various
artists : Ensigo-East Africa in Binaural
(Ensigo)
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CD/hear samples
A
compilation of binaural field recordings by Aaron
Appleton, this album runs the gamut from vocal polyphonies
and polyrhythmic drumming to a group spoken word
piece on AIDS and one track evocatively entitled
"Drunk, & Playing Guitar in Kigali's Streets."
The songs -- from Uganda and Rwanda -- were recorded
in a variety of locations including churches, mud
huts, bedrooms, town halls, and out in the open
air. The recordings are generally good quality,
and the whole experience feels like driving through
cities and rural areas stopping occasionally to
listen to local sounds. Notes on the artists, locations,
and songs would be most welcome, but in general
this is a promising album from an aspiring young
Alan Lomax. Set your own price for downloading it
at http://ensigo.bandcamp.com/album/east-africa-in-binaural
Siora:
Vison of the Dry Bones (Miowan)
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With
a few days to go until Christmas, a dozen global
holiday CDs wait in a stack while my attentions
turn to an unexpected pleasure: the Jewish folk-jazz-world
music of Siora. Led by vocalist Phyllis Chapell
and keyboardist/arranger Dan Kleiman, Siora has
a unique approach to music that is distinctly Jewish
yet unconstricted to any particular style. The group's
treatment of Herman Yablokoff's Yiddish classic
"Papirossen (Cigarettes)" is a case in
point. The five-minute piece starts with a flowing
niggun over a composition of jazzy bass and percussion
with a string section chiming in percussively. Add
guitar, then a swinging piano solo, and a clever,
effective double-tracking of Chapell's niggun line.
And finally, a riff from Negro spiritual "Motherless
Child," echoing the despair of the song's starving
cigarette-selling boy and several songs from the
Jewish diaspora.
Elsewhere,
Siora fuses dobro to Jewish wedding music on "Ki
Tinam," and infuses the Israeli peace song
"Ma Navu" with Arabic zills and dumbek
and the word for peace in several languages. Chapell
and Kleiman (and other contributors including the
Flecktones' Howard Levy) have a special chemistry
that makes this modern genre-bending Jewish music
deeply satisfying and highly recommended. And far
better than another refrain of "Frosty the
Snowman."
Anouar
Brahem : The Astounding Eyes of Rita (ECM)
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Something
there is about Palestinan poet Mahmoud Darwish that
inspires musicians. And not just to set his words
to music, as was done by Reem Kelani with the song
"Mawwaal" on her album Sprinting
Gazelle. Just as interesting is that he
inspires instrumentalists to somehow emulate the
rhythm or melody or mood of his poems through strictly
instrumental music. That's what Marcel Khalife did
on his Taqasim,
and the poet's words also inspired the latest album
by Tunesian oud master Anouar Brahem.
Playing
with bass clarinetist Klaus Gesing, bassist Bjorn
Meyer, and percussionist Khaled Yassine, Brahem
has created an astonishingly engaging album of..what
to call it?... world-jazz fusion? Tunesian neo-folk?
Don't label, just listen (try "Galilee Mon
Amour" for starters), and the beauty of the
music and the quality of the recording will point
the way to sonic bliss.
DVD:
Sound of the Soul: The Fez Festival of World
Sacred Music (Alive Mind)
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For
eight days each June for the past 16 years, the
city of Fez, Morocco, has teemed with musicians,
dancers, and music lovers gathered for a unique
celebration of sacred traditions. It's the World
Sacred Music Festival, the granddaddy of a number
of smaller sacred music festivals that have sprouted
up all over the world.
For
some years, compilations CDs of music from the festival
have been available. Now, filmmaker Stephen Olsson
makes it possible for those of us who have yet to
make a musical pilgrimage to Fez to get see images,
hear sounds, and learn a little of position of Morocco
in world and religious culture that makes it the
perfect location for this amazing festival.
"We
wanted something to enhance the peace in the world,
and understanding in the world," says festival
president Mohamned Kabbaj. "And the main language
is the musical language, because everybody understands
this language. The music goes directly to the heart."
While
the film includes generous views of performances,
the many artist and organizer interviews superimposed
over the music will inform some viewers, and leave
others frustrated at the interruption of the music.
Perhaps to make up for this, the DVD extras include
17 minutes of uncut performances, from Moroccan
groups Samaa Sahraoui and Nass El Ghiwane, and Afghanistan's
Garida Mahwash & the Kabul Ensemble. There's
another 90-second extra answering the question "What
Is World Music?" -- I won't spoil the surprise
by revealing their answer.
This
DVD and the 10-song companion CD offer a compelling
glimpse into this unique festival, which in 2010
is expected to feature performers as diverse as
gospel the Sizero Tabla Experience, The Royal Ballet
of Cambodia, poets from Afghanistan, and either
Ben Harper or Al Greene. Other performers will gather
from the world over from 4-12 June, and while I
won't be there this year, this glimpse of the festival
has drawn me ever closer.
various
artists: Next Stop ... Soweto: Township sounds
from the Golden Age of Mbaqanga (Strut)
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Even
under the thumb of apartheid, Soweto was blossoming
as a hub for black culture and music in South Africa.
Today one doesn't hear as much about the townships
(particularly as the coming World Cup dominates
news from the nation), but this musical legacy has
spawned another compilation of energetic township
jive. Following in the footsteps of The
Indestructible Beat of Soweto series (were
they really released nearly a quarter century ago?),
Next
Stop ... Soweto includes the well-known
Mahlathini and Mohatella Queens (on separate tracks)
alongside 18 tracks from less well-known artists.
Many
of these songs appeared only on limited-distribution
45s made for the local market, so it's a boon that
compilers Duncan Brooker and Francis Gooding have
tracked them down for this compilation. You'll hear
many influences in the varied tracks, including
gospel, funk, traditional mining songs, and jazz.
And always, that Soweto swing.
©2009
Scott Allan Stevens, Earball Media |
