Bluesmen's World(Music)

Jimmy Page & Robert Plant: No Quarter

2010-08-20T21:21:00.001+02:00

This album is like an exotic trip through the Arabian desert, and reminiscent of the glory days Led Zeppelin.
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, former guitarist and singer for Led Zeppelin, respectively, take the listener on a journey with the use of foreign musicians and instruments including Egyptian bamboo flutes, mandolins, and bodhrans.

Much of the music on "No Quarter" has a Middle-Eastern feel to it. Page and Plant enlist the help of the London Metropolitan Orchestra and an Egyptian ensemble to create the magnificent and dreamy sound of Middle-Eastern music mixed with Western rock. The result is fabulous.

What I am most blown away with is how different many of the songs sound. Some, such as "Thank You" and "Gallows Pole," are basically the same as the Zeppelin classics. Many, however, sound as if they went in for plastic surgery. My favorite example is the first song on the album, "Nobody's Fault But Mine." I always thought the original Led Zeppelin version was alright, but when I heard Page and Plant's version, I was pleasantly surprised. It is slower,more beautiful, and, in my opinion, better than the original.
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant's "No Quarter" captures the mystery, power and life of music it self.
"No Quarter" is a breath of fresh air in a world of recycled music.

01. Nobody's Fault But Mine
02. Thank You
03. No Quarter
04. Friends
05. Yallah
06. City Don't Cry
07. Since I've Been Loving You
08. The Battle Of Evermore
09. Wonderful One
10. That's The Way
11. Gallow's Pole
12. Four Sticks
13. Kashmir

Jimmy Page: Guitars, mandolin, vocals.
Robert Plant: Vocals.
Charlie Jones: Bass guitar, percussion.
Michael Lee: Drums, percussion.
Ed Shearmur: Keyboards, organ, piano.
Porl Thompson: Guitars, banjo.
Nigel Eaton: Hurdy gurdy.
Jim Sutherland: Mandolin, bodhrán.
Abdel Salam Kheir: Oud.
Ibrahim Abdel Khaliq: Percussion.
Hossam Ramzy: Percussion.
Farouk El Safi: Daf, bendir.
Najma Akhtar: Backing vocals.
Bashir Abdel Al Nay: Strings.
Amin Abdelazeem: Strings.
Ian Humphries: Violin.
David Juritz: Violin.
Elizabeth Layton: Violin.
Pauline Lowbury: Violin.
Rita Manning: Violin.
Mark Berrow: Violin.
Ed Coxon: Violin.
Harriet Davies: Violin.
Rosemary Furness: Violin.
Perry Montague-Mason: Violin.
David Ogden : Violin.
Janet Atkins: Viola.
Andrew Brown: Viola.
Rusen Gunes: Viola.
Bill Hawkes: Viola.
Caroline Dale: Cello.
Ben Chappell: Cello.
Cathy Giles: Cello.
Stephen Milne: Cello.
Sandy Lawson: Didjeridu.
Storme Watson: Didjeridu.

Link

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VulgarGrad: Popular Street Songs of the Russian Underclass

2010-08-19T19:53:00.001+02:00

VulgarGrad bring you a highly alcoholic and volatile blend of the old songs of the Russian thieves (called blatnie pesny or blatnyak), along with punk classics of the Perestroika era and a strong dose of contemporary St. Petersburg swearing ska. The band delivers this music with style, raucous menace, stripy shirts and a smattering of grim smiles (very important).

Legend of stage and screen, Jacek Koman (Children of Men, Moulin Rouge, Romulus My Father, Australia) is the genial but vengeful front man who roars with the voice of a man betrayed, and he is backed by a gang of Australia's most illustrious ex-cons drawn from bands such as The Spaghetti Western Experience, The Blue Grassy Knoll, Zulya and the Children of the Underground, Croque Monsieur, Blue Drag, and the Five Angry Men. The Line-up is guitar, drums, trombone, trumpet, accordion, and watch out for the largest, most triangular instrument of them all, the mighty contrabass balalaika.

"This album is an absolute hoot! The album title (read with tongue firmly planted in cheek) says it all really – think Tom Waits in Russian meets Waiting For Guiness or any of that ilk. VulgarGrad are a Melbourne-based outfit featuring bassist Andrew Tanner (Zulya’s Children Of The Underground) on contrabass balalaika, with an able crew of guitar, horns & accordion, and at the helm the extraordinary guttural vocals of Jacek Koman.

All the songs are sung in Russian, delivered with all the morose hilarity we love from the Eastern Bloc proletariat, and with titles like ‘Alkoholik’, ‘Why Did The Aborigines Eat Captain Cook’ and ‘Anarchy Is Our Mother’ you can probably assume this is not music to be bourgeois to. It swings, stutters, stumbles and growls, veering and careering from cabaret cheese to jazz groove to carny to ska. While the musicians are clearly seasoned (or pickled), they play with shambolic abandon, often threatening to slide off the vodka-soaked table and into a puddle on the floor, with Koman’s growl providing enough rust to prevent proceedings from ever getting too slick. A fat horn section slithers & seesaws with well-oiled grunt, peppered with tasteful sprinklings of Nara Demasson’s jazzy guitar and what I assume is Svetlana Bunic’s MIDI accordion sounding like xylophone, hammond organ, flute and other sundry effects.

Superlatives aside, this is a great slab of music – energetic & fun, well-played and imminently danceable, although possibly even better to get very drunk and hurtle to."

01. Murka (trad.)
02. Alkoholik (S.Shnurov)
03. Why Did the Aborigines Eat Captain Cook (V.Vysotsky)
04. Anarchy is Our Mother (V.Tsoy)
05. The Giraffe (V.Vysotsky)
06. Vaninsky Port (trad.)
07. This Russian Rock 'N' Roll (F.Chistyakov)
08. The Years Rush By (A.Severny)

Jacek Koman: vocals
Andrew Tanner: contrabass, balalaika
Renato VaCirca: drums
Ros Jones: trombone
Adam Pierzchalski: trumpet
Nara Demasson: guitar
Phil McLeod: piano, accordion

Link

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Makám: Yanna Yova

2010-08-18T14:18:00.002+02:00

The group Makám is founded in 1984 in Budapest. A group with many different groups, but always manages Zoltán Krulik special singers to win.Singers with a more or less the same as quality and tembre: Bognár Szilvia , Palya Bea , Ági Szalóki and crystal clear Iren Lovász . The daughter of Krulik, Eszter Krulik plays on several CDs.Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest. She studied violin at Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest.   After the debut album the band gets some notoriety through the movie's Utcazeneszek Zolnai Pál (Buskers at a flea market). Now they have more than "a dozen CDs, always with a haunting quality.

Makám arrived a new turning point in it's carreer with this album - like ten years ago, when the instrumental period has changed to a vocal period. Yanna Yova focuses on todays atmosphere, musical movements and the toughts of the modern city living human being.

01.   Távol
02.   Mozi
03.   Yanna Yova
04.   Hazafelé
05.   Tolvaj idő
06.   Soha már
07.   Sms
08.   Világoskék
09.   Tova tűnt
10.   Ahmedabad

Zóra Hornai - voice
Klára Korzenszky - voice
Olga Horváth - violin, voice
Dávid Eredics - clarinet, kaval, saxophone, harmonium
Zoltán Krulik - guitar, harmonium, tampura, voice
Attila Boros - bass guitar
László Keöch - drums, cajon, udu, guiró, aquaphone, throat singing

Link

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Maddy Prior & The Carnival Band: Hang Up Sorrow & Care

2010-05-29T02:00:00.000+02:00

Maddy Prior has established herself, by dint of both talent and time, as one of the leading female singers in British folk (and folk-rock). Born in St. Albans, outside London, she developed an interest in traditional English music as a teenager and through friends, found her way to the treasure trove of material at Cecil Sharpe House and also to Ewan MacColl, the de facto leader of the folk revival. In the late '60s, she met Tim Hart, an accomplished singer and instrumentalist, and together they recorded three albums which made little impact at the time, not even setting the folk clubs buzzing. However, they had played some folk festivals, including Keele, where they met Fairport Convention bassist Ashley Hutchings, who was about to form a new band. Prior and Hart became part of the ensemble known as Steeleye Span, who would become an ongoing institution of British folk-rock, with Prior as one of its constants -- she even married Rick Kemp, the bass player who replaced Hutchings.

In 1976, she teamed with another young folk singer, June Tabor, under the Silly Sisters moniker, to record the first of what would be two albums, also remaining with Steeleye until the group officially disbanded in 1978. After that, she embarked on her solo career, her debut, Woman in the Wings, being produced by Jethro Tull leader Ian Anderson. She also began another career, as the mother of two children, but still joined a reunited Steeleye in 1980, continuing to juggle band and solo work and evening forming her own group, the Carnival Band, who've supported her on record and tour since 1987. When Prior experienced some voice problems in 1993, Gay Woods, who also been an original Steeleye vocalist, rejoined the band. Prior continued to record more frequently alone, including the albums Year, Flesh and Blood, and Ravenchild, many of which were concept records, before finally leaving Steeleye Span in 2000 to concentrate purely on solo work.

"Subtitled "A Cure for all Melancholy", this CD might just as easily be titled "Seventeenth Century Golden Party Greats"! Andy Watts leads the Carnival band on another musical adventure, mixing period and modern, even electric, instruments, but the Carnival Band still maintains an authentic spirit. Maddy Prior meets the challenge of singing in differing styles with her usual ability and grace.

The band bursts into The Prodigal's Resolution with the abandon of an Elizabethan whoopee band. It continues with a set of Playford Dances, starting with pipes alone, and building up to a folk-rock band. The Jovial Begger - yes, spelt "er" the insert insists - sounds like early jug band music!

There are pieces which are more simple. Maddy Prior has a showcase in Never Weatherbeaten Saile, with a plain lute backing, and period instruments accompany The World is Turned Upside Down throughout. Maddy shares in the two unaccompanied songs, "A Northern Catch" and "A Round of Three Country Dances in One".

There are also some more modern tempos - The Leathern Bottel has a hypnotic rhythm with electric bass and rich Hammond organ. Now O Now I Needs Must Part has the charm of a gentle Country and Western waltz, introducing strains of Somewhere Along the Road. Finally, Old Simon the King starts off sedately, but suddenly electric guitar and saxophone transform the beat into ska. This fusion of styles is truly a Cure for all Melancholy!"
Henry Peacock

01. Prodigal's Resolution (Anon 18th century)
02. 5 Playford Tunes (from Playford's "English Dancing Master")
03. The World is Turned Upside Down (Anon 17th cent)
04. Jovial Beggar (Anon 17th cent)
05. Leathern Bottle (Anon 17th cent)
06. Iantha (Anon English 18th cent)
07. An Thou were my ain Thing (Anon Scottish 18th cent)
08. Oh that I had but a Fine Man (Pelham Humphry)
09. Now O Now I needs must part (John Dowland)
10. Man is for the Woman made (Henry Purcell)
11. A Northern Catche/The Little Barleycorne (John Hilton/Trad)
12. Granny's Delight/My Lady Foster's Delight (Anon 18th cent)
13. A Round of Three Country Dances in One (Thomas Ravenscroft)
14. Youth's the Season Made for Joys (Words: John Gay/Tune: anon)
15. In The Days of my Youth (Words: John Gay/Tune: anon)
16. Never weatherbeaten sail (Thomas Campion)
17. Old Simon the King (Anon)

Maddy Prior: vocals
William Badley: baroque guitar, lute, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, banjo mandolin, vocals
Andrew Davis: double bass
Giles Lewin: violin, recorders, hoboy, mandolin, vocals
Andrew Watts: Flemish bagpipes, shalmes, curtals, recorders, melodica, kazoo, vocals
Rafaello Mizraki: drums, percussion, cello, Hammond organ, vocals

Link

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Urs Karpatz: Routes et Racines

2010-05-24T16:21:00.001+02:00

It’s really pluralism which characterize best Urs Karpatz, group of polyphonies, polyrythms and polyinstruments.
This ensemble, with its extraordinary ethnomusical range, plays and sings in romanes, gypsy language, a high quality repertory, reflecting and echoing gypsy culture in Europe. The group members come from Ukraine, Hungary and Romania. VIOLINS, SMALL AND BIG, CYMBALLUM, DOUBLEBASS, DRUMS, ACCORDION, CYTHARE, FLUTE, CLARINET AND SAXO ARE JUDICIOUSLY MIXED WITH VOICES.

Urs Karpatz is far from an ordinary gypsy group.
Its story isn’t banal, and we could have discovered it through a Tony Gatlif movie...
At the beginning, there is a man, Dimitri, descendant of pirates and travellers. An eventful childhood for background... When he was 4 years old, he escaped to join the romanichel camp located near his home in order “to do waht I want”! Commotionned teenages, dreams of trips and music... Then starts his long road following gypsies through all the eastern europe countries.
One day, during one of his trip in Bosnia with nomad gyspsies bear breeders, Dimitri saves a child of the group from drowning. As a token of his gratitude, the child father gives him a trained baby bear. Gift impossible to refuse! That’s how Dimitri decided to rebirth the craft of showing bears...associated with gypsy music.
Started then the search for musicians, 8 singers from the best ones, the most originals and above all proud not to deny their Romani culture! Thus in 1993, the group Urs Karpatz were born. It’s in august 1993, during the Gypsy Nights of Saint-Raphaël that URS Karpatz performed for the firts time. It was a great success ! Very fast, the group filled out and performed about 30 times in France in 1993 associating concerts and bear shows.
At the beginning of 1995, a first album released in France, composed of extracts from concerts played in St Raphaël (1993) and in Saintes Maries de la Mer in may 1994. And here they are in december 1995 for 5 weeks in the Theater du Tourtour in Paris!
Since then, the group fills out each year with a new album : in december 1999, it’s with the releasing of "Chemins de Tsiganie" that they filled up the theatre Européen in Paris, for 3 weeks! The album "Routes et Racines" is presented during 3 exceptionnal concerts in the Bataclan hall in Paris in november 2000. The last night, they received ROMANES AWARD 2001.

"Urs Karpatz don’t care about fashions... their romani culture sweats through each one of their compositions or their interpretations. Full of vibes, lively music, gypsy music !"
Tony GATLIF, movie maker

"URS Karpatz won aver me immediately…
Indeed, what makes this group is that they really and greatly follow the work of disappeared gypsy masters. And I see that Urs Karpatz works with an unusual professionnalism for gypsies "on the road". To the antipodes of gypsy musics "for tourists", Urs Karpatz interpreters, without any concession to soppy, perfect virtuosos instrumentists, reach their aim with brio. And they join those who proove us that Nietzsche were right when saying "without music, life would be a mistake...." Long life to URS Karpatz !"
Marcel CELLIER Ethno-Musicologue

01. Katar Avas Ame
02. Droma Ai Vine
03. E Ritshini Skiliol Te Khelel
04. Shukar Romni
05. Iakha Tshorane
06. Ashunen Tume Romane
07. Rovel O Kast
08. Hal Peske Naia (Kolo)
09. O Manush
10. Khelipe Gajikano
11. Ai Ushti
12. Armaia
13. Leskoro Shero Mato
14. Ketri
15. Me Jav Korkoro Po Drom
16. Dane Nane, Telpitsha Tshinde
17. Andaluso Koncerto

DIMITRI: Leader - Chant - Percussion - Cithare
BÉBÉ: Chant - Guitare - Accordéon
GOASHE: Violon alto - Violon a pavillon
KANGOU: Contrebasse
KATSOFANE: Violon - Choeurs
KINEZO: Cymballums
LOLIK: Chant - Percussion
MATCHO: Saxophone - Clarinette - Flute

Link

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Barleyjuice: Six Yanks

2010-05-19T16:01:00.001+02:00

"Ah...where to begin? How about if I use one of their own quotes "Six Yanks dedicated to the preservation of fine drikin', fightin', courtin' and sailin' songs of Ireland and Scotland". That should just about say it all and yet there is much more to tell! There is so much diverse talent in these 6 musicians it's almost unfair to all the rest. They have singing/songwriting ability and are capable of playing just about any instrument known to man including bagpipes, fiddles, banjos, whistles, accordion, violin, bodhran, haggis (I have no clue what a haggis is) my favorite mandolins and of course all the usual everyday type of instruments that the rest of us struggle with. Most of all though they are just having a damn good time doing what they're doing and it shows whether in their songs or in their stage performance. This is old hat for some of them including singer Kyf Brewer who has been in the music business for a few years now.
He started back in the 80's with the Ravyns (the good old days!) then moved on to Company of Wolves and now he is again enjoying great success with Barleyjuice. Yes, there is still some time to work on some side projects for those of you who have followed his career. Keith Swanson or Swanny,another one of the founding members of the band was Pipe Major of the Loch Rannoch Pipe Band before starting up Barleyjuice a year later. I could go on and on with the individual talent in this band but the truth is if you throw these six guys in a pot, stir it round a bit, you have gold.

They have already done 3 albums starting in 2003 with "One Shilling" followed by "Another Round" and finally giving us "Six Yanks" in 2006.

So put on your kilts...don't tell me you don't own one! Alright you might have to find one...look on the Internet under "kilts" and get down to see the band. I promise you the time of your life, but after all the whiskey and beer I won't promise you that you'll remember it. Just an excuse to do it again!"

01. Misty Mornings Miss'd
02. Pretty Wild Bride
03. Modern Pirates
04. Love With A Priest
05. Real Old Mountain Dew
06. Beauty And The Rum
07. More Pipes
08. Tartan Is The Colour Of My True Loves Hair
09. Tim Finegans Wake
10. Dear Ould Ireland
11. Whiskey
12. A Bands A Band For A That

Kyf Brewer (vocals, guitar, accordion, harmonica, bagpipes, congas, bodhran, tin whistle)
Keith Swanson (vocals, guitar, bouzouki, mandolin, bagpipes, tin whistle, bass)
Billy Dominick (fiddle, vocals, violin)
Jimmy Carbomb (whistle, banjo)
Eric Worthington (bass, backing vocals)
Gregor "The Shredder" Schroeder (drums, vocals)

Link

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Kalamajka: Haj Rákóczi, haj Bercsényi

2010-05-17T16:06:00.001+02:00

It's been 300 years since Ferenc Rákóczi, commander-in-chief of the Hungarian insurgent forces, stood at the head of the multitudes summonded to Tiszahát. The Rákóczi war of independence (1703-1711) ultimately failed, despite initial victories by the Kuruces, but left a lasting impression of the national conciousness in the music and poetry of the following centuries. One of the types of usic which the listener won't find included on this CD are the songs which have been popularized by use in gramar-school songbooks over the last one hundred years, but which may be of questionable authenticity. Our selection aims to highlight those songs which village musicians of the 20th century have made part of their everyday repertoire. By reviving these songs, we are paying our respects to the village musicians who have passed down the Kuruc songs of bygone days and the musical heritage of a time long since past.

01. Az ádámosi Rákóczi-induló / Rákóczi Fanfare, Ádámos
02. A szilágysámsoni Rákóczi-frisse / Rákóczi Song and Friss (‘Fast’), Szilágysámson
03. A soproni Rákóczi-nóta és Rákóczi-keserves / Rákóczi Song and Lament, Sopron
04. Magyarpalatkai lassú cigánytánc és összerázás / Slow Gipsy-dance and Csárdás, Magyarpalatka
05. Nincs becsületi az katonának / That Soldier Has No Honor
06. Botostánc / Staff-dance
07. Én is egyszer kedvemre éltem / I Used To Live As I Pleased
08. Tyukodi pajtás nótája / The Tyukodi Pajtás Song
09. Elvesztette a pásztor a kecskéit / The Shepherd Lost His Goats
10. Hajdútánc / Heyduck Dance
11. Miről apám nagy búsan szólt / What My Father So Sadly Said
12. Rákóczi ritka magyarja / Rákóczi Slow Dance
13. Menj el, menj el szegény Magyar / Go Go Poor Hungarian
14. Rutén Rákóczi-induló / Ruthen Rákóczi Fanfare
15. Mégis huncut a német / The German Is A Rascal Al The Same
16. Czinka Panna nótája és tüsszentős czardas / Panna Czinka’s Song and “Sneeze Csárdás”
17. Dudacsárdás / Bagpipe Csárdás
18. Mikes Kelemen nótája / Kelemen Mikes’s Song
19. Doroszlói verbunk és Czinka Panna verbunkja / Verbunk From Doroszló and Panna Czinka’s Verbunk

Éva Fábián - voice, beat gardon
Béla Halmos - violin
Tamás Petrovits - dulcimer
Péter Dövényi - kontra-fiddle, kontra-viola, drum
András Nagymarosy - double bass, tamburica, guitar, drum, voice

Featuring:
Gergely Agócs - voice, tárogató
István Berán - turkish flute
Milán Hetényi - voice
Anikó Papp, Zsuzsa Papp - voice

Link

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Steeleye Span: Please to See the King

2010-05-16T01:18:00.000+02:00

Please To See The King is the second album by Steeleye Span, released in 1971. A substantial personnel change following their previous effort, Hark! The Village Wait, brought about a substantial change in their overall sound, including a lack of drums and the replacement of one female vocalist with a male vocalist. The band even reprised a song from their debut, "The Blacksmith", with a strikingly different arrangement making extensive use of syncopation. Re-recording songs would be a minor theme in Steeleye's output over the years, with the band eventually releasing an entire album of reprises, Present--The Very Best of Steeleye Span.

The title of the album is derived from the "Cutty Wren" ceremony. A winter wren in a cage is paraded as if it were a king. This rite was carried out on December 26, Saint Stephen's Day, and is connected to early Christmas celebrations. The song "The King", appearing on the album, addresses this, and is often performed as a Christmas carol. Steeleye returned to this subject on Live at Last with "Hunting the Wren" and on Time with the song "The Cutty Wren". The custom of Wrenboys is mostly associated with Ireland, but it has been recently revived in England.

All songs appearing on the original album are traditional. "The False Knight on the Road" is one of the Child Ballads (#3), and concerns a boy's battle of with the devil in a game of riddles. Hart and Prior had already recorded a version of the song on their album 'Summer Solstice'. "The Lark in the Morning", one of their more popular songs, has the same title as a different song about a lusty ploughboy, though there are strong similarities. This version was collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams. "Boys of Bedlam", a variant of Tom o' Bedlam", is told from the perspective of a member of a lunatic asylum. Carthy and Prior open the song by singing into the back of banjos, producing a muffled effect. The band uses the earliest printed version of the song, from Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy by Thomas d'Urfey.

Melody Maker made this their folk album of the year. Music journalist Colin Irwin in his book "In Search of Albion" describes it as one of his favourite folk-rock albums. It reached number 45 in the UK album charts, originally on B & C Records but before the year was out the rights were acquired by Mooncrest Records who re-released it the same year, with different cover art. It was issued in the US at the same time on Big Tree, when the small label was distributed by Ampex. It sold poorly and was deleted quite soon after release. Remaining copies were bought up by a couple of the 'cut-out' distributors and by that time, the band had signed with Chrysalis and the cut out original sold very well. When stock ran out, poor quality bootleg copies started to turn up in huge quantities.

Musically, this was their most electric, dense recording, with loud guitars and strong looping bass lines and no drums.

01. Blacksmith
02. Cold, Haily, Windy Night
03. Bryan O'LynnThe Hag with the Money [Jigs]
04. Prince Charlie Stuart
05. Boys of Bedlam
06. False Knight on the Road
07. Lark in the Morning
08. Female Drummer
09. King
10. Lovely on the Water
11. Rave On

Maddy Prior / vocals, spoons, tabor, tambourine
Tim Hart / vocals, guitar, dulcimer
Peter Knight / violin, mandolin, vocals, organ, bass
Ashley Hutchings / bass, vocals)
Martin Carthy / vocals, guitar, banjo, organ

Link

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Wolf Krakowski: Goyrl:Destiny

2010-05-13T21:05:00.003+02:00

"After Wolf Krakowski's last outing, the stunning Transmigrations: Gilgul, he and his band, the Lonesome Brothers, took country music to the extreme margins of integration, where it met blues and traditional Yiddish music in a swirl of loss, longing, and celebrations of holiday foods. This time out, Krakowski branches out even further to mine the deep vein of musical cultures from all over the world -- reggae, tango -- without losing his beautifully mystifying meld of traditional Yiddish folk melodies or American country and folk-blues. Had he written his own material this way, we could have called him an original, but Krakowski's upside-down cake of musical mementos is actually the accompanying soundtrack for a bunch of radically rearranged Yiddish songs from the theater, pop, and folk musics. Composers from the last century, such as Abraham Levin, Itzak Manger, Shmuel Halkin, and others, are represented here in clashing forms where pedal-steel guitars meet steel drums from Trinidad on "Mit Farmakhte Oygin" (With Eyes Closed), or Kurt Weill's German cabaret meets the Italian tarantella and a crunchy electric guitar on "Dona Dona." In fact, the depths are so profound and rich here they defy categorization, other than "great Jewish music." This is the accumulated music of the diaspora of a people who have settled in almost every corner of the earth and who cling to their identity despite many attempts to wipe it -- and them -- out. Krakowski's recording, which was produced by Frank London of the Klezmatics, is, consciously or not, a signpost for the way to the future. He uses the past as a way of being inclusive rather than as a tool for revision. This is gorgeous music any way you slice it, moving, deep, sensual, and full of a warm humor to boot."
Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

01. My Father And Mother
02. Dona, Dona
03. I'll Never Steal Again
04. With Eyes Closed
05. A Waste Of Your Tears
06. You Will Be Mine
07. Spin, Dreydl
08. Deep Pits, Red Clay
09. One Hundred
10. Let's Just Think About Today
11. Buddy, Have A Smoke With Me
12. Zingarella

Wolf Krakowski - vocals, acoustic rhythm guitar

THE LONESOME BROTHERS:
Jim Armenti - guitars, mandolin, violin, balalaika, batar
Ray Mason - bass guitar, guitar
Tom Shea - drums, guitar

Seth Austen - National steel guitar, 12-string guitar, mandola, mandolin
Doug Beaumier - pedal steel guitar, dobro

Bejegyzés közzététele

Fraidy Katz - back-up vocals
Daniel Lombardo - percussion
Frank London - trumpet
Corner Mentos - steel drum
Brian Mitchell - accordion, organ
Charles Neville - saxophones
Jaye Simms, Pamela Smith Salavka - back-up vocals
Beverly Woods - tsimbl

Link

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Woven Hand: Mosaic

2010-05-11T22:08:00.001+02:00

Intense and spiritual, full of ritual drums and driving guitar rhythms, the fourth full-length from David Eugene Edwards's Woven Hand is as terrifyingly beautiful as any of his work with 16 Horsepower. As always, he hitches Americana instruments – banjo, fiddle, hurdy-gurdy – to industrial strength percussion, in a strange hybrid that borrows as much from Joy Division as Johnny Cash.

Nearly all the songs are bleak evocations of spiritual crisis. What's interesting about Edwards is that he expresses genuine and abiding faith right alongside crushing doubt. In the album-topping "Dirty Blue," he gazes into abyss under modern life. "You're curled up warm / In your own little corner of Sodom / Did you agree to believe that this fall / Has no bottom," he says in his ghostly, possessed voice, evoking damnation and salvation against a circling throb of violin. "I've lived by the book of numbers / And I'm held together by strings," he sings later. If anyone's ever told you that accepting Jesus puts spiritual angst to rest, this is exhibit A to the contrary.

Edwards is interested in traditional music, the kinds of songs and rhythms that older societies use to express and reinforce their most deeply held values. "Slota Prow," a mesmeric cut that is partly spoken in a made-up language, is a Gnostic haze of sound, the slow reverberations of violin and nickelback harp punctured by sudden shots of drum. A galloping beat emerges from this trance-state opening, urgent and mysterious, a call to holy war.

There is respite here in the places that Edwards finds calm – family, married life and music. "Swedish Purse," with its eerie church organ and plucked banjo, has a luminous, resonant center. The cut, whose melody was drawn from a medieval song, considers Edwards' love for his wife and children. "She has made place for me / In life for those our children / Sewn into her Swedish purse / I think upon these things," he sings, and though the song is more about solace than joy, it is an island of tranquility. The other break from intensity comes just past the halfway point, in an all-instrumental track called "Bible and Bird." The cut is a ray of sunshine, bright guitar strumming and lifting chords of organ, with none of the darkness and doubt (or the drums) of the rest of the album. You can almost feel Edwards relaxing, enjoying the pure physical and mental pleasure of lovely music. It's a pause to take breath, a relief, but temporary; it leads right back into the vortex in "Dirty Blue."

There are certain kinds of music that seem to put you into direct contact with the person that made them, an unfiltered glimpse into a foreign soul. Mosaic is one of those records, overwhelming, dizzying, serious and beautiful, a spiritual experience even if you don't share Edwards' difficult faith.

01. Breathing Bull
02. Winter Shaker
03. Swedish Purse
04. Twig
05. Whistling Girl
06. Elktooth
07. Bible And Bird
08. Dirty Blue
09. Slota Prow-Full Armour
10. Truly Golden
11. Deerskin Doll
12. Little Raven

David Eugene Edwards - vocals, guitar, bass
Daniel McMahon - piano
Ordy Garrison - drums
Elin Palmer - strings

Link

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La Kumpania Zelwer: Daissa (Tziganes Imaginaries)

2010-05-08T16:27:00.001+02:00

Daissa is a Gypsy word meaning ‘yesterday ’and ‘tomorrow ’and thus provides the perfect title for an album that harkens to the past yet sounds thoroughly contemporary. La Kumpania Zelwer combines elements of street theater and circus alongside vibrant music from the Gypsy tradition with references to Indian,Yiddish and Breton culture. Bandleader Jean-Marc Zelwer is a multi-talented musician who has even gone so far as to create his own instruments to get a specific sound he’s after. There are no limits to Zelwer ’s fertile imagination.

"Kumpania Zelwer is the brainchild of composer and multi-multi-instrumentalist Jean-Marc Zelwer. Zelwer plays everything from nyckelharpa to santur to glass xylophone. His eight-piece band plays everything from washboard to toy piano to singing saw. This eclectic assortment of household appliances would yields a colorful pastiche of sound. Zelwer and company use these and more conventional weapons of mass construction such as accordion, cello, trumpet, violin, and tuba to create a sound that mixes elements of klezmer, cabaret, and street theater, with touches of Gypsy and Breton music for good measure. Daissa is a wild ride and one well worth taking.

The album kicks off with the dramatic traditional Yiddish song "Birobidjan" (Listen!), about an autonomous Jewish region of the Soviet Union founded by Stalin. The optimistic lyrics belie the dire minor key of the melody. Vocalist Francesca Lattuada's powerful alto gives the piece the theatricality it deserves. Another highlight is the loopy instrumental "C'est pas tour les jours Shabbat," with its circus-like oom-pah tuba and clashing tonalities on piano, clarinet, and trumpet. The vaguely nightmarish "Balagan" (Listen!) features glass bottle xylophone and trumpet with a gouache of spooky organ and altered voices in the background. Particularly beautiful is the "Shir Hashirim (Song of Songs)," with its droning violin and santour accompaniment. "Polvere" a Corsican cante jondo (usually performed a cappella) gets a chamber music treatment with violin, cello, and nyckelharpa.

Zelwer has created street shows using dozens of musicians and has made a career of writing music for the stage. The theatre that is in his blood translates quite successfully to disc. He uses the sounds at his disposal as an impressionist painter might have used various brush strokes and combinations of color. The result is a richly textured canvas with all of the emotional impact of the best art."
Peggy Latkovich

01. Birobidjan
02. Daissa
03. Lekhayim! (A la Vie)
04. Opazdyvaia Na Messu
05. En Retard Pour la Messe
06. Trotz Alledem (Malgre Tout)
07. C'est Pas Tous Les Jours Shabbat
08. Balagan
09. Le Roi des Schnorrers
10. Shir Hashirim
11. Terra Incognita
12. Polvere (Poussiere)
13. Kiddush-Ha-Shem
14. Trois P'tits Tours et Puis Savon

Jean-Marc Zelwer - Accordion, Clarinet, Nyckelharpa, Glass Xylophone
Maryam Chemirani - Vocals
Dimitri Artemenko - Violin
Pierre Rigopoulos - Zarb Drum
Jean-François Ott - Cello
Michel Feugere - Trumpet
Sylvie Cohen - Keyboards, Toy-Piano, Water Drums
Sylvie Jérusalem - Tuba
Francesca Lattuada - Vocal

Link

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Egy Kiss Erzsi Zene: Röné álma (Röné's Dream)

2010-05-07T15:59:00.000+02:00

Egy Kiss Erzsi Zene (Erzsi Kiss Music) makes a fusion of existing and fictitious languages; bridges are built between well-known and imaginary continents. This music is a flow of never-ending improvisations; lyrics without lyrics, free associations are the basis of the diversity of their music which includes elements of dark ballads, chansons, rock of the '70s. In brief: the "ethno-rock" cavalcade. The band was formed in 1996. Since then they have great success, in Europe they were invited to many international festivals and clubs. Initially the vocal arrangements were in focus, which by now has been balanced with instrumental arrangements interpreted by the jazz musicians of Erzsi Kiss. It is a jubilant music that the band creates with a virtual world: many instants and emotions.

Described as having an eclectic blend of ethnic musical influences Erzsi Kiss and her band have an enthusiastic following in their Hungary. It can only be a matter of time before this spreads beyond that country's borders.

"The music can be a little bluesy, a little jazzy, a little Serbian, a little Russian or Arabic, we can play and travel as much as we want, because we have no language restrictions. Human imagination and musicality are the only things that can limit us."
Erzsi Kiss

01. Papabej
02. Ana Lytindi
03. Tomma Holahi
04. T.W.
05. Pulepo
06. B.B.
07. Rie
08. Lipinka
09. '69
10. Röné
11. Debödöp
12. Kavicsos
13. Francia II.
14. Hmm
15. 79
16. Papabej II.
17. Ahi M Põ

Erzsi Kiss - voice
Árpád Vajdovich - bass guitar, ud, voice
Hunor G. Szabó - drum, percussion, guitar, kalimba, voice
Márton Sütő - guitar, accordion, voice
Linda Kovács - voice
Anna Szantner - voice

Link

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Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party: Shahen-Shah

2010-05-06T14:33:00.000+02:00

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Shahen-Shah-e-Q_awwali (The Brightest Star in Qawwali) is a title reserved for the leading voice and spirit of qawwali, the devotional music of Sufi Islam. No other term better describes the late Qawwali master.

There are great singers, and then there are those few voices that transcend time. The late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan could not only transcend time, but also language and religion. There was magic when he opened his mouth, a sense of holy ecstasy that was exciting and emotional. It wasn’t uncommon even for Western listeners, who didn’t understand a word he was singing or follow his Sufi traditions, to be moved to tears upon hearing him.

Ali Khan, who died in 1997 at the age of 48, was a Qawwali, a singer of devotional music of the Sufi sect of Islam. Trained by his father, the master singer Ustad Fateh Ali Khan, he kept up a 600-year family tradition by taking over leadership of the “party” (the general term for a Qawwali group, comprising singer, harmonium and tablas) in 1971, following recurring dreams that he was singing at the Muslim shrine of Hazratja Khawaja Moid-Ud-Din Christie in Ajmer, India (which he would eventually do).

In his improvisations, his voice would soar skyward to heaven, carrying his audience with him. While the core of his work and his life was the Sufi texts, the mystic holy poetry of the spirit, Ali Khan didn’t limit himself to that in his career. He was happy to sing the love poems known as ghazals, to perform vocal exercises, and even lend his talents to Bollywood and Hollywood, to range into ambient and dance music. But none of it was at the expense of his soul.

Throughout the ’70s and early ’80s he released literally hundreds of cassettes—trying to make order of his entire discography would be a nightmare—and his reputation grew, not only in his native Pakistan, but also internationally. The year 1985 proved to be the turning point for him, as he appeared not only at the WOMAD festival in England, but also had his performances in France recorded for an epic five-CD set that perfectly illustrated the qualities of his art. The songs stretched out, allowing Ali Khan to show his genius for extemporization, turning a sound, word or phrase over and over, examining it, flying with it, before releasing it and moving to another, using them all as enlightenment for the soul, a prayer and devotion. At his best, and his best seemed to occur often, he was like a bird, swooping and rising, his voice as free as the sky.

After Paris, the momentum gathered. He signed with Real World Records, which meant that for the first time his records would have high-profile international distribution, and released Shahen Shah, whose title came from his nickname. It wasn’t hardcore Ali Khan, but lighter and more melodic, a disc that seduced those who hadn’t heard him before.

01. Shamas-ud-doha, Badar-ud-doja
02. Allah, Mohammed, Char, Yaar
03. Kali Kali Zulfon Ke Phande Nah Dalo
04. Meri Ankhon Ko Bakhshe Hain Aansoo
05. Nit Khair Mansan Sohnia Main Teri
06. Kehna Ghalat Ghalat To Chhupana Sahi Sahi

Lead Vocals: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
Chorus: Asad Ali Khan, Ghulam Fareed, Iqbal Naqbi, Mohammad Maskeen
Tabla: Dildar Hussain
Vocals: Mujahid Mubarik Ali Khan
Vocals [Pupil]: Atta Fareed
Vocals, Harmonium, Leader [Musical Director]: Farrukh Fateh Ali Khan

Link

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Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble: Faces of Russia

2010-04-02T15:00:00.000+02:00

“..you don’t need to tell about Russia
to the foreign people. It’ll better to them
to listen to the cd of the Pokrovsky Ensemble.”
Anton Batagov

The Dmitry Pokrovsky Ensemble was founded by prominest musician, scientist and researcher of Russian national culture Dmitry Pokrovsky(1944-1996) in Moscow in 1973 as a «living laboratory» for the study of different Russian folk traditions.

The Ensemble was the first group of professional musicians who performed the folk music in authentic village styles at the academic scene. To learn the essence of the village music, Ensemble's members have traveled the lenght and breadth of rural Russia, documenting and studying to perform themselves the music traditions they encountered. The special vocal school of Ensemble based on various styles of traditional Russian singing is absolutely unique.

It is difficult to find now another collective of singers that can conquer the audience with their original interpretation of classic and avant-garde musical compositions, having a large repertoire of Russian village music of different traditions and styles.

The variety of the Ensemble’s interests is seen in their constant collaboration with different musicians, contemporary composers, theatrical directors and filmmakers..

The Ensemble had been performing modern music, working together with many modern composers and at the same time having classical compositions in its repertoire. Having introduced western audiences to Russian traditional and modern music, the Ensemble has become a figure of world music culture.

01. Epic Song
02. Birch Tree on the Sea
03. Where Have You Been You
04. Limerick
05. 116TH Psalm of King David
06. Girls Are Walking
07. Gusly
08. Green Grass
09. Prayer of a Young Man
10. Down in Kiev
11. Fog
12. Friends Horsemen
13. Sunset
14. Vargan
15. Soft Light
16. First Commandment

Link

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Curtis Eller's American Circus: Wirewalkers and Assassins

2010-04-01T23:14:00.000+02:00

Angry folk-country-punk-blues, whatever, banjo wielding showman Eller sings dark and ageless tunes. An excellent and highly intriguing singer/songwriter who is based in New York City, Curtis Eller has successfully brought a variety of influences to his unorthodox folk-rock vision. The banjo-playing Eller’s work has an old-time feel, drawing on an abundance of direct or indirect influences from the ’20s, ’30s, and ’40s (including country singer Jimmie Rodgers, cowboy icon Gene Autry, and Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson). But Eller’s material is far from a carbon copy of music from that era — there is plenty of rock bite and attitude in his rootsy work, which also contains elements of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and the ballsy outlaw country of Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard. Eller, consciously or unconsciously, reminds listeners what Dylan, Cash, Son House, Pete Seeger, and Haggard have in common — they are all known for being effective storytellers, and storytelling is where Eller himself shines.

The Queens resident is clearly fascinated by American history; he has written about the American Civil War, silent film star Buster Keaton (who he considers a strong influence), and aviatrix Amelia Earhart. Quite often, Eller’s subject matter can be dark; “Alaska” is about a mining disaster, and “The Execution of Black Diamond” was inspired by a bizarre 1929 incident in which a circus elephant was paraded through the streets of a small Texas town and “executed” (the mayor took the first shot) after attacking and killing a local woman. Circuses, in fact, are a major interest of Eller, who studied juggling when he was a kid and calls his band Curtis Eller’s American Circus. Eller has often said that his goal as a performer is to “capture the spirit of the Hartford Circus Fire of 1944,” a tragedy that cost 167 people their lives and became the worst disaster in the Connecticut city’s history.

A circus inferno is a bizarre way to measure artistic or creative success, but then, Eller’s eccentricity is part of what makes his work so interesting. A website on the history of Hartford has posted the lyrics to “Hartford, CT,” an Eller song describing the World War II-era tragedy. Another unusual thing about Eller is the way he plays the banjo, his primary instrument. Instead of playing it in an exuberant, bluegrass-like fashion, Eller often makes the banjo sound moody, haunting, and dark — in Eller’s hands, the banjo becomes the perfect instrument for songs about mining disasters and circus tragedies.

Originally from Detroit, MI, Eller listened to a variety of music when he was growing up in the Motor City — everyone from Son House to Iggy Pop. After leaving Detroit, he spent some time in North Carolina, where he was the musical director for a local theater troupe. But Eller grew disenchanted with the theater and moved to New York City (where he made music his primary focus). His third album, Wirewalkers & Assassins, continues to explore and expand upon the themes and influences (both musically and lyrically) from his previous work. Overall, the music on the album is a little fuller and darker than his previous albums.
Jordan Block

01. After the Soil Fails
02. John Wilkes Booth (Don't Make Us Beg)
03. Hartford Circus Fire, 1944
04. Sugar For the Horses
05. The Curse of Cain
06. Sweatshop Fire
07. Plea of the Aerialist's Wife
08. Daisy Josephine
09. Firing Squad
10. Save Me Joe Louis

THE AMERICAN CIRCUS:
Curtis Eller: Banjo, Lead Vocal
Chris Moore: Drums, Percussion
Gary Langol: Lasp Steel, Upright Bass, Organ, Mandolin
Joseph "Joebass" DeJarnette: Upright Bass
Liisa Yonker: Harmony Vocal
Marilee Eitner: Squeezebos and Harmony
Gerald Menke: Pedal Steel
Amy Kahn: Accordion
Rima Fand: Violin, Harmony Vocal

Link

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VA: Umalali - Garifuna Women's Project

2010-03-31T00:53:00.001+02:00

Umalali is not a group name, but the Garifuna word for voice. The Garifuna are descendents of African slaves who escaped from a massive shipwreck in 1635. They intermarried with Carib and Arawak Indians and evolved their own culture over the centuries. The were never conquered by the slave masters, but have been a marginalized minority for years, with a population centered in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Belize. The United Nations UNESCO arm recognizes their music and culture as a threatened one, part of humanity's intangible treasures. The Garifuna Women's Project is a collection of traditional and composed songs by various well-regarded Garifuna female elders and youngsters. Garifuna music has elements of African, Caribbean, and Native American music, in particular the soca of Trinidad, the reggae of Jamaica, and the rhythms of Cuba. To North American ears the sounds are both strangely familiar and slightly alien, blending many common elements in a unique way. The album was produced by Ivan Duran, the white Belizian who started Stonetree Records to document the music of the Garifuna.

The songs are traditional, even those that are newly composed, because the Garifuna see music as an ongoing process of creation. Since it's a way to convey cultural knowledge and communicate with the ancestors, songs are not owned, although everyone knows who composed the most popular tunes. Duran and the backing musicians made no attempt to keep the music traditional, since the Garifuna, like seemingly everyone else in the world, are tech-savvy and own computers and cell phones. The album is best listened to as a single piece of music - a ceremony, if you will - but individual performers and arrangements do stand out.

"Barübana Yagien" sounds like a combination of calypso and Congolese rhumba, while Silvia Blanco's singing calls to mind the sound of Mali's Oumou Sangare. The driving bass drums and sinuous electric guitar keep the tune moving at a rapid pace. "Hatie," by Sarita Martinez, is the tale of the hurricane that devastated Central America in 1961. It lays spaghetti Western guitar twang on top of a rolling punta rock backbeat complemented by strong call-and-response vocals. Marcela Torres has a forceful alto that stands up to the bass drums that sound like the throbbing heart of West Africa on "Anaha Ya." Sofia Blanco, one of the album's strongest vocalists, and Silvia's mom, sings lead on "Nibari" and "Yündüya Weyu." The first is a greeting to a new grandson and again sounds like the women's vocal music of Mali. Blanco's keening vocals are given minimal accompaniment by drums and guitar to preserve their primal power. "Yündüya Weyu" is more uptempo, with hints of Cuba, West Africa, and Brazil in its paranda rhythm. "Lirun Biganute" is Julia Lewis' lament for her murdered son accompanied only by a treble-heavy electric guitar that sounds oddly like an autoharp.

Garifuna women have been given the task of bearing their culture on to future generations.
By combining traditional vocals with modern arrangements, Duran and the Garifuna Women's Project singers hope to attract young people and world music lovers to this vital, irreplaceable culture.
j. poet, All Music Guide

01. Nibari (My Grandchild) - Sofia Blanco
02. Mérua - Chale Torres, Desere Diego
03. Yündüya Weyu (The Sun Has Set) - Sofia Blanco
04. Barübana Yagian (Take Me Away) - Silvia Blanco
05. Hattie - Sarita Martinez, Desere Diego
06. Luwübüri Sigala (Hills of Tegucigalpa) - Marcelina Fernandez "Masagu" Guity
07. Anaha Ya (Here I Am) - Chale Torres
08. Tuguchili Elia (Elia's Father) - Elodia Nolberto
09. Fuleisei (Favours) - Silvia Blanco
10. Uruwei (The Government) - Bernadine Flores, Damiana Gutierez
11. Áfayahádina (I Have Traveled) - Chale Torres
12. Lirun Biganute (Sad News) - Julia Nunez

Dale Davis (Sax (Tenor)), Gil Abarbanel (Engineer), Jacob Edgar (Liner Notes), Andy Palacio (Translation), Andy Palacio (Transcription), Sofia Blanco (Vocals), Ivan Duran (Arranger), Ivan Duran (Guitar (Bass)), Ivan Duran (Guitar (Electric)), Ivan Duran (Keyboards), Ivan Duran (Guitarron), Ivan Duran (Producer), Ivan Duran (Engineer), Ivan Duran (Slide Guitar), Ivan Duran (Liner Notes), Ivan Duran (Art Direction), Ivan Duran (Lap Steel Guitar), Ivan Duran (Sound Treatment), Silvia Blanco (Vocals), Sarita Martinez (Vocals), Desere Diego (Vocals), Desere Diego (Vocals (Background)), Bernadine Flores (Vocals), Marcelina Fernandez "Masagu" Guity (Vocals), Damiana Gutierez (Vocals), Elodia Nolberto (Vocals), Julia Nunez (Vocals)

Link

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Konsonans Retro: A Podolian Affair

2010-03-30T01:08:00.000+02:00

Funky and fiery family brass band from Ukraine, playing the wild and sweet wedding music of Podolia, singing some heart-rending a capella songs. Fresh, deeply rooted, breathtaking.
Ukrainian musicians Konsonans Retro’s acclaimed debut CD A Podolian Affair brings back to life the Jewish Brass Band music of the area through the collaboration between the musicians of the local Baranovsky family and Berlin-based clarinettist Christian Dawid.

Odessa was the only city in which Jews were not governed by a rabbinical council, which meant that they were free to evolve into a secular, civil society which meant tavern-going and music-making. The Ukraine’s large Jewish population influenced the brass band music of that area. The Baranovsky brothers and their cousins play trumpets, accordion, trombone and barabon in the band, having been trained by their elders, Moise and Maria Baranovsky. Vasyl Baranovsky started playing in his father’s orchestra at the age of four, so he remembers many old pieces which are now perhaps only known to him. Christian Dawid, who arranged all the pieces, and London-based drummer Guy Schalom, successfully meld a Western sensibility on to the Baranovskys’ traditionalism.

"On this recording, Dawid sits in on woodwinds, and Britain's Guy Schalom joins in on drums, complementing the band's usual baraban. The result is a Podolian Dirty Dozen Brass Band—lively, exciting, wonderful harmonies, even wonderful vocal harmonies on slipped-in Ukrainian tunes like "limonchiki" (part of the "Freylekh No. 5 medley") and "Oy u hayu pri Danuy. The album closes with a single voice singing a Ukrainian love song, accompanied only by accordion, and then breaking into two voices and what sounds like an entirely different song—a bonus celebration of human voice transcending even the exuberance of the full Konsonans Retro.

The cross-fusion is still happily in progress. Gennadiy Fomin, from Kharkov klezmer, joins with Dawid band in a local "Podilska". Some of the tunes are strikingly unfamiliar. The Moldavskiy Dans (the liner notes say that "dans" is the local term for what Jewish musicians would traditionally call a "zhok" or "hora") is a lovely waltz-ish number. The "Niviy Sher" would seem more familiar to denizens of a balkan dance night than an American Jewish wedding, and the "Khasitsky Freylekhs" is a sweet-sounding Hasidic (?) Freylekhs. Their brassy Hasidic "Shabes Nign" is very different from the arrangements with which I am familiar, but is still unmistakably "Shabes Nign." As noted by the reviewer on the Blog in Dm, Podolia is the birthplace of Hasidism, so it is wonderful to hear local versions of these songs, as well as to reconnect with the source, so to speak.

This is the most exciting brass band with a Jewish repertoire since, well, probably since Frank London's Klezmer Brass All-Stars or the Panorama Jazz Band. It's also a funny reminder. Here in the States, we think it interesting and a bit normal that our friends play here in a bluegrass band, there in a Celtic band, and over there in a klezmer ensemble, cleverly keeping the repertoire's mostly separate. In Konsonans Retro we see one band with a repertoire spanning all of Eastern Europe's cultures, playing one or the other as appropriate, and all as smoothly and perfectly as the other. What a wonderful discovery."
Ari Davidow

01. Moldavskaya Polka
02. Freylekhs No 5
03. Bulgaryas
04. Kurka Chubaturka
05. Khusidl & Bulgaryas
06. Sher No 2 & Sher No 7
07. Podliska
08. Doina & Sher No 13
09. Moldavskiy Dans & Sirba
10. Noviy Sher & Hora
11. Oy U Hayu Pri Dunayu
12. Zagnitkiver Sher
13. Moldavskaya Hora
14. Shabes Nign
15. Khasitsky Freylekhs
16. Trombon Hora
17. Moldovenyaska
18. Khasitsky Tanets & Horo
19. Akh Ty Dushechka

Christian Dawid: clarinet, alto sax
Vasyl Baranovsky: trumpet, bayan (4, 11, 19)
Volodymyr Voronyuk: trumpet
Volodymyr Baranovsky: accordion
Vitaly Baranovsky: trombone
Oleksandr Voronyuk: tuba
Vyacheslav Baranovsky: baraban
Guy Schalom: drums

Guest:
Gennadiy Fomin: clarinet (7)

Link

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Söndörgő: Oj Stari

2010-03-29T01:01:00.003+02:00

Formed in 1995, Söndörgő play Yugoslav (Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian) Bulgarian and Greek folk music. The members of the band are young people, being the sons of members of the Vujicsics ensemble.
Typically, much of this music is played on the 'tambura', which is a musical relative of the lute. The tambura comes in various sizes and is usually played at a ferocious pace.
After playing small but regular gigs, it wasn’t long before they were playing in more serious venues, and have performed together with the Vujicsics Ensemble and Márta Sebestyén.

Their musical interest turned towards southern Slavic folk music and the archaic tradition strata of the Balkans. Their repertiore consists mainly of Serb and Croat tunes played in Hungary.Relationship between the members of the ensemble dates back to the elementary and secondary school years. Among others, it was the example of the Vujicsics Ensemble that contributed to the development of their approach of music. Members of the Söndörgő Ensemble study the collections of great folk music researchers like Béla Bartók or Tihamér Vujicsics, as well as whatever still exists of Serb and Croat folk music. Their style is built on that of tambure bands. On occasions, there appear the accordion , the flut, the clarinet as well as the characteristic musical instruments of the folk music of the Balkans, such as the kaval, the gajade, the tarabuka, the tapan, the litárka. Apart from performing in Hungary as well as abroad, their (folk) dance house programmes are also very popular.

01. Toncikino Kolo
02. Vrapcevo Kolo
03. Veliko Backo Kolo
04. Malo Kolo
05. Makedonsko Oro
06. Krnjevacko Kolo
07. Cacak
08. Cucuk
09. Sirok Dunav
10. Skripi Deram
11. Oj Stari Starce
12. Jeftanovicevo Kolo
13. Kukunjesce
14. Stari Rokoko
15. Banatsko Kolo
16. Ratevka

Szlobodan WERTETICS - tenor tambura, accordeon, voice
György BOKROS - litarka, double bass, voice
Áron EREDICS - tambura, tenor tambura, drum, voice
Dávid EREDICS - tambura, clarinet, bagpipe, flute, voice
Attila BÚZÁS - tambura, alt tambura, drum, voice

Guest:
Jovan BELOS - voice

Link

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Herczku Ágnes & Nikola Parov: Megéred még...

2010-03-28T00:40:00.000+01:00

The names of Nikola Parov and Ágnes Herczku should not be introduced as their common work started 10 years ago and the several edited CDs prove that their work hasn’t lost interest and lead to new ways. Three years ago their solo CD entitled ‘I’ve got a lover’ showed that the folk songs are capable to revive in new conditions. Nikola Parov has selected the music in this CD from his existing and ever improving repertoire. It was recorded when the songs were fully developed and proved timeless based on the audience’s feedback. Thus, the Hungarian version of a composition of Richard Thompson is also on the CD, in addition to folk songs from the Balkan, Greece and Hungary.
An interesting feature is the song ‘To the woman’. As a difference from the other songs, the singer is the composer himself: Nikola Parov. The composition has been in the drawer for 2-3 years waiting for a male singer. Finally it was the song that has made the decision: it showed that it’s the composer who can sing it more honestly.

01. KataKata
02. Virágok vetélkedése
03. Szívet szívért
04. Télben szamár, nyárban ló
05. Történet a Múzeum utcában
06. A nőnek
07. Utolsó tánc
08. Fodo
09. Megéred még
10. Troitza bratya
11. Ya stani
12. Rabszolgád lettem
13. Rustyuluj

Ágnes HERCZKU - vocal
Nikola PAROV - guitars, kaval, mandolin, buzuki, gayda, violin, vocal, flutes

Featuring:
Sándor FÖDŐ - piano, percussion
Szlobodan WERTETICS - accordion
Dániel SZABÓ - cimbalom
Andreas LEHOUDIS (Sirtos Band) - vocal

Link

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Big thanks Frankie for the CD!

Brown Bird: The Devil Dancing

2010-03-27T01:34:00.000+01:00

Brown Bird is an original 3 piece band which draws influence from Alt.Country, Blues and Eastern European musics. Brown Bird began over five years ago as the brain child of songwriter David Lamb and has developed into a miniature orchestra of harmonized voices and instruments carrying Lamb’s haunting lyrics on surging waves of Appalachian, gypsy, and shanty music. The group hails from Rhode Island and pulls from the talents of each member to create a diverse folk music that swells into high-spirited, foot-stomping madness.

Brown Bird’s history starts when David Lamb returned to New England after a stint of unemployment in Seattle, bringing with him the first seedlings of a catalog of dark introspective songs. He settled in Portland Maine and Brown Bird crystallized with the addition of Lamb’s close friends Jeremy (voice, accordion, banjo) and Jerusha Robinson (voice, cello). Together they formed the stormy, ‘dark-americana’ sound that would identify the band for much of its earlier years.

As a trio, Brown Bird self released two albums: ‘Tautology’ (2006), and ‘Such Unrest’ (2007). Their third record “The Bottom of the Sea” found its home on the Portland Maine based label Peapod Records. Following its release in 2008, Lamb embarked on an extensive solo tour throughout the U.S. in support of the album.

While touring, Lamb met Morganeve Swain and Mike Samos two Rhode Islanders who would join him for several shows on the road and later become full members of Brown Bird.

01. Danger and Dread
02. Down to the River
03. Muck and Mire
04. Lake Bed
05. Needy Generator
06. Wrong Black Mare
07. Bottom of the Bottle
08. By The Reins
09. Gallows
10. Sickle and Hood
11. Severed Soul
12. Devil Dancing
13. Mabel Grey

David Lamb: guitar, banjo, percussion, vocals
Morganeve Swain: fiddle, viola, cello, ukulele, vocals
Mike Samos: dobro, lap steel, mountain dulcimer
Jerusha Robinson - vocals, cello, pick axe
Jeremy Robinson - vocals, banjo, accordion

Special Guest:
Micah Blue Smaldone: upright bass

Link

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Melina Kana, Papakonstantinou & Ashkhabad: Lafyra

2010-03-26T00:36:00.003+01:00

Melina Kana started singing professionaly since she was a college student. She started her career at "Plateau" club of Thessaloniki, cooperating and performing for four years there. She has cooperated with many famous Greek singers, such as Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Nikos Papazoglou, Haris Alexiou and Eleni Tsaligopoulou. She has a wide range of song styles, from Rembetika, to Jazz, to Traditional sounding, to Entehno- a very well known serious form of Greek singing that combines poetic lyrics and focuses on melody. The most critically-acclaimed album of her career, is her 1998 "Loot" release (or "Lafyra" as it is called in Greek), in a cooperation with Ashkhabad from Turkmenistan, and Thanasi Papakonstantinou.
On the album Lafyra (Loot) released in 1998, Melina Kana uses a mixture of musicians from Turkmenistan and Greece. The instrumentation on the album features violin, accordion, clarinet, tar (plucked, long-necked lute found in Persian music), and percussion played in Turkmeni style. This is fused with bouzouki, nay, gaida (bagpipes), kanonaki (plucked, trapezoid zither), and a range of percussion from bendir to toumbeleki (goblet drum). Acoustic and electric guitars, cello, double bass, and kit drums are also used. The rhythms range from zeybekiko to tsifte-teli (loosely, the "belly dance") and jazz swing. In the liner notes to the album it is said that in his own right, recording several albums that have been critically acclaimed if not commercially succesfull.

Loot is the coming together of three distinct expressive forces. Melina Kana, the most arresting voice to come out of Greece lately, Thanasis Papaconstantinou, the composer who thinks that the city of Ashkhabad is as close as a nearby village, and Ashkhabad, the finest soloists of Turkmenistan, who can turn a mere gathering into a banquet.

01. Giorti (Organiko)
02. Aeriko
03. Vale Krasi
04. Stylitis
05. Opoios Agapise Den Xerei Na To Pet
06. I Lathos Moirasia
07. Armatolo (Organiko)
08. Milo Gia Sena
09. Ta Lafyra Tis Nyhtas
10. Alexantra
11. Apopse
12. Apohairetismos (Organiko)

Link

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Lo'Jo: Cosmophono

2010-03-25T00:02:00.000+01:00

French world-music band Lo’Jo’s seventh studio album is a sea voyage across time and space. Cosmophono opens with a brief invocation from singer Nadia Nid el Mourid, then a loping drumbeat and simplest of phrases on piano hoist the rhythmic mast of “Petit Courage”, so that lead singer and keyboardist Denis Péan can sail from the bordellos of Marseille to tropical bars.

Lo’Jo fuses language and sound into a savvy synthesis of cultural influences from Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Caribbean. Péan’s throaty voice recalls the rougher French chansonniers of the ’50s and ’60s. His lyrics, however, suggest the earlier influence of the legendary poet Arthur Rimbaud. Péan weaves rich, at times surrealistic images and the band creates soundscapes full of colour, emotion, light and shadows. The songs, all credited to Péan and Lo’Jo, draw on cabaret, circus, rock, and folk traditions. Listening to Lo’Jo is like being in Rimbaud’s drunken boat, riding the ocean swell after one more slug of absinthe.
Tony Montague

01. Petit courage
02. Je prends la nuit
03. Sur des carnets nus
04. Pays natal
05. Café de la Marine
06. Dresseur de hasards
07. Slam
08. Sur l'Océan
09. La nuit de temps
10. Yalaki
11. Rue de la Solitude
12. La liberté

Denis Péan: vocals, Indian harmonium, piano, sampler, little bells, basin, baskets.
Richard Bourreau: violin, imzad, kora, kamel n’goni.
Nadia Nid El Mourid: vocals, bamboo, bells.
Yamina Nid El Mourid: vocals, kamel n’goni, soprano saxophone, bells, triangle.
Kham Meslien: bass guitar, double bass, sanza.
Franck Vailllant: hand drums and cymbals.

Link

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Willard Grant Conspiracy: The Green Green Grass Of Slovenia

2010-03-24T00:58:00.000+01:00

Willard Grant Conspiracy is a Boston ensemble led by vocalist Robert Fisher and guitarist Paul Austin. With a revolving line-up, they play elegant, evocative and melancholy country music that is a hybrid of Lambchop and Walkabouts. Fisher populates that sonic plateau with bleak, haunting stories of heartache and loss. Even the frequently religious tones seem more concerned with the absence of god than with his glory.

During the fall of 1999 the Willard Grant Conspiracy toured through 15 european countries as support for the Walkabouts. The tour ended in Slovenia and one of the last shows was recorded by Radio Slovenia.

The quartett begins the show with their vocals - acoustic guitar - electric guitar - violin line-up and celebrates four moody songs (Another Lonely Night, Evening Mass, Catnap In The Boom Boom Room and Morning Is The End Of The Day) before they are joined by Walkabouts drummer Terri Moeller for the "Ballad Of John Parker". More Walkabouts are added to the line-up and "How To Get To Heaven" gets a more than impressive full electric treatment. This is followed by the dark and quiet "The Work Song" (with extra backing vocals) and the grand finale almost 8 minutes of "The Visitor". The song culminates in a Velvet Underground-style freak out before singer Robert Fisher brings it home with his dark and brooding voice.
Just marvellous!

1. Another Lonely Night
2. Evening Mass
3. Catnap In The Boom Boom Room
4. Morning Is The End Of The Day
5. Ballad Of John Parker
6. How To Get To Heaven
7. The Work Song
8. The Visitor

Drums, Vocals - Terri Moeller
Guitar - James Apt
Guitar, Mandolin - Paul Austin (2.)
Keyboards - Chris Eckman , Glenn Slater
Tambourine, Vocals - Carla Torgerson
Violin - Peter van de Bos
Vocals - Robert Fisher (2.)

Link

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Bolot & Nohon: Üch Sümer

2010-03-23T02:04:00.000+01:00

Bolot and Nohon are remarkable singers from the Altai Autonomous Republic, Russia.
For many years, this area was under the control of the Soviet Union, but with the breakup of the USSR, it became an independent republic within the Russian Federation. Altai's near neighbors include Kazakhstan, Mongolia and Tuva, the latter probably being most famous among world music aficionados for its throat-singing.

Uch Sumer is an album of songs from Altai, and throat-singing is front and center here. The liner notes define no fewer than four different styles of throat-singing, from the deep growl of karkiraa to the high whistling tone of sikit. When not throat-singing, the vocalists sing in a declamatory style.

The singers are Bolot Bayrishev and Nohon Shumarov, who accompany themselves on a variety of traditional instruments. These instruments include two lute-like instruments, a mouth-harp and a variety of wind instruments, some intended to lure wild deer.

Uch Sumer maybe is a lot of Altai music for the casual listener; it lasts over an hour and some individual tracks are almost 10 minutes long. For someone interested in the music of central Asia, however, this is a feast. The variety of sounds the singers produce is staggering, and what is perhaps more impressive is that a vocal technique that seems like a novelty to many westerners can produce such listenable songs.
The whole album is beautiful. Highly recommended.

01. Oh, Kosyjm
02. Blessing to Altai
03. Beard
05. Alatay
06. Altin Kel
07. Ak-Burkhan
08. When Will Baatyrs Rise
09. World Axis
10. Snake's Lullaby
11. Bear's Lullaby
12. Call of the Forefathers
13. Morning in the Mountains
14. Dance of Cranes
15. Kadyn
16. Parting
17. Chu Chu Chu
18. Blessing to the Peak of the Üch-Sumer (Ak-Sümer)

Link

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The Dreadnoughts: Legends Never Die

2010-03-20T20:37:00.001+01:00

The Dreadnoughts are Vancouver's biggest, baddest, drunkest, punkest celtic band. One part roaring sea shanty, one part haunting Irish melody, and a solid chaser of gut-crunching street punk.
The Dreadnoughts: One part roaring sea shanty, one part haunting Irish melody, and a solid chaser of gut-crunching street punk. This ragtag group of drunken misfits stays true to the ancient ballads and bawlers that once drove sailors around the world, all the while smashing out modern punk with a fury and intensity that is unmatched in their home city of Vancouver, BC.

Formed in 2006 over pints of cheap beer at East Vancouver’s notoriously violent Ivanhoe Hotel, the Dreadnoughts cut their teeth in the roughest dive bars in the city. They started by opening for (and earning the praise of) celtic-punk grandfathers The Real MacKenzies, and since then have never looked back. Hauling a fiddle, an accordion, a mandolin, a tin whistle, guitars and drums into every venue that would have them, they quickly became known for their powerful, chaotic live performances. In three short years they have slowly but surely joined the ranks of Vancouver’s punk rock heroes.

The Dreadnoughts are nothing new to all of us in the Celtic Rock… but to many this band has remained underground until we started getting in requests for their music lately here from around the world. “Legends Never Die” is The Dreadnoughts first release, but this is not a CD made by amateurs… these musicians are by far more talented than some of their peers and other media give them credit for. To grasp the sound of this diverse group could be summed up as a mixture of Great Big Sea, Circle J, Finn’s Fury, Blaggards, and even some Flogging Molly mixed in between. “Legends Never Die” could have been in our Top CDs of the year for 2007… if only just they would have got it to us by then. Pick this one up today if you are looking for a little Sea Shanty, Celtic Trad Jigs, Celtic ROCK, and a little punk added to the mix. This is the next Celtic Rock band to watch for years to come! Tracks of interest: “Fire Marshall Willy”, “Mary the One Eyed Prostitute….”, “Sons of Murphy”, and “Roll the Woodpile Down”.
John B. www.paddyrock.com

01. Old Maui
02. Katie, Bar The Door
03. Fire Marshall Willy
04. Antarctica
05. Leonard Cohen
06. Mary The One-Eyed Prostitute
07. A Rambler's Life
08. Sons of Murphy
09. Elizabeth
10. Roll The Woodpile Down
11. The Dreadnought

The Dread Pirate Druzil: Mandolin, Tin Whistle, Banjo, Skin Flute
Seamus O'Flanahan: Fiddle, Accordion
Uncle Touchy: Guitar, Shouting, Vomiting
Stupid Swedish Bastard: Drums, Flatulence
Squid Vicious: Bass, Intimidation
Cockface: God, Merch, Sex

Link

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Kitka: Voices On The Eastern Wind

2010-03-19T22:41:00.001+01:00

The songs on Voices on The Eastern Wind were gathered from a wide variety of sources including ethnographic recordings collected by KITKA members while doing field research in Eastern Europe, transcriptions of recordings made by Eastern European folk artists and ensembles, modern Balkan composers' interpretations of folk melodies and original compositions and arrangements by Director Bon Brown.

These "Angels of the Steppes" bring to life rich and beautiful songs of Bulgaria, Macedonia, Russia, and the Ukraine. The women of Kitka (Keet-kuh) are based in the San Francisco Bay Area, yet come from varied ethnic backgrounds. The spirit and beauty with which they sing transports you to the villages of older cultures and traditions with a feeling of the immediacy and drama of life uncomplicated by faxes and cellular phones. They sing of rivers and enchanted forests; of rushing to meet your sweetheart at the village working-bee; of helping a woman decide between the marriage proposals of a swineherd and an ox-cart driver. The ten singers use vocals almost exclusively; a gaida (Bulgarian bagpipe) is used on one cut; cello and cymbalom on another, and a third track has the accent of dumbek. Excellent in arrangement and harmony, Voices on the Eastern Wind will delight fans of all vocal traditions.
Backroads Music/Heartbeats

Rapturous and subtle--the layered singing varies from earthly harmonies to pristine heavenly sonorities."
Dirty Linen Magazine

Sends listeners into a trance with free-form fantasias of lush, sinuous, and dissonant contrapuntal lines."
Sing Out! Magazine

01. The Eastern Wind
02. Tikho Nad Richkoyu (Ukraine)
03. Duynel Idi Ut Oftcetya (Bulgaria)
04. Moma Bega Prez Livade (Bulgaria)
05. Bratets Kosi (Croatia)
06. Haydutin Stuyan (Bulgaria)
07. Predite Prelye (Croatia)
08. Dimyaninka (Bulgaria)
09. Son Mi Doyde (Bulgaria)
10. V Serykh Sumerkakh (Russia)
11. Zaspala Li Si Yagodo (Bulgaria)
12. Na Pat Yodam (Bulgaria)
13. Pustono Ludo I Mlado (Bulgaria)
14. Ya Ti Postilam (Bulgaria)
15. Ay Mori Milke (Macedonia)
16. Yofcharche Mlado (Bulgaria)
17. Vetar Vee (USA)

Kitka:
Bon Brown, Shira-Devra Cion, Catherine Rose Crowther, Anastacia Metcalf-Cuzzillo, Deborah Dietrich, Julie Graffagna, Janet Kutalas, Ann Moorhead, Michele Simon, Sonia Wyman (vocals)

Link

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Kalyi Jag: Karingszo me phirav (Where I Come and Go)

2010-03-17T17:05:00.001+01:00

Kalyi Jag, Black Fire in English, play authentic Gypsy music and have been doing so for almost 20 years. They are recognised as one of the foremost Gypsy folk ensembles in Eastern Europe today. The instruments they use are guitar, jug, board and oral improvisations.
Traditional Gypsy music sung in Gypsy and Hungarian language.
Originally released in 1994.

01. Where I Come and Go - Slow song from Szatmár County
02. The Slim Woman is Clever - Rolled song from North-Eastern Hungary
03. Who Love Each Other - Rolled song
04. I am Told to Be - Slow song
05. Once I Saw a Beautiful Woman - Rolled song
06. Beds Made by Whole World - Oral bass improvisations with accompanying words
07. The Jilted Husband - Ballad
08. Ketri, Ketri - Dance song in Balcan Gypsy style
09. Luma Maj - Ballad in Russian Gypsy style
10. Flowery Ditch - Slow song from Lovár
11. The Heart - Whole Love - Dance song
12. Rolled Song of "Filtus" - Rolled song from Baks
13. Luck For You - Rolled song from North-Eastern Hungary
14. My Moustache Stands Out - Stick dance tune
15. The Merriness - Rolled song
16. The lads of Szatmár County - Selection of Gypsy dance tunes from Szatmár County

VARGA Gusztáv - whistle, voice, guitar, spoons, oral bass, water can
KÜNSTLER Ágnes - voice, snapping with fingers
BALOGH József - voice, guitar, tambura-mandolin
NAGY József - oral bass, water can, spoons

Link

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Legedi László István, Bálint Erzsébet: Moldvai csángómagyar népzene Klézséből (Hungarian Folk Music from Moldva)

2010-03-16T15:54:00.005+01:00

"...The continuous interaction of the peoples living in the region created a melodic world of exceptional ríchness, in whose musical forms, ranging from simple archaic tunes to classical ones, the constant renewal of human life is being cast in sound..."
Béla Bartók (On Eastern European Folk Music, 1942)

The musical pieces on this CD are all traditional Csángó (a Hungarian minority in Romania) tunes from Moldva. The dance tunes are played by István László Legedi (50 years old, carpenter) on the Furulya (wooden whistle with six holes), the Kaval (long wooden whistle with five holes) and the Tilinkó (wooden whistle without holes). The songs are sung by Erzsébet Bálint (56 years old, housewife). Both are peasant musicians, that is they have learned the traditional melodies and lyrics, which were passed down from generation to generation, from their parents.

Most of the tunes are dances, accompanied with the Koboz (special kind flute with four or five pairs of strings, today to be found in this area only), Jew's harp and a drum, but lyrical instrumental and vocal tunes can also be heard. This recording is part of a series of musical editions (cassettes and sheet music) on Hungarian folk music from Moldva.

The Zurgó Band was founded by young musicians from Budapest. They would like to preserve and pass on this ancient music in an urban context. The tunes played by the band were added to show the contrast between the authentic and the urban interpretation.
Editor

LEGEDI László István – furulya (1-3, 9, 11, 15-19, 20, 26, 29, 30), kaval (7, 8, 12-14, 21, 22, 28), tilinkó (24, 25)
BÁLINT Erzsébet – ének / voice (2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 18, 30)

Kísér / Accompanied by:
BENKE Grátzy: dob / drum 1, 2, 7, 9, 11, 14, 15, 18, 19, 26, 28-30
BOLYA Mátyás: koboz 1-3, 7-11, 14, 15, 18, 19,, 26, 28-30
BALOGH Sándor: doromb / Jew’harp 8, 21, 25

Közreműködik / With the Participation of ZURGÓ Band
DRASKÓCZY Lídia – hegedű / fiddle 4, 23, 27
NAGY Bercel – furulya 4, 27; kaval 23
JAKABFFY Balázs – dob / drum 4, 23, 27
RÓKA Szabolcs – koboz 4, 23, 27 (Guest Artist from Tatros Band)
UNGER Balázs – cimbalom / dulcimer 4, 23 (Guest Artist from Galga Band)

Link

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Raznotravie: Katorga (Hard Labour)

2010-03-14T21:28:00.000+01:00

Ethno-folk from Rybinsk, from around the Volga river.
"Folk-project "Raznotravie and Mitya Kuznetsov" from Rybinsk of Yaroslavl region, Russia. It is one of a few musical projects, which brightly represent Russia in the direction of world music. As the basis of creation "Raznotravie and Mitya Kuznetsov" is assumed ancient Slavic poetics, melodics and musical traditions of the different countries of the world. The poetic and musical style speaks about the uniqueness of the project, which is characteristic precisely for the Rybinsk Volga river Region and Poshekhonia , whence by birth almost all musicians of group. Poshekhonia is a big part of land to the north from central region of Russia with the wild woods, fields of various herbs and lost villiages. Many russian people still shure that Poshekhonia is unexisted and mistical place. The name "Raznotravie" takes it roots in the ambiance of nature of this land which stores the memories about ancient time in every wood, in every herb. That is why the name could be translated as "Manifold Herbs". But in russian it brings very bright, wild, and ancient image in one word. The history of the project:
The group "Raznotravie" was founded in 1997. In summer of 1997 group recorded the first concert program "Seven". In January 2000 "Raznotravie" invited multiinstrumentalist and performer of folk music Mitya Kuznetsov (known by group "Sedmaya Voda") to be producer and arranger of the new studio album. Close collaboration made it possible to find conceptually new sounding for the group "Raznotravie" and record album "Katorga". After recording the album Mitya Kuznetsov offered to combine songs of "Raznotravie" and his own solo programm. The result of joint operation is the adapted to stage show-project, which combined in itself the original creation "Raznotravie" and ancient russian folk songs performed by Mitya Kuznetsov and presented in his solo album "Pigeon book".

01. Hard Labour
02. Sinful soul
03. Yarilo
04. The curve path
05. Grave cross
06. Lullaby
07. I do not care
08. Her name
09. About the thief
10. The Bride

Mitya Kuznetsov – back vocals and instruments
Mikhail Posadsky - voice
Vyacheslav Kamenkov - guitar
Valery Ershov - bass guitar
Pavel Davydovich - drums
Anna Kuznetsova - hurdy-gurdy

Link

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Mycale: Book of Angels, Vol. 13

2010-03-11T20:16:00.000+01:00

Get ready for a whole new approach to Masada music! Expressive and passionate, Basya Schecter, Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, Malika Zarra and Sofia Rei Koutsovitis are four of the most creative vocalists around. Each the leader of a dynamic band of their own, they come together here in an intimate a cappella setting to interpret eleven songs from Zorn's remarkable Book of Angels. With lyrics in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, French and Arabic drawn from Rumi, Fernando Pessoa, The Hebrew Bible and more, the Masada vocal project is perhaps the most hauntingly beautiful installments in the entire Angels series. Dynamic and evocative New Jewish Music from four powerful women vocalists!

1.Uzziel
2.Ahaha
3.El El
4.Tehom
5.Moloch
6.Balam
7.Melech
8.Tarshish
9.Asaph

Ayelet Rose Gottlieb: Voice
Sofia Rei Koutsovitis: Voice
Basya Schecter: Voice
Malika Zarra: Voice

Link

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Tri Yann: Portraits

2010-03-10T13:21:00.003+01:00

In December 1970, on the Feast of Saint Jean, three young men of that first name performed together at a folk festival in Brittany, a province in Western-most France. The audience was dazzled by their energetic treatment of Breton and other Celtic styles and knack for close-harmony singing. Jean Chocun, Jean-Louis Jossic and Jean-Paul Corbineau were dubbed Tri Yann An Naoned ("Three Jeans From Nantes" in Breton) and quickly became regional favorites. As time went on, Tri Yann morphed from an all-acoustic trio into an eight-piece ensemble capable of integrating unplugged traditions, medieval balladry and rollicking folk-rock into a empowering statement of Breton pride.

The band's homeland, Brittany (Bretagne in French, Breizh in Breton), is one of the original six Celtic nations. Boasting a magnificent coastline and a long and colorful maritime history, Brittany has been host to a significant Celtic presence as far back as the 5th century. The natives have been actively seeking to secede from France since 1532, when their last autonomously ruling duchess married a French king. But modern Bretons, despite centuries of repression, have successfully reclaimed their native tongue and brought ancient folkways more-or-less intact into the present. The worldwide '70s folk revival that galvanized musicians in England, the U.S.A. and Ireland also made major landfall here, sending droves of young song collectors fanning out into the countryside, searching for living repositories of their heritage. Thanks to harpist Alan Stivell and politically galvanized poet-singer Giles Servat, along with Tri Yann and other pioneering bands, fest-noz (night festival) dances, which are descended from harvest celebrations, have once again become commonplace while several record labels have assembled extensive catalogues of local music. A profound sense of shared identity has been aroused and the Breton people are a force to be reckoned with.

Why Tri Yann has such a low profile outside of Brittany and the rest of France, where the group has long since garnered a devoted following, remains a mystery. The band's sound, which fuses Breton bagpipes and bombardes (a member of the oboe/shawm family) and medieval instruments onto a framework of powerhouse rock, is remarkably accessible. Plus, the group's spectacularly staged-and-costumed concerts routinely fill entire stadiums while its gold-and platinum-selling albums provide a timeline for the development of Breton music over more than three decades. Suite Gallaise (1974), which explores songs from the three bandleaders' native Pays Gallo where French is commonly spoken, is a lively example of the group's early acoustic sound, although some tracks are already leaning toward folk-rock. An Heol a Zo Glaz (The Sun Is Green, 1981) is a flawless concept work, ranging from a militantly pacifist ecological cantata sung entirely in Breton to "Si Mort a Mors," an Irish-inspired ballad about the last Duchess of Brittany that is one of the band's signature pieces. Cafe du Bon Coin (1983) draws heavily on Irish material while Portraits (1995) constitutes a musical gallery of personalities the band is intrigued by, from ancient times to the present.

01. Marie-Camille Lehuédé
02. Madeleine Bernard
03. Gerry Adams
04. Arthur Plantagenest
05. Goulven Salaün
06. Olivier Herry
07. Brian Boru
08. Alodda
09. Anne de Bretagne
10. Guillaume Seznec - le voyage
11. Guillaume Seznec - le proccs
12. Guillaume Seznec - l'adieu
13. Guillaume Seznec - le bagne
14. Guillaume Seznec - la délivrance
15. Seznec est innocent !

Jean Chocun (lead vocal)
Jean-Paul Corbineau (lead vocal)
Jean-Louis Jossic (lead vocal, bombarde, chalémie, psaltérion, cromor)
Gérard Goron (vocaux, batterie, percussions, mandoloncelle)
Louis-Marie Séveno (vocaux, basse, violon, rebec, dulcimer électrique,)
Jean-Luc Chevalier (guitares acoustique et électrique)
Christophe Le Helley (vocaux, veuze, flutes médiévales, flute a bec, tin)

Link

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Sergey Starostin's Vocal Family: Journey

2010-03-04T15:11:00.000+01:00

This wasn't really intended to become an album - that it has is the result of fortunate circumstances and the musicians' desire to let a wider audience enjoy the magic result of the spontaneous coming together of unaccompanied vocal music from Russia and Bulgaria.
The background: the Bulgarian Voices Angelite choir went on a long concert tour with Sergey Starostin and Mikhail Alperin of the Moscow Art Trio. Spending plenty of time in each other's company, they - inevitably perhaps - started to experiment with singing together, each contributing material from their own traditional background. They were so pleased with the intensity and beauty of the result that they felt it should be heard outside of hotel and dressing rooms. At the Edinburgh Festival in 1999, the opportunity arose to make a recording in Grey Friar's church. And here it is.
The album presents pure unadulterated vocal music, beautiful and deeply relaxing, almost meditative. Perhaps to increase this effect on the listener, it includes about 9 minutes of trailing silence - to stop you rushing back to your stressful lives after diving into this sea of calm.
A journey well worth taking. The only minor criticism is that it is so short. It will leave you wishing for more.
Anja Beinroth

01. At Night
02. Travelling Tatars
03. Sun Prayer
04. Sergey's Ballad
05. I Was Fooling the Turkish
06. Not the Last One

Sergey Starostin (Vocals)
Nadia Vladimirova (Vocals)
Sonia Iovkova (Vocals)
Tatiana Douparinova (Vocals)
Youlia Koleva (Vocals)

Link

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The Tossers: Agony

2010-02-27T22:14:00.000+01:00

Coming from the predominantly Irish neighborhoods of South-Side Chicago, the Tossers have been expanding the boundaries of contemporary Irish music since the early '90s. The band chose their name for its derogatory meaning of ?throw away. The term dates back to Shakespeare and depending on who you ask it also means commode, drunk or the bunk British currency the Irish rejected after their independence in the 1920s.

Although their name may be irreverent, their music certainly is not. The heart of their distinct sound is derived through the melding of traditional Irish and Punk Rock roots. Combining traditional instrumentation of mandolin, fiddle, tin whistle and banjo with amphetamine fueled guitar, bass and drums, the Tossers play with a furious edge that teeters between rage and raucousness.

With over 15 years of the music grind behind them, the Tossers are a staple in the Celtic Punk and Folk scenes. Currently the band has five full length albums, the newest of which is "Agony" their second release on Victory Records.

While their live shows are fueled with a little bit of blood and sweat and a whole lot of whiskey and beer, their albums are dedicated to musical elegance and provocation. Possessing the ability to masterfully employ stark tempo changes from the brink of the insane to the solemness of an Irish ballad, the Tossers are an act that does not disappoint in print or in person.

Never afraid to take on new challenges at any venue for any audience the Tossers have had an eclectic past playing with acts such as the legendary Pogues, Spider Stacy (solo), the Popes, the Dropkick Murphy's, Stiff Little Fingers, Black 47 and Flogging Molly. In addition to this Irish menagerie they've also toured with hardcore favorites like Clutch and Murphy's Law; rockabilly icons Reverend Horton Heat and the Horror Pops; SKA classics like the Pie Tasters, Reel Big Fish and Catch 22; and moody rock n' rollers Murder By Death. The list goes on, as does the band.

"The Tossers are slowly getting their props as an American treasure. Too often lumped into the Celtic-rock scene as just another Pogues or Flogging Molly ripoff, actually they have been around for over 12 years, and are only now getting the press they deserve. Singer/Mandolin player Tony Dugginss songwriting has improved with each record (and on his intense solo release last year) and the songs here are some of the best in their canon. Perhaps because a lot of these tunes were played live for months before recording, the band is tight and raw, each member contributing to the tunes with subtle touches that could only have come from having lived with the songs for awhile. Ballads of love lost and shame encountered; stomping punk jigs that celebrate fall-down drunkenness as an act of glory; from the South Side of Chicago, The Tossers reach to the gutters and churches of Dublin and back again with another classic. Love them now, then have some whiskey and love them forever."
Mike Wood

01. Never Enough
02. Pub and Culture
03. Shade
04. Did it All For You
05. The Sheep in the Boots
06. Not Forgotten
07. Siobhan
08. Traps and Ultimatums
09. Leopardstown Races
10. Claddagh
11. Where Ya Been Johhny?
12. Not Alone
13. Political Scum
14. Romany
15. Movin' On
16. The Nut House
17. Be

Mike Pawula: Guitar
T. Duggins: Voice/Mandolin
Aaron Duggins: Tin Whistle
Danny Shaw: Bass/Backing Vocals
Bones: Drums
Rebecca: Violin
Clay: Banjo

Link

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Dresch Quartet: Ritka madár (Rare Bird)

2010-02-26T18:01:00.000+01:00

Mihály DRESCH is a Hungarian saxophone player who mixes the American free-jazz tradition with elements of traditional Hungarian folk music.
The album of the acknowledged jazz saxophonist and composer, influenced by Hungarian folk music and Indian music.

1. Ködöllik a Mátra
2. Ritka madár
3. Naív
4. Le az utcán
5. Prana

Mihály DRESCH - tenor and soprano sax, bass clarinet, flute, vocals
Miklós LUKÁCS - cimbalom
Mátyás SZANDAI - double bass
István BALÓ - drums

Featuring:
Sándor CSÓRI "Sündi" - viola
Félix LAJKÓ - violin
Antal BRASNYÓ - viola
Péter SZALAI - tabla

Link

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ErsatzMusika: Songs Unrecantable

2010-02-25T23:28:00.001+01:00

"Germany and Russia haven't had a history of amicable relationships through the years. The twentieth century was a particularly bad time, as each took turns in occupying the other for extended periods. However, this hasn't stopped Russian musicians being welcomed when they've gone searching for greener pastures in the West as they look to make a living from their craft. Which explains how the Russian group Ersatzmusika comes to be based out of Berlin Germany and is about to release their second CD, Songs Unrecatable, on the German label Asphalt-Tango.

If you download one of the first things you'll notice is the lyrics are in English, and that's not because they've been translated, it's because almost all the songs on Songs Unrecantable are sung in that language. Although to be honest lead singer Doubrovskaja's accent is so thick that if you're only listening casually chances are you're going to assume she's singing in Russian. To be fair, it's not just her accent, the music the band plays is so different from what most of us are used to hearing when it comes to Eastern European folk, the combination of the two makes for a sound so alien to our ears you can be easily forgiven for not noticing she is singing in English.

Before anyone starts jumping to any conclusions about brooding Russians or anything equally stupid, by mood I'm referring to the fact that Doubrovskaja sounds likes a Russian accented Marlene Dietrich. Yet while both she and Dietrich evoke smoke filled cabarets with dim lights, musically, lyrically the two women are miles apart. For while the former's stock in trade was sultry love songs, the latter's lyrics drip irony onto music that tastes of a little bit of everything from Balkan beat box to traditional folk sounds. There's actually something eerily familiar about Ersatzmusika's overall sound that escaped me for the longest time, until it struck me how much they reminded me of The Doors in their slower and more pensive moments.

While they might share certain characteristics with other performers and have drawn upon various styles, it's doubtful you've ever heard anything quite like Ersatzmuzika before.

Where one has come to expect a lively sound inspired by polka's, the heady influence of gypsy violins, or other rural traditions, you find moody, atmospheric sounds which are a far more accurate reflection of life today. The lyrics in turn are a match for this sound as they offer commentary on humanity's checkered history and uncertain future.
The opening lines of "Gypsy Air", the first track on the CD, give you a good idea of the band's appraisal of our past: "Woe filled times we must abide / woe betide him who knows not this...Let us compile a list/Of the wrongs that man commits / Never shying ignominy / Clipped the wings, ducked the tail/Little boy, Nagasaki."

However it's not only the past they are concerned with as they capture the true price of the greed and materialism that plagues today a little later in the same song with the following lines, "That tenderness' needs must contrast / With tender, its negation."
I don't think I've heard a condemnation of a system that puts selling above caring phrased so succinctly and directly before. Now, lest you think they're only a one note band, they also show themselves capable of being darkly humorous. "Oh Pterodactyl", track seven, is a darkly delightful examination of our genealogy. "There has of late been much debate / Bout what is round and what is straight / And why no politician / Could have a forebear simian / But oh pterodactyl / To you we owe a / Oh pterodactyl / A debt of honour / Oh pterodactyl / Although that Noah / Oh pterodactyl / Wants to disown ya."

t's hard to describe the experience of listening to Songs Unrecantable by Ersatzmusika simply because there's not much else like them around to offer up as a comparison. Their accents mark them as Eastern European, and there are elements of their music that reflect that heritage, but not in the way we've grown accustomed to hearing them as presented by world music labels. This is an edgier, more contemporary, and urban sound which, while it doesn't discount its heritage, uses it as its springboard to something new instead of just recreating what's been done before. It's only fitting though considering their song's lyrics, which are not only predominately in English to allow for more universal comprehension, are also far more relevant to today's world than what we're used to.

Recently we've seen how young musicians from backgrounds as diverse as Balkan and Roma have begun to make their sound more contemporary while maintaining a connection to their traditional music. Ersatzmuzika is on the leading edge of the movement intent on proving anything old can be new again and in the process are creating some great music."
Richard Marcus

01. Songs on a Gypsy Air
02. Wild Grass
03. Train-slow Adagio
04. It's the Russian Beat
05. Berceuse
06. Tver (feat. Unterwasser)
07. Pterodactyl
08. HMS RIP DTs
09. Winter
10. Unredeemed
11. Letter from Baltimore (feat. Unterwasser)
12. Antediluvian
13. Incantation vs. Causation

Leonid Soybelman - guitar
Ruslan Kalugin - guitar
Phil Freeborn - guitar
Konstantin Orlov - bass
Michail Zhukov - drums, percussion
Irina Doubrovskja - vocals, accordion, piano, keyboards
Thomas Cooper - vocals

Link

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The Renderers: Monsters and Miasmas

2010-02-25T00:44:00.000+01:00

"Once known as "the only country band" on Flying Nun (Trail of Tears in 90, their sole album for the label), this ongoing project of Brian and Maryrose Crook has progressively taken a darker and deeper path the past decade.

These 10 songs owe debts to old murder ballads, the Velvet Underground and the Doors, acoustic Neil Young, Townes Van Zandt and Marianne Faithfull.

With eerily plucked banjo (the haunting, southern gothic of A Little to the Left), a dense guitar drone and unsettling organ (A Forest of Forests), stalking bass and disturbing electronics (the soundscape of Sargasso Sea), and vocals from down a dark hall (Harvesting the Sea), this can be as creepy as it is cathartic.
They also carve out driving rock (Fu Man Chu, Deep Deep Sea, Feels Like Fun which sounds like 1976 Dylan fronting the Meat Puppets) but mostly this comes out from the shadows.

Better known in the US, where they recently toured, than they are back home, the Renderers occupy rock-noir territory similar to Nick Cave's. But when Maryrose takes the vocals there is an even more unnerving juxtaposition between her singing and the menacing lyrics and music.
Sort of Nancy 'n' Lee with the spirit of early Lou Reed as a ghostly presence.
Not for everyone, but far too good to be embraced abroad and left to languish in their homeland."

Graham Reid (elsewhere.co.nz)

01.Deep Hole
02.A Little to the Left
03.A Forest of Forests
04.Fu Manchu
05.Sargasso Sea
06 Five Good Hours
07.Deep Deep Sea
08.Feels Like Fun
09.Harvesting The Sea
10.Supernova

Bass - John Billows
Drums - Michael Daly
Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals - Brian Crook
Guitar, Vocals - Maryrose Crook

Link

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Miquéu Montanaro: Maurin des Maures

2010-02-22T19:51:00.000+01:00

Music, for a play but complete enough on its own, telling the life story of fictional Provençal character Maurin, by Provençal sax/flute player Montanaro using classical, renaissance and various traditional European influences, featuring a Slovak Chamber Orchestra and, somewhat dinner-jacketed in this context, Hungarian bands Vujicsics and Ghymes.

Miqueu Montanaro plays many instruments: alto saxophone, accordion, varoius flutes and others curiosities. The instrument speaks the language Montanaro taught it : jazz, music from east of Europe and improvised music.

01. Maurin des Maures
02. Mauresca
03. Parlo sourlet
04. Lei bofets
05. Lo fuoc
06. Bomians e Carboniers
07. Lei - Chivaus Frus -
08. Les gendarmes
09. Scotisch de l'auberge
10. La sirene et le faune
11. Romance
12. Maurin des Maures (Reprise)
13. Lo Manteu de Sant Martin
14. Dins l'auberga
15. La bravade
16. Fanfarnette
17. Mauresca
18. La chanson de Maurin
19. La mort de Maurin

Miquéu Montanaro : flutes, saxophone, galoubet-tambourin, accordion

Vujicsics Ensemble:
Eredics Gábor - accordéon, tambura, percussion,
Eredics Kálmán - contrabasse, derbouka
Brczán Miroszláv - cello tambura,
Szendrődi Ferenc - bratsch, tambura
Győri Károly : tambura solo,
Borbély Mihály - clarinette, saxo soprano

Ghymes:
Szarka Tamás - violon, koboz,
Szarka Gyula - contrebasse
Behr László - cymbalum, percussion,
Nagy Mihály - clarinette, tambour
Buják Andor - clarinette, bratsch (alto)

Link

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Big thanks Frankie for the CD!

Vándor Vokál: Feljött a hold (Moonrising)

2010-02-21T23:44:00.000+01:00

Bulgarian folk music contains a special mixture of the musical traditions of Europe and Asia. In the folk music of Bulgarian Illyrian, Greek, Byzantie, Turkish, and Thracian element can be found. The balkan is a bridge between Europe and Asia, thus it is normal that both cultures had and still have had their effects on it.

The 500 years Turkish rule over Bulgarian inspired and stimulated the folk music in the country. Music, singing and dancing were the way of expression and th artistic connection among people in those hard days. All of them had their important role in the everyday life.
Some of the songs were sung on religous feasts, social events, while others helped the monotonous work in the fields and in the spining room. There were also dance tunes, for which people could dance for even an hour. The "table song" were sung at convival evenings, engagements and christening feasts - a good singer was always a welcome guests at these events. Charasteristic music instruments are: goatskin bagpipe, kaval, tambura, duduk, gadulka (violin from the balkan), zuma (Turkish flute), tapan (double-bottomed drum) and tarambuka (side drum).

On album we would like to illustrate a part of the folk music from the Balkan featuring mostly the part-songs of South-West Bulgaria.

01. Ogrejala Meszecsinka - Feljött a Hold
02. Peter i Penka - Péter és Penka
03. Podje Jane - Elment Jane
04. Pcselice - Méhecske
05. Sznosti e Dobra - Este Dobra...
06. Taja Gora Bogdanova - Bogdán erdejében
07. Zalibi Szi Edno Libe - Szerelmes vagyok
08. Prela Baba Tri Godini - Három évig...
09. A Bre Babo - Jaj jóasszony
10. Gine Gine - Ej Gine
11. Sto e Ogrejela - Feljött a hold
12. Veter Pro - Nagy vihar
13. Georgina
14. Tragal Mi Jane - Elindul Jane
15. Szadila Moma - A lányka
16. Jermelija
17. Szokol - Sólyom
18. Raszti Bore - Nőjj fenyőfa
19. Odesi Moma Pavlina - Megy Pavlina

Bognár Szilvia - vocal
Farkas Tünde - vocal
Izsák Katalin - vocal
Szluka Judit - vocal

Búzás Attila - tambura
Németh György - kaval, bagpipe
Orczy Géza - tambura, tapan, darabuka

Link

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Ternipe: Avri phenav e lumake (I Tell to the World)

2010-02-20T21:11:00.001+01:00

The band was formed of young people living in Szabolcs-Szatmár county and Budapest in 1989. The members of Ternipe are native gipsy young people who strive to make their folk music and folk songs become widely known. It was necessary for them to establish such band in order to popularize the authentic gipsy culture and overcome prejudice with fostering their mothertongue and rich culture. Their aim was to keep traditional communal and regional values. Their ambition now is to make people recognize the existing gipsy folk tradition including songs and instrumental folk muisc. The band’s sound system is unique since the fifth and thirds brings such interpretation of music that you can only meet in Far-Eastern or Balkan culture.

Ternipe can be characterized by songs in gipsy language, among the instruments they prefer accordion, violin, double bass, viola and instrument imitating things like the so-called ’rolling’ and ’mouth bass’, as well as the usage of cans or spoons to replace instruments. At the beginning, the band gave shows in camps, youth clubs and arts centres, then they got several foreign invitation as well. Gradually, they became popular.

01. Haj de Romania
02. Dukhal muro jilo
03. Tula
04. Na gindyin muri gazsi
05. Adyes me pijav
06. Suno san tu
07. Csak te kellesz nekem
08. Numa tusa
09. O barvalo shavo
10. Sikav lasho drom
11. Kalyi shej
12. Avri phenav e lumake
13. Ma este en mulatok
14. Sostar pusaves tut

Balogh Mária - Song
Balogh Tünde - Song
Farkas István - Song, Guitar, mandolin
Sztojka László - Doublebass
Lakatos Gyula - Keyboards
Lakatos Béla – Kettle
Bihari Zsolt - Guitar, Song

Link

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VeDaKi (Vershki Da Koreshki): Samm

2010-02-07T13:26:00.001+01:00

VeDaKi (Vershki Da Koreshki) is a meeting of different cultures, rhythms, languages, energies, forces of the world (Africa, India, Russia, Tuva, Europe), and joining them together in search of natural understanding and communication, link between traditional and modern, roots and improvisation (not without humour and hope).
It was planted as an experiment; it stayed alive; it keeps giving its fruits.

"Any improvisation comes from tradition
Any tradition implies improvisation
Any living specie takes their form
Any living specie contains them both
All living species share them "

01.Xame Nge - Golubka
02.Samm - Mak
03.Mariama
04.Zalivochka - Buleen nu Tanqal
05.Djougal
06.Mlada - Faleme
07.Papa Ndiaye
08.Adunna - Kak u nas
09.Jot na - Posledny Denechek [Last Day]
10.Zaglyanet li solnce - Dundu ak Dee
11.Djibanee

Accordion, Piano [Acoustic Piano], Jew's Harp, Flute [Reed Flutes],Talking Drum - Alexei Levin
Double Bass - Vladimir Volkov
Vocals, Xalam, Instruments [M'bira, Kongoma, Calebasse], Talking Drum, Horn [Cow Horn], Flute - Mola Sylla
Vocals, Zither, Flute - Sergey Starostin

Link

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Betsuni Nanmo Klezmer: Ahiru

2010-02-03T02:00:00.001+01:00

"Well, it had to happen sooner or later. It was only a matter of time before the world would experience its first Japanese klezmer big band, and what a joy it is. Saxophonist Kazutoki Umezu, in some ways the John Zorn of Japanese avant-garde jazz (he's worked with many of the downtown New York crowd), assembled Betsuni Nanmo Klezmer, a 19-piece ensemble, and delivered Ahiru, a joyous explosion of klezmer tunes as seen from afar. "Odessa Bulgarish," a ripsnorting dance number, leads off the disc, a wonderful basis for strong solos and extremely tight arrangements. The next two pieces are both fantastic in and of themselves and display awesome chutzpah: "Tum Balalayke" and "Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn." The sheer nerve in trotting out these warhorses, replete with Yiddish and English vocals, would be enough to make one bow one's head in admiration, but Umezu pulls them off with such aplomb, good humor, and imagination that the listener just shakes his head in amazement. The compositions combine a solid conviction in the music with freewheeling imagination in such a way that a klezmer fan presented with them in a blindfold test would arguably be very hard-pressed to identify them as being of Asian origin. Ahiru is a very fine argument for the idea of klezmer music being transcendent over national and cultural boundaries. When they close with "Dos Geshrey Fun der Vilder Katshke," a ridiculously fantastic arrangement of Mickey Katz' parodied Western song "The Cry of the Wild Goose," one has -- almost -- become inured to the shock, the gall. Then one collapses into helpless, overjoyed laughter. An amazing album."
Brian Olewnick, All Music Guide

01. Odessa Bulgarish (traditional)
02. Tum Balalayke (traditional)
03. Bay Mir Bistu Sheyn
04. Kandel's Hora (traditional)
05. A Nakht in Gan Eydn
06. Dos Geshrey Fun der Vilder Katshke

Kazutoki Umezu: clarinet, bass clarinet (4), alto saxophone (3, 6)
Wataru Okuma: clarinet, bass clarinet (3, 4)
Kazuhiro Nomoto: baritone saxophone bass clarinet (4)
Kanji Nakao: soprano saxophone
Takero Sekijima: tuba, alto horn (4)
Hiroshi Itaya: trombone
Yoko Tada: alto saxophone
Ayumi Matsui: violin
Yuriko Mukojima: violin
Hidehiko Urayama: banjo
Chan Koyo: accordion
Jyoji Sawada: double bass
Yasuhiko Tachibana: double bass
Yasuo Sano: kit drums
Yasuhiro Yoshigaki: kit drums
Sachiko Nagata: marimba, percussion
Yoko Ishizaki: marimba, percussion
Koichi Makigami: vocal
Nammy Tokyo: vocal

Link

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Huun Huur-Tu & The Bulgarian Voices Angelite: Fly, Fly, My Sadness

2010-01-31T12:14:00.000+01:00

Boundary-hopping can be dangerous in world music, where the merging of two or more traditions can spell crossover nightmare. But cultural synthesis works wonders in the case of the rapturous meeting of Tuvan group Huun Huur-Tu and the Bulgarian Voices-Angelite (formerly with the French name Le Mystere de Voix Bulgares), on the album Fly, Fly My Sadness. The meeting is more logical than you might expect, both cultures having originated in the Asian Altai Mountain area and migrating to their respective homelands. On music composed or arranged by Mikhail Alperin, the two celebrated groups find a common ground, especially in terms of their vocal techniques-the Tuvan throat singing and the beguiling harmonic sense of the Bulgarians, for instance-at once non-western and similar to folk traditions in the west.

01. Fly, Fly My Sadness
02. Legend
03. Wave
04. Lonely Bird
05. Mountain Story

THE BULGARIAN VOICES ANGELITE
Tzetza Bekova, Ekaterina Bogdanova, Kera Bogdanova, Tatiana Douparinova, Tonia Iankova, Nadejda Illieva, Kostadinka Inkova, Sonia Iovkova, Nadejda Karporova, Krastina Krasteva, StaimenkaOutchikova-Nedialkova, Youlia Peneva, Nekla Petkova, Kostadinka Ratzova, Elka Simeonova, Tania Tzambova, Petia Tzvetanova, Tania Velitchkova, Nadia Vladimirova

HUUN-HUUR-TU
Kaigal-ool Khovalyg (Vocal, Igil, Toschpulur, Tschansy)
Anatoly Kuular ( Vocal, byzaanchi, khomuz, amarga)
Sayan Bapa ( Vocsl, doshpuluur, marinhuur, guitar)
Alexey Saryglar (Vocal,tungur(drum), dazhaaning khavy (rattle)

Link

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Dutar: Idegen vendég (Foreign Guest)

2010-01-28T00:33:00.001+01:00

The group's repertoire can be divided into two main groups: firstly renditions of folk songs and further interpretations of folk music (mainly "Moldvai" and "Lóvári gipsy"), and then musical interpretation of verse for vocal performance.

The word Dutar means simply two strings, and is used to describe those two-stringed instruments which, when touched by a gifted hand, can play rich and beautiful melodies. The name also suits our group quite well, symbolising as it does the harmonious convergence of two committed musicians; the joining of two separate pasts on a shared musical path. The idea first came in 2004. It is the first time Renáta has been involved in a musical project since a recording in 1996 (Új élő népzene 1.), but music has been an ever-present part of her daily life since childhood. She has worked as a textile artist and as a teacher of art and history of art. Péter also works as a teacher, and music is an integral part of his life, just as it is for Reni. Forming Dutar has brought new opportunities to both musicians. The songs had been there for years, waiting for a voice to breathe life into them. Renáta's voice does that, and yet so much more: the special qualities of her voice and delivery have played a central role in shaping the group's evolving repertoire.

At first it was just the two of them, but it was not long before further musicians came on board. Nowadays their performances can feature up to six musicians, although they also continue to perform as a duo. Whatever the line-up, musical variety is guaranteed, with interpretations of folk songs and dances featuring in addition to their own original compositions. The songs acquired their finished shape only through a process of free collaboration between the musicians.

Reni's voice blows new life into old standards. Her unique voice lends a new layer of meaning to even the oldest songs. Given that folk music is concerned with modernity, the group embraces the opportunity to experiment with the music of a variety of folk cultures. The sources are inexhaustible. They hoped to find an aspect of themselves in these songs, and to add something of themselves to the music they create - music that their audience will enjoy.

The other important influence on the group's repertoire is the wonderful poetry of several outstanding poets, which they have set to their own music. Here the lyrics and melodies search freely for excitement, and truth.

"So far in our career we have seen that people have trouble fitting Dutar into one single category. Maybe that's for the best! Our music is too 'dirty' to be folk music, too 'clean' to be world music, too Hungarian to be Roma, too Roma to be Hungarian, too light to be literary, too complex to be easy listening. For want of a better term, perhaps it is the tag of 'world music' that suits us best. It is certainly the case that our music deals with the search for beauty and honesty, both in this world and the one that follows. We look for harmony in our interpretations as well as in our original compositions."

01. Desoduj
02. Fölszállott a páva
03. Recept
04. Gelem, gelem / Kis kece lányom
05. Gyöngyvirág
06. So rodes tu, phrala
07. A holdas hold románca
08. Tilinkós szeretőm
09. Phirav mange
10. Gyógyulj meg
11. Pörgetős
12. Rumeláj
13. Idegen vendég a kánai menyegzőn
14. Ki viszi át a Szerelmet
15. Phura romnyake rojipe

Renáta CSŐKE - voice
Péter KOPECZKY - flute, kaval, tilinkó, tapsur, dombra, chromatika, guitar
György RÉVÉSZ - guitar
Miklós SIPTÁR - bass guitar, cello, tambura
Mátyás KŐSZEGI - cajon, derbuka, tapan

Link

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Gabriel & Marie Yacoub: Pierre de Grenoble

2010-01-24T16:55:00.001+01:00

This is the "acoustic Malicorne" recording of 1973, for some reason put under just the Yacoub name, but featuring all the major players from the band. Among the many 'classic; recordings made by the band, this one is probably the most sought after.

Gabriel Yacoub was one of the spearheads of the folk revival that swept through France. The founder and leader of influential French trad rock band Malicorne during the 1970s and early '80s, Yacoub has continued to explore the full spectrum of French music as a soloist. According to Vanity Fair, Yacoub's "voice is liquid and ready, his guitar work brilliant: rich contrapuntal lines and classical technique which, sounded on steel strings, gives his instrument the fullness of a harpsichord." Initially inspired by the songs of American singer/songwriters, especially Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie, Yacoub was introduced to traditional French music as backup guitarist and singer for innovative Breton harp player Alan Stivell. Taking the lessons that he learned from Stivell, he formed Malicorne in 1973 in an attempt to bring traditional music up to contemporary standards. One of the earliest world music groups, Malicorne combined Western instruments, such as guitar and electric bass, with traditional instruments, including krumhorns, bagpipes, and hurdy-gurdies. Together for a decade, Yacoub and Malicorne recorded three albums that achieved gold record status and received a prestigious gold prix de L'Academie du Disque Francais.

01. Chant De L'alouette
02. Suite Scottishe
03. Long De La Mer Jolie
04. Quand J'étais Fille Á Marier
05. Je Suis Trop Jeunette
06. Pierre De Grenoble
07. Prince D'orange
08. Bransles De Bourgogne
09. Rossignolet Du Bois
10. Andro
11. Pension
12. Fleur De Lys

Marie: vocals, acoustic guitar, dulcimer, tampura
Gabriel: vocals, acoustic guitar, bouzouki, banjo, bowed psaltery
Dan Ar Braz: electric guitar
Marc Rapillard: violin, viola, banjo
Alan Kloatr: vocals, bombarde, crumhorn, tampura
Dominique Paris: bagpipes (biniou coz, scottish highland pipes)
Gérard Lavigne: bass
Gérard Lhomme: harmonium, bohdran, percussion
Christian Gour'han: vielle a roue

Link

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Thierry Titi Robin: Payo Michto

2010-01-23T00:25:00.000+01:00

Live recording of the music of the “Gitans” show.

“The music of the world is fused into the playing of virtuoso guitarist Thierry Robin. In addition to performing as a soloist, Robin has collaborated with Rajistani percussionist Hameed Khan, Breton guitarist Eric Merchand, Indian singer/dancer Gulabi Sepera, Yiddish accordionist Eddie Schaff, and Turkish percussionist Okay Temiz. Forming an 11-piece band, Nao, with Moroccan, Kurdish, and Indian musicians in 1985, he composed music for French/North African fusion band Jonny Michto, two years later. He formed a trio with Merchand and Khan that combined Breton and northern Indian influences in 1989 and a Turkish/Kurdish/Breton fusion group that he shared with Merchand and Temiz in 1993. Robin, who launched his career in the mid-'70s by playing traditional music in western France, has remained eclectic on his own albums. He recorded the Gypsy-influenced album Gitans in 1993, with a ten-piece group that combined Indian, Arabic, Flamenco, and French folk influences. While he recorded Le Regard Nu (the Naked Look) as an improvising soloist responding to nude models in the studio, Payo Michto was recorded live during a tour of France. Kali Gadji, released in 1998, features a heavy brass sound and combines influences of Arabic, Flamenco, and the Wassoulou music of Mali.
Craig Harris, AMG

“This native of Angers is a brilliant guitar and Arabic oud player. His group is more than ever a family, a tribe.”
Télérama

01. Mehdi
02. Patchiv
03. Que Tu Amor
04. L'exil
05. Katchur Khan
06. Payo Michto
07. Cuivre
08. Variations Sur Indifférence
09. Tona Del Lobo
10. Los Tanguillos
11. La Petite Mer
12. Rumba Do Vesou No. 11

Thierry "Titi" Robin: guitar, oud, bouzouki
Gulabi Sapera: vocals
Paco el Lobo: vocals, palmas
Joseph "Mambo" Saadna: vocals, guitar, palmas
Amar "Bruno" Saadna: vocals, guitar, palmas
Francis Varis: accordion
Bernard Subert: clarinet, bagpipes
Abdelkrim Sami "Diabolo": bendir tehti, darbouka

Link

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VA: Cafe Rembetika - The Birth of The Greek Blues

2010-01-22T02:35:00.002+01:00

Rembetika was the Music of the Urban Greek Underground of the 1930's. It is Often Known as 'the Greek Blues' and Its Singers Inhabited the World of the Tekedhes Or Cafes around Piraeus, Athens and Thessaloniki. Café Rembetika features Four of the Greatest Stars of the Piraeus Scene who Later Fromed the First Rembetika Supergroup, Markos Vamvakaris, Stratos, Batis and Artemis. Also Featured Are Leading Singers from the Café Aman Tradition, Rosa Eskenazi, Rita Abatsi and Marika Papagika. Here Then, is a Collection of Some of the Greatest Songs from the Golden Age of Rembetika.

01. Anestos Delias (Artemis) - The Harem in the Turkish Baths
02. Yiorgos Batis - The Record Producers
03. Kostas Dousas - The Trawler
04. Rosa Eskenazi - In The Taverna With The Laterna
05. Stratos Payoumtzis - Warm-Hearted Dina
06. Yeoryia Mattaki - Mother, I Want A Man Who...
07. Antonis Diamantidis (Dalgas) - Criminal Mother-In-Law
08. A. Kostis - I Wasted Away
09. Marika Papagika - Dervish
10. Yiorgos Batis - Gypsy Girl
11. Anestos Delias (Artemis) - The Jacket
12. Rosa Eskenazi - That'll Teach You
13. Marika Kanaropoulou - The Widow of Kokkinia
14. A. Kostis - Toumbeleki
15. Marika Frantzeskopoulou (Politissa) - You Won't Win Me Over, Chat Me Up
16. Markos Vamvakaris - Markos The Minister
17. Rita Abatsi - Yiannis' Cup
18. Rosa Eskenazi - Don't Swear To Me, You Liar
19. Stratos Payoumtzis & Stelios Kiromitis - Baglamades
20. Ioannis Halkias (Jack Gregory) - Minore Tou Tekke

Link

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Betsuni Nanmo Klezmer: Omedeto

2010-01-16T23:13:00.002+01:00

"Klezmer bands with 18 members are not exactly common anywhere in the world, but it's safe to say this is the only one of Japanese provenance. Reed giant Kazutoki Umezu formed Betsuni Nanmo Klezmer in 1992 and the sprawling ensemble left the world with three public recordings, the 1994 debut Omedeto I shall be celebrating below, and two 1996 releases, Waruzu and Ahiru. Surely a monumental challenge to organize and sustain, the orchestra project was supplemented and eventually supplanted by Komatcha Klezmer, a small group vehicle for Umezu's klez urges that formed in 1995 and continues to be active, with releases in 2001 (Komatcha Kle) and 2003 (Gekkoishi no Shippo). With the exception of drumkitter Kozo Nida, the members of Komatcha Klezmer are BNK alumni: alto saxist Yoko Tada, violinist Ayumi Matsui, accordionist Koyo Chan, and tubist Takero Sekijima, and the two stars (in my mind) of BNK, wunderkind vocalists Tokyo Nammy and Koichi Makigami, have joined the group as occasional guests.

Omedeto is one of the strangest and most cherished items in my music collection. For starters, it's a positively ass-kicking, burning klezmer disc with inspired solos and a rare and devastating orchestral punch. Even more distinctively, the vocal performances by Makigami and Nammy are astonishing triumphs of creativity and virtuosity. More than anything, though, the group stands alone in the annals of klezmer for its alternately sublime and zany postmodernism. The musicians were clearly chosen for their freewheeling embrace of humor and playful antics as much as their instrumental chops. The lineup is something of an abridged who's who of Tokyo's bohemian prankster avant-garde. The total package unfolds as a seamless, ambitious, far-ranging album that doesn't falter for a single moment.

The playing is flawless and bursting with the invigorating spirit of the timeless rhythms and melodies. I could listen to music like this for hours on end.

For a guy who doesn't speak the language, Koichi Makigami's Yiddhish vocals on "Ale Brider" and throughout the album are unbelievably compelling. He rips through each line with utter clarity and verve, and there are few singers in the world who can rival his booming tone and precise, hovering vibrato."

Michael Anton Parker

01. Ale Brider
02. Dona Dona (Shalom Secunda)
03. Der Shtiler Bulgar (tradition)
04. Terk in Amerika (tradional)
05. Mahotsukai Sally
06. Doina
07. Der Gasn Nigun (traditional)

Kazutoki Umezu: clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, bass drum
Wataru Okuma: clarinet, bass clarinet
Kazuhiro Nomoto: baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Kanji Nakao: soprano saxophone
Takero Sekijima: tuba
Hiroshi Itaya: trombone
Yoko Tada: alto saxophone
Ayumi Matsui: violin
Yuriko Mukojima: violin
Hidehiko Urayama: banjo
Chan Koyo: piano, accordion
Jyoji Sawada: double bass
Yasuhiko Tachibana: double bass
Yasuo Sano: kit drums, snare drum
Yasuhiro Yoshigaki: kit drums, cymbals, bass drum
Sachiko Nagata: xylophone, percussion
Koichi Makigami: vocal
Nammy Tokyo: vocal

Link

pass: bluesmen-worldmusic.blogspot.com

Les Pires: Sava

2010-01-15T02:16:00.000+01:00

Eccentric French ensemble play a mutant fusion of jewish, arabian and gypsy folk music with shed-loads of energy and humour. The musicianship is amazing, especially the relentless thumping piano, played as a percussive backdrop to the fiddles, the woodwind and the brass. Joyous, danceable, atmospheric - a highly addictive mix!

01. Yé ké ké
02. Qua les cerveaux croassent
03. Sugar Breizi love
04. Sova
05. Yddish roumain
06. Thé ő lek
07. Les eaux d' Armor
08. Franch Liche
09. La kajazazeu
10. Budala
11. Ne ké short
12. Gara tagül

Accordion, Vocals - Erik-Raoul Goellaén
Percussion - Dominque Molard
Piano, Keyboards, Vocals - J.P Le Cornoux
Saxophone - Jeanno Jory
Trumpet, Bugle, Vocals - Gabriel Kerdoncuff
Violin - Sylvain Larriere

Link

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Folk Error: Folk Error 2009.

2010-01-14T00:36:00.001+01:00

The band FolkError was found in march 2006. They mix the traditional Hungarian folk music with elements of the 21st century’s modern musicial features. In the tunes of the ensanble we can get an insight to the world of ska, drum’n’ bass, reggae, etc…They are using the fallowing instrumentation: Violin, viola, clarinet, saxophone, accordion, different tipes of flutes, guitar, bass guitar, drums, singing voice.
During the 2 years of their cooperation they took part in most of the hungarian festivals. In 2006 they took part in the ABC International Live Award. In the competition’s hungarian section, they won 2nd place, and afterwards in the international part, they won the 11th place out of 1500 other bands.

01. Skatarzis
02. Régi regi
03. Kavalkád
04. Brácsak
05. Pupi 'de szip
06. Égen a híd
07. Fiatalos kanszi
08. Magyarbödögei Galambozó
09. Indulj el...
10. Zsan
11. Hajnali
12. Kavalkad remix - DJ Jutasi

Vera Liska - vocal
Tamás Dezsőházi - violin
Zoltán Samu – electric violin
Levente Bálint - clarinet, sax
Atilla Kaszap - brass, kaval
László Palazsnik - accordion
Péter Nádas – guitar
Balázs Kovács – bass guitar
Attila Szendrei - drums

Link

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Oreka TX: Nömadak Tx

2010-01-13T03:36:00.000+01:00

"The txalparta is a percussion instrument from the Basque region of Spain. It appears to be a somewhat cruder version of the vibraphone, one or more wooden planks supported by wooden stands, that are then banged with thick wooden sticks. Perhaps most interestingly you need two players to play, thus enforcing collaboration. Oreka Tx is the project of collaboration between two Spanish musicians who have played with the likes of Taraf De Haidouks and Pat Metheny, and collaboration is an important component of their work. This disc is only a small part of a much larger canvas that also includes a documentary film and live performances. It’s a multicultural journey with the duo traveling to various countries to jam with the locals. It begins with some Mongolian throat singing, on a piece that also includes a txaparta made of ice, recorded in an igloo, a horse headed fiddle and Saharan, Berber, Indian and Basque vocals all mixed together in an exotic fusion that somehow works despite the geographic inconsistencies. It’s entirely representative of the remainder of this album, in which sitars, mandolins, slide guitar, violin, lute, clarinet, Moroccan castanets, jews harp, tabla, kalimba and all manner of indigenous voices and instruments all weave around ice, cardboard, stone, and wooden tx’s of our heroes. These jams whilst incredibly well produced have a fly by the seat of your pants feel, and it’s curious to hear how each cultures music attempts to work with the melodic rhythms of the tx. Many of the instruments like the sitar, the throat singing or even the castanets are so culturally distinctive that it’s impossible to imagine how anything, particularly an ancient Basque instrument could find a way in. Yet this is never a problem, nothing feels forced, this is highly composed otherworldly world music, a true meeting of cultures, with each offering a gift, yet none emerging on top."

...a brilliant project — more the spiritual and musical heir to Junkera's Maren... the duo visit with nomad musicians in a variety of countries Mongolia, India, Morocco, a Western Saharan refugee camp in Algeria, and Scandinavia and the result is an unforgettable visual and musical experience, somewhere between Baraka, Latcho Drom, and Buena Vista Social Club. In their travels, they create txalapartak (the plural form) out of ice, stone and wood, showing the many possibilities of their ancient instrument. In doing so, they form global links of friendship between small and marginalized peoples. Oreka TX meet with and perform with a diverse array of musicians, many with traditions as old and unknowable as that of the txalaparta itself. Basque instruments such as the alboka mix with singers and musicians of many lands."
David Cox, RootsWorld

01. Lauhazka
02. Saapmi
03. Garinisa
04. Jai Adivasi
05. Areloreak
06. Dzuüd
07. Lakuko Lotura
08. Bagu-Ahmedabad
09. Ice Tx
10. Amazigh
11. Harpeslat
12. Ebue Ebue
13. Etzgarit
14. Martxa Baten Lehen Notak

Harkaitz MARTINEZ DE SAN VICENTE (Wooden txalaparta, stone txalaparta, tubes, can)
Igor OTXOA (Wooden txalaparta, stone txalaparta, tubes, can)
Mikel Ugarte (Wooden txalaparta, stone txalaparta, tubes, can)
Inigo EGIA (Percussion, txalaparta)
Mixel DUCAU (Alboka, ttun ttun,saxophones, clarinet)
Juanjo OTXANDORENA (Bouzouki)
Amaiur CAJAREVILLE (Double bass)
+ VERY SPECIAL GUEST:
Aziza BRAHIM (Vocals from Sahara)
Hoosoo or Saruul (Vocals from Mongolia)

Link
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Mezei Kinga - Bakos Árpád - Mezei Szilárd Trió: Fellegajtó nyitogató

2010-01-11T20:16:00.001+01:00

The trio playing Hungarian folk music from the Voivodina. Flows out primarily onto the Moldavian folk music from his musical instrument combination concentrates. From Bakos Árpád complex folk musician and theatre musician working class, the actress's and directing Mezei Kinga specific folksong singing attitude and the composer's fields firm Improvisate one and free-jazz a folk music world interpreted peculiarly emerges from his musician attitude. The trio's capital aim a so folk music processing manner, which tries to remain loyal to the original diction,, at the same time in the Hungarian folk music like that present tries to make the music today's one and a living person through an improvisation naturally.

01. Adjon Isten rózsáim
02. Nekünk a legszebbik estét
03. Elmegyek elmegyek
04. Búzaszemet szed a galamb
05. Veress az ég
06. Verjen meg az Isten
07. Készülj lovam készülj
08. Én vagyok az aki nem jó
09. Édesapám s anyám
10. Fejér retek fekete
11. Az éjjel álmomban
12. Mikor leány voltam
13. Szent István köszöntö
14. Édesanyám valahára
15. Kelj fel keresztény lélek
16. Zöld az erdő

Mezei Kinga - song, derbuka
Bakos Árpád - song, kaval, flutes, lute, sargija, derbuka, can
Mezei Szilárd - Oud, lute, derbuka

Link

pass: bluesmen-worldmusic.blogspot.com

Big thanks Frankie for the CD!

Békés Boldog Karácsonyt! - Merry Christmas!

2009-12-21T21:32:00.007+01:00

Sebő együttes - Játék karácsonykor (Christmas Play)
Sebestyén Márta, Bognár Szilvia, Palya Bea

Joyeux Noel!
Fröhliche Weihnachten!
Buone Feste Natalizie!
Hristos Razdajetsja!
Kala Christouyenna!
Vesele Vianoce!
Feliz Navidad!
Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo!
Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia!
Kala Christouyenna!
Ruumsaid juulup hi!
Nollaig Shona Dhuit!
Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia!
Nollaig chridheil huibh!
Sretam Bozic!
Hristos se rodi!
Kurisumasu Omedeto!
Shub Naya Baras!
Hyvaa joulua!
Gladelig Jul!
Bon Nadal!
Shenoraavor Nor!
Gezur Krislinjden!
Priecigus Ziemassvetkus!
Linksmu Kaledu!
Gledelig Jul!
Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz!
Gledileg Jol!
Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat!
Cestit Bozic i Sretna Nova godina!
Sarbatori vesele!
!Feliz Navidad!
Boas Festas!
Frohe Weihnachten!
Zalig Kerstfeest!
Vessela Koleda!
Feliz Natal!
Sheng Tan Kuai Loh!
Eftihismena Christougenna!
Mo'adim Lesimkha!
Merii Kurisumasu!
Sung Tan Chuk Ha!
Prettige Kerstdagen!
Veseloho Vam Rizdva!
Milad Majid!

Csík János: Karácsonynak éjszakáján (Christmas Eve)

2009-12-21T20:46:00.000+01:00

I was born anno Domini 1964. My father who died at a young age considered very important that my sister and me learned music, so we started the violin in the music school. Thank God the Csík Enseble has become more and more popular, thus besides Hungary I was invited to play music abroad as well. Hence I could see almost all the world.
It is a great honour for me that with the album: Karácsonynak éjszakáján (Christmas Eve) I might be a part of families’ holiday dinners.
Let this music be my Christmas present for you, as I compiled it not only from the thoughts of poets and musicians, but also from old ritual songs.

Csík János

1. Hóban, fényben
2. Lassan elfogynak az ünnepek
3. Bárcsak régen felébredtem volna...
4. Mostan kinyílt egy szép rózsa virág...
5. Karácsonynak éjszakáján...
6. Karácsonyi köszöntő

CSÍK GROUP:
Zsolt Barcza jr. - cimbalom, organ
József Bartók - double bass
János Csík - voice, violin
Tamás Kunos - viola
Péter Makó - clarinet
Attila Szabó - violin
Balázs Szokolai "Dongó" - bagpipe

RACKAJAM:
Ádám Apáti - outhpiano
György Ferenczi - violin, harmonica, vocal
Miklós Jankó - drum
Levente Kormos - guitar, vocal
Zsolt Pintér - mandolin, vocal

Link

pass: bluesmen-worldmusic.blogspot.com

Bognár Szilvia: Harang csendül (Bell Rings ) Maxi

2009-12-19T23:53:00.001+01:00

World music songs for Christmas.

Hungarian vocal folklore as a student of ethnology at the ELTE University in Budapest, while touring Europe with the vocalist band Vándor Vokál, performing polyphonic songs of the nations in the Balkan and Carpathian- Basin region. The work with the famous Makám band has brought her a wider popularity on world-musical stages. She has also been invited to sing on popular Flemish band Kadril’s album De Andere Kust, and after the recording also numerous successful concerts have followed. At present she is featured as a solo vocalist of innumerable albums and bands; be it folk music, poems set to music, old music or world music. She is a guest performer at the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble in Budapest, concerts with luthier Kónya István, appears in the renown Sebô Ensemble, appears as a solo vocalist of the Etnofon Zenei Társulás and the Szájról szájra production, and her own world music band established in 2006. Szilvia was invited to appear on one of Sebestyén Márta’s albums, and Márta has in a way become the ’musical mother’ of Szilvia during the recording of her own solo album Song Preserves the Heartbeat of Time. She was awarded the Artisjus performer’s prize in 2004 and the eMeRTon prize of the Hungarian Radio in the category of Folk Singer of the Year, and she received the Kodály Zoltán Memorial Award in 2007.

1. Ádvent
2. Szeretetből jöttél
3. Szüzesség rózsája
4. Karácsony - Harang csendül...

Szilvia Bognár - voice
Péter Bede - saxophone, kaval, flute
János Gerzson - oud
Csaba Gyulai - percussion
Zoltán Kovács - double bass, buzuki, vocal
István Pál "Szalonna" - violin
Krisztián Rácz - acoustic and electric guitar
Balázs Thurnay - flute, vocal

Link

pass: bluesmen-worldmusic.blogspot.com

Big thanks Frankie for the CD!

Fodor Sándor "Neti": Megyünk mi is... (We Go Too...)

2009-12-12T18:28:00.001+01:00

Fodor Sándor "Neti" was an acknowledged master in Transylvanian folk music.
Here you can listen to one of the last concerts held in Fonó Music Hall by Fodor Sándor "Neti" , the famous first violin from Kalotaszeg.

The sound recording preserve the atmosphere of this evening on this record. No information can be found on the cover, the music and photos themselves commemorate this grand master of violin.

Fodor Sándor "Neti" (1922 - 2004) was a representative of the lost generation of great Transylvanian Traditional Fiddlers. These musicians which for the most part are Gypsies, have entertained the people of Transylvania for centuries. They transformed the style of Transylvanian instrumental music, a style which from the eighteenth century onward could already be considered as specific to the Carpathian Basin.

On this re-issued recording, Hungarian, Romanian and Gypsy music intermingle, echoing the general, but at the same time distinctive ring of the Transylvanian spirit. This common language beyond spoken language is dying out, as it is swept away by the consumer society, which largely appeared after the changes in 1989.

Fodor Sándor "Neti"is well-known and respected in folk music circles. Whenever he appears amongst us (always with his violin), we celebrate him, and can't wait till meet him again."

01. Legényes
02. Keserves és szapora
03. Dojna
04. Legényes II.
05. Legényes III.
06. Invirtita
07. Hajnali
08. Csárdás és szapora
09. Szapora
10. Hajnali, invirtita és szapora
11. Legényes és szapora
12. Keserves és hajnali

Link

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Rupa & The April Fishes: Este Mundo

2009-12-05T16:05:00.001+01:00

Los Angeles, CA- Called “one of the hottest emerging acts” by Time Out, Rupa & The April Fishes are specialists in crossing borders and building bridges musically, and that is exactly what they do on their new album este mundo. The messages on este mundo come from the real life experiences and travels of the band and lead singer Rupa, who is a practicing physician by day in a San Francisco hospital.

The record addresses many issues including life, love, art, death and the real and artificial divisions that keep us apart. By mixing musical elements of Gypsy swing, Colombian cumbia, French chanson and Indian ragas the band achieves a sound that effortlessly blurs the boundaries of genre and geography. According to lead singer Rupa, “este mundo is a collection of sounds and songs highlighting life’s accidental beauty and surging joy as well as their inexorable partner: human suffering.”

“French, Latin and any number of Gypsy-adjacent influences course through their mix with a pleasantly ‘San Franciscan’ kind of flourish. A little like riding with the top down in a double-decker bus, careening through seven or eight crowded ethnic neighborhoods, each one in the middle of a massive street party.”
LA WEEKLY

“If their debut reflected the Bush regime, Este Mundo seems to reflect the optimism of a new era.”
EVENING STANDARD

“at the cutting edge of world music… an ingenious mix.”
THE LIST

“What drives this whip-smart artist and her five mixed race band mates is a need to engage and stimulate in ways that get people hoping and thinking.”
SONGLINES

01. (La Frontera)
02. C'est Moi
03. Por La Frontera
04. Linea
05. Rose
06. Culpa De La Luna
07. Éléphant
08. Soledad
09. (El Camino Del Diablo
10. Este Mundo
11. Soy Payaso
12. Neruda
13. Trouble
14. Estrella Caida
15. Espero La Luna

Marcus "The Tone" Cohen: trumpet
Isabel "Iz" Douglass: accordion, voice
Aaron "Rhone-Ditty-Rhone" Kierbel: percussion, contraptions, fish
Safa "Jazz Spy" Shokrai: upright bass
Ara Anderson: trumpet, bass trumpet
Rupa: songstress, voice, guitar

Link

pass: bluesmen-worldmusic.blogspot.com

Herczku Ágnes, Djerdj Timea, Kincses Margit: Bartók Béla - Hungarian Folksongs for Voice and Piano

2009-11-30T17:40:00.003+01:00

"Whenever I listened to vocal performances of Bartók's folk adaptations, I was always disturbed by the manner of the performance. I had the sense that I have to overcome the obstacle of convention in order not to be separated from the genuine Bartókean message. (...) Therefore I made up my mind to re-publish these adaptations in such a way that they retain both their etnologic and artistic authenticity. (...)
In the course of rehersals for tis CD, I became increasingly convinced that the musical world - the exploration of which Bartók called the happiest time of his life - entirely dwelled not only in his soul but also in his mind and in his music from note to note, though much of it has not been recorded in his scores. (...) He simply knew that he has no opportunity to have these tunes performed on stage the very same way he had collected them and how they echoed in his mind and in the imaginary ideal performances of his compositions. I am almost certain that if he could, Bartók would have followed the style and ornamentation of the collected folk tunes in the most faithful way, paying careful attention to even the slightest minutiae. By assembling this CD, we pursued this Bartokean dream. This very same dream was what had previously motivated the foundres of the dance house movement, I consider it fairly appropriate to fulfill Bartók's dreams through the publication of his adapations also. Beside Bartók's sheet music, the present record is based on the contemporaneous vocal performances of the original folksongs he had collected and composed adaptations of. Except from the emphatic first and last pieces, the pieces on the present record have been grouped according to the three already published cycles, with special attention to the order Bartók himself had assembled for his concerts. The spelling of the Hungarian lyrics is based on the spelling of the sheet music."
Kelemen László

01. Juhászcsúfoló / Shepherd's mocking song
02. Elindultam szép hazámbul / Far behind I left my country
03. Általmennék én a Tiszán ladikon / By the river I will take a little boat
04. Nem messze van ide kis Margitta / Lies a village hidden in this valley
05. Végigmentem a tárkányi sej, haj, nagy uccán / Brisk and early, long before the noise of day began
06. Fehér László lovat lopott / László Fehér stole a stallion
07. A gyulai kert alatt, kert alatt / In the summer fields a fine harvest groves
08. Fekete főd, fehér az én zsebkendőm / Snow-white kerchief, dark both field and furrow show
09. Istenem, istenem, áraszd meg a vizet / Coldly runs the river, reedy banks o'erflowing
10. Töltik a nagy erdő útját / All the lads to war they've taken
11. Ha kimegyek arr'a magos tetőre / If I climb the rocky mountains all day through
12. Asszonoyk, asszonyok, had' legyek társatok / Women, women, listen, let me share your labour
13. Eddig való dolgom a tavaszi szántás / Spring begins with labour; then's the time for sowing
14. Annyi bánat a szűvemen / Skies above are heavy with rain
15. Olvad a hó, csárdás kis angyalom, tavasz akar lenni / Snow is melting, oh; my dear, my darling...
16. Pár-ének / Pair-song
17. Régi keserves / Old Lament
18. Bujdosó-ének / Wandering Song
19. Panasz / Complaint
20. "Hatforintos" nóta / "Six-forints" Song
21. Pásztornóta / Sheperd's Song
22. Székely "lassú" / Székely "Slow"
23. Székely "friss" / Székely " Fast"
24. A tömlöcben / In Prison

Herczku Ágnes - voice
Djerdj Tímea - piano
Kincses Margit - piano

Link

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Big thanks Frankie for the CD!

Oy Division: Oy Division!

2009-11-29T00:27:00.001+01:00

Oy Division is one of the only bands in Israel which perform the old style folk music of eastern- European Jews, generally known as Klezmer. The members of Oy Division do not adhere to the modern Klezmer style nor do they try to make it contemporary in any way, but rather try to recreate and bring back to life the nearly extinct pre-war jewish music the way it had been originally performed. Their repertoire is a mix of instrumental wedding dance music, folk songs and songs originating in the Yiddish theatre, Old music played again with the zeal and exuberance of punks. The members of the band come from different musical backgrounds: Eyal Talmudi is a leading Israeli and international reed player, who regularly tours the world with the Balkan Beat Box; Noam Enbar is the bass player and lead singer of the exceptional Israeli experimental punk band H'Billuyim; Assaf Talmudi is an established record producer and composer and a lecturer in the Haifa University department of music; Gershon Leizersohn is a graduate student in the Tel Aviv University music department who regularly plays with classical music orchestras, and Avichai Tuchman is an independent musician and producer active both in the secular and the religious music scene in Israel.

01.Josh's Mantra
02.Fin der Shtib
03.Freylechs
04.Wedding song and Freylechs
05.Di Nakht
06.Gas Nign
07.Freylechs
08.Vos du Vilst, dos Vil Ikh Oykh
09.Old Greek Tune
10.Tuchman's Mating Call #2
11.Lyuba Bratzi Lyuba and Moldover Freylechs
12.Oy Gewald a Ganef
13.March of the Morons
14.Lubavitsher Redl
15.Za Rekayu

Assaf Talmudi - Accordion, Badchen
Avichay Tuchman - Upright Bass
Eyal Talmudi - Clarinet
Gershon Lezerson - Vocals, violin
Noam Enbar - Vocals, Accordion, Percussion

Link

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Asaf Avidan and The Mojo’s: Poor Boy/Lucky Man

2009-11-28T04:42:00.003+01:00

Israel’s Asaf Avidan and The Mojos are rapidly gaining recognition as one of indie music’s most interesting and original acts.
The group, centered on the talents of singer/guitarist Asaf Avidan creates a unique concoction of 70’s influenced folk-rock, blues and Americana with Avidan’s soulful vocals, eerily reminiscent of Janis Joplin’s, serving as the main driving force. Moving from acoustic, bluesy passages accompanied by some swaggering piano playing, to over-drive laden bursts of energy, the band’s latest album – released under two different titles, seamlessly combines 70’s American folk-rock, Garage and psychedia with a current indie-rock attitude and post-punk aesthetics. Anyone who enjoys such varied artists such as Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Janis Joplin, Neil Young, The Rolling Stones, Fiona Apple, James Brown, Arctic Monkeys and Jeff Buckley should take heed, because Avidan’s music combines the best of these into one unique package.

29 year old Asaf Avidan is a Jerusalem born & bred singer-songwriter.
He released his acclaimed debut EP, Now That You’re Leaving, in 2006.
Since then, he has continued to write and mold his experiences with broken love into personal, yet universally relatable songs.

Touring Israel solo, with just a guitar and harmonica, Asaf gathered a strong and devoted following across Israel, and in the process gathered also the musicians who would become The Mojos.

“Asaf Avidan is a genius… you might think you’re listening to Janis Joplin… but Asaf is a new messiah”
Rolling Stone magazine

“The birth of a legend”
Ha’aretz (Leading Israeli newspaper)

01. Brickman
02. Poor Boy Lucky Man
03. Got It Right
04. My Favorite Clown
05. Small Change Girl
06. The Ghost Of A Thousand Little Lies
07. Wasting My Time
08. Jet Plane
09. Little Stallion
10. Your Anchor
11. Losing Hand
12. Painting On The Past
13. Out In The Cold
14. My Latest Sin

Asaf Avidan – vocals, guitar, harmonica
Roi Peled – guitars
Ran Nir – bass
Joni Snow – drums
Hadas Kleinman – cello

Link

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Ando Drom: Ando Drom Live '99

2009-11-20T23:40:00.000+01:00

Ando Drom (On the Road) Gypsy folklore group was founded in Budapest in 1984. Since the members come from different segments of the Hungarian Gypsy population, the group presents a wide range of styles and variations within gypsy music and culture. They perform on a high artistic level and present the traditional music and dances of the Gypsy people in an authentic, at the same time modern way. They also make arrangements and new compositions in order to introduce the feelings and life of today's Gypsies, representing therefore a living and original folklore. The songs are sung in Gypsy language, accompanied by guitar, mandolin and tambura: for percussion they use spoons, jugs, wooden through and oral bass.

The individual gypsy musical sound of Ando Drom, the successful arrangements and the independent compositions that became famous , he redrafting of gypsy music are connected with Jenő Zsigó. As the leader of Ando Drom his work has always been tending to give opportunity to the development of talented gypsy musicians the beginning on in an always widening circle from. Along more than 15 years prepared many dancers and singers for acting on the stage and let them set off alone to proclaim, deserve and renew the heritage of the gypsy music. From the school of Ando Drom was set in emotion the careers of Mitsou, the members of Romano Drom, Romano Glaso, Lindri , Rom Som, and The Szilvási Gypsy Folk Band, etc.

Ando Drom founded and leaded By Jeno Zsigó is a musical-pedagogical workshop, where the singing and dancing is not only stunning but a continuous creation and the solution of artistic and human development. That is why it has got penetrative strong. The new sound of the group with 3 voiced singing and the extraordinary rhythm is the boldest and the most deepened musical sound in the history of Ando Drom.

"One must love and suffer to be able to sing: one must lose home and country, take the road to arrive anywhere. Once you have found the lonliness of communities, you can take unheard-of musical instruments into your hands, create heavenly sonds from wood, ivory and air. And then your blood pulses in four-eightht rhythm, your muscles move uncontrollably, and from somewhere very deep, streams of words appear with thousand-year-old tunes.
The profane prayers of Ando drom are such songs of pain and longing. Spiritual moments for people, of people. Because the world has turned two-faced, and everything we feel is painful. But never mind, once we will also be forgiven, and curly black haired fellows follow girls with sparkling eyes, and the money deliverer brings loveletters full of true emotions to everyone.
The music of Ando drom is a harmony full of true emotions, and it belongs to everyone who is longing for love in this world without music."

Lukács Csaba

01. Karing Szo Me Phirav - Zöld Az Erdő
02. Szállj Fekete Szárnyú Madár
03. Pergyij E Bar Lulugyenca - Bátori Pergető
04. Téglaporos A Kalapom & Nem tudjátok, Hogy Ki Vagyok
05. Opre Phirdem
06. Diófának Három Ága
07. Sza Tele Zsav
08. Iszik A Kocsmán Három Cigány & Szode Seja & Vasvári Pergető & Addig Máma Nem Eszek
09. Lingraji Szi
10. Ahaj Devla Szo Te Kerav
11. Le Shavore
12. Nincsen Apám (József A.) & Mikor Kicsi Gyerek Voltam & Azt Hittem Az Eső Esik & Szode Seja
13. Phari Mamo
14. De Ta Devla

Zsigó Jenő
Horváth Mónika
Bihari Imre
Dobi Matild
Balogh Rudolf

Link

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Frank London & Lorin Sklamberg: Tsuker-zis

2009-11-09T22:38:00.001+01:00

Trumpeter Frank London and vocalist/accordionist Lorin Sklamberg have always attempted to introduce a fresh perspective when redefining traditional Jewish music. As founders of the Grammy award-winning alt-klezmer band The Klezmatics, they adapt ancient and traditional holiday songs of the Jewish diaspora into a modern, surprising sphere.

Tsuker-zis, (sugar-sweet), their third installment of Hasidic religious songs and melodies, nigunim—after Nigunim (Tzadik, 1998) and The Zmiros Project (Traditional Crossroads, 2001)—are all exemplary for their vision. They dress the beautiful and touching melodies in an all-compassing, genre-crossing, unique blend of aesthetics.

On Tsuker-zis, London and Sklamberg are joined by three colleagues from New York's Downtown music scene—Night Ark's American-Armenian oud master Ara Dinkjian, Psychedelic Furs' guitarist/electronics wizard Knox Chandler and North-Indian virtuoso percussionist Deep Singh. The three are known for their abilities to transcend genre and style. Here, they move freely between simple folk melodies and abstract, atmospheric electronica. They aid in spicing the sugar-sweet Jewish imagery that often serves as a metaphor for the divine sweetness of life, with surprising new tastes.

The fourteen songs consist mostly of Hasidic holiday songs—Succos, Pesach (Passover), Rosh Hashana (New Year), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), Purim, Simkhes Toyre and the fast days—and are imbued with reverential textures and a sense of communal joy and gratitude. Sklamberg's warm and beautiful tenor voice, combined with London's restrained and airy trumpet sound, introduce the original essence of these songs and melodies, while keeping their deep emotional expressiveness intact. At the same time, innovative arrangements manage to broaden and update messages that not only signify the nomadic diaspora, but also suggest a new and hopeful vision of a peaceful world where ancient cultures—Jewish, Christian, Islamic and Indian—can co-exist, blend and flourish together.

London and Sklamberg have been working for over twenty years and know that more often the strength of these songs lies in careful and simple execution rather than in challenging and turbulent arrangements. Such is the case in "Our Parent, Our Sovereign," a prayer that is recited during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Sklamberg's straight-forward delivery retains its emotional power, but the arrangement, and mainly the distant distorted guitar, adds a doubting dimension to the religious text. On "The Lord Sent His Servant," Sklamberg and Dinkjian present the Ashkenazi song as a duet, but relocate it from its East-European origin to an imaginary Middle-Eastern territory.

This beautiful project is the most successful in London and Sklamberg's nigunim series; a delight in the sweeping authenticity of its songs and the imaginative creativity of its arrangements.

01. A Sukkah of Branches
02. Blessings Without End
03. Our Life Is Sugarsweet
04. Our Parent, Our Sovereign
05. Increase Our Joy
06. The Days Between #1
07. The Lord Sent His Servant
08. The Days Between #2
09. Heed Not the Accuser!
10. Elijah the Prophet Bought a Red Cow
11. Greeks Gathered Against Me (Intro)
12. Greeks Gathered Against Me
13. Mighty, Blessed, Great, Prominent, Glorious, Ancient, Meritorious, Rig

Frank London: trumpet, alto horn, flugelhorn, harmonium;
Lorin Sklamberg: vocals, accordion;
Knox Chandler: guitar, electronics;
Ara Dinkjian: oud, saz;
Deep Singh: tabla, dholki.

Link

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David Vidal: Americana Blues

2009-11-08T01:28:00.000+01:00

Recording artist David Vidal’s fourth solo CD, Americana Blues, has just been released on Los Angeles-based WilMac Records. The eleven song compilation, which highlights Vidal’s outstanding songwriting skills and acoustic slide guitar work, also includes two instrumentals featuring violinist Dorian Cheah.

Vidal is the former lead singer for Village of Odd Waters and a musical contributor to numerous films, including the classic My Cousin Vinny. His latest audio adventure explores the psyche of America in an understated, poignant and sometimes humorous fashion.
The album starts off with the lines “Here in America, we sit on the floor / We drink from the bottle till there ain’t any more. In the infectious I Own Peru, Vidal sings “I rent the airport to American thieves / They smoke the ganja, chew the coca leaves / I shoot them all when the party is through / It doesn’t matter, I own Peru.” In the last song on the CD, he states plaintively, “The devil’s in the details, he lives between the lines / He keeps the big wheels turning, he’s been workin’ overtime.”

Producer Jaime Fandango has kept the tracks sparse, sometimes featuring acoustic guitar and harmonica, sometimes slide guitar, and at other times a full band, including bassist Bubba MacNealy, drummers Rob Jacobs and Skip Phils, Detroit singing phenom Laura Creamer and Grammy nominated guitarist Larry Treadwell. Strong songwriting defines the production throughout, with occasional forays into the vast musical interior.

The long awaited follow-up to the critically acclaimed 2006 release Nasty Habit, David Vidal’s Americana Blues is an impressive outing by the New Mexico born tunesmith.

01. Here in America
02. I own Peru
03. If i hadn't loved you
04. Coast highway
05. Porch funk
06. The Baseball song
07. Wrecking ball
08. Big hearted woman
09. My favorite mistake
10. Audrey's theme
11. The Devil's in the details

Link

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Haya Band & Daiqing Tana: Silent Sky

2009-11-07T13:49:00.001+01:00

HAYA may not be the most popular band in China yet, but they are definitely one of the more unique ones. They promote Mongolian singing and world music by using both traditional Mongolian and modern musical instruments.

Daiqing Tana was born in Taijnar. She belongs to a tribe of Mongolia.
Serene heavenly sounds from the grass steppe Soulful songs that request for nothing in return

“With the majestic and boundless music, the sky, the grass steppe, the snow mountain, the lake... all begin to unfold, and the ear becomes the sole passageway for communication between the soul and the universe. At last, the physical body, time and space have all disappeared, and a pure lucid realm of pristine sounds begin to take into shape. This has to be music coming down from up above, and no one should miss it.”

1. Silent Sky
* lyrics/Bayin & Daiqing Tana
* Tuwa folk song
The rise of the sun and the fall of the moon
The eternal world
In the distance resides eternity
When everything returns to being still and serene I ask for nothing more

2. Snow Mountain
* lyrics/Bayin * composer/Quansheng
Gazing upon the timeless magnificence
The serene heavenly sounds
I yearn for the freedom of solitude
Long for the ultimate love
Yet afloat I am in the wind

3. Ongmanibamai
* folk song
The heart is infinite
It can contain the entire universe
A dust particle in the cosmos
Would vanish in a mere second

4. Qinghai Lake
* lyrics/Bayin * composers/Quansheng & Daiqing Tana
I stand still next to you
Never once thought of touching you
I touch the earth beneath your feet with my forehead Wishing that upon my next journey
My heart will be bestowed with a piece of your azure blue

5. Passed Time
* lyrics/Keming * composer/Wulan-tuoga
The most beautiful treasures in life
Are in the time passed by
We were once great companions
Shared our joys and sorrows
Only if we could return to the passed time
Even if just for one night

6. Dancer in the Darkness
* lyrics & composer/ Daiqing Tana
Standing in the embrace of the darkness
I am exposed in the deep stilled silence
I could hear the remote unfamiliar laughter still echoing
I bury myself
To be sacrificed to the unmanned wilderness

7. Missing You
* lyrics & composer/ Daiqing Tana
Nostalgia is blissfully sentimental
I am in the far distance from you
How could I sing without restraint
If only dream has liberating wings
Let the wind accompany it on its voyage in the sky

8. Golden Bracelet
* Qinghai & Mongolian Folksong

9. Reborn
* lyrics/Daiqing Tana * composer/Quansheng
What’s there to cry about
The sky has never lost its luster
Unless you lose the gleam in your eye
Love will be reborn from disparity

Daiqing Tana: Voice
Quansheng & Xibo: Percussion
Quansheng & Arai Soichiro: Horse-head fiddle
Quansheng:Guitar
Xibo & Tuerxun:Piano
Liu Xiaoguang: Cello
Liu Man:Accordion
Zhang Xinhua: Harmonica

Link

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Bartók and Gypsy Music by Márta Sebestyén, Muzsikás and Takács Quartet

2009-11-03T19:08:00.001+01:00

Live Recording May. 6. 2009, NPR Brodcast from Jordan Hall, Boston.

“Having always felt intimate with Bartók's as well as gypsy music of the roma, I've thoroughly enjoyed playing this recording, loud. It helps to have recently read "Bury Me Standing"- comes from the saying, "Bury me standing, I've been on my knees all my life".”

"The acclaimed Takács String Quartet joins the Hungarian folk ensemble Muzsikás (with singer Márta Sebestyén, whose inimitable voice you may recall haunting the soundtrack to "The English Patient") to celebrate Hungarian composer Béla Bartók...

When the members of the Takács Quartet and Muzsikás combine for a concert, they delight in making clear the connections between Bartók's own music and his folk-music obsessions. For example, they alternate movements from some of Bartók's best-known pieces (Romanian Folk Dances, String Quartet No. 4) with the real village dances he collected in the field — both the actual old scratchy records and their own live versions thereof..."

Tracklist / Concert program
Bartók: Violin Duos

Track 01.
- Torontal Dances (Muzsikás)
- "Ardeleana" (historic Bartók field recording)
- Duo No. 44

Track 02.
- "Shoe of My Horse" (Márta Sebestyén)
- Duo No. 28
- Duo No. 32
- "Jocul Barbatesc" (Márta Sebestyén)

Track 03.
Bartók: Sonatina (with traditional tunes)
- Bagpipes (Takács Qt.)
- Bear Dance (Takács Qt.)
- Bear Dance from Gyimes (Muzsikás)

Track 04.
Traditional: Ballad of the Murdered Shepherd

Track 05.
Bartók: Romanian Folk Dances (with source tunes)
- Bota es Invertita (Muzsikás)
- Stick Dance (Takács Qt.)
- Waistband Dance (Takács Qt.)
- "Pe Loc" (Muzsikás)
- Hornpipe Dance (Takács Qt.)
- Romanian Polka (Takács Qt.)

Artists:
Takács String Quartet (Takács Vonósnégyes)
Muzsikás with Márta Sebestyén (Muzsikás együttes és Sebestyén Márta)

Link

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Cabestan: Tempete pour sortir

2009-10-28T23:33:00.000+01:00

Right from their first record this group has been outstanding in their presentation of French and Breton shanties and sea songs. The group, formed from a co-operative known as Chasse-Maree, consisted at the time of Arnaud Maissonneuve, Benoit Chantran, Bernard Subert, Christian Desnos and the group's leader and driving force, Michel Colleu, who has collected the majority of the material used. songs and tunes from the rich maritime heritage extant around the coast of Britanny. Fiddle, flute, concertina and guitar along with a melodeon (in this case, Christian uses an almost straight tuning to great effect) are often used as accompaniment, and all are excellent musicians as well as fine singers. Bombardes and hurdy-gurdies are unlikely instruments to hear
backing sea songs, but in the hands of the French they blend perfectly with their style of singing. and what a style! Whatever Cabestan do, the maxim seems to be that effort and a feeling for the material are essential. Their precision and spirited renderings make them a joyful listening experience, even if you can’t understand French, because you can feel the 'working power' of the songs.
The French, unlike the English, do not have as great a store of shanties, but they make up for this with a fine collection of shore based songs.

01. Faut avoir du courage
02. Tempete pour sortir
03. Reels quebecois
04. Le 15 avril
05. Le capitaine de Saint-Malo
06. Le Pont de Morlaix
07. A Baton Rouge sont arrives
08. La Danae
09. Le depart de Ti-Louis
10. Les filles a cinq deniers
11. Naviguant dans le port de Nantes
12. Trois matelots de Port St-Jacques
13. Mond da bellvro

Christian Desnos : accordéon diatonique, mélodéon, harmonica, chant
Jean-Luc Creac'h : guitare, guitare basse, chant
Thierry Moreau : Veuze, violon, violoncelle, chant
Bernard Subert : clarinette, flute, chant
Thierry Decloux : guitare, bouzouki, chant

Link

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Cicala-Mvta: Ghost Circus

2009-10-26T23:12:00.000+01:00

Cicala-Mvta is One of Japanese Most Exciting and Original Groups. Both Traditional Chindon and the Retro-futuristic Sound of Cicala-Mvta is an Entirely Natural Combination of the Old and New, the East with the West.
Cicala Mvta is a group described by some UK music critics as the most impressive exponents of contemporary Japanese grass roots music. The music presents old-fashioned and brass band music. Featuring chindon, a kind of Japanese drum, saxophones, clarinets and tubas, Cicala Mvta's music is a kind of street music originally played at funerals or the openings of local shops. But the band blends the cheesy music with social critique, thus creating a sarcastic outlook, in both its musical style and in its stage performance.
Before TV commercials, drum and woodwind bands would march through the streets of Japan carrying banners advertising products or stores. Bandleader WATARU OKHUMA modelled his band after these Chindon groups and named it CICALA-MVTA .(Pronounced Shi-ka-la Moo-ta, it means Mute cicada after the epitaph of a great Japanese street singer songwriter) All in all, it is a wild ride, as Cicala Mvta views klezmer, Balkan, Turkish, early jazz and free jazz music through their Japanese street band lens, which has something to do with topology and physics and their bent view of musical reality.

"Sounds close to the ground. Cicala-Mvta's music sometimes sounds like that. The band starts to play slowly and begins to stride on the ground powerfully. Sometimes they lash about the ground, and and run fast forward. They are not an underground group. Yet, they don't ascend nor float. They just go forward close to the ground.
A question is asked whether music is something to progress. Listening to Cicala-Mvta, I can believe that there lies much ground to go forward. They go forward on the surface of the globe, a sphere. It may not be progress. Terms such as experiment and evolution do not fit Cicala-Mvta. Their ceaseless march has a texture that has a much more hard-core nature.
Ten years ago, Wataru Okuma, the clarinet player, initiated this group. The Ghost Circus published in 2004 is their third album. It seems that by now they have become a one solid mass. They consist of very idiosyncratic players, and they make up a fairly unique instrumental ensemble. Yet, they move forward as a mass. As though they were a three-piece hard-core punk band.

With circus and street band music as their signature, Cicala-Mvta tries amalgamation of various music on the globe, and their music is almost impossible to analyze. The diverse musical elements each musician has absorbed physically in their bodies merge in an instant, and a spark of unique and allomorph music appears. As the album title shows, any academic scrutiny would be absurd-a sonic circus! It supercedes the speed of our thinking.

Their wordless music has become all the more eloquent and carries a message. Full of love, humor and rebellious spirit, their music is a tribute to people on earth who has but to survive. Sometimes it sounds like a requiem. In one also hears and sees dead people singing and dancing in celebration together with Cicala-Mvta. It may be interesting to quietly follow them from behind, and you will probably come across something unseen and unheard."

Takahashi Kentaro

01. Ghost Hymn Introduction
02. Pillow Walk
03. The United People Will Never Be Defeated
04. Stara Planina
05. The Sleep-Walker's Escape
06. Dr. Caligari's Side Show
07. Heraklion
08. Song Of The Birds
09. The Beam And The Bellows
10. The Right To Live In Peace
11. Ghost Requiem
12. Bonus

Wataru Okuma (clarinet, bass clarinet, vocals),
Yoshiyuki Kawaguchi (saxophone),
Yoshiki Sakurai (guitar),
Takero Sakijima (tuba, recorder),
Tatsuya Yoshida (drums, vocals),
Keisuke Ota (violin, vocals),
Yoshiaki Sato (accordion),
Yoichiro Kita (trumpet),
Akiko Watanabe (trombone),
Miwazo Kogure (ching-dong, gorosu)

Link

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Tine Kindermann: Schamlos Schön

2009-10-24T21:28:00.004+02:00

13 alte Lieder aus Deutschland. Songs of love and bygone ages
Tine Kindermann sings German folk songs accompanied by American rock musicians and arranged by Frank London, best known for combining klezmer and jazz. The result is astonishingly natural. German folk songs - along with the epic ballad of the Nibelungen, the word “Heimat” (“homeland”), and the joy and pleasure of the woods and forest - have been tainted by the hand of the Nazis. Too many sang along and marched in step. Later, the poor German folk song was reduced to little more than oom-pah beer-hall entertainment. But there was something in these five centuries old songs that resisted. Mothers preserved them in secret; grandmothers and kindergarten teachers sang and sing to their children the songs of their own childhoods.

As in most countries, German folk songs were passed down, changed, and varied from generation to generation. Tine Kindermann offers us her interpretation. She sings these songs with complete sincerity; songs of desperate lovers, of royal children, of the passing nature of the little flower and the hard dreams of dying. Spaces open therein like the ones we entered as children, when we listened, entranced, to the fairy tales woven from the same cloth.

The songs’ themes are universal, belonging to the secret guarded chambers of many souls of many lands. Tine Kindermann has unburied the discarded key and leads us into these mysterious worlds with their seductive sadness. She unlocks a veritable archive of feelings. Age-old stories belonging to world culture, unknowingly stored in the collective unconscious. Tine Kindermann has blown the dust off these songs and made them alive, fresh, good as new. With her musicians, she has put them in an unusual contemporary intercultural context. She offers them to us, tenderly and unabashedly, songs of love and – in the words of Heine’s “Loreley” – bygone ages.

Tine Kindermann, a visual artist born 1962 in West-Berlin, has been living in New York since 1993. Since 2001 she has been working increasingly with themes of German folklore, including a concert program with German Folk songs. The recording’s set up looks like a “Who is Who” of the New York downtown music scene: Marc Ribot und Greg Cohen (Tom Waits Band) on guitar and double bass, Glenn Patscha (Ollabelle) on keyboards and Frank London (Klezmatics), who also acts as producer.

01. Frau Wirtin
02. Sterben ist ein schwere Buß
03. Der Winter ist vergangen
04. Es waren zwei Königskinder
05. Schwesterlein
06. Es ist ein Schnitter
07. Maria durch ein Dornwald ging
08. Wach auf meins Herzens Schöne
09. Klage & Trost
10. Es geht eine dunkle Wolk herein
11. Es freit ein wilder Wassermann
12. Ich hab die Nacht geträumet
13. Frau Haselin

Tine Kindermann - voice
Marc Ribot - electric and acoustic guitar, dobro, efx
Greg Cohen - double bass
Glenn Patscha - piano, harmonium, organ, harpsichord, Wurlitzer, efx
Frank London - harmonium & miscellaneous instruments
with:
Mathias Kunzli - drums & amp; percussion (track 1, 5)
Lorin Sklamberg - voice (track 5, 10)
Julian Kytasti - Bandura (track 3, 10)

Link

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Mari Boine: Leahkastin (Unfolding)

2009-10-23T22:30:00.000+02:00

Mari Boine Persen has brought the contemporary music traditions of northern Norway's Sami people, more commonly known as the Lapps, to the international stage. Forsaking traditional music for the modern sounds of "joik," Persen has incorporated influences of jazz, rock, and other ethnic music. Persen's success has been a source of pride for the Sami people. As the Norwegian newspaper VG pointed out, "ethnic music has a rather large audience outside Norway. You should be aware of the fact that perhaps the most interesting artist in this wide field of music is from the Sami people and living in Norway."

Despite early resistance based on her Sami heritage and womanhood, Persen continues to build a loyal following in her homeland. Her first two albums -- Gula Gula in 1989 and Jaskatvouda Mann in 1992 -- hinted at her skills, while, her third album, Goaskinviellja, released in 1993, received a Norwegian Grammy and marked her as one of Norway's greatest stars. Her fourth album, Leahkastin, was commissioned for the Vassajazz Festival and premiered in March 1994.

A native of the small village of Gamehhisniarga, Persen grew up singing the black spiritual-like psalms of the Christian-oriented Laestadian movement.

01. Gumppet Holvot (The Wolves Howl)
02. Ale Sat (No More)
03. Cuovgi Liekkas (Radiant Warmth)
04. Ahccai (To My Father)
05. Maid Aiggot Muinna Eallin (What Do You Want Life?)
06. Mielahisvuohta (Lunacy Lunacy)
07. Gilvve Gollat (Sow Your Gold)
08. Gullan Du (Hearing You)
09. Vuolgge Mu Mielde Bassivarrai (Come With Me to the Scared Mountain)
10. Mun Da' Han Lean Oaivamus (Just When I Had...)
11. Da Lean Mun (Here I Am)

Mari Boine: voice, djembe
Gjermund Silset: bass, percussion
Hege Rimestad: violin
Helge A. Norbakken: percussion
Roger Ludvigsen: guitars
Carlos Zamata Quispe: flute, charango

Link

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Rotfront: Emigrantski Raggamuffin

2009-10-22T21:59:00.000+02:00

RotFront is the brainchild of two Berlin emigrantskis. One half of the RussenDisko is Yuriy Gurzhy, who joined forces with Hungarian musician Simon Wahorn, initiator of the HungaroGroover Soundsystem, to create the Emigrantski Raggamuffin Kollektiv RotFront. Founded in 2003, it played its way almost overnight to ranking as Berlin’s ultimate party band. Whether there are seven, twelve or fifteen musicians on stage at any one time – nobody is going to be alone on the dancefloor for long. Right from the start, with the opening songs, the boundary between stage and dancefloor dissolves into nothingness. Rolling back boundaries is RotFront’s mission – and in that sense they are a political band. They may not talk the talk, but they certainly walk the walk: instead of singing about politics, they actually live the easy-going, harmonious interaction of nationalities, ethnicities, musical genres and cultures. And it works. A Ukrainian, two Hungarians, an American, an Australian and five Germans mix Ska, Reggae, Dancehall and Cumbia sounds with Klezmer, Berlin’s own in-your-face brand of Hiphop, Eastern European Turbopolka, Mediterranean melodies and rock riffs. Russian, Hungarian, German and English lyrics tell of life in Berlin and the adventures of immigrants in the city.

01. Intro
02. B-Style
03. Zhiguli
04. Sovietoblaster
05. Kemények a fények
06. Berlin
07. Red Mercedes
08. Ya Piv
09. Remmidemmi
10. Sohase mondd
11. Gypsy Eyes (Feat. Miss Flint)
12. Rotfront Fm
13. Tűz
14. Devil
15. Emigrantski Raggamuffin (Feat. Smo)
16. Klezmerton
17. Youtube Song

Yuriy Gurzhy - Vocals, Guitar, Bass;
Simon Wahorn - Vocals, Bass, Guitar;
Dorka Gryllus - Vocals;
Mad Milian - MC;
Dan Freeman - Sax;
Max Bakshish - Clarinette, Sax;
Anke Lucks - Trombone;
Daniel Kahn - Accordeon;
Jan Pfennig - Drums

Link

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Demeter Erika: Igaz vigasz (Real Comfort)

2009-10-22T01:08:00.001+02:00

Transylvanyan and moldavian folk music.

"Disgrace is the word if it's not of comfort,
Disgrace is the verse if it's false."

Szilágyi Domokos

"This notion is true in case of folk songs, too. They spread the truth spontaneously, and moreover they play an important role in our lives, they clean and give relief.
The desire for inner purification makes the songs sound/be heard in me, and this is why I collected some of them from my homeland's treasures. I have tried to rise to the cleared greatness of them, because "disgrace is the word if it's not of comfort" but disgrace is the song if it's not true".

Demeter Erika

1. Anyám, édesanyám - Mother Dear Mother (Moldva)
2. Édesanyám karján nevelt - Mother Raised Me In Her Arms (Gyimes)
3. Én Istenem miért vertél meg - Why Have Punished Me My God (Gipsy songs from Örkő)
4. Húzzad Cigány - Make Me Music, Gipsy (Szék)
5. Anyám, édesanyám - Mother Dear Mother (Moldva)
6. Gyere rózsám, egyere már - Can't Wait For You, Dearest (Mezőség)
7. Esik eső, zúg a malom - Whirring Mill In the Rain (Mezőség)
8. Anyám, édesanyám - Mother Dear Mother (Moldva)
9. Széles a Szamosnak vize - Wide Is The Water Of Szamos (Kalotaszeg) Szerettelek, szerettél - I Loved You, You Loved Me (Mezőség)

Hegedős Band:
Csávás Attila – kaval, furulya, saxophone
Ökrös Csaba – violin
Szabó Gábor – koboz
D. Tóth Sándor – koboz, drums, gardon, viola
Nagy Zoltán – dulcimer
Kürtösi Zsolt – cello, contrabass

Featuring:
Papp István Gázsa – violin
Wertetics Szlobodán - accordion

Link

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The Unternationale: The First Unternational

2009-10-21T00:32:00.000+02:00

The Unternationale is Detroit born /Berlin transplant singer-songwriter Daniel Kahn & legendary Moscow avantgarde song bard Psoy Korolenko. The First Unternational was recorded in July 2007 in Tel-Aviv, a new project of post-post-dialectic klezmer for an orgy of -isms: social-, zion-, antizion-, chassid-, national-, satan-, alcohol-, modern-, all in alternating English, Russian, and Yiddish. It's Laibach meets Theodore Bikel.

Psoy Galaktionovich Korolenko (born April 26, 1967) is a pseudonym of a Russian Jewish song writer and performer by the name of Pavel Eduardovich Lion. At the same time Pavel Lion is a slavist with a Ph.D. in Russian literature.

His pseudonym comes from Vladimir Korolenko, Russian writer (1853—1921), whose works are subject of Pavel's research. Psoy performs his own and others’ songs, accompanying himself to keyboard instruments, mainly a Casio sequencer in accordion timbre. Experimenting with quite various song traditions he sings in about 6 or 7 languages, most frequently in Russian, Yiddish, English and French.

Korolenko's perhaps most known song is Buratino, which is just a repetition of the same phrase many times, aimed to poke fun at modern rap and trance music. The 'song' has been done several times, and a multitude of remixes have been made out of it.

Psoy has toured many places. He has had concerts in many states, Berlin, London, and more. His music is popular both with adults, and Russian teenagers. He rewrites many songs, and also has translated some songs from Russian to Yiddish.

01. Sympathy for whom?
02. Oh you foolish little zionists
03. Sher
04. Ekh lyuli lyuli
05. I raise my hand up and I swear... + The hope
06. Beneath the salt sea
07. Think!
08. Nye zhuritye khloptsy
09. The Tinternationale
10. The Number

Daniel Kahn - vocals, accordion, ukulele, piano, music box
Psoy Korolenko - vocals and piano

OY DIVISION:
Gershon Leizersohn - violin and vocals
Noam Inbar - vocals and percussion
Eyal Talmudi - clarinet and percussion
Avichai Tuchman - double bass
Assaf Talmudi - accordion

Link

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Elizabeth Nicholson & Stringed Migration: Fly Not Yet

2009-10-19T21:35:00.001+02:00

Elizabeth Nicholson & Stringed Migration is a Portland, OR, based quartet that performs a lush synthesis of Celtic and international roots music with a twist of jazz. Comprised of four multi-instrumentalists whose individual careers have garnered regional, national and international recognition, the band is enjoying a rapidly growing reputation in the Northwest folk world.

The band features a cast of musicians whose diverse backgrounds touch upon Latin music, Balkan music, Americana, rock, Mediaval music, classical Indian music, Western classical music, and jazz, yet all have deep roots in traditional Irish and Scottish fare. "The idea," says founder Elizabeth Nicholson, "is to allow everyone in the band to draw from the full spectrum of their experience, rather than conforming to a rigidly defined idiom." The resulting sound pays true homage to the American melting pot, revealing technical mastery, nuance, spontaneity and heart.

On Fly Not Yet, the band crafts arrangements that seamlessly blend cultural influences to stunning effect:"Unquiet Grave" -- the album’s opening track – merges a traditional Scottish ballad with a Lebanese dance tune, highlighting the complementary harmonic structure of each melody and giving the song’s dark story an added layer of depth. In the second track, a reel from Cape Breton is uplifted by a merengue backbeat and treated with a dazzling jazz improvisation, courtesy of violinist Eddie Parente. The third, title track, reveals an elegantly straightforward treatment of an Irish song, centered around Elizabeth Nicholson’s lithe vocals. Subsequent tracks showcase the band’s range, from the driving medieval dance "La Rotta," to Bob Soper’s plaintive singing on the Appalachian ballad "Lord Thomas," to a whimsical treatment of the Irish hornpipe "Galway Bay," which sets a harp solo to a rock rhythm. The final track on the album is also the darkest: "And Am I Born to Die?" places an American shape-note song within a mournful, chamber-inflected string arrangement.

01. Lebanese Melody / The Unquiet Grave
02. Paddy Fahey's / Cape Breton Reel
03. Fly Not Yet
04. La Rotta / Waltz from Orsa
05. Paddy's Rambles / Funky Reel
06. Lord Thomas
07. St. John's Jig /. The Barn Swallow / Mt. Tabor Reel
08. The Dewey Dens of Yarrow
09. Romanian Hora / Galway Bay
10. And Am I Born to Die

Stringed Migration is: Elizabeth Nicholson on vocals, harps, and guitar; Eddie Parente on violin and viola; Bob Soper on bouzouki, fiddle, vocals and guitar; and Rob Barrick on double bass and Scottish smallpipes. Jim Chapman, a Stringed Migration alumni, still performs with the band on bouzouki from time to time.

Link

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Rece-Fice: Farost-Lemez

2009-10-17T00:05:00.001+02:00

Folk music of the Balkan Peoples, and of the Southern Slavic Nationalities living in Hungary.

A selection of folk songs and dance tunes from many parts of the Balkans. Illustrates the wide diversity in folk music from the Balkans. Dances and melodies from Serbia, Hungary, Moldavia, Crete, Thrace, Romania etc.

The Rece-Fice Ensemble was founded in 1992. Their aim is to get acquainted with the folk music and dances of the peoples from the Balkans (Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Thrace) and of South-Slavs (Serbs and Croats) living in Hungary. Some members of the band are from these backgrounds themselves, and others combine their music careers with studying Bulgarian or ethnography. When forming the ensemble, its members were partly beginners, partly musicians gaining experience in other music styles and groups. In recent years they have successfully performed on numerous occasions, from folk music festivals to balls, university clubs to folk pubs.

While extending their repertoire continuously they strive for a more authentic performing style by discovering the specific features of different regions. To achieve this they try to seek out original folk musicians still alive and existing archive material. They also acquire original musical instruments or make them according to authentic designs. (One of their members is an instrument-maker and holder of the "Young Master of Folk Arts" award.

01 - Bánáti táncok
02 - Ćape
03 - Starinsko kolo
04 - Baranyai sokác táncok
05 - Baranyai dallamok samicán
06 - Rokoko
07 - Krétai dallamok
08 - Vino pije moj dragan
09 - Čumičanka
10 - Zelen orah
11 - Moldvai román táncok
12 - Šarena račenica
13 - Trák énekek
14 - Sop vidéki táncok
15 - Širok Dunav

Szabolcs Árkosi - bassprim tambura, accordion, voice
Panni Avar - prima tambura, tambura-viola, bulgarian tambura, samica
Piroska Deli - voice, caval, double bass, tambura-viola, baglama, tambourine
Judit Jablonkay - shepherd's pipe, kaval. voice
Tünde Mag - voice
Edit Szick - violin, double bass, gadulka, bouzouki
Ágnes Tiszavári - voice, tapan, darbouka
Iván Vitányi - accordion, prim-tambura, bassprim, double bass, tapan, voice

Guests:
Roza Bancseva - voice (14)
János Krucsay - bagpipe, derbouka, tapan
Géza Orczi (from Zsarátnok) - bassprim tambura
László Perger (from Zsarátnok)- cello tambura

Link

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Erik Marchand Quartet: Unu Daou Tri Chtar!

2009-10-15T18:30:00.002+02:00

Unu = one in Rumanian, daou = two in Breton, tri = three in Serbian and Breton, chtar = four in Rom.
1 2 3 4 is the whispered beginning of many tunes, and represents four of the languages used by the musicians of this quartet : Erik Marchand, from Poullaouen, is a singer. Costica Olan, is a taragot and soprano sax player, his native language is Rom, he also use Romanian in his daily life. Viorel Tajkuna is Serbian and belongs to the Rom minority of the Serbian Banat, as a result he is trilingual. He is an accordionist and organist for weddings. Jacky Molard from Saint Malo, has been living in Spezet, central Brittany, for many years. He’s a composer, arranger and violin player, using a large range of musical languages.

Erik Marchand is a leading figure of Breton song. He has adopted a very strong Breton identity while remaining completely open to other cultures in which he immerses himself, then he searches deep in the popular music of Brittany for the resources to establish or recreate a dialogue with them.

01. Kened Eros Kened Eros
02. Kened Eros Olani
03. Speied
04. Lunca
05. Jaures
06. Marcel
07. Suita Moldovaneasca Stefaneti 1
08. Suita Moldovaneasca Stefaneti 2
09. Draghicesca Umblu Noapte Ca-Si Un Lotru Prin Padure Si Prin Codru
10. Draghicesca Draghicesca
11. Sopsteveni Raspored
12. Jaures

Link

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Skazi Lesa: Jolta Ku

2009-10-12T00:57:00.002+02:00

The band Skazi Lesa (Tales of the Forest) causes the really crashing effect of presenting the “other side power” which makes an extraordinary and unreturned influence for minds and psyches during the listening. In the band take part the greatest folk musicians and not only from St-Petersburg.
With a history of bizarre and dramatic destiny, Tales Forest been a long and unpredictable way - from rabid hooligan punk, a hardcore, psychedelic with a touch of shamanism and Irish folk, before these disparate components formed her own very unique style.

1. So far at Ladoga
2. Undead
3. Hey, the spirit
4. Vorojeya
5. Ulyatay
6. How nice
7. Jolta Ku
8. Ladoga
9. Kalyaki-Maliaka

Andrei Figa – vocal, accordion (music composer)
Pavlik Vlasov “Egypt” – shaman-drummer (poet)
Roma Tentler – contrabass
Petya Sergeev “Jaguar” – percussion
Volodya Molodcov “Professor” – flutes and bagpipes
Sergey Kirianov “Korotishka” – guitar
Dimarik Shihardin – fiddle

Link

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Deolinda: Cançao ao Lado

2009-10-11T04:10:00.006+02:00

"Deolinda combines Portuguese fado and Brazilian music brilliantly.
Without a doubt, one of the freshest, most charming and beguiling releases I've heard in quite some time comes from the Portuguese group Deolinda, named for the fictitious female created by guitarist/songwriter Pedro da Silva Martins.

Within 22 weeks of its release, the disc went platinum in Portugal. Fronted by Lisbon singer Ana Bacalhau, a jazz singer by trade, the acoustic quartet takes a cue from traditional Portuguese fado and Brazilian music. It also trades on the stunning success of Portuguese singer Mariza although Deolinda is decidedly more folk. .

While you won't necessarily know it from listening unless you're fluent in Portuguese. , Deolinda's lyrics tell stories that are incisive slices of everyday life. In "Mal Por Mal," Deolinda explains to her lover that "I'm the person you've always wanted me to be/I have a job and a normal life/but when I get up and don't know who I am who I've become/I start going crazy/Your good is my bad."
Highly recommended!"

Michael Lipton

01. Mal Por Mal
02. Fado Toninho
03. Nao Sei Falar De Amor
04. Contado Ninguém Acredita
05. Eu Tenho Um Melro
06. Movimento Perpétuo Associativo
07. O Fado Nao É Mau
08. Lisboa Nao É A Cidade Perfeita
09. Fon-Fon-Fon
10. Fado Castigo
11. Ai Rapaz
12. Cançao Ao Lado
13. Garçonete Da Casa De Fado
14. Clandestino

Ana Bacalhau: vocals
Luís José Martins: classical guitar, ukulele, cavaquinho, guitalele, viola braguesa and vocals
Pedro da Silva Martins: composition, lyrics, classical guitar and vocals
Zé Pedro Leitao: double bass and vocals

Link

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AT Ensemble: Archivum

2009-10-09T23:58:00.002+02:00

Well known Hungarian folk and jazz musicians play sophisticated, intelligent world music. One can realise that the musicians are well trained and have solid roots in jazz music. World famous singer Irén LOVÁSZ is also featured on the album. (Her most famous release is called: WORLD TREE.) She and her music-mates can be found on albums of MAKÁM too.

1. 1999
2. Én felkelék - I Get Up
3. Iniciálé - Initial
4. Pókháló - Cobweb
5. Lélekbál - Ball of Soul
6. Szeszélyes - Caprice
7. Szárnyak - Wings
8. Időcsepp - Drop of Time
9. Szemek - Eyes

Bárány Péter - acoustic guitar, bass
Gavodi Zoltán - clarinet
Gyulai Csaba - violin, viola, viola da gamba, percussion
Koós László - guitar
Mizsei Zoltán - keyboards, piano, psalterium, percussion

Guests:
Lovász Irén - vocal
Váczi Dániel - sax
Kőszegi Péter - bass
Dés András - percussion

Link

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Big thanks Frankie for the CD!

Nikolay Oorzhak: Song of Spirit

2009-10-09T01:23:00.001+02:00

Nikolay Oorzhak was born in December 1949, in the small village Khorum-Dag in western Tuva. After graduating from high school in 1964, he worked for four years as a shepherd, herding horses, sheep, and cows. There on the steppes, alone with his herds, he started producing sounds like his father and grandfather used to sing. This was Khoomei, or throat-singing. At that time, his only audiences were the horses, sheep, and cows.
In 1982, Nikolay caught the attention of the local authorities, who supported his bid for a professional education. So, in 1983 Nikolay began attending the Ulan-Ude cultural institute in Buryatia, where he also became Director for Public Theaters. This was also an opportunity to finally open his hidden talent of throat-singing.
In 1989 the First International Festival of Throat-Singing was held in the Tuvan capital of Kyzyl. Nikolay was awarded First Prize for Kargyraa style. At that time he already brilliantly performs in all the overtone singing (xorekteer) styles: khoomei, kargyraa, sygyt, borbangnadyr, ezengileer and became a Khoomeiji (Recognized Master of Khoomei) in his country. The same year he and fellow throat-singer Boris Kherly and scientist Zoya Kyrgys founded Ensemble Tuva. Meeting with great success, they toured internationally, including Norway, Sweden, Turkey and Mongolia.

In those days, it was common for such ensembles to include a dramatization of a shamanic ritual, and in addition to singing and playing with Ensemble Tuva, Nikolay portrayed the shaman. Elders often commented that he appeared authentic and suited for this role, and that perhaps he was meant to be a real shaman. Sometimes, after these performances, he felt dizzy and suffered headaches. He sought help from Oleg Toiduk, a well-known shaman. Oleg told him that Nikolay was destined to be a shaman, and was suffering the effects of energies sand talents that he needed to share with others for healing.

In Tuva, shamans often inherit their abilities, and Nikolay was no exception. There were shamans on his mother's side, and her father was a famous shaman in the Sut-Khol region of Tuva. On this basis, Nikolay started his healing way. Observing his progress, in 1998 the pre-eminent Tuvan shamanism scholar Prof. Mongush Kenin-Lopsan invited Nikolay to work for his shamanic society Dungur.

In 1995 Nikolay was invited to India to celebrate His Holiness the Dalai Lama's 60 birthday. He got the Dalai Lama's blessing, which enables him to increase his healing singing abilities.

In 1999 Nikolay was elected Chairman of Tuvan shaman society Tos-Deer, and that same year visited Vienna, Austria, with Prof. Mongush for the Shamanic Congress. He also toured Italy and Switzerland. Back in Tuva in December 1999 German television filmed a documentary on his outstanding technique of shamanism and throat singing. In 2000 he was invited to return to Germany for that year's Shamanic Congress.

In 2002 he made a successful three-month tour in Canada and USA on invitation of Mr. Steeve Sklar (International Association for Harmonic Singing) and Canadian Shaman's Society. During the tour, he had a meeting with Dr. Michael Harner, a famous founder of Foundation for Shamanic Studies, who has highly evaluated Nikolay's abilities.

Nikolay regularly gives a seminars in different towns of Russia, Ukraine and Europe, teaching the shamanism, throat singing and using the overtones in healing practice and self-development. He also is a welcomed and honorary guest at local and international music festivals.

01. Appeals
02. Kargyraa
03. Khomus And Sygyt Together
04. Khomus Solo
05. Sygyt
06. Shamans Song
07. Bowling
08. Trio 1
09. Trio 2
10. Moscow Mix (With Mikhail Zukov, 2000)
11. Improvising (With Vladimir Solyanik)

Link

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Majid Bekkas: African Gnaoua Blues

2009-10-07T23:53:00.003+02:00

Majid Bekkas, oud and guembri virtuoso, guitar professor and singer, has long been a star in his home country Morocco. Over the last few years, he has found his way into the European jazz scene through his collaborations with Archie Shepp, Louis Sclavis, Flavio Boltro or Klaus Doldinger. Abdelmajid Bekkas was born and still lives in Salé, Morocco. He studied classical guitar and oud at the National Conservatory of Music and Dance in Rabat and learnt Gnawa music through the teachings of the master Ba Houmane. Gnawa appeared in the 16th century. During the conquest of Sudan, Ahmed El Mansour Dahbi set up the first trading and cultural links between Timbuktu, near Zagora where Bekkas comes from, and Marrakech.

The secular music is still considered the "healer of souls" from Essaouira to Marrakech, easily
understandable when you listen to the spellbinding sound of Bekkas´ voice, guembri and guitar.
Like a watermark, the mystery of Africa can be felt in the backround, alongside the blues. Gnawa´s intact purity is the essence of the authenticity. By claiming to be part of Africa, the mother of the blues and ist numerous offspring such as funk, Bekkas is placing Gnawa in its primary dimension. By opening the spectrum (including elements of contemporary western music), Bekkas attains a universal status that is nurtured by the path he travelled. These include: jazz, alongside pioneers such as Peter Brötzmann, Archie Shepp, Flavio Boltro, Louis Sclavis.

Bekkas´ openness and ability to balance modernism and memory with a rare talent that knews no compromise, frees the music from the stamp of time. The memory is that of pain and wisdom, of songs that come from the slaves of Africa.

01.African Blues
02.Mrhaba
03.Hamdouchi
04.Youbadi
05.Balini
06.Daymallah
07.Sandiye
08.Galou
09.Soudani Manayou
10.Mawama

Link

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Melech Mechaya: Budja Ba

2009-10-07T00:25:00.007+02:00

Melech Mechaya is a festive journey through klezmer music, with a contagious sound of arabian flavours, gypsy rythms and the yiddish tradition. From Hungary to Israel, from the Balcans to New York, those are parties and celebrations with standing audiences and empty chairs. Between laughter and dancing, this is great party not recommended to those with heart problems!

Considered nowadays as an independent style – yiddish music – klezmer music was born on the musical tradition of the Jewish culture, and was developed as from the fiftheenth century. Its repertoire comprehend many dance and celebration themes, as well as delicate and moving songs.

If “klezmer” referred only to musical instruments, its meaning was widened to the instrumentalists themselves (the “klezmorim”), and nowadays it means an almost universal music: from Hungary to Israel, from the Balcans to New York.

The klezmer music that is played by Melech Mechaya is characterized by contagious joy and rythm, with energetic and festive dances and celebrations. With roots in
ancient jewish traditions from the peoples of the East Europe, Melech Mechaya's klezmer includes the energy of the balcan music, the cadenza of the gypsy rythms, and the elegance of the arabian melodies.

01. Dodi Li
02. Fanfarra
03. Bulgar De Almada (Com Tucanas)
04. Nigun 7
05. Dança Do Desprazer
06. Sweet Father
07. Rad Halaila
08. Budja Ba
09. Fado Tantz
10. Na Festa Do Rabi
11. Freylach 6.8
12. Hava Nagila
13. Melodia Da Rua
14. Cravineiro
15. Sabituar
16. Harmónica

André Santos – Guitar;
Francisco Caiado – Percussion;
Joao Graça – Violin;
Joao Sovina – Double-bass;
Miguel Veríssimo – Clarinet.

Link

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Bugotak: The Wheels Must Rotate

2009-10-05T01:29:00.004+02:00

The ethnic project 'Bugotak' was found in 2004 in Novosibirsk, Russia, and currently located in the same region.

Bugotak plays native siberian music in these variations: Mostly - northern turkic (Altai, Tuva), but also Tungus-manchurian, and music of the Deep Northern folks (Eveny, Negidaltsy, Orci etc) Mostly - traditional folklore, but also ethnic turkic rock and hard ambient. Mostly - its own songs, but also original folk songs and tributes to rock classics, played in traditional siberian instruments.

The main idea of Bugotak's art is that only those traditions come alive, which develop itselves; stark traditions are subject to nobody. Mean both creativity and traditions.

Bugotak was found by George Andriyanov, a multi-instrument player and throat singing performer.
Awards in 2006: - 'The best folklore band' within professional performers on The Baykal Necklace international festival (Ulan-Ude, Russia)

01. Bass Barchyzy
02. All You Want
03. We Siberians
04. Young Shaman Returns Home After Medical Institute
05. The Wheels Must Rotate (Bermuda From Askat)
06. Makary Lykov
07. Assigning Heritage
08. Shaktar-Baatyr (Folk)
09. Kezitke Sening Söstöring
10. The Valley Is Covered With Ice Of Dead People's Tears
11. Of Course, The Word
12. What I See That I Sing (Parody Of Linkin Park's Breaking The Habit)
13. There Is No Fate (Dedicated To Yanka Dyagilevaya)
14. To Live Up To The Winter (Dedicated To People Who Weren't Able To Reach The Foot Of Their Own Mountain)

Sayan Andrianov
Taras Ablamsky
Barbara Sapozhnikov
Eugene Zhukovsky
Vladimir Glushko
Sayan Andriyanov

Nicholas Roerich, Irina Smirnova and Pavel Shaikin

Link

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Nikola: Balkan Syndicate

2009-10-01T20:30:00.001+02:00

The Bulgarian-Hungarian musician Nikola Parov who has been playing in several groups, this time went into studio with the finest ethno and world musicians to make his brand new album Balkan Syndicate. A kind of music was born which is up-to-date and modern, but at the same time it involves elements of world music as well. Hearing these temperamental rythms the amusement and fun is guaranteed. Thanks to Nikola Parov and the contributing artists, the audience can hear a world-standard album which holds its ground wherever in the global musical life, from an artists who has obtained his professionalism playing for several years on the Broadway and as a soloist of the Riverdance Orchestra.

01. Este jő/ Evening Comes
02. Kurva lesz a babám /My Darling is a Misstress
03. Flash & Crash /Flash & Crash
04. Fúdd el fúdd / Blow it Blow Away
05. Mi zörög / Crush in the Bush
06. Prela Baba / Prela Baba
07. Walter búcsúja /Walter’s Farawell
08. Szerelem betegje / Sick of Love
09. Anyám édes anyám / Mother Dear Mother
10. Mikor lesz már nyár / Wish for Summer
11. Repülj madár repülj / Fly Birdy Fly

Gyenge Lajos
Bantsheva, Roza
Dorozsmai Péter
Csonka Walter
Herczku Ági
Pain
Szalóki Ági
Rostás Károly
Varga György
Bognár Szilvia
Todorova, Elitza
Yordanova, Borislava
Parov, Nikola
Georgieva, Velitshka

Link

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Jon Boden: Songs from the Floodplain

2009-09-12T00:33:00.002+02:00

Jon Boden is a busy man. One half of a superb duo with John Spiers; the singer and fiddler for Bellowhead, and a solo artist whose acclaimed debut, Painted Lady, was a dramatic work darkened by the hues of romantic obsession. Songs from the Floodplain is set on a larger, more epic canvas. It’s an apocalyptic vision of a world gone to hell in a handcart, a ravaged near-future where memory rasps like a collapsed lung over an open fire and whose inhabitants grapple with what has been lost, where they are now, and what they’ve got coming. He’s certainly got his timing right. Recession, depression, ruination, collapse – the four horsemen of the financial apocalypse could be the rhythm section here. Set against a rousing and deeply uplifting musical backdrop that draws on rock textures as well as folk and atmospheric chamber music. Boden plays all the instruments himself – guitars, fiddle, concertina, bass, percussion, bagpipes, banjo, harmonium. His voice is superb: it can carry heavy emotional freight – all the weighty, dark materials of his vision – but it can also rise above it with a declamatory ring of defiance, remembrance and confession.
This ambitious album captures the current zeitgeist of collapse, uncertainty and dread. Lyrically and musically it’s a tour de force, deeply atmospheric and resonant of common fears and escalating anxieties, but with an imaginative force that makes it an uplifting and deeply satisfying experience. Yes, things could turn out this bad. But there’s no doubt that Boden has turned out a consoling, classic album for troubling times.

01. We Do What We Can
02. Going Down To The Wasteland
03. Days Gone By
04. Penny For The Preacher
05. Dancing By The Factory
06. Beating The Bounds
07. The Pilgrim's Way
08. April Queen
09. When The Walls Come Tumbling Down
10. Don't Wake Me Up 'Til Tomorrow
11. Under Their Breath
12. Has Been Cavalry

Link

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VA: Ballades Africaines

2009-09-06T19:09:00.004+02:00

01. Snimbe - Tama (Mali - Guinee Bussau)
02. Sinama Denw - Habib Koite & Bamada (Mali)
03. Awa Y’Okeyi - Papa Wemba (Republique Democratique du Congo
04. N’Dolo - Henri Dikongue (Cameroun)
05. Ancient Voices - Chiwoniso (Zimbabwe)
06. Kounka - Lulendo (Angola)
07. Mariama - Pape et Cheikh (Senegal)
08. Olhos Molhados - Bonga (Angola)
09. Malaso - Regis Gizavo (Madagascar)
10. Dimama - Sally Nyolo (Cameroun)
11. Wanita - Rokia Traore (Mali)
12. Mamy Kha - Rajery (Madagascar)
13. Mame - Senegal Acoustic (Senegal - France)
14. Kothbiro - Ayub Ogada (Kenya)
15. Tapera - Oliver Mtukudzi (Zimbabwe)

Link

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Erik Marchand & Thierry Robin: Songs of Central Brittany

2009-09-04T22:48:00.001+02:00

Erik Marchand, formerly of the group Gwerz, is a powerful singer of Breton songs. His trio came into being when accompanist Thierry Robin discovered that the oud, or Middle Eastern lute, could reproduce the unusual intervals of traditional Breton vocal music. Soon, the duo had recruited Hameed Khan, a tabla player, to round out their Breton-Arabic fusion.

01. Az Zoudar Maleurus
02. Ar C'hont Gwilhou
03. Eur Suivezh A Viz Mae
04. Jean-Louis Ha Marivon
05. Heuliad Fised (Trad.)
06. Bolom Kozh
07. Iwan Gamus
08. Son Ar Vot
09. Heuliad Plinn
10. Ar Graouenn Muskades

Link

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Hétrét: Hetric Free Folk

2009-09-01T17:10:00.004+02:00

Hetric Free Folk - world music. A fusion of different Celtic music traditions: Irish, Scottish, and Manx with Balkan music: Moldavian, Transylvanian, Hungarian!

The group Hétrét is based in South-western Hungary. This corner of the country has always been a melting pot of different cultures and traditions. A meeting point of three countries: Hungary, Austria and Slovenia, the region is home to various nationalities and thus to a unique variety of musical traditions.

Originally a traditional Irish music group, Hétrét expanded their repertoire to combine folk traditions from the local regions: Hungary, the Balkans as well as Transylvania and Moldavia. The music is basically acoustic and one can hear a variety of instruments from the Celtic harp and tin whistles to the South-American charango.

01. Harvest Home (Traditional Irish and Hungarian)
02. Se kertembe (Traditional Moldavian)
03. Come by the Hills (Traditional Irish)
04. Szerelmese
05. Banks of Claudy (Traditional Irish)
06. Abbie
07. Tha Mi Sgith (Traditional Scottish)
08. I'm a Man (Traditional Irish)
09. Az ördög tánca
10. Ushag Veg Ruy (Traditional Manx and Transylvanian)
11. Bajdal (Traditional Moldavian and Irish)
12. Oidipusz bolyongása (Traditional Irish)

Boa Veronika Setanta - voice
Kimberly Coleman - fiddle, voice
Jon Hanson - fiddle, voice
Hochrein Judit - tin whistles, voice
Ityko - guitars, banjo, double bass, mandolin, keyboards, voice, percussion
Kardos Endre Bozi - flute, tin whistls, bagpipes, voice
Toth Istvan - guitars, charngo, bodhran, drums, double bass, voice

Guests:
Soós Tamas Attila - soprano sax
Szarka Gyula - voice
Szervatiusz Lilla - voice
Morvay Krisztina - voice
Szabó Perpetua - voice
Tóth Anita - voice

Link

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Palya Bea: Egyszálének (JustOneVoice)

2009-08-10T23:56:00.003+02:00

"Listening to Bea Palya’s new album, called JustOneVoice, you realize that just one voice is enough, when it’s Bea Palya’s. It’s powerful and subtle, playful and profound. Its effects are haunting and calming, uplifting and sensual. The songs have their roots in folk music, from Bea’s childhood, but she has always reached beyond the traditional, adding the passion and emotion from the music of Persia, Bulgaria, India. She plays with the melodies, and with all that the human voice can do, making cat sounds and scat sounds, with accompaniments from the real world – the sound of the ocean on a Mexican beach, the heartbeat of the bodhran, the sound of children playing or clapping and stomping. Bea bursts with energy and emotion – even when she’s talking...

Interview with Bea:

- You say the music on this album comes from within. How hard is it to express what’s within you?

- It’s easy and hard at the same time. I went back to my roots, musically, to Hungarian folk song collections of peasant women and men who sang alone, with just one voice. That’s where I got the idea to make an album with just my voice. I realized that that’s the first way I ever performed – I sang alone.

I also went back to my roots, spiritually, with songs for my mom, my dad, to express a new deeper relationship with them. I also sing with my grandfather, who was a Gypsy and a farmer and a bass player. I found an old tape of him singing that stopped in the middle, so I finished the song. Kind of like Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole.

- How have your travels influenced you recently?

- Every January I spend the whole month by the ocean, this time in Mexico. When you walk every day on the beach, you start taking a walk inside yourself, discovering yourself. I even wrote and recorded songs on the beach. What I do is from the very center of me. I have a new level of self-knowledge and self-confidence now.

- Which of the songs say the most about you?

- Well, the song From Branch to Branch used to be my ars poetica, because I felt like a bird flitting from branch to branch, singing to make brothers and sisters happy. Nowadays, I enjoy the notes and the sounds, so I sing it still. But I made a new song, The Browbeaters, that shows my feelings now. I like people to like me, but I don’t want everybody to like me. I don’t need that.

- What do you hope that people will get from your album?

- The album has sadness and anger, pleasure and laughter. The songs, half folk songs and half my own new compositions, are about love and loss, friendship and passion… But the final result is that I can laugh at myself if I need to. This helps me in life. I hope that people who listen can also hear their own stories in the songs.

Pick up JustOneVoice at a music store near you, or at Bea’s next concert..."

Adri Bruckner

01. Hallgatóim
02. Elment a madárka
03. Szép szemű szeretőm
04. Szépen veri az eső a virágot
05. Az ördög meg a vén dög
06. Lábam alá hosszú utat
07. Csillagtalan setét éjjel
08. Anyám, anyám, édesanyám
09. Az elérhetetlen férfi
10. Mindenkinek kurv'anyja
11. Macskatangó
12. Szülésdal
13. Az én piros vérem
14. Rózsa
15. Úgy elmegyek rózsám
16. Szól a kakas már
17. Megmondók
18. Tata nótája

Link

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Vershki Da Koreshki: Vershki Da Koreshki

2009-07-03T21:55:00.003+02:00

Russia-based world/jazz fusion collective Vershki Da Koreshki (a.k.a. VeDaKi) is a meeting of different cultures, rhythms, languages, energies, forces of the world (Africa, India, Russia, Tuva, Europe), and joining them together in search of natural understanding and communication, link between traditional and modern, roots and improvisation (not without humour and hope).

Plants hide their roots (koreshki) to protect them from bad weather while their leaves (vershki) are directly affected by the constant changes in the weather. These two vital parts develop simultaneouly but in opposite direction thus maintaining the balance of the overall organism.
The group Vershki da Koreshki grew in the same way: the roots are formed by two descendants of ancient cultures of Africa (Senegal) and Central Asia (Tuva). The leaves are two compatriots from Saint Petersburg who are nourished by jazz, classical and contemporary music and improvisation.
The synthesis of these seemingly contradictory elements results in the band's great freedom of style and concept.

1. Borbannaadyr
2. Toumkoumani
3. Trance-later
4. Ana
5. Khoomei-bas
6. Vershki da Koreshki
7. Khomouz-bas
8. Chimtchak Salghin
9. Pitchendebin / Khoomeyim Algap Tour Men

Kaigal-Ool Khovalyg: voix, khoomei, ighil, khomyss
Mola Sylla: voix, kongoma, xalam, kalimba
Alexei Levin: accordeon chromatique, piano, khomouz, kongoma
Vladimir Volkov: contrebasse
Paco Diedhion: sauruba

Link

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Erika & Emigrante: Tzigane from Mars

2009-06-26T00:18:00.001+02:00

Erika Serre is a Gypsy singer who was noticed quite a while ago by two film-makers, Tony Gatlif and Emir Kusturica. This Parisian of Hungarian origin, knows how to surround herself with people : featured musicians on the Emigrante band include Gypsy and French musicians, a tabla player from Rajhastan, a jazzman, a bass player from Cameroon and some off-the-wall musicians like the drummer Buj or the Syrian-Sicilian guitar player Serge Leonardi who seals the wholeness of these brilliant compositions.
With this second album, the group starts to change its direction towards rock. The guitars of Sergio Leonardi are particularly put in the front, notably on the cover of "Kashmir" of Led Zeppelin. The result is one of indisputable originality.

01. Satore
02. Jaipur
03. Johnny Tu N'Es Pas Un Ange
04. L'Amor Senza Pace
05. Bismillah
06. Kashmir
07. L'Amour
08. Chalo
09. Yallah
10. Mando
11. Tzigane From Mars
12. Te Vas Sukarije
13. Morocharo
14. Sandala
15. Lélé

Erika Serre - chant
Sergio Leonardi - guitar
DD Bell - bass
Latif Ahmed khan - tabla
François Laizeau - drums

Link

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Szalonna and his Band: Örömzene (Jam Session)

2009-06-20T17:42:00.005+02:00

"This record is an extraordinary undertaking. It isn't often that a performer renders his message in several styles, several musical languages, and several artistic modes of expression within the framework of one production. What you will come across with István Pál Szalonna's violin playing, is definitely something different than a pianist's repertoire which extends from say Bach to Bartók. Here from the lean Mezőség peasant music (Transylvania), to the tunes from far Northeastern Hungary, the Gömör shepherd melodies and on to the style of the band from the village of Tarnalelesz, spilling over into (what's referred to as) "folksy composed Hungarian music": we get an ample taste of the colourful world of sound which has ripened over the last two or three hundred years of Hungarian violin folklore."

Gergely Agócs

01. Új stílusban, ahogyan a Gyuszi nagyapja szerette
02. Román forgatós, legényes és szapora
03. Hármasban
04. Jáger Jóska balladája
05. Tiszta fehérben
06. Árva vagyok…
07. Piros alma a kezembe‘…
08. Hegedűt a kezibe...
09. Tibi Géza emlékének
10. Ahogyan nagyapám szerette
11. Kavalkád
12. Hangulatok egy kórógyi lakodalomból
13. Együtt
14. De én azért nem átkozom…

István Pál "Szalonna" - violin
Ágnes Herczku - voice
Attila Gera - clarinet, saxofon, kaval
Balázs Unger - cimbalom
Gyula Karacs - viola
Róbert Doór - double bass

Guests:
voice: Gergely Agócs, Milán Hetényi, László Papp
violin: Szilárd Albert, Károly Berki, Tamás Gombai, József Kállai, Ferenc Radics, Csaba Soós, Róbert Báder
cello: Albert Mohácsy, András Pachert
bassprim tambura: Dávid Eredics, Salamon Eredics
viola: Zsolt Nagy, Márton Éri, Zoltán Váradi
accordion: Zoltán Bobár, Lajos Pál, Zsolt Barcza
cimbalom: Zsolt Barcza, Sándor Ürmös
Mátyás Bolya - Moldavian lute
Attila Búzás - bass tambura
Áron Eredics - tambura, cello tambura
Benjámin Eredics - violatambura
Tibor Kolompár - second violin
Tamás Radics - double bass
Vilmos Seres - clarinet
Takács Ádám - violin-viola

Link

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Big thanks Frankie for the CD!

The Handsome Family: Through the Trees

2009-06-17T15:38:00.003+02:00

"Nature's creepy. It seeps into your wounds and infects you; it covers your trees with ice, and it stalls your car. It's not climate-controlled and it doesn't live in your home entertainment center. And it coats with dust and peppers with age "Through the Trees," the third record by the Handsome Family, the husband-and-wife duo of Brett and Rennie Sparks (he writes most of the music; she writes most of the lyrics). Expanding their sound from the standard bass, guitar and drums to include a wider range of instrumentation -- softer guitars, autoharp, banjo, Dobro, violin, bass, melodica, piano, a quiet, unobtrusive drum machine and Brett's sturdy, beautiful voice -- the Handsome Family create a strange amalgam of pre-World War II country music and a more current, subdued, slightly twangy rock, with lush but simple arrangements. They write songs with a perfect narrative arc, and they seldom waste time showing off; they just set to music tangled, tense stories that sit like perfect little objects of nature -- like pine cones or something.

Entering "Through the Trees" is like passing through the threshold of a cabin door and into the woods on the first day of spring, or just after an ice storm, into a mysterious world, one where "worms circle like sharks" and "crickets are screaming." In these settings the Handsome Family create emotionally wrecked characters who are constantly battling dangerous impulses as they roam around the woods -- or sometimes, through the streets of Chicago, where the Handsome Family live. In "Giant of Illinois," two boys who chanced upon a swan sleeping in the woods "stormed it with rocks till it collapsed in the reeds." In "My Sister's Tiny Hands," a girl, mourning the death of her twin from a snake bite in the forest, "set the woods to burning and choked the river up with stones." These are old-school country songs, grotesque and brutal, and through these narratives they offer something dumbfoundingly magical -- something far removed from anything remotely meta or post.

"Through the Trees" is also about relationships -- birth, death and the in-between -- and because a husband and wife are creating and performing these songs, an immediate context is laid before us: In "Cathedrals," the Handsome Family move from a cathedral in Cologne that "looks like a spaceship" to icy Wisconsin: "Hoping to feel love under the icicles, all we did was drink in an empty bar. But, stumbling drunk we crawled back to our motel room and I fell against you and felt your beating heart."

Underneath it all flows a debilitating sense of dread and awe; a restless black fog floats in the record's stomach, the result of playing with dangerous emotions -- fear, regret, passion, sorrow, loss and a steady stream of foreboding. The Handsome Family poke at it from different angles. Also inside is a wicked sense of humor that cuts through the existential dread. "My Ghost," the closing song on the album, tells the true story of a stay in a mental hospital: "Here in the bipolar ward if you shower you get a gold star. But I'm not going far till the Haldol kicks in -- until then, until then -- I'm stuck in this fucking twin bed and I won't get any cookies or tea, till I stop quoting Nietzsche and brush my teeth and comb my hair." Like some form of clairvoyant madness, "Through the Trees" sneaks in faintly, as though a whisper from a secret world -- one that's always there right outside the door, waiting patiently for an opportunity to consume you."

Randall Roberts

01. Weightless Again
02. My Sister's Tiny Hands
03. Stalled
04. Where The Trees Lean
05. Cathedrals
06. Down In The Ground
07. The Giant of Illinois
08. Down in the Valley of Hollow Loos
09. I Fell
10. The Woman Downstairs
11. Last Night I Went Out Walking
12. Bury Me Here
13. My Ghost

Link

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Romanyi Rota: Phiravelman Kalyi Phuv

2009-06-04T19:48:00.002+02:00

Authentic Gypsy Folk Music from Hungary and Romania: Transylvania, Szatmar, Serbia, and the Sub-Carpathian.
This second recording and the way this ensemble uses old and new, archaic and modern musical and mood elements so that they complement one another and form a lasting unity; has put them amongst the most prominent musicians from the younger generation of Gypsy musicians. Their repertoire is exclusively original, traditional material which forms a basis, the open and flexible receptive medium. The traditional northeastern Hungarian Gypsy music and melodies from Transylvanian Gypsy communities are paired with the Balkan pop influence, characteristic of the folk rooted Western European performers as well.

01. Korkore Zav Ande Kalyi Ratyi
Gypsy Dance From Serbia
02. Megyek, megyek hazafelé
Gypsy Rolled Song From Hungary
03. Trandatajduj Glazi
Sub Carpathian Gypsy Slow Song /Gypsy Slow Song And Rolled Song From Szatmar County
04. Akhardem Me Le Romen
Gypsy Dance Tune From Greece
05. Aven Mande Le Roma
Gypsy Dance Tunes From Romania
06. Diri, Diri, So Kerdjan
Gypsy Ballad From The Balkan
07. Ustyi Opre, Muri Gazi
Gypsy Dance Song From Transylvania
08. Lokhe Zav Me Pe Vulyica
Romanian Gypsy Dance Tunes
09. Kercimate Zav
Gypsy Love Song From Serbia
10. Álmos vagyok, mint a cica
Gypsy Rolled Songs From Hungary
11. Búzát szemel a vadgalamb
Gypsy Dance Songs From Hungary
12. Sasman Vurdon Taj Karuca
Slow Gypsy Song From Hungary
13. Corro Som Me, Laso Rom
Gypsy Dance Song From Transylvania
14. Phendjom Tuke, Muri Gazi
Gypsy folk Song From Transylvania
15. Phiravelamn Kalyi Phuv
Gypsy Dance Tune From Macedonia
16. Trusalo Taj Bokhalo Som
Gypsy folk Song From Romania
17. Akharenman Mure Phralora
Gypsy Rumba
18. Főbe vertek a cigányok
Gypsy Ballad From Hungary
19. T'avos Devla Barvalo
Gypsy folk Song From Romania
20. Aj Devlale Phen Mange, So Te
Gypsy Rolled Song From Hungary/Sub-Carpathian Gypsy Rolled Song

Ferenc Balogh - vocal, guitar, oral bass, spoons, derbouka
Ildikó Varga - vocal
István Pacal Balogh - oral bass, vocals, water can, spoons, guitar, derbouka
Ilona Farkas - vocal
István Nagy - vocals, tambouritza, bouzouki, mandolin, guitar, oral bass

Guests:
József Simon Balogh - vocal
Kálmán Balogh - cimbalom
Csaba Novák - double bass

Link

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Di Grine Kuzine: Feribot

2009-06-03T00:26:00.004+02:00

"Di Grine Kuzine is a Berlin-based, klezmer-rooted, Balkan brass band. The connection between klezmer and Balkan brass band music is a natural one as the original Eastern European Jewish musical repertoire owed much to Romanian, Gypsy and Ottoman influences. Since klezmer musicians were expected to be able to play Romanian horas and Serbian kolos as well as freylekhs and bulgars it is likely that a well traveled Eastern European Jewish band had an extensive repertoire.

It is less likely that there were many klezmer brass bands until around the beginning of the 20th century. Law in many areas of Russia and Poland limited the musical instruments that Jews were allowed to play. In general, Jews could play quiet string instruments but could not play loud brass instruments. It wasn't until large numbers of Jews were drafted into the Czar's army that you had the conditions where Jews had access to horns, trombones and tubas. Draftees were allowed to keep their instruments when they mustered out of military service.

On Di Grine Kuzine's earlier albums, their repertoire was largely klezmer-based. On this new release, the songs are mostly Serbian, Hungarian and Bulgarian village dance pieces. The band's vocals are a strong suit. Alexandra Dimitroff has mastered the constricted throat sound that is often associated with Bulgarian vocal music. Listen to her vocal lead on cuts like "Esik Esö" and "Gigetanje." There's simply no other klezmer brass band that has a vocalist as strong as her.

Another strong suit is Steve Lukanky's excellent tuba playing. The newest member of the group, Lukanky shines on tracks like "Gustavs Son Tumbao." Compared to the string bass found in most other dance bands, the tuba adds a vibrant color to Di Grine Kuzine's music.

Raucous and unruly, Feribot is not traditional music. It's more like very hip village music played by urban post modernists. As the band says in the album's liner notes"On this ship there is room for you all."

Aaron Howard

01.Galizianer Tants (Traditionell)
02.Rumelaj (Traditionell)
03.Esik esö (Traditionell)
04.Auf Zeydns Tish (Traditionell)
05.Gigetanje (Traditionell)
06.Zabkowice Walc
07.Gustavs Son Tumbao
08.Papa Call
09.Zonka (Traditionell)
10.Zemer Atik (Traditionell)
11.Bavarski Cocek
12.Weseli Sebori (Traditionell)
13.Leggerezza
14.Spil Es Nokh Amol, Karel

Alexandra Dimitroff, accordion & vocals
Johannes Kevenhörster, clarinet & soprano sax
Karel Komnatoff, trumpet & fluegelhorn & vocals
Mr. Steve R. Lukanky, tuba
Snorre Schwarz, drums & vocals

Link

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Blanche: Little Amber Bottles

2009-05-28T20:52:00.004+02:00

When Blanche first emerged in 2004, their mystique was part-rooted in how leader Dan Miller had previously spent time in a couple of late-’90s garage bands that included Jack White. For a while, they seemed happy to ride on the back of that connection. White strummed guitar on first single “Who’s To Say”, while Dan Miller’s creepy, often funny, countryphiles supported the Stripes on a major British tour.

The three-year interim has found Blanche in various states of health: backing Loretta Lynn on Van Lear Rose, sidelined by Miller’s new film career (he was in Johnny Cash biopic Walk The Line) and fielding rumours of a serious split. Thankfully, Little Amber Bottles is the work of a band recharged. Feeding off country’s primal impulse, they’re still the embodiment of Old Weird America. Visually, too, they’re spot on. The sort of shock-haired oddballs you’d expect to find stalking the back of the revival tent in O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

“What This Town Needs” finds both Dan and wife Tracee Mae in killer form – like Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood cavorting with The Gun Club. His voice is hard, hers oozes an odd warmth. Mrs Miller is best heard on “A Year From Now”, a gorgeous, loping ballad in which banjo and strings are eventually smacked aside by fat guitars. Her own “No Matter Where You Go” is eloquently plucked, aided by guest Isobel Campbell’s serene cello. Resident Blanche banjoist (and Raconteur) Jack Lawrence also offers his own fare, the heavily Gram Parsons-influenced “Death, Where Is Thy Sting?”

For the most part though, these are Dan Miller’s musings. The songs allude to hurdles overcome and demons placated, if hardly cast out. “We Didn’t Quit” is a dark relationship tale, while the initial calm of “The World I Used To Be Afraid Of” suddenly heads into murder ballad territory: “To let you turn your back on true love would have been a mortal sin/So I held you underwater until you finally gave in”. Unsettling to the last, it’s Blanche all over.

Rob Hughes

01. I'm Sure Of It
02. Last Year's Leaves
03. A Year From Now
04. No Matter Where You Go...
05. What This Town Needs
06. Child Of The Moon - Blanche, Jagger, Mick
07. Little Amber Bottles
08. The World I Used To Be Afraid Of
09. O Death, Where Is Thy Sting
10. I Can't Sit Down - Blanche, Traditional
11. (Exordium)
12. The World's Largest Crucifix
13. Scar Beneath The Skin

Link

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Söndörgő & Ferus Mustafov: In Concert

2009-05-22T19:04:00.001+02:00

The Band says:
"The Söndörgő Ensemble was established in Szentendre, Hungary, in 1995. It was on the basis of our family tradition and due to our attraction to Southern Slav folk music that we set the objective of cultivating this particularly rich and valuable tradition. It was during our secondary education years that we got to know each other and began playing music together. We strive to perform archaic folk music in a concert setup and to instrumentalise it in a way that is true to both reality and tradition. We are currently studying the folk music collected by great Hungarian researchers of music such as Béla Bartók and Tihamér Vujicsics, as well as the extant Southern Slav folk music tradition.
Our ensemble is classified as a tambur band occasionally complemented with accordeon and flute.
To perform melodies from the Balkans, we sound various wind instruments such as clarinet, kaval and saxophone, a variety of drums like tarabuka and tapan, as well as a wealth of string instruments, e.g. litarka.

Southern Slav folk music has developed an extraordinary treasure of melodies as a result of an interaction with various music traditions.

This applies to Serbian and Croatian folk music in Hungary more than it does to folk music in the Balkans.

All along, the Southern Slav ethnicities living in Hungary have been particularly isolated from each other. Consequently, the traditions that they treasure and maintain display a wide variety of differences, which is demonstrated by the use of a wealth of musical instrument types and forms.

The first written record of the Southern Slav tambur dates from 1551, this instrument being of Iranian and Turkish origin, used in a variety of forms in the Balkan peninsula. Originally, the tambur was a solo instrument with a small resonance volume and a long neck.

It began to be updated in the 1800s with a long neck and a diatonic succession of sounds.

It was by the middle of the 1800s that the tambur family used today had evolved. They have four strings, a shorter neck and represent the so-called cromatic succession of sounds, classified as the Szerémség type of instruments.
The first tambur band of amateur artists was set up by Pajo Kolaric, in Eszék, in 1847."

01. Kisacko kolo
02. Tikino
03. Meten
04. Makedonska Gajda
05. Dada Sali
07. Arabis
08. Staro Cunovo oro
09. K4
10. Lilino oro
11. Ferus Solo

Buzás Attila - bass tambura
Eredics Áron - tarabuka, alt tambura
Eredics Benjamin - tambura
Eredics Dávid - clarinet, sax, alt tambura
Eredics Salamon - accordion, alt tambura

With:
Ferus Mustafov - clarinet, sax, bagpipe
Herczku Ágnes - voice

Link

pass: bluesmen-worldmusic.blogspot.com

Big thanks Frankie for the CD!