Boom
Pam is a band that defies logic and plain good sense. I
mean, Israeli music is supposed to be all about old klezmers
kvetching into their clarinets and women wailing ethnicly,
like Ofra Haza or Yasmin Levy. Right?
Well,
yes and no. Remember that Israel is a nation of immigrants,
and it's got lots of nice waterfront. As much as anything,
those two factors explain Boom
Pam's pairing of duo surf guitars with tight tuba basslines.
Crazy Balkan time signatures and minimalist percussion
make their self-titled album irresistable to the musically
curious, whether your usual fare is rock or world music.
Mostly instrumental, the feisty songs bear titles
such as " The Souvlak," "Kova Plada (aka Tango)", and "Wedding
Song."
One
should take warning of the immensely creepy song "Let
Me Touch" with lyrics indicating a certain, um,
lack of romantic sensitivity. I'm not saying I dislike
it -- I laughed out loud at the over-the-top lyrics. But
it's scary enough that I included it in a Halloween show.
Whether because of that track or in spite of it, this album
comes highly recommended.
[Whether
the surf guitars have anything to do with the surfing
scene in Israel, I don't know. Maybe you should ask
someone at the beach.]
©2006
Scott Allan Stevens, Earball Media
|
| The
Idan Raichel Project: The
Idan Raichel Project (Cambancha)
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www.idanraichelproject.com
Another,
far different Israeli album comes from Idan Raichel. Initially released
in December 2002, this album flowed from Raichel's immersion in the music
and culture of Jewish immigrants from Ethiopia. He recorded samples, and
built
onto
those additional tracks of music and rhythms. If you're in Israel, this
is old news and you know that Raichel released a hit second album called
Out Of The Depths in 2005. But for US listeners, this is the first exposure
to this talented young artist.
Raichel
has a few mid-November 2006 dates in the USA (DC, NY, CA) - see his website for details.
Dromedary: Quartet (self-released)
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Is
it a conflict of interest to like an instrumental world-music
group whose members include a fellow world-music radio
dj? That's right, Andrew Reissiger (guitar, charango)
also holds forth as host of World
Tour (which was recently picked
up by Georgia Public Radio -- congrats, Andrew!). The
rest of the broup is Rob McMaken (mandolin, cumbus,
guitars), Neal Fountain (bass) and Jeff Reilly (drums).
Dromedary's acoustic sound is tight and engaging, something
like Bolivian bluegrass or Appalachian jazz. Quartet exudes
a gentle melancholy, from the lengthy, change-filled
"Childhood" to the exotic scales in "Backroads"
to the slowly somber
"Blues
for High Water."
Jerry
Leake: The Turning-Percussion Expansions (Rhombus)
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"The
Turning" is a drum rhythm of the Ewe people of Ghana,
played while dancers execute a graceful turn. On his
CD of the same name, Jerry Leake uses it as a metaphor
for exploring new ideas and combinations of instruments.
You won't notice any such combinations on the opening
track "Woodwork" (for balafon, sticks, cajon, clave,
etc.), but then "En Tundra" launches with resonant
tabla, which is quickly joined by the Ewe drums sogo,
kidi, and kagan. Among other twists are vibraphone
covers of jazz standards by Miles Davis and Bill Evans.
"Ramki" includes Indian vocal percussion and tabla
alongside balafon and agogo. For a percussion album, The
Turning has plenty of changes to keep things interesting,
and from start to finish the combinations work. Sure,
the percussive delivery of the thoughtful lyrics on
"It's About Time" may not be completely convincing,
but with 21 other tracks to choose from, who's complaining?
Recommended for any world percussion fan's library
Mohenjo
Daro: Rajdhani Express (Tandem)
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CD/hear samples
Indus
Red: Indus Red (self-released)
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These
two albums have different limbs, but the same heart:
tabla player/multi-instrumentalist Jim Feist. Mohenjo
Daro is rounded out with flautist Johnny Ruzsa and
Zach Mechlem on guitar, dumbek, and banjo-mandolin
(see
one), who also make appearances on
Indus Red. Rajdhani Express is more
of an ensemble work, with great rapport between the
players in creating rich instrumental tapestries that
will strain those trying to categorize the music. Tabla
and dumbek wrestle under the aloof flute on "Chappelwallah,"
while the title track sounds has roots in tradiitonal
raga.
Indus
Red is more of a vehicle for Feist's solo abilities,
as on the sunning is-it-live-or-is-it-multitracked
percussion piece "Tabla Panch (5)." As a big fan of
tabla, I appreciate having it so clear and centered
in the music, as it is on the bhajan-based "Mataji's
Smile" and the vocal-percussion piece "Rhythm Talk."
Included are remixes of the songs "The Mighty Bhima"
(with interesting drum loops and guitar licks added)
and the violin-led "Serpent
Dance"
(a much less successful electronic blob). I'll skip
the latter, and love this album for the tabla.
Sunny
Jain Collective: Avaaz (Sinj)
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Another
Indian-jazz-fusion group? Well, yes. India-born, NYC-based
Jain is a jazz drummer who also serves as an official
Jazz Ambassador of the United States. Avaaz veers
more toward the jazz side of the continuum than, say,
Autorickshaw, though the ethereal vocals by Samita
Sinha and Rez Abbasi's sitar-guitar keep an ethnic
feel on the title track and elsewhere.
Various
artists: Electric Gypsyland 2 (Crammed)
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Is
this a continuation of the Rom (Gypsy) path of wandering
into new cultures and absorbing and transforming them?
Maybe. There's so much great (and relatively undiscovered)
Rom music out there, it might seem premature to mix
it with artists like Balkan Beat Box, Smadj, Cibelle,
Susheela Raman, Nouvelle Vague and the like. EG2 has
its charms, but for now I'm spending more time with
the
roots:
artists
like Kocani Orkestar, Taraf de Haidouks, Mahala Rai
Banda (who are included on this compilation) and artists
like KAL, Boban Markovich, and Besh O Drom (who aren't).
©2006
Scott Allan Stevens, Earball Media |
