounded by a psychedelic swirl of color. Those 'bitten' by the spider were thought to be drawn to particular sounds, and to respond to various colored ribbons; the remedy was to dance the poison out. What grabs the listener immediately upon listening to the first tracks is the vigor with which the songs are performed, a rigorous rhythmic attack full of tambourines and the thudding percussion of cupa-cupa tubs. But the real surprise occurs starting on the fourth track, "Hatta Mammone," where the acoustic sound of the band suddenly incorporates elements of electronic techno and vocals reach a trance-inducing intensity heightened by all kinds of hand percussion. For a band that has existed for several decades, it becomes abundantly clear that experimentation is the order of the day. The entire CD never lets up for a moment; tunes such as "Bella Figljóla" pulsate passionately, urgently contemporizing the music. Witness the stunning "Uno: Monte La Lune," which features more chanting, a heavy, insistent beat, and a piano line that nods briefly towards salsa as the bass bounces across the soundscape.

The great researcher of tarantism in Southern Italy, Ernesto De Martino, argued in his famed ethnographic work "The Land of Remorse" that the tarantism ritual had ancient Greek roots; the connection between tarantism and the rituals of Dionysus has been explored and contested in academic circles for some time. However, the music of I Tarantolati di Tricarico certainly goes in for the frenzy of Dionysus. U'Squatasce is a primal, visceral experience, a wondrous addition to the ever-evolving dance of the spider. - Lee Blackstone

Listen:


CD available from cdRoots


The ensemble's web site: www.tarantolatiditricarico.org

Bevinda offers a fresh look at Portugal's fado

Bévinda
Outubro
Felmay-Dunya (www.felmay.it)

Fado interpreters can range from the more traditional to the experimental. In the latter realm is Portuguese-born, French-raised Bévinda (Bévinda Ferreire). Outubro, her tenth release, presents the singer in a live set from the January 2006 Suoni Migranti Festival (hosted by the Comune di Riccione, Assessorato alla Cultura, which collaborated in this CD's production). Bévinda's tight, fluid combo includes Philippe de Sousa (Portuguese guitar), Mathias Duplessy (classical guitar, vocals), Côme Aguiar (bass), Philippe Foch (tabla, percussion), and Nicolas Gorge (drum kit).

For a live set (with due thanks to the sound technician), the subtleties are many here, testament to the singer's considerable gift, her vocal intensity, and the easy rapport she has with her splendid ensemble. De Sousa, who co-wrote several numbers with Bévinda, is superb on the Portuguese guitar (with its teardrop shape and six double-course steel strings over a moveable bone bridge, actually closer to a cittern), both in fado's traditional accompaniment mode and, more unusually for the genre, as a soloist (hear his lightly ringing "Pedras da madrugada," a contemplative solo instrumental break). Duplessy swings on guitar, and he too is a master of vocal nuance (e.g., "Jarkot" and "Dorme amorzinho," the latter with his keening, muezzin-like vocals on a striking Bévinda-Kamilya Jubran composition). The rhythm section lays down the groove, and altogether, this ensemble recording gives everyone plenty of room to work their individual spells.

At the fore, of course, is Bévinda herself, who blends a sultry French café sensibility with a feeling for the Orient, shot through with the fatalistic saudade so characteristic of fado. Her balmy contralto ranges from a restrained interpretation of "O grito" (an Amalia Rodrigues-Carlos Gonçalves composition, the only cover here, and a singular reading of a classic) to the pulsing "Mulher Passaro," all with an arresting gravity. A live video of the latter song (a different version than on this CD) is worth seeing on the artist's website, complete with a close-fitting blues harmonica solo by an unidentified harpist, one more example of the disregard this singer has for musical boundaries. Working against the tabla, Duplessy interjects some neo-classical Indian vocals with his rhythmic scatting, while Bévinda chants, moans, hisses, and snarls with primordial glee and a palpable aura of being born for the stage. The clip also gives a hint of the controlled mania the singer weaves through the relaxed overall musical temper so easily conjured and sustained by the ensemble. - Michael Stone

CD available from cdRoots

Gabriele Coen offers Italian world music with jazz

Gabriele Coen and Atlante Sonoro
Alhambra
CNI Music (www.cnimusic.it)

A household name in Italian jazz, Gabriele Coen (clarinet, soprano and tenor sax)is the founder of the noted ensemble Klezroym. On this 2007 recording he reunites Atlante Sonoro (Sound Atlas), with Pietro Lussu (piano), Marco Loddo (double bass) and Luca Caponi (drums) and guest guitarist Lutte Berg. Alhambra continues in the vein of Atlante Sonoro’s Duende, a contemporary, improvisatory renovation of traditions from Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Levant.

The ensemble allows each player room to develop their individual voices, creating a shifting sonic blend in which no one player stands apart. The title track’s driving pace and wailing clarinet owe more to jazz and klezmer than to the Iberian Peninsula, while "Belz" takes a nod to John Coltrane’s soaring lines and the pulsing modalities of McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison, and Elvin Jones, a mood that echoes throughout this recording. More contemplative is Lussu’s "Lake Song," an expressive conversation between keyboard and soprano sax. In turns, Wayne Shorter’s "Ana Maria," Loddo’s "Auteyrac," and Coen’s "Roma Ad Agosto" and "Piccolo Tango" essay the quiet intensity and tonal range with which the quartet invests its collective conception. Coen’s "Maldafrica" looks south for its rhythmic thrust, while an idiosyncratic reframing of the Sephardic classic "Los Bilbilicos" takes the quartet through the lyrical intonations to which the album title alludes. - Michael Stone

CD available from cdRoots

Gabriele Coen offers Italian world music with jazz

Abyssinians' Satta Massagana revisted

Abyssinians
Satta Massagana
Heartbeat/Rounder

Composed in 1968, "Satta Massagana" featured the vocal trio that helped to define the most devout strains of Jamaica's then-emergent reggae sound. Producer Clement "Coxsone" Dodd brought the Abyssinians (Bernard Collins and the Manning brothers, Donald and Lynford) into the studio to record the song, whose Old Testament inspiration and Ethiopian linguistic sampling spoke to roots reggae's Rastafari foundations. But the somber, slowed-down groove and the obscure spiritual references made Dodd think the results would leave Jamaican audiences cold. Undeterred, the Abyssinians bought the master, released it on their own, and proved Dodd wrong; indeed, "Satta Massagana" entered the devotional canon of Rastafari congregations around Jamaica.

Taping at Studio One and Federal Records, the Abyssinians followed in short order with Collins' equally successful "Declaration of Rights," "Leggo Beast," and "Black Man's Strain"-along with Lynford's "Abendigo," "I and I," "Reason Time," and "Y Mas Gan," and Donald's "African Race," "Jerusalem," and "Peculiar Number." All are heard here, with informative notes by Chris Wilson. Satta Massagana is nothing less than a reggae classic, and-backed by noted Kingston studio musicians including Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar, and Earl "Chinna" Smith-after nearly four decades the album's fourteen original tracks (plus four additional previously released tracks on this 2006 CD reissue) reveal the trio's lovely harmonies, loping percussive groove, and spare instrumentation, as fresh and sublime as ever. - Michael Stone

CD available from Amazon

World music from cdRoots

Lee "Scratch" Perry: news from post-apocalyptic Jamaica

Lee "Scratch" Perry
The End of an American Dream
Megawave

Comes off as Karaoke night in a futuristic post-apocalyptic Jamaican rest home, where some guy on stage babbles endlessly about poo poo and doo doo, interspersed with animal impressions, and an occasional shout out to Haile Selassie and Marcus Garvey, while machine gunfire and riots go on in the background. Maybe it's the CD buyers trying to get a refund. - Louis "Itch" Gibson

KlezRoym - Italy's klezmer connection

KlezRoym
Vinticinqueaprile: Live in Fossoli
LaFrontiera (www.cnimusic.it)

The Italian band KlezRoym must be recognized as one of the top Jewish music ensembles in the world. This live CD captures them at Fossoli, near Modena, at a commemorative concert for the 60th Anniversary of the Liberation from Nazi-Fascism. Fossoli served the Nazis as a concentration camp, through which thousands of Jews and political opponents of Nazism would be deported on their way to the German and Polish camps. Primo Levi was one of those individuals kept at Fossoli, before being sent to Auschwitz.

KlezRoym's concert performance here reflects the gravitas of the locale, as the band journeys through their extensive repertoire. The group does not really launch into the kind of exuberant klezmer that one might expect; rather, there is something of a chamber-jazz elegance about their approach that would not be out-of-place on the European art-jazz label ECM. Even so, I hate to utilize the adjective 'sparing' to describe the arrangements of songs such as "Ershter Vals," which sweeps along as if following a painter's brush. This is the approach that KlezRoym utilizes so well: the brass instruments swell with emotion (as on the short "Cerimonia nuziale"), and each silence and blast speaks volumes. Further, one of the most beautiful aspects of KlezRoym's music is the voice of Eva Coen, which seems to swallow and encapsulate the whole of KlezRoym's endeavors. Coen is inside these songs, as is Riccardo Manzi, whose voice acts as the perfect counterpart to Eva Coen's. Manzi's turn on "Papir Is Doch Weiss" shows how his own sweet voice can be tinged with just the right kind of roughness, veering into sadness.

KlezRoym do quicken the pace of the concert, as on the swinging "Yankele nel ghetto" which serves as a prelude here to the truly wild "Danza immobile," where Eva Coen's voice and Andrea Pandolfo's trumpet follow each other around before Coen drops away, wordlessly vocalizing as the band sensuously stretches themselves out. The tune "Oi Tate" is also more aggressive, while "New York Sirba" evinces more of the careful KlezRoym arranging, building to its ecstatic climax. The Fossoli concert ends with the Italian partisan song "Bella ciao," where KlezRoym are joined by the horns of la Filarmonica della Citta di Carpi and an enthusiastic audience clapping in time; a clear statement of the continued resistance to the madness of fascism. KlezRoym have produced a wonderful documentation of their career thus far, but by any estimation this is an essential live recording of an important band at the height of their powers. - Lee Blackstone

Listen to "Ershter Vals"


CD available from cdRoots

Linking the world thru "The Tube"

Linking the world through sound and vision:
Marty Lipp turns on the tube

When I was growing up, you would never be caught dead listening to your parents' albums, but at least their music was recorded on the same medium as ours. Since then, the CD pushed out the LP and now the young'uns go for the new initials on the block - MP3 ­ at least for now.

Being an old, cranky techno-boob is no fun, but I am getting better. My latest foray ­ a bit late, but us oldsters move slow ­ is watching streaming videos a la YouTube. One night I started typing in the names of my favorite bands from around the world and was rewarded with a mix of live performances and art-directed music videos. I even caught Los Lobos playing an old Mexican tune on Sesame Street.

For those who complain about wanting to hear something new, try some of the best bands in the world: the medieval-metal of Sweden's Hedningarna (choreographed with a type of bellydancing on "Veli"); the agit-prop of Asian Dub Foundation, the art-school men of the people, Café Tacuba of Mexico ("Ingrata"); or the sophisticated updating of folk instruments by Galicia's Berrogüetto ("Xente"). Or check out Manu Chao's "Rainin' in Paradize," a faux-naif anti-war rocker animated with child-like drawings.

Hazmat Modine in Russia

As a forum for videos and music from around the world, YouTube is simply remarkable. Suddenly, some old concert from state-sponsored television in the former Soviet bloc is there, as if plucked from the ether.

One downside to skipping around YouTube is that the quality of the videos are wildly erratic. Another is that since you don't know what you don't know, you are essentially stumbling around in the dark.

There are, however, others who are handpicking videos for audiences. Link TV, which is on channel 375 on Direct TV and 9410 on The Dish Network, includes music videos with its mix of news and cultural programming from around the world. Recently, the nonprofit broadcaster, whose motto is "Television Without Borders," relaunched its website, offering streaming world-music videos. LinkTV also curated videos for National Geographic's new world-music web pages.

At Link TV there are 30-minute blocks with themes such as hip-hop, dance and performances. There are over 250 individual videos posted, with more going up regularly, searchable by region or genre. Hip-hop from around the world includes the poignant, compelling "Soobax" by K'Naan, a Somalian living in Canada, and songs from one of my favorite bands, the Barcelona-based collective called Ojos de Brujo who have some beautifully done videos illustrating their affecting mix of hip-hop, flamenco and other genres.

Michal Shapiro, LinkTV's assistant director of music programming, said the goal is to present high-quality videos ­ whether it's a performance clip that "captures the moment well" or a visualization that "enriches the song." Though you still watch a relatively small box, LinkTV's higher-quality videos are well-suited for quieter music, such as the exquisite Madredeus or the lambent "Corazón Loco" by Cuban pianist Bebo Valdez and flamenco singer El Cigala.

"There are some extraordinary collaborations that go on between artists and directors," said Steven Lawrence, LinkTV's director of music and cultural programming.

"We don't care if it costs a lot," said Shapiro. "The creativity factor is what we're looking for." On the other hand, she noted, that if a song itself is great and the video is of horrible quality, they do not air it. "That's the kind of thing that breaks our heart."

"Most people in the U.S.," said Lawrence, see a world that seems "constantly in crisis" because newscasts are usually dominated by wars and other catastrophes. The world music videos, he said, show how other countries are facing their challenges, but also show the "celebration of life going on."

"Not as concerned with ratings," said Lawrence. "We're concerned with our mission: connecting Americans to the world."

This is the time of year when everyone suggests things for you to buy. Here's some treats for yourself ­ no purchase necessary. - Marty Lipp

Link TV: http://www.linktv.org/worldmusic

A few of the editor's choices on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc2T5PRGubA
http://www.youtube.com/v/wmIMDQlsUFk
http://www.youtube.com/v/UGoKX8kmZzc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dEgWy7kbew

Piccola Bottega Baltazar present a Disc of Miracles

Piccola Bottega Baltazar
Il disco dei Miracoli (The Disc of Miracles)
Azzurra Music, Italy

Piccola Bottega Baltazar present their 2007 recording, a song cycle about miracles. Inspired by "I miracoli di Val Morel," a book and paintings by Dino Buzzati, this disc of miracles records the everyday fantastic, the banal bizarre and the craziness of the routine.

Musically, it's a bit different from their previous work. They have moved away from jazz, toward singer/songwriter sensibilities with a touch of lounge and Mediterranean café music. The instruments used by the band are guitar, mandolin, harmonica, piano, bandoneon and glockenspiel, bass and drums, augmented by guest violinists, a cellist and a flute player. Particular mention should be given to the well-thought arrangements of the songs, which create layers of meaning and music that create a fuller sound on much of the recording.

The lyrics continue to be an integral part of the magic of this band. In a real homage to the original work, they work as one with the artwork, such as the cover picturing St. Rita, the saint of the Impossible, who according to the legends of the Northeast of Italy, once forbidden to enter a monastery (for there was a tint of suspicion hovering over her head regarding the weird death of her husband) was miraculously flown over the walls during the night. That and other tall tales form the backbone of the record. It would be nice if they could find the time to upload the translations of their songs to their already impressive website.

Lyrically, every song is unique. Musically, "Il Colombre," "Stregato da un sorriso" and "Gli amanti di via morel" seem to work the best for me. It's quite funny because two out of three are instrumentals which seem to add to the sentimental depth of the work.

The song that closes the record is their crowning achievement, musically and lyrically. "Fantasmi a Nordeast" (Phantoms of the Northeast), a tale of everyday miracles that best encapsulates this work: "On the trench, the signs from the tires of the mountain bike/locusts and the whirr of the A4/in your eyes myths and at your feet/the dog doesn't even bark."

PBB have continued to move forward, not veering too much off their path, but certainly finding new pastures. This is another exciting release from a fine band that here offers warm music for winter nights. - Nondas Kitsos

Artists' web site and audio samples: www.piccolabottegabaltazar.it

The great Belize artist Andy Palacio

Belizean Musician Andy Palacio Passes Away

January 19, 2008 - Andy Palacio, an iconic musician and cultural activist in his native Belize and impassioned spokesperson for the Garifuna people of Central America, died today.

Palacio, 47, was a national hero in Belize for his popular music and advocacy of Garifuna language and culture. Belize is in the midst of a heated election, but the local news was entirely dominated by Palacio's health crisis.

The reaction has also been strong around the world. Until the recent turn of events, the past year had been one of tremendous accomplishment for Palacio as his album Wátina, which was released at the beginning of 2007, had become one of the most critically acclaimed recordings of the year in any genre. Perhaps the most unanimously revered world music album in recent memory, Wátina appeared on dozens of Best of the Year lists in major media outlets around the globe and was roundly praised in glowing terms.

In 2007, Palacio was named a UNESCO Artist for Peace and won the prestigious WOMEX Award. Wátina was also nominated for the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards. At home in Belize, the international success of Wátina has sparked a revival of Garifuna music, as young musicians have become inspired by Palacio's example. Even in the days since Palacio's health crisis began, the accolades have continued to pour in for his work.

That Palacio has been struck down at a moment of such international acclaim only increases the sense of shock and tragedy felt at his sudden and untimely death.

Andy Palacio will be honored with an official state funeral. A massive tribute concert is planned in Belize City on Friday, January 25th.


RootsWorld will have a more extensive article about Andy in an upcoming issue

African music classics revisited in two great new CD sets

Authenticité: The Syliphone Years, Guinea's Orchestres Nationaux and Federaux, 1965-1980
Stern's

Bokoor Beats: Vintage Afrobeat, Afro-Rock and Highlife from Ghana
Otrabanda

Malian desert blues, Nigerian Afro-Beat, South African mbqanga and kwaito, Senegal's mbalax, Congolese rumba and soukous - these and a few other African styles have established niches in the global music marketplace. Two recently issued compilations bring welcome exposure to the somewhat lesser known sounds of Guinea and Ghana.

The two-CD set Authenticité: The Syliphone Years, Guinea's Orchestres Nationaux and Federaux, 1965-1980 (compiled by Paul Hayward and Graeme Counsel), presents 28 selections by the government-supported national and federal bands that emerged after Guinea achieved independence from France in 1958.

The new government of President Sekou Touré made cultural policy a centerpiece of its nation-building efforts. Artists, and particularly musicians, were encouraged to create works that were modern but based in African tradition, hence the policy's name - authenticité.

Under the policy, each of Guinea's 34 regions was represented by artistic troupes comprising an orchestra, a traditional ensemble, a choir, and a theater group. There were regional orchestras (orchestres federaux) and national orchestras (orchestres nationaux). The Syliphone label was home to most of the new Guinean ensembles, but non-Guinean artists, including South Africa's Miriam Makeba, also recorded for the Conakry-based company.

Government subsidies paid for the orchestras' instruments but bureaucrats also exerted influence over what they played, encouraging them to sing about nationalism and anti-imperialism.

Although authenticité was intended to assert newly independent Guinea's cultural identity, the policy often produced propaganda since musicians were expected to praise Sekou Touré and his one-party state. But the emphasis on African cultural roots also meant that the regional and national orchestras could draw inspiration from traditional sources, such as griot narratives. "Soundiata," by Keletigui et ses Tambourinis, the opening track of Authenticité, is an epic griot song in praise of Soundiata Keita, who founded the Malian empire 800 years ago.

Bembeya Jazz, founded in 1961 as a national orchestra and still active today, is Guinea's best-known band; they're represented by four tracks here, with "Bembeya" a standout. A song of self-praise in which Bembeya touts its prowess as Guinea's top dance band, it runs through several tempo changes, beginning with a slow opening section featuring unison vocals by the two lead singers, Demba Canara and Salifou Kaba. Guitarist Sekou "Diamond Fingers" Diabate, a leading light of African music, takes two solos, each one a beauty - the first coming as the band eases into a Cuban-style section also featuring horns.

Cuba's influence, immense in African music, is also felt in "Karan-gbegne" by another leading national orchestra, the Horoya Band.

Though Bembeya, Keletigui et ses Tambourinis and Horoya are the leading orchestras, Authenticité also gives deserved exposure to some less prominent but worthy aggregations. The Super Boiro Band, led by trumpeter Mamadou Niaissa, is represented by the terrific "Mariama," which moves from a stately introduction to an up-tempo section featuring guitarist Karan Mady. "Festival," by Le Simandou de Beyla, is a mostly instrumental track that gives generous solo space to the band's fine saxophonist, trumpeter and guitarist.

Listen to "Mariama"

Despite the common view of African music as percussive, the guitar really is the lead instrument in so many of the continent's styles, including Guinea's. There are great axmen aplenty on Authenticité, but I particularly enjoy Sekou "Le Docteur" Diabate - not the Bembeya guitarist of the same name -- whose fuzztone heroics make "Samba," by Pivi et les Balladins, such an exciting ride.


Diabate also is remarkable on the Manding love song, "Diaraby," from Balla et ses Balladins, which actually is the same band as Pivi's. Balla Onivogui was the original bandleader, but he fell afoul of a Guinean bureaucrat who demoted him in favor of trombonist Pivi Moriba. This bit of government intervention angered President Touré, who insisted that Onivogui be re-instated and that the band return to its original name. But regardless of who's chef d'orchestre, the Balladins, blessed by Diabate's galvanizing presence, were a great band.

For African music aficionados, Authenticité is a must, but a caveat is in order. The tracks were transferred and mastered from the original vinyl, and as the CD notes acknowledge, "sound quality varies according to source." What this means is that although the music is often excellent, listeners have to put up with sound that is frequently tinny, and at times painfully trebly and hollow-sounding.

The twelve tracks that comprise Bokoor Beats document a sea change in Ghanaian popular music, the early 1970s movement away from large dance orchestras to smaller bands that specialized in Hendrix- and Santana-inspired rock, funk a la James Brown, and the Afro-beat of Fela Kuti. Bokoor - which means "coolness" -- was the name of a band and a recording studio. The band was formed in 1971 by Ghanaian guitarist Robert Beckley and John Collins, an expatriate Englishman; the studio, located outside the capital city of Accra, was founded by Collins in 1982.

Collins' biography makes him perhaps the most influential non-African in African music since his compatriot, the ethnomusicologist and producer Hugh Tracey. He's certainly got to be the most hardworking. Collins, who arrived in Ghana in 1952, has been not only a musician, bandleader and record producer, but also a journalist, author, academic, and broadcaster, as well as a documentary film consultant. During the 1970s, he helped found the Ghana Musicians Union and was a member of its executive committee.

The first Bokoor Band folded after only a year; Collins re-formed it in 1975. During the intervening years the evidently tireless Brit played guitar, harmonica, and percussion with many Ghanaian, and Nigerian, artists, including the Jaguar Jokers, Francis Kenya, E.T. Mensah, and the great soul rebel Fela Anikulapo-Kuti. Between its rebirth and its demise in 1979, the Bokoor Band featured an ever-changing lineup of a dozen or so musicians.

On Bokoor Beats, Collins presents some of his favorite recordings from his early years on the Ghanaian music scene. Eight of the 12 tracks are by his band; the remaining ones are late 1980s-early 1990s selections by Blekete and The Big Beats ("Egbe Enyo"), the Mangwana Stars ("Atiadele"), T.O Jazz ("Onam Bebi Basa") and the Oyikwan Internationals ("Anoma Franoas").

Of the Bokoor Band's contributions, the Afro-Beat tracks - "Maya Gari," "Yeah Yeah Ku Yeah," and "Onukpa Shwarpo" -- make the strongest impression. Collins and his band mates thoroughly assimilated the hard-driving, Africanized hybrid of funk and jazz that Fela Kuti pioneered in the 1970s.

A couple of highlife tracks - "Now Comes Another Day" and "Been To"- exemplify the style's sing-songy, cheery quality. (In the latter, the band dedicates "this cheerful tune to you.") Both are slight, yet totally charming. "Money in Bed" and "Trouble Man" (not Marvin Gaye's but an original by Collins and Kpani Gasper Tettey Addy) add soukous to the mix, but percussion dominates instead of the guitar-driven Congolese sound.

Perhaps the most surprising element on the Bokoor Band tracks is John Collins' wailing, chattering harmonica, played in a 60s folk-rock rather than blues-based style. It's fun for a while, but Collins overdoes it. The "less is more" axiom fully applies here.

Bokoor Beats generally doesn't match the sophistication and inventiveness of the best performances on Authenticité. The music's simpler, more rough-hewn, and definitely more raucous. But like the Guineans, the Bokoor Band and the other Collins-produced groups on the compilation exude the self-confidence and joy of African artistry newly liberated from the brutal and arrogant Euro-supremacy of colonialism. - George De Stefano

Available from cdRoots
Authenticité
Bokoor Beats

Transsylvanians' "Fe les Egesz"

Transsylvanians
Fe les Egesz
Westpark (www.westparkmusic.com)

The sixth album for Berlin-based players of "Hungarian speed-folk" the Transsylvanians, Fe les Egesz ("Half and Whole") is a double-disc affair. As such, Fe les Egesz addresses the problems and decisions that many bands who work within the folk-rock genre are prone to: when do you pump up the volume, and when do you give yourself over to your quieter side? Over the course of their career, the Transsylvanians have played a bracing combination of extraordinarily fast folk-punkrock, which is showcased on the first CD of this set; the quieter, reflective Transsylvanians take over the second. All singing is done in Hungarian (and no English lyric translations are provided). The group's members have remained fairly constant, with the energetic violin player Tiborcz Andras being the guiding light and arranger of the band's material. Fe les Egesz finds the Transsylvanians welcoming in their new female singer Nagy Isabel (also on contrabass), replacing former female singer and double-bass player Szilvana. Nagy is featured consistently over both sets, and her voice is really forceful; she is more than capable of reaching the upper register of the songs, and often in a sweeter manner than her predecessor.

Strangely enough, I did not find the first disc ("for stagedivers") as memorable as the second ("for slowfolkers"). In my estimation, the band's 1999 (Jo!) and 2000 (Denever) CDs are their masterworks, with the enthusiasm of their fast songs proving to be devastating. Here, the tunes - while certainly amped up - seem to be a bit too polished; perhaps something was lost in the production? Nonetheless, the twenty minute closing track of CD 1, "Istvan es Koppany," veers crazily between tempos, makes a stab at musical theater (at one point including a bit of liturgy!), but comes off as something new (I'll suggest the term 'prog-punk').

The second CD is just wonderful, and where the real magic happens. As in the past, the band interprets Bartok ("Roman tancok", and "Tulipan" on CD 1) with great success; I would not mind seeing an entire CD of re-assembled Bartok by the Transsylvanians. There is also a Rimski-Korsakow tune, "Hindu song from 'Sadko'," beautifully rendered. Plus, we are treated to two versions (the second in English) of the infamous 'Hungarian suicide song' "Gloomy Sunday," by Seress Rezso: there are many stories of people's bodies being found with the sheetmusic to this song by their side! András Tiborcz' own "A Tisza," with a beautiful keyboard line from Andreas Hirche, is a clear highlight, the dynamics building effortlessly in the Transsylvanian's enchanting style. - Lee Blackstone

Listen to "Gloomy Sunday"


The band's web site: www.transsylvanians.de

CD available from cdRoots

Belgium's Ambrozijn celebrate 10 years

Ambrozijn
10
Home Records (www.homerecords.be)

This record came together on the occasion of the Ambrozijn's tenth anniversary and reworks a selection of the Belgian ensemble's 70 or so songs using a string orchestra and a rhythm section and utilising a number of guest vocalists including Sylvie Berger, Vera Coomans, Soetkin Collier, Ludo Vandeau and Gabriel Yacoub. Tom Theuns, nowadays also a member of Aurélia, is the composer of these songs, and band mate Aurélie Dorzée is part of the string orchestra.

This record has been a welcome surprise for me. Usually those huge projects tend to backfire or sound pompous and bloated. Still, 10 differs in the quality of the songs, the detail of the arrangements, the dedication of the singers and the musicianship involved. Not all of the arrangements work equally well, but "Schoon lief," "Le Cyprès" and "Nooit meer niets meer" stand out.

Although this record is not innovative enough to win any record of the year accolades, it is a strong ensemble project that delivers warmth, interesting arrangements and great performances. It would be a must for fans of the band, but it is also a highly enjoyable record for everyone else interested in unique string arrangements of folk music. - Nondas Kitsos

Listen

The ensemble's web site: www.ambrozijn.be

CD available from cdRoots

Jewish Cowboy - Socalled on YouTube

Classic recordings from the shores of Liberia

Songs of the African Coast: Cafe Music of Liberia

A collection of unique popular music recorded in 1948 in Liberia by ethnomusicologist Arthur Alberts. The music is a mix of genres echoing Calypso and early jazz (and includes songs made famous during the folk scare of the 60s like "Chicken is Nice," "Gbanawa," "Woman Sweeter Than Man" and "Hold Me Tight"), played by small ensembles (usually piano, guitar and bass, occasionally some hot horn work, too), and sung in English. Includes detailed notes and interesting photos. The 18 recordings, along with the accompanying commentary, showed the intricate connections between African and American music.

This audio piece is a song covered, by among others, the Kingston Trio, but here it is sweet and hot, and features that aforementioned horn solo. Listen to Gbanawa

Audio samples and CD available from cdRoots

Izaline Calister keeps Curacao on the musical map

There's not a lot of music from the island she calls home that's readily available to the rest of us, so Izaline Calister is seeing to it that the often-lively, sometimes-reflective music of Curaçao in the Dutch Antilles gets a fair hearing. The first two tracks on Kanta Helele swing feverishly like salsa, but by the time the title song rolls around, the acoustic guitar is at the forefront, a melodica is punctuating the melancholy and the lyrics are urging hanging in there through tough times. And yet the swing remains...

Read More

A little 'ice' music in the night

Norwegian percussion Terje Isungset settled into various locations near the Arctic Circle, built all of his instruments out of ice, and has been recording unique and beautiful works, accompanied on some tracks by the wordless vocals of Sidsel Endresen and horn player Per Jørgensen. On two of the most unusual recordings to cross my desk in quite a while, these artists show just how 'cool' music can be. His new label, All Ice of Norway, has now made this powerful music available to the world.

Two Moons is the newest recording of "all ice" music from the Norwegian percussionist, joined by Per Jørgensen on vocal and ice trumpe, with Isungset on ice percussion, icehorn and isofon, performed in Geilo, Norway in two specially built igloos 9 - 14 January 2006. The weather conditions were severe, and the sleet, snow and wind at times made its way into the igloo, and can be heard at times in the recording. Per Jørgensen made four ice trumpets and was given a separate igloo as a recording booth. All the trumpets were played to bits during the sessions. Terje Isungset had ice of fantastic quality delivered from Vatsfjorden in Leveld. It provided exceptionally long sustaining soft tones. Two of the tunes were recorded live at the midnight outdoor concert of Ice Festival 1. It was minus 5 degrees, cloudy and quiet. As the last sounds faded, the sky cleared, and the full moon shone onto the onlookers. Hence the title Two Moons. He was sheltered in a heated lavvo. It's absolutely unique; beautiful, surprising and highly recommended.

For Igloo, the frst recording in the series, Isungset settled into an ice hotel near the Arctic Circle, built all of his instruments out of ice, and recorded this work accompanied on some tracks by the wordless vocals of Sidsel Endresen. It does not get more unique than this!

Both CDs are available from cdRoots

And the golden idol goes to.....

At the really big shoe last night, the little statue of sales went to a lot of artists or recording projects, including a few that might be of interest to you folks:

• Wonder Wheel by The Klezmatics
  
• Polka In Paradise by Jimmy Sturr
  
• Lost Sounds: Blacks And The Birth Of The Recording Industry 1891-1922 (various)
  
• We Shall Overcome — The Seeger Sessions by Bruce Springsteen
  
• Modern Times by Bob Dylan
  
• Legends Of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar - Live From Maui (various)
  
• Love Is My Religion by Ziggy Marley
  
• The Hidden Land by Béla Fleck & The Flecktones
  
• Simpático by the The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project
  
• Historias Que Contar by Los Tigres Del Norte
  

There were, of course, lots more... and you can find them at that .com place for the recording industry awards mill whose name is so throughly trademarked I prefer not to mention it.

Cuba Today: Jazz Havana and Beyond

Fans of Cuban jazz may think first of pianist, composer and producer Chucho Valdés, who presides over the Havana Jazz Festival and the steady flow of North American jazz artists to the island. Those who've traveled to woodshed, network and sometimes record in Cuba include Jane Bunnett, George Benson, Terence Blanchard, Steve Coleman, Roy Hargrove, Antonio Hart, David Murray, Nicholas Payton and Wynton Marsalis, among others. One legacy of the Soviet era is the integrated national system of music, dance and arts conservatories. The system offers superb training to aspiring performing artists from primary school onward. Musicians study western classical, jazz and Cuban folk idioms interchangeably, which explains in large part the abundant creativity of contemporary Cuban music. The best students eventually land at the Instituto Superior de las Artes (ISA) in Miramar, Havana, the springboard to bigger things. Most musical visitors find their way to ISA, intent upon checking out the scene and connecting with session musicians to invest their work with something unique. In some ways, the music training system has performed too well, producing a surfeit of immensely talented musicians with limited outlet for their artistry...

Read more about Cuban Jazz Today

The Sinhala Jukebox

Sri Lanka juke joint

If you need to burn a few more minutes of your life online this week, might I suggest The Sinhala Jukebox? This web site is devoted to spreading the music of Sri Lanka to the global audience via Real Audio. You can choose individual tracks, or complete streaming programs by artist or style. The navigation is a bit confusing, but it's worth a few minutes to figure it out.

sinhalajukebox.org

Mats Hellberg, leading preserver of Swedish folk music

Mats Hellberg died unexpectedly on September 17th 2006. He was a drummer and record producer who found himself cast as one of the great apostles of traditional music in Sweden.

Since the 1980s, he was the driving force behind Giga Records, founded in 1976 by musicians Per Gudmundson and Magnus Backström. In the following 30 years the label has provided the world with a look at some of the greatest musicians of Sweden, from the old teachers to some of the rising stars, creating over 80 LPs and CDs that have provided the whole world with a glimpse into the wide ranging beauty of Swedish folk music.

Here are just a few of the artists that Giga exposed to the world:
Pelle Bjornlert
Ulf Storling
Pakkos Gustaf
Simon Simonson
Ale Möller
Kjell-Erik Eriksson
Lennart Gybrant
Jonny Soling
Mats Berglund
Anders Norudde
Ole Hjorth
Björn Ståbi
Erik Pekkari
Ellika Frisell
Bengt Lofberg
Kalle Almlof
Susanne Rosenberg
Johan Hedin
Per Gudmundson
Magnus Backstrom

There is currently no word on what the future of Giga records will be.

There's A Song for Everything

Nigerian comedian and actor Nkem Owoh stars in a rootsy spoof on victims of the infamous internet "419" scheme

Watch the video



I done suffer no be small
Upon say I get sense
Poverty no good at all, no
Na im make I join this business

419 no be thief, it's just a game
Everybody dey play em
if anybody fall mugu,
ha! my brother I go chop em

Chorus:
National Airport na me get em
National Stadium na me build em
President na my sister brother
You be the mugu, I be the master

See full lyrics and info at Antsville

Klezmatics (with Woody Guthrie) nominated for Grammy

The Klezmatics have been nominated for a "Best Contemporary World Music Album" Grammy Award this month.

Wonder Wheel features songs of Woody Guthrie (most never before seen) and set to music by members of the Klezmatics.

On Wonder Wheel, The Klezmatics move away from klezmer on many of the cuts, even using an electric guitar to create a variety of contemporary sounds. The songs evoke Guthrie's experience in Brooklyn, an immigrant coming from the other direction, finding himself among European emigres, as well as blacks, Latinos and Asians.

You can read Marty Lipp's somplete review of this 2006 recording on RootsWorld

The Jazz Singer's Return to Faith

Like his earlier recording Lokshen, Enrico Fink has created a record that is a true treasure trove of information about the Jewish experience in Italy. On Il Ritorno alla Fede del Cantante di Jazz (The Jazz Singer's Return to Faith), the premise is to take the Jewish liturgical tradition in Italy (and in particular in Ferrara and Firenze) and distill it through Fink's experiences. The result is a fascinating work that can be highly traditional ("El male rachamim") or highly modern ("Lo Amut"). It inhabits the same spiritual ground as Robbie Robertson's soundtrack for "The Native Americans" (especially on "Eliyahu" with its dialog between the child singer and Fink), another work of passion for a culture endangered, as well as things like Hector Zazou's Songs from the Cold Seas, Tom Waits, U2 circa The Joshua Tree, cantor music and jazz, all of which come in and out of focus throughout this record creating a polymorphic work that is both contemporary and timeless, the effort behind it evident but not crushing.

Read more and listen to a song

RIP Perry Henzell (The Harder They Come)

From the Jamaica Observer
Friday, December 01, 2006

PERRY Henzell, co-author, director and producer of one of Jamaica's first feature films The Harder They Come died on November 30th at his son's house in St. Elizabeth.

Henzell's latest project - No Place Like Home - a film about Jamaica, was set to be premiered at the Flashpoint film festival in Negril today. Yesterday, tributes were paid by politicians and persons who worked with the pioneer filmmaker.

Actor Carl Bradshaw, who had roles in The Harder They Come and No Place Like Home, described Henzell's contribution to the growth of Jamaica's cultural product as phenomenal.

"I remember him as a pioneer. He was the man who influenced Jamaica's film industry. The Harder They Come was more than a great visual as it is responsible for taking reggae music where it is today," Bradshaw said.

Perry Henzell also penned the novels, "Power Game," which was published in 1982, and "Cane," a historical drama, which was published in 2003.

Read the complete story at Jamaica Observer