Bluesmen's World(Music)

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)

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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)

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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

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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

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Big thanks Frankie for the CD!

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

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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.

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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.)

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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)

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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

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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)

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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

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"...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)

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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

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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

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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)

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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)

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