cdRoots World Music Shop

cdRoots: down but not out!

2011-11-01T09:33:00.001-07:00

For those who are hunting around for us, the recent northeast storms threw some of our servers out of whack and it's taking longer than expected to get back.

Thanks for the notes of concern... I know we will be back shortly!

Thanks
Cliff Furnald
cdRoots.com

The Afro-Semitic Experience offer "Further Definitions of the Days of Awe"

2011-09-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

"Never before have I heard this lyrically powerful a fusion of Jewish and jazz souls on fire.” So says Nat Hentoff and I can’t agree more.

For most of the past decade the Afro-Semitic Experience has played the midnight Selichot service with Cantor Jack Mendelson at his synagogue in White Plains, NY. Theey have, in the process, created a new way to accompany cantorial music and they document it in this rousing recording of three concerts in August, 2010 just before the High Holy Days, one in New York City, one in New Haven, Connecticut, and one in Greenfield, Massachusetts. It features the band with special guests Cantor Jack Mendelson, Cantor Lisa Arbisser, Cantor Erik Contzius, cantorial soloist Danny Mendelson, and trumpeter Frank London.

Find the CD at cdRoots

Travel back to the Golden Age of Senegalese music with N'Dour and 'The Starsof Dakar'

2010-05-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

Etoile de Dakar featuring Youssou N'Dour

Once Upon A Time In Senegal: The Birth Of Mbalax 1979-1981 (Stern's Music)
2 CDs

There are not many African artists whose names are as well-known as Youssou N’Dour’s. And it’s not just his ‘7 Seconds’ duet with Neneh Cherry, or his frequent collaborations with Peter Gabriel and others. No, you don’t reach his status just by who you hang out with, you get there by who you are and what you do. On one level these 2 CDs form a chapter in the story of who Youssou N’Dour is. But on another they show him simply as an equal member of a band … a band in the right place at the right time and doing the right things. That brief but vital moment in time is captured in these 23 tracks selected from the cassettes that Etoile de Dakar recorded between 1979 and 1981. Several have never been released outside of Senegal, and all have been sensitively re-mastered from the earliest available audio source. These are the best sounding recordings of this material available.

Listen to some audio samples

Buy the CD at cdRoots

Valravn Tests the Extremes of Nordic Roots Music

2010-04-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

The Danish folktronica band Valravn grew out of the acoustic medieval music ensemble Virelai, which had specialized in performing traditional music at medieval festivals. Valravn, updating old Faroese ballads sung in the original language, accompanied on hurdy-gurdy, flutes, hand drums, viola, mandola and electronic samples, have no equals on the Danish music scene. Ask Valravn percussionist, Juan Pino, and he will tell of an explosive development from the band's first album of mainly traditional material to their second, Koder på snor, which relies more on their own compositions.

Morten Alfred Høirup investigates the new sound of Danish roots in his interview in RootsWorld

The History of French Traditional Music (really!)

2010-03-30T10:04:00.000-07:00

Une Anthologie des Musiques Traditionnelles (Frémeaux Associés)

This specially-priced set is a comprehensive anthology of the rich cultural heritage of French traditional music, featuring nearly 300 tracks, provides the listener a complete ethnomusicological panorama of the musical culture of France. The individual titles (recorded between 1900 and 2006) reveal the timeless and lasting nature of a collective memory reaching across whole generations, a memory which, in these times of globalization and uniformity, asserts the diversity of the heritage left to us by popular art-forms.

10 CDS - CD1 : Bretagne • CD2 : France de l’Ouest • CD3 : Auvergne et Limousin • CD4 : Centre France • CD5 : Sud-Ouest • CD6 : Méditerranée • CD7 : Alpes, Nord et Est • CD8 : Corse • CD9 : France d’Outre-Mer • CD10 : Français d’Amérique (more track info below)

Find out more

A Cuban pianist and a German Bigband hold a Ceremony

2010-03-04T09:09:00.000-08:00

Think what you may of the Grammys, but the Academy got one thing (partially) right this past year: Omar Sosa's 2009 recording Across the Divide: A Tale of Rhythm & Ancestry was nominated for Best Contemporary World Music Album. While Béla Fleck took home the statue, the nomination introduced many people to the music of Omar Sosa. For these new listeners, this is good timing. The most recent release by Omar Sosa, Ceremony, shows off his deep "world" credentials. Sosa, originally from Cuba, teamed up with Germany's NDR Bigband and Brazilian arranger Jaques Morelenbaum, and the result is a powerful recording of celebration and joy.

Read More and Hear a Song

Buy the CD

See more reviews of World Music on RootsWorld

Mariem Hassan sings of 'the thorn' of the Saharaui

2010-03-03T05:52:00.000-08:00

Mariem Hassan sings with entrancing intimacy and poetry, in a a clear message calling for all to fight injustice, discrimination and persecution. All of these new songs have been developed in a close complicity with the poet Lamin Allal and the guitarist, Lamgaifri Brahim. Although very young, he has masered all the subtleties of haul music. And Mariem, with the lack of a appropriate Saharaui guitarist over the last years, was inspired to finally realize all the songs she has been carrying in her heart for so many years.

The CD also contains innovative new ideas: the title song “Shouka” is a cantata developed by using all scales and rhythms of the Haul. The essence of the traditional haul is impressively kept by Vadiya Mint el Hanevi, percussionist, chorus and dance, Lamgaifri Brahim, guitar, Mariem Hassan herself , with the important cooperation of poet Lamin Allal.

Listen!

More audio and Biography of the artist at cdRoots

cdRoots New Additions - June 18, 2009

2009-06-18T09:32:00.000-07:00

cdRoots New Additions
www.cdroots.com

In addition to the new titles described below, I have just added STILL MORE older titles from various European labels. I have only one or two of each title on hand, so take a look under the new titles page and grab them while I have them!
www.cdroots.com/new.shtml

SPECIAL OFFERS:

Taraf de Haidouks - Maskarada
Special Offer - 12.99
The most famous Gypsy band from Clejani, Romania (and one of the most famous from the whole region), present an interesting twist: music by composers who themselves borrowed from folkloric themes: Bela Bartok, Aram Khatchaturian, Manuel de Falla, Ketelbey and Albeniz are all given a fair turnaround by the Taraf's members, along with some of their own original music that pays homage back to the sources. Inventive and as always, full of wild energy. Limited supply at this price.

The Rail Band - Belle Epoque 2: Mansa
Special price of 15.99. (Regular price is 19.99).
Only 2 left at this price.

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New and 'finally back in stock' titles
I know I have been a bit heavy on Italy this month, and there's still more below. But fear not fans of Nordic, Spanish and French music, more is coming for you next month.

The Henrys - Is This Tomorrow (2 discs)
The new CD/DVD combo from this most eclectic band is coming in late June, 2009. This is not just a CD, it is a CD/DVD package. 2-disc set is about 2 hours of music, copious photography, home theatre (5.1) sound, a pdf file with song info, and as the nband says it, 'the tactile kicks of the 3x2 panel recycled paper digipak packaging.' Highly Recommended!

Mimmo Epifani - Zucchini Flowers
The Salentine mandolinist's newest take on taranta is global in scope, yet deeply rooted in local traditions. It's bright, witty, energetic, and altogether brilliant. VERY Highly recommended! Go listen for yourself -

The Definitive Charley Patton: 75th Anniversary Edition
3 CDs & 1 DVD. Compilation of 60 tracks, spotlighting his influences, contemporaries, and songs from Charley himself. Featuring Son House, Robert Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Howlin' Wolf, Ma Rainey, Blind Lemon Jefferson, others. The DVD, "Talkin' Patton", features interviews with musicians, musicologists, historians, and others. Also, shows new footage of Dockery's plantation, where he was raised.

Marisa Sannia - Rosa de papel
Marisa Sannia wrote: "We don't have to read poetry with our eyes , we have to read it with the voice. The eyes help us to decipher it, the ears help us to discover the rhythm of it, but it's with the voice that we can recreate it". The Sardinian singer probed the deep sea of Federico Garcia Lorca's poetry, choosing and collecting words and compositions of the great Andalusian poet. The lyrics of each song (except for "pequeño vals vienes" by Leonard Cohen and "La cancion de la mariposa" by Amancio Prada) were all set into music by the artist and performed in acoustic settings for piano and guitar

Raffaello Simeoni - Mater Sabina
Singer from Lazio, Raffaello Simeoni on vocals, dizi, saz, hurdy-gurdy, melodeon, F recorder, cuatro, samples, sinth, tarota, binju and organetto with Gabriella Aiello on vocals. The artist writes 'This is the story of Mater Sabina, from the tradition of my native region, the crossroads of myriad pathways, set in the very heart of Italy. Here pipers and fifers, migratory sheperds, impromptu rhymers, wandering songsters have tread this land, dragging their strains with the voices and tunes of our women, with the breath of Saint Francis. I follow their footsteps ... and carry on.' Guests include Hevia, Arnaldo Vacca and Isola Quartet.

various - Musiche e canti popolari del Salento - Vol.3
The third volume of this important 'Music and Folksongs in Salento' series from Aramire. 55 minute - 16 track CD with a 96 page book of information (in Italian and English) and photos.

Giovanna Marini - Il Salento di Giovanna Marini
Giovanna Marini is a popular singer of Italian folk music. This recording is the result of research into the traditional music of Salento, the south of Puglia, which has very ancient roots and goes back to the ancient Greek habitation of the region.

Antonio Aloisi, Antonio Bandello - Bona sera a quista casa...
Uccio' Aloisi and 'Uccio' Bandello are the recognized masters of the Salentine vocal style of gli Ucci. They sing all kinds of songs: romantic love songs, songs of sex and conquest, work songs and prison songs all recorded 1976-1979 and in 1997. The 79 page booklet includes commentary in Italian and English; lyrics in dialect, Italian and English; and musical transcriptions.

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Recent additions also include:
Patrick Vaillant - Bastian Contrari
Hassan Haffar - The Aleppo Suites (3 CD set)
Various Artists - Songs and Morin Khuur
Najma Akhtar, Gary Lucas - Rishte
Raghunath Manet - Veena Dreams
Sister Fa - Sarabah: Tales from the Flipside of Paradise
Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko - Africa To Appalachia
Khaled Jubran - Psalms
The Horse Flies - Until the Ocean
Brass Monkey - Head Of Steam
Martin, Taylor, Carthy and Simpson - Martins4
Mamer - Eagle
KTU - Quiver
Bellowhead - Live At Shepherds Bush Empire (PAL DVD)
Daniel Kahn and Painted Bird - Partisans & Parasites
Maria del Mar Bonet - Raixa
New Orleans Jazz Orchestra - Book One
Maria Teresa - Era uma vez um Jardim
Varttina - 25
Di Naye Kapelye - Traktorist: Carpathian Klezmer
6 Australes - Eclipse: Nuevas canciones de Buenos Aires
Tine Kindermann - Schamlos Schön: 13 alte Lieder aus Deutschland
Banda Olifante - Banda Olifante
Marisa Sannia - Rosa de papel
Leonard Cohen - Live in London
Le Vent Du Nord - Mesdames Et Messieurs!
various - Bellina Che Te Piace L'Allegria
various - Aria Stisa: Canti di contadine e trattoristi a Torchiarolo
KAL - Radio Romanista -
Rail Band - Volume 3: Dioba
Michel Macias - tout et son contraire

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cdRoots: www.cdRoots.com
cdroots@gmail.com

Iceland celebrates independence today, June 17

2009-06-17T08:11:00.000-07:00

June 17 is National Day (Þjóðhátíðardagurinn) in Iceland (Lýðveldið Ísland). This is the birthdate of Jón Sigurðsson, a noted Icelandic independence figure.

Like most places, it is celebrated by community parades.

But I prefer to commemorate it with musical art, of course:

Anna Palina and the band Draupner sing the traditional "Ásu Kvædi." Listen!

Klakki is a contemporary ensemble led by Icelandic singer Nina Björk Elíasson. Listen!

Read more about Icelandic musicians on RootsWorld

Buy Icelandic music at cdRoots

New to World Music Catalog at cdRoots

2009-06-03T07:04:00.000-07:00

cdRoots New Additions

Want to read more about the world's music?
Sign up for the RootsWorld Bulletin, a regular e-mail of news and reviews

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New titles

Nordic - Metropol
With an urge for experimentation and deep understanding of Swedish folk music, Erik Rydvall (keyfiddle), Magnus Zetterlund (mandolin) and Anders Löfberg (cello) offer a combination of instruments that is unique. The result is a musical web of cinematic compositions filled with harmonies, rhythms, groove and improvisation. (Limited supply.)

The Horse Flies - Until the Ocean
The long-lived, wildly original old-time music visionaries in a brand-new CD! Richie Stearns, Jeff Claus, Judy Hyman, percussionist Taki Masuko, bassist Jay Olsa and Rick Hansen on accordion, organ and Moog. "Build a House and Burn it Down," "Carnival Lips," "Baghdad Children," "Drunkard's Child" and more.

Månsson and Aberg - Alvdans
On their 2009 release, Älvdans, Swedish duo of Göran Månsson, one of Sweden's foremost flutists, and Sven Åberg on lutes and guitar, has a sound that is totally unique; a mix of their own compositions and traditional material, backed-up Jonas Åkerlund, violins and Petter Berndalen, percussion. (Göran Månsson also performs with Gjallarhorn.) (Limited supply.)

Brass Monkey - Head Of Steam
The English folk brass band return, led by Martin Carthy and John Kirkpatrick who, between them, have played with almost every important folk and folk rock group of the last 30 years including Steeleye Span, Richard Thompson, The Watersons, The Albion Band, The "Morris On" Band and many more. The album features an extended line up including vocals, guitar, melodeon, concertina, trumpet, trombone, percussion to create an original sound with deep roots in the English tradition. "..a swashbuckling selection of tunes and songs performed so invigoratingly" says fRoots.

Gunnel Mauritzson Band - Det som sker…
13 new tracks, 3 of the them traditional, the rest composed by Gunnel. Contemporary Swedish poets Ingrid Sjöstrand, Marie Lundquist and Ylva Eggehorn have contributed lyrics to 8 of the songs. 2 tracks are instrumentals. GMB':s music is anchored in Swedish folk tradition, and the listener is taken on a musical journey sometimes influenced by jazz. The ensemble is Christian Jormin - drums, percussion and piano; Jonas Knutsson - saxophones; and Stefan Wingefors - double bass, piano and accordion. Special guests are Johan Hedin - nyckelharpa; and Erik Steen - Spanish guitar. (Limited supply.)

Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko - Africa To Appalachia
2009 Juno Award winner by banjo ace Stone and Malian koraplayer Sissoko in "a polyrhythmic journey to Mali and back again" to "reconnect Africa and North America -- or is it the other way around?" With guitarist Grant Gordy, bassist Paul Matthew, Casey Driessen on fiddle, Bassekou Kouyate on ngoni and more.

Martin, Taylor, Carthy and Simpson - Martins4
Four guitarists- Juan Martin (flamenco) and Martin Taylor (jazz) plus scions of the Brit folk scene Martin Carthy and Martin Simpson - recorded live together at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow.

Mamer - Eagle
Traditional Kazak folk songs and Mamer's own compositions, touched with a renegade spirit. Guests include Bela Fleck and the late, great French producer Hector Zazou.

KTU - Quiver
This powerful, agressively fronds group returns with this 2009 powerhouse of sounds. Trey Gunn / Warr guitar; Kimmo Pohjonen / accordion, voice; Pat Mastelotto / rhythmic devices, beats and noises with Samuli Kosminen additional beats and noises, Kosminization

Recent additions also include:
Bellowhead - Live At Shepherds Bush Empire (PAL DVD)
Daniel Kahn and Painted Bird - Partisans & Parasites
Maria del Mar Bonet - Raixa
New Orleans Jazz Orchestra - Book One
Maria Teresa - Era uma vez um Jardim
Varttina - 25
KTU - Quiver
Di Naye Kapelye - Traktorist: Carpathian Klezmer
6 Australes - Eclipse: Nuevas canciones de Buenos Aires
Tine Kindermann - Schamlos Schön: 13 alte Lieder aus Deutschland
Banda Olifante - Banda Olifante
Marisa Sannia - Rosa de papel
Leonard Cohen - Live in London
Le Vent Du Nord - Mesdames Et Messieurs!
various - Bellina Che Te Piace L'Allegria
various - Aria Stisa: Canti di contadine e trattoristi a Torchiarolo
KAL - Radio Romanista -
Rail Band - Volume 3: Dioba
Michel Macias - tout et son contraire
Orquestra Imperial - Carnaval So Ano Que Vem
various (African Pearls) - Guinee 70: The Discotheque Years
various (African Pearls) - Mali 70: Electric Mali
Guafa Trio - Herencia
Catriona McKay and Olov Johansson - Foogy
Orquestra Arab de Barcelona - Maktub
Stile Antico - Song of Songs (SACD)
Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson - A Company of Voices - in Concert
Al Ayre Espanol, Banzo - A batallar estrella
Gianmaria Testa - Solo dal vivo
Philip Glass - In the Upper Room
Soname - Plateau
Various - Festival of San Miguel Tzinacapan

cdRoots: http://www.cdroots.com

New World Music CDs at cdRoots

2009-05-23T14:57:00.001-07:00

cdRoots New Additions

See the web site for audio samples, images and more information
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New titles

Bellowhead - Live At Shepherds Bush Empire (PAL DVD)
The carnival folk big band are captured live during their Burlesque tour at their sold-out London Shepherds Bush Empire show on September 26th 2007. This is the first ever official DVD from the much loved 11-piece group. In addition to the 98 minute concert, the DVD follows the group off stage and on the road with over an hour of bonus documentaries and interviews. PAL format DVD Only (plays in many new DVD machines in all regions, and on most computers)

Daniel Kahn and Painted Bird - Partisans & Parasites
A Detroit area native, Daniel Kahn has lived, played music, recorded, acted, directed plays and composed theatre music in New Orleans, Detroit, New York and Ann Arbor. In summer 2005 Daniel moved to Berlin, and, within a very short space of time, became an integral part of the city's folk and klezmer scene, playing in different groups and musical projects. As a corollary, he soon formed his own band, featuring a rotating roster of some of Berlin and New Yorks best young Klezmer and Balkan players. "The Painted Bird" concocts a mixture of Klezmer, radical Yiddish song, political cabaret and punk folk, kept together by Kahn's amazing abilities both as a songwriter and a performer; telling stories of outrageous incidents, poetically dark, tragically humorous and politically incorrect.

Maria del Mar Bonet - Raixa
For more than 40 years, Maria del Mar Bonet has been one of the major voices of Mediterranean music. Born in Palma de Majorca, she moved to Barcelona at the end of the 60's and formed part of what was called "La Nova Canco" (The New Song), an artistic movement that emerged during the final years of General Franco's dictatorship. Other famous members of the movement are Joan Manuel Serrat and Lluis Llach. This CD (the name of a garden in Majorca), was recorded in concert at Plaça Del Rei Barcelona and celebrates Bonet's 25th year of concerts in this venue.

New Orleans Jazz Orchestra - Book One
Founded in December 2002 by its current artistic director, Irvin Mayfield. They perform and present educational programs that draw upon the rich musical and cultural traditions of "the birthplace of jazz," where the group is based. Book One, the group's debut recording, is a showcase of Irvin Mayfield's original compositions for big band and features cameos by vocalist Johnaye Kendrick, R and B singer John Boutté and a singing/scatting turn by orchestra member Leon "Chocolate" Brown.

Maria Teresa - Era uma vez um Jardim
Maria Teresa is an outstanding Fado singer with multiple facets and influences to her talent. Born in France to Portuguese parents, she sings the popular tradition of the country of her origins as well as that of Brazil. Teresa's sensual voice brings out the purity and emotion of this powerful musical genre, which she learned from her mother. Featured artists include Tarcisio Gondim, Renaud Gillet and Toninho Do Carmo on guitars, Francis Varis on accordion and Salvador Douezy and Zé Luis Nascimento on percussion.

Varttina - 25
2008 marked Värttinä's 25th year as a band. The CD includes twenty-two tracks taken from all their eleven albums and the Archive Live DVD plus an unreleased song "Vipinäveet" recorded during the sessions for their album Miero. The "25" album also features lyrics, fotos from their entire career and deluxe, four-color, digipak design with 24 page booklet.

KTU - Quiver
This powerful, agressively fronds group returns with this 2009 powerhouse of sounds. Trey Gunn / Warr guitar; Kimmo Pohjonen / accordion, voice; Pat Mastelotto / rhythmic devices, beats and noises with Samuli Kosminen additional beats and noises, Kosminization

Di Naye Kapelye - Traktorist: Carpathian Klezmer
Di Naye Kapelye goes 50ies-socialism? After a lot of hunting the indefatigable fieldworker Bob Cohen researched a socialist build-up song in yiddish - the scrumptious "Traktorist", praising not only the tractor itself and the five-year plan performance, but also, if not to say mainly, the bigger chances of a tractor driver to hit on the girls. Again, Di Naye Kapelye reaffirms their outstanding role regarding Jewish music from the Carpathian Basin - authentic, rough and tender, danceable and soaked with a deep and true love for the heritage that's treasured by these passioned musicians ever since we can remember.

6 Australes - Eclipse: Nuevas canciones de Buenos Aires
The music of 6 Australes has its roots in the Río de la Plata region, but emerged in Berlin; composed and performed by Argentinean and German musicians, brought together by the Tango. Musically they go beyond Tango, opening up to various forms of Latin-American music as for instance Milonga, Zamba, Chacarera, Bossa Nova or Candombe. Out of this joining they create their own distinctive style, that merges melodic passion with rhythmic diversity and - together with the poetic power of Sergio Gobi's lyrics - enriches the tradition of Spanish-American song.

Tine Kindermann - Schamlos Schön: 13 alte Lieder aus Deutschland
Kindermann sings German folk songs accompanied by American rock musicians and arranged by Frank London. The result is astonishingly natural. There was something in these five centuries old songs that resisted obliteration. Mothers preserved them in secret; grandmothers and kindergarten teachers sang and sing to their children the songs of their own childhoods. 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. The band: Marc Ribot und Greg Cohen (Tom Waits Band) on guitar and double bass, Glenn Patscha (Ollabelle) on keyboards and Frank London (Klezmatics).

Recent additions also include:
Banda Olifante - Banda Olifante
Marisa Sannia - Rosa de papel
Leonard Cohen - Live in London
Le Vent Du Nord - Mesdames Et Messieurs!
various - Bellina Che Te Piace L'Allegria
various - Aria Stisa: Canti di contadine e trattoristi a Torchiarolo
KAL - Radio Romanista -
Rail Band - Volume 3: Dioba
Michel Macias - tout et son contraire
Orquestra Imperial - Carnaval So Ano Que Vem
various (African Pearls) - Guinee 70: The Discotheque Years
various (African Pearls) - Mali 70: Electric Mali
Guafa Trio - Herencia
Catriona McKay and Olov Johansson - Foogy
Orquestra Arab de Barcelona - Maktub
Stile Antico - Song of Songs (SACD)
Conspirare, Craig Hella Johnson - A Company of Voices - in Concert
Al Ayre Espanol, Banzo - A batallar estrella
Gianmaria Testa - Solo dal vivo
Philip Glass - In the Upper Room
Soname - Plateau
Various - Festival of San Miguel Tzinacapan

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cdRoots

World Music, indeed! Italian brass band spans the globe

2009-05-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

Banda Olifante

Somewhere between an Italian municipal brass band and The Thundering Herd you will find the music of Olifante.. At home with Mediterranean tradition and jazz, Afrobeat and klezmer. Guests include horn player Frank London, accordionist Simone Zanchini, Senegalese drummer As Niang and French tuba player Michel Godard. Thoroughly unique, highly recommended.

Listen to some audio

Buy the CD

www.cdroots.com

2009-03-24T07:24:00.000-07:00

Ivo Papasov
Dance of the Falcon
World Village (www.worldvillagemusic.com)

Papasov has a well-deserved seat at the top of the Bulgarian wedding music pantheon. He's a clarinetist of uncanny skill and inventiveness who has inspired legions of young musicians to try to fill his enormous shoes. On this new release, he explores themes of love, marriage, sex, falcons, and panthers. He has legions of musicians backing him up, and though he keeps his swirling, screaming clarinet at the center of it all, one could argue that some of the arrangements are a little too slick to get a good grip on his solos. The overwrought piano and synth on the traditional "Hubava si Moya Goro (Beautiful Forest)" ooze over into smooth jazz indulgence. Likewise the over-orchestrated "Sunrise," where the sweeping strings nearly overpower the clarinet. The breathtaking solo intro to the traditional "Prayer from the Mountains Daglar" gets run over by a truck of dense orchestration. His manic take on Henry Mancini's "Pink Panther," however, is inspired lunacy. "Echoes of Rumelia" is a driving men's wedding dance with a restless rhythm pushed along by the popping percussion. The title track has a triumphant, muscular energy to it. The music here is at its best when Papasov keeps the arrangements gritty and close to the ground. - Peggy Latkovich

CD available from cdRoots

Tinarawen: Live in London

2009-03-18T07:26:00.000-07:00

Tinariwen
Live in London (DVD)

Buy the CD

Touareg desert rockers Tinariwen release their first Live DVD, featuring 12 songs filmed at the Shepherds Bush Empire, London, December 2007. The sound track has been mixed and supervised by Justin Adams. Some of the Saharan guitar rebels' most popular songs appear on the DVD, including "Chet Boghassa", "Cler Achel", "Amassakoul 'n' Tenere" and "Matadjem Yinmixan". The DVD alsohas extras including an intimate 50 minute campfire interview with the band's founder, Ibrahim, tips on how to tie a "Shesh" (toureg turban) as well as a mini documentary on Tinariwen and more.

Guitars and Guns: Les Amazones de Guinee Return!

2009-03-17T07:30:00.000-07:00

Video Feature
Les Amazones de Guinee Return!

Read the Review | Buy the CD

More at cdRoots

Chango Spasiuk - Pynandí (Los Descalzos)

2009-03-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

Chango Spasiuk - Pynandí (Los Descalzos)

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

Buy it here

Djivan Gasparyan seeks the soul of Armenia

2008-09-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

Djivan Gasparyan
The Soul of Armenia
Network Medien

Seldom is a particular musician considered the absolute, peerless master of his chosen instrument. But so it is with Armenia's Djivan Gasparyan, genius of the apricot wood oboe known as the duduk. It's difficult to describe the sound of the duduk- alas, I can only fall back on shopworn words like "exotic," "haunting," etc. Thanks largely to Gasparyan, though, it's become more familiar in recent years. You might have heard its unforgettable tones in movies such as "Gladiator," "The Last Temptation of Christ" or "Dead Man Walking." Or perhaps on Gasparyan's collaborations with musicians as diverse as Andreas Vollenweider, Michael Brook, Jessie Cook, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Lionel Ritchie and Brian Eno. But if you've been entranced on any level by Gasparyan's work, invest in this amazingly rich 2-CD overview that includes some of his finest recorded moments. He brings his duduk magic to musical settings ranging from duos to orchestras, traditional pieces to spirited improvisations to jazzy excursions. In every instance, whether his is a lead or supporting role, Gasparyan coaxes sounds from the duduk that can seem like the sonic equivalent of nearly any emotion imaginable. And while the music's got you captivated, try to focus some of your attention on the accompanying booklet, which tells in great detail of Gasparyan's 60 years of making music and how it fits into his country's history of geographic, political, religious and cultural struggles. There's over two hours of music and a lot of background information here, so you may want to take it a little at a time, but it is worth it. - Tom Orr

Listen to "I will not be sad in this world"

Gabriele Coen and Atlante Sonoro

2008-03-12T07:46:00.001-07:00

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

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

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

CD available from cdRoots

Gabriele Coen offers Italian world music with jazz

Marc Egea's 21st century hurdy-gurdy

2008-02-27T05:09:00.000-08:00

Marc Egea
Melanocetus
Galileo/Efimeras (www.galileo-mc.com)

The zanfona is an instrument that dates from the ninth century but fell out of favour over the 18th and 19th, and one with almost as many names as it has varieties of designs (including hurdy-gurdy, vielle à roues).

The ancient relative of both the violin and the bagpipe, it was played in Spain's Galicia until the 19th century and in parts of France and Hungary until the 20th. The French and Spanish variety, with its odd-sounding buzzing bridge, has a distinct sound that is both ancient and somehow futuristic. As technology developed, other instruments were thought to have more versatility, relegating the hurdy gurdy to an image of poor peasantry.

But this once-maligned instrument has made a recent comeback. In the hands of the Catalan ex-philosophy student Marc Egea it proves to be an instrument of many qualitites.

When Egea (now a professor of hurdy-gurdy and fabiol in Barcelona) took it up, the zanfona had a very short history in his native Catalunya. Thanks to the luthier Sedo Garcia and the performers Xavier Macaya and Eduard Casals, the instrument had gained some popularity and had been used in the interpretation of traditional Catalan songs in the last century.

But the approach of Egea, a former member of El Pont d'Arcalís, and veteran of a number of other Barcelonin musical ventures, is altogether different. On Melanocetus (named after a fish), Egea presents an original nine-element instrumental composition that is neither folk, classical, jazz or any other genre one could name. If the twentienth century wasn't over, I might call it 20th C. Experimental.

Each tune, if one can use the term, is a kind of a movementn in a symphony featuring certain orchestral elements like bassoon and cello, folk elements like bandoneon, and jazz sounds with the double-bass. Egea, together with a collection of mostly Catalan musicians, enchants and challenges the listener.

With a nod to Catalunya's long contact with Eastern civilizations, through the Mediterranean, "Possible" opens the set by combining zanfona, bagpipe and percussion. While it's an up-tempo piece, with a vaguely Middle-Eastern feel, to say it rocks would be an exaggeration. On "Fagocitandum" the hurdy-gurdy, percussion and double bass weave in and out in a kind of dance.

The jazz influence is also evident, particularly on three tracks: "Sichler: Muntanya de Pedra" features a fiesta of eclectic percussions. On "Ginkgo Biloba" the bassoon and the hurdy-gurdy perform a duet. "Bressolada" features Sandrine Robillard on the cello. There are also some primarily solo hurdy gurdy pieces, notably "Nunc Stans" (accompanied only by a frame drum) enough to demonstrate the wide possibilities of the instrument.

Other performers appearing on this 53-minute CD include Enrique Tellería on bandoneon, Enric Canada, cajon and bendir, the Venetian Franco Molinari, double-bass, Ana Losantos, bassoon and Jordi Vallverdú, Catalan bagpipe. None have the kind of resume as Egea, but all aquit themselves well.

This isn't traditional or roots in any sense, other than the lineage of the main instrument. Nor is it immediately accessible with ready hook lines and catchy phreases, though it does sometimes come perilously close. But it is worthy of interest and an investment of time. Egea is out to explore the limits of his instrument. It's an interesting and worthwhile journey. - David Cox

CD available from cdRoots

Artist web sites:
www.marcegea.com
www.pontdarcalis.com

ErsatzMusika: a musical Voice Letter from Russia

2008-02-14T08:10:00.000-08:00

ErsatzMusika
Voice Letter
Asphalt Tango (www.asphalt-tango.de)

Living in a big city, everything is strange, impersonal and anonymous. You are longing for family, home and all the things you used to have. All you want to have is a little piece of home, like the smell of mother's kitchen, the tales father used to tell, the feeling of places you know like the back of your hand. Maybe just a letter will bring it all back, some news from those you love, sharing some old memories. ErsatzMusika send such letters.

All the members of the ensemble were born and grew up in the former Soviet Union. They moved to Berlin in the early 1990s, where Irina Dobrovskaja founded the band in 2006. In the name of the band and the album title, Dobrovskaja tells of a music scene in Russia that was very different. They grew up with Russian pop, but also central Asian music and Gregorian chant. There was also a kind of underground music scene; anonymous songwriters, who recorded their songs at home and passed them around on tape. That is what in the end they called Ersatzmusika. The band started playing songs just for a few friends scattered all over the world after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They shared their common memories and news by recording their letters as songs. The more they shared the music, the more their friends suggested they should publish their Voice Letters.

ErsatzMusika and the unique music they play is hard to categorize. They hardly fit in the gap between folk and world music. Although you find some of the typical sounds of their Slavic roots, like accordion, harmonica, hand organ or xylophone, it is all a bit slower, more thoughtful - reduced.

To listen to Dobrovskaja sing is to feel the sadness, melancholy and disinterest that is deep in the songs. The stories ErsatzMusika tell, and the ways they are told, are as versatile as the intricate history of their homeland. They are about longings of an gulag prisoner, waiting for a crane to come and pass him a message; about a Russian singer who emigrated to Canada, recorded some songs and then disappeared. All of the songs, whether they are telling a story or offer a poem set to music, are surrounded by a beautifully sad mood, slightly sprinkled with humor. It is what you feel when you think about home, when you really miss it. It is smiling with tears in your eyes. - Andrea Meyer

CD available from cdRoots

La Musgana - The Water Rats of Spain

2008-02-02T07:30:00.000-08:00

La Musgana
Temas Profanos
Lubican (Mad River Records 2007)

Castilla y Leon is the part of Spain that is left when you take away the rest; areas that identify as strongly with their region-province-nation as with Spain, and have a distinct culture. Like England's home counties within the UK, or Ontario within Canada, Castilla often searches for its own identity.

Hailing from this area, La Musgana (The Water Rat) comes into a bit of a void. Years of dictatorship left Castilla y Leon's people almost without their own songs and stories. Music from nearby Galicia, Asturias and the Basque Country is better known in world roots circles.

So, fittingly, La Musgana have spent 20 years trying to reconstruct this musical culture, adding elements from Celtic, Basque, and other influences, and whatever else fits. But not for any political purpose, just for the music itself. Even the group's name says 'don't take us too seriously,' but together, it makes a fine and fun mix.

This is the group's sixth effort in 20 years together, and its first in six. At the time the recording was made they were a trio: Galician musical whiz Carlos Beceiro on hurdy gurdy or cittern (also bass, bouzouki); Enrique (Kike or Quique) Almendros, on the tabor and three-holed flute that keeps things going and gives the band its signature; and Jaime Munoz (clarinets, flutes, accordeon, sax).

With the flutes, accordeons and tabor, La Musgana might be pigeonholed as Celtic, since Castilla y Leon's own traditional music isn't really known anywhere, least of all in Castilla y Leon itself. In fact, the idea for the band formed when Almendros heard a Celtic-sounding song, sung in Spanish, on the radio; it turned out it wasn't Celtic, but came from nearby Salamanca. This set him off on a 20-year journey.

On this 16-track CD of mostly instrumental tunes, different dances and songs from across Castilla y Leon are featured. Tunes come from villages in the provinces of Zamora, Salamanca, Segovia, Leon, Caceres, Valadolid, Avila, Madrid, and Burgos. These are the dances and songs of everyday village life in Northern Spain. Many of these smaller villages are now depopulated, or the people now tuned into the modern rhythms of pop music. Only a few remember the old songs. If the storship had lated a few more years, it would have been too late.

La Musgana breathes life into these songs. Besides the flute and tabor, and other signature sounds of the band, there is some variety. On "Espejo Sol y Luna" women's voices --those of Aragon's Carmen Paris, backed by Maite Dono and Celia Bergara are featured on a dance from Salamanca, which shows Moorish influences.

"Aires de Burgos" with Diego Galaz on violin, and Munoz on flute, has a contemplative and almost Scottish sound; the lively "Danzantes" and the happy Segovian melody "Chane" could easily be mistaken for the work of their frequent collborator, Basque accordion whiz Kepa Junkera.

"Pindongos de Montehermoso," a song from Caceres, shows a Gascon influence in La Musgana's arrangement with the hurdy-gurdy, flute and tabor. Other songs seem to show an Italian feel, rather like La Lionetta, especially when Munoz gets out the clarinet. "La Rueda del Tiempo" is one such track, and it is Munoz's chance to really shine.

And one more treat: On the bonus track, "Rogatilla de Valdestillas" Joaquin Diaz sings and Beceiro plays a lovely accompaniment on cittern. It's actually a prayer for rain, short and sweet. In all, that makes 66 minutes to enjoy.

Unfortunately, there is tragedy in this tale as well: Quique Almendros suffered severe health problems soon after this disc was recorded and he has not been touring with the band. The absence of such a heart-and-soul contributor to the Spanish folk scene has been profound.

All the expanatory notes in the CD package are in English. While no lyrics are included in the booklet, a concise explanation is given for each track on this professional, enjoyable and worthwhile disc. -David Cox

Listen to "La Rueda del Tiempo"

The artists' web site: www.lamusgana.net

World music CDs available from cdRoots

Diego Amador's piano flamenco

2008-01-31T06:04:00.000-08:00

Diego Amador
Piano Jondo
World Village (www.worldvillagemusic.com)

The piano is hardly the first instrument you'd associate with flamenco, but Seville-based Diego Amador has the chops and vision to shake up conventional thinking on the matter. If you want to put it in simplest terms, call this a flamenco album that puts piano where guitar ought to be. It's not mere supplanting, though. There are tracks in which Amador sweetens the piano with guitar and mandola in order to assist its twisting and turning through the flamenco styles covered here, as well as some clear stretching of flamenco's possibilities. A foundation of upright bass and percussion (mostly cajon) frames
arrangements that often ease into jazzy interaction (as on the lengthy "Vivan los Gitanos," and the too-short Jaco Pastorius cover "Continuum") without dropping the Iberian grandeur. The masterful way Amador tickles the ivories can truly take on the feel of guitar picking and strumming, but he also utilizes the piano's decidedly non-guitar timbres to bring his own freshness to the proceedings. Though not as radical as what some of his fellow Spaniards are doing with flamenco, Amador still makes Piano Jondo thoroughly enjoyable. - Tom Orr

Listen

CD available from cdRoots

Belgium's Aurélia take a musical voyage

2008-01-30T06:06:00.000-08:00

Aurélia
Hypnogol, Journal d'un capitaine
Homerecords.be (www.homerecords.be)

Aurélia continue their unconventional journey in the musical seas with this concept album subtitled "journal of a captain." As they explain their concept, a captain who considers himself an outstanding singer organises a concert on his ship to show off his skills. It is an unconditional disaster. Distraught after his failure, he begins to navigate the canals and rivers alone, which leads to his hallucinating. The resulting mumblings are archived in his log.

Equally built on the pillars of humor, trance, jazz and at times eastern rhythms, Hypnogol is everything mainstream music is not in 2007. Taking cues from psychoanalysis (hypnogol is a play on hypnagogia, the term for the state where one is just before plunging into sleep and Gogol, the Russian writer), this is music of a complexity and depth not easily found. Hypnogol succeeds because it is fascinating and funny, but also challenging, a record that the listener might unlock only after repeated listening, much in the same way one understands auteur cinema.

Musically, the trio uses a diverse set of tools - violins, guitars, daf, tapan, vibraphone and gongs - to illustrate the captain's journey into the unknown. They sing in German, English and French to document the paranoid undertones of the captain's malfunctioning logic. Taking their vanguard ideals a step further, between November 2007 and May 2008, Aurélia will board a real barge, Aureliaferia, and give concerts on it in Belgium and France.

For anyone interested in challenging, entertaining concept albums, Hypnogol could be the record of the year. For the rest of us, this is a record that camouflages its complexity and challenges under a continental cosmopolitan spirit that describes uniquely the miracle of major blunders. If you think this is a subject that is out of step with our times, think of every misinformed Pop Idol contestant, every Britney comeback strategy, every high-spirited entrepreneur whose venture misfires spectacularly, every political undertaking that ends in misery. Hypnogol could work as the soundtrack for any flight of fancy that ends in tears and, hopefully, self-awareness; a true record for our times. - Nondas Kitsos

Listen

CD available from cdRoots

Galeazzi's La Tarantella: Back in stock at last!

2008-01-25T14:18:00.000-08:00

Lucilla Galeazzi, Marco Beasley,L'Arpeggiata and Christina Pluhar
La Tarantella: Antidotum Tarantulae (Alpha Productions)

A fascinating, original crossover of folk and classical, with the musicians of the early music ensemble L’Arpeggiata joining the illustrious singers Galeazzi and Beasley, performed on modern and ancient instruments including chitarra battente, lutes, harp, psaltry. It's a mix of traditional songs and composed works form the 17th century, which gives it a unique and uncompromising quality.

With Alfio Antico, Eero Palviainen, Marcello Vitale and many other fine musicians. Includes detailed notes in French and English.

Listen:
Lamento dei mendicanti (trad)
Tarantella Napoleanata (Tono Hypodorico)
Lu Gatta la sonora la zampogna (Ninna nanna) (trad)

The rhythms of Curaçao - Riba Dempel

2008-01-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

VA
Riba Dempel: Popular Dance Music of Curaçao 1950-1954
Otrabanda (www.otrabandarecords.nl)

The cultural and commercial crossroads of Riba Dempel, Curaçao's riverside central market place, gives its name to this superb compilation of early 1950s Dutch Antilles song. Sitting off the Venezuelan coast, Curaçao was open to musical influences from across the Caribbean, accessible via radio, recordings, and touring bands, with Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela at the fore. Booming with postwar oil development and the Shell refinery's economic presence, Curaçao took it all in, and the enthusiasm of a handful of local businessmen for Papiamento music (after the Dutch Creole language of the so-called ABC islands) gave rise to a vigorous hometown recording industry.

Working from rescued 78 rpm discs originally produced by the Hoyco and Musika labels, Tim De Wolf painstakingly restored and digitized the music, while producer Scott Rollins compiled the fascinating and extensive documentation that rounds out this package, with period photos, transcribed lyrics in English and Papiamento, personnel listings, and recording information. Working at times from multiple copies of the original 78s, De Wolf and Rollins lovingly pieced together two dozen illuminating examples of Curaçao reinterpretations of the bolero, guaracha, meringue, son montuno, and pambiche styles from abroad, as well as local waltzes, danzas, and tumba.

All this is not just resurrection for resurrection's sake, either. More than a half-century later, the arrangements hold their own, the vocals are powerful, and the musicianship remains top-notch. Every would-be historical compiler could learn something by delving into this stellar tribute to the roots of Curaçao's contemporary music. Best of all, perhaps, De Wolf and Rollins are currently at work on comparable compilations from the 1960s and 1970s. Stay tuned! - Michael Stone

Listen to Tipico Moderna's guaracha "Hunga Rol"
http://www.rootsworld.com/audio/ribadempel.html

CD available from cdRoots
http://www.cdroots.com/st-otb-03.html

Ale Möller Band - from Sweden to the World

2008-01-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

Ale Möller Band
Djef Djel
Amigo Musik

Swedish bouzouki player Möller has been a musical voyager since the '70s, when he began studying bouzouki at its source, in Greece. This release is an ecstatic mix of Swedish dance music, Greek rebetiko, and Senegalese traditional song. With dynamic Greek singer Maria Stellas and Senegalese singer and dancer Mamadou Sene figuring prominently in the proceedings, the music is all over the map. There's surprisingly little in the way of cultural clash on the CD, with most of the segues being pretty seamless. What there is, however, is a lack of center. The individual elements are brilliantly performed and arranged, but the listener is often left with a sense of directionlessness. The best way to approach it is with no expectations, as one might listen to a "world music" compilation. Möller and crew carom wildly from the dusky exoticism of the Greek traditional song "Yati" to the earthy "Riti" a Sene composition using the one-stringed fiddle of the title. The effect can be jarring at times. That said, some of the most interesting and satisfying moments are medleys that move from Swedish to Greek to Senegalese sounds. These often have a cohesive flow and a nice build to them. The medley "Zenith," for example, starts with the Arabic-tinged "Ali Mullah (which gets its title from Möller's Arabic nickname)," moves into the Möller-Sene collaboration "Zenith," then goes into the Jiannis Dragatsis composition "Kamomatou" before circling back to the beginning. The whole thing has an epic quality to it. Djef Djel is a grand experiment that for the most part pays off. - Peggy Latkovich

Listen

CD available from cdRoots

KlezRoym, live in Fossoli

2007-11-16T10:07:00.000-08:00

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

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

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

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

Listen to "Ershter Vals"

CD available from cdRoots

Ice is nice: night music from Norway

2007-02-14T16:39:00.000-08:00

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

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

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

Both CDs are available from cdRoots

Songs of the 'sacred south' of Italy

2007-02-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

On Sacro Sud, Italian revolutionary Enzo Avitabile explores the non-liturgical religious traditions of the Italian south, in collaboration with with Polifonica Alphonsiana, Luigi Lai, Maurizio Martinotti and I Cantori del Miserere di Sessa. Musically, this is an eye-opener. The most important elements of the record are Luigi Lai and his launeddas, (a Sardinian reed instrument, a sort of souped-up Pan's pipes), Martinotti and his ghironda (hurdy-gurdy) and the choral voices. The choruses offer the liturgical undercurrent of these songs, the launeddas and ghironda the counterpoint, with Avitabile and his saxophone covering the middle ground and uniting them all.

Read More

Mats Hellberg, leading preserver of Swedish folk music

2007-01-13T06:20:00.000-08:00

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

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

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

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

You can sample the vast treasure of music he helped bring to the world here

I assume there will eventually be more news on the Giga web site

Bellowhead's New Old English Folk Music

2006-12-10T09:54:00.000-08:00

When Jon Boden and John Spiers appeared on the English folk scene, they quickly made their mark as a gutsy duo, reverently belting out their songs and tunes with complete conviction. With Spiers on melodeons and concertina and Boden on fiddle and vocals, their youthful fervor added to the growing and vibrant roots movement... Their ensemble Bellowhead brings big band arranging to English music featuring a full-on horn section, with eleven members kicking up a wall of sound. On Burlesque, Bellowhead's rhythmic flair is more dynamic and diverse than even Brass Monkey had imagined...So let's assess the risks and pleasures that mark Bellowhead's first full-length release as an instant classic...

Read more and listen to some music

Il Ritorno alla Fede del Cantante di Jazz

2006-12-10T09:52:00.000-08:00

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

Read more and listen to a song

Moacir Santos passes on at 80

2006-08-16T16:19:00.000-07:00

Moacir Santos, the Pernambuco-born Brazilian musical legend who influenced 2 generations of artists in his native country and beyond died last week at the age of 80.

He was recently enjoying a renewed interst in his work via a compliation of new recordings of his compositions by younger and better-known Brazilian musicians, including Milton Nascimento and Gilberto Gil titled "Ouro Negro" and a reqworking of his classics by Mário Adnet and Zé Nogueira called "Choros & Alegria."

Classic sounds from Congo's greats

2006-07-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

A lot of classic Congolese music is back on CD this month. These inportant Sonodisc recordings come and go on the market, so it's great to see so many being reissued at the same time.

Tabu Ley Rochereau And Afrisa International - Kaful Mayay 1973
Not only neo-traditional 'Kaful Mayay' but also gorgeous 'Nzale,' hypnotic 'Aon-Aon' and 5 other tracks from the early 70s, including two making their first appearance on CD.

Grand Kalle et l'African Jazz - Merveilles du Passe
So good it took three CDs to capture it all! Grand Kallé, Dr. Nico, Dechaud, Mujos, Vicky Longomba, Rochereau, (briefly) Manu Dibango: the first great modern Congolese band at its peak. Marvelous indeed and truly essential.

More titles now available: (see more info on the whole series here)

Grand Kallé & L'african Jazz - Merveilles Du Passé, Vol. 2 (1961-1962)
Grand Kallé & L'african Jazz - Succes Des Années 50/60, Vol. 1
Grand Kallé & L'african Jazz - Succes Des Années 50/60, Vol. 2
Grand Kallé & L'african Team - Volume 1
Grand Kallé & L'african Team - Volume 3
Grand Kallé & L'african Team - Volume 2
African Fiesta - Nico, Kwamy, Rochereau & L'african Fiesta
African Fiesta - Makila Eyina Nzoto
Tabu Ley Rochereau - Le Seigneur Rochereau
Rochereau, Tabu Ley - À L'olympia
Rochereau, Tabu Ley - L'afrisa International
Rochereau & Franco - Lisanga Ya Banganga (2 CDs)
Tabu Ley Rochereau - Rochereau, Sam Mangwana & L'African Fiesta National
Rochereau, Tabu Ley - Tete Nakozonga
Rochereau, Tabu Ley - Sacramento
Rochereau, Tabu Ley - Rochereau & L'african Fiesta National, Vol. 1 (1964-1966)
Tabu Ley Rochereau And Afrisa International - Kaful Mayay 1973-75
Rochereau, Tabu Ley - Rochereau & L'african Fiesta National, Vol. 2 (1966-1969)
Tabu Ley Rochereau - 1968/1969
Tabu Ley Rochereau - 1971/1972/1973
Rochereau, Tabu Ley - Sorozo

These CDs are all available via cdRoots

Reem Kelani sings of the woe and joy of Palestinian life.

2006-07-14T09:57:00.000-07:00

Reem Kelani
Sprinting Gazelle
Fuse Records (www.reemkelani.com)
A review from RootsWorld

Elegant and poetic, Reem Kelani's debut CD speaks to the woe and joy of Palestinian life. She has a voice of such power and passion that if it were one degree more intense, it would burst.

The CD is a graceful mix of the traditional and the avant-garde. It is experimental without being grating to the ear. Her diverse settings of traditional Palestinian songs and the work of twentieth century Palestinian poets show her to be an innovator with a sensitive ear. The instrumentation is much more than mere accompaniment - it becomes part of the story. Western instruments such as violin, clarinet and piano interact with yarghul, nay, and a battery of Middle Eastern percussion. In "The Cameleer Tormented My Heart," camel bells and acoustic bass give way to scratchy fiddle, drony bass clarinet, and swishing percussion to create a desert landscape under Kelani's expansive vocals.

One of the most organic pieces is the thirteen-beat "A Baker's Dozen." The violin and bass clarinet play repeated parallel lines over hand claps. Zoe Rahman's sweeping piano work provides a rich backdrop to several tracks. On the seven-minute-plus "Yafa!," in which piano is the only accompaniment, Kelani uses the Arabic practice of qasidah, a highly ornamented improvisational technique. Rahman follows Kelani's mournful vocals with tender warmth and raging passion, at times suggesting a Keith Jarrett influence with her rolling arpeggios and left hand ostinati.

The only barely perceptible misstep is "Galilean Lullaby." Its predictable harmonic and melodic material accompanied by a tinkly new-age piano make it a little too precious in the presence of the magnificent work surrounding it. Inexplicably, they reprise this weak link in the bonus track. Again, it's a minor lapse in an otherwise sublime work. - Peggy Latkovich

CD available from cdRoots

©2006 FNI/RootsWorld
Do not reproduce without written permission

Al Italia - cdRoots, southern routes in world music

2006-06-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

So recently I read in someone's blog that cdRoots was THE place to buy Italian CDs. They said it was my specialty, implied it was all I sold, in fact. You know better of course, but as I looked through the new releases, it WAS a bit heavy on the Mediterranean this month. I can't help it. It's all so good, and I am like a kid in a candy shop when I get those new rlease sheets fro the record labels! So here are a few to focus on, friends:

Amore e Acciaio ("love and steel") refers to the lyrical content of the songs presented here, about factory layoffs, famous murders, sons going off to war. But it is also a good description of the music of Lucilla Galeazzi. She has a huge heart that comes through in every note she sings, and those notes are powerful, full of the strength and wisdom of Italian roots. This 2006 recording confirms my opinion that among the firmament of Italian singers, Galeazzi still shines as bright as any.

Riccardo Tesi (accordion) and Claudio Carboni (sax) of Banditaliana reach into the traditional music of Bolognese Apennines for ballads, polkas, mazurkas, tangos, traditional dances, work songs, lullabies and more for Crinali recording of la tradizione musicale dell'Appennino bolognese in cerca di mare...

The twelve-string guitarist and singer Massimo Ferrante is back with another collection of pieces from southern Italy, Ricuordi. He presents songs of protest and social themes, stornelli - folk tales, celebrations and dance tunes accompanied by an outstanding group of musicians: Francesco Migliaccio (accordion), Enrico Del Gaudio (drums), Roberto Giangrande (double bass), Francesco Banchini (clarinet), Rino Saggio (flute and sax), Leonardo Massa (cello).

Luca Di Volo and Claudia Bombardella present Strumenti Di Pace: Live, a powerful recording of new music composed and performed by Di Volo (saxophones, clarinet and voice) and Bombardella (viola, accordion, voice and tuba), with a small chamber ensemble of percussion, strings, reeds, bombard, cornmuse and more.

Franca Masu, the wonderful singer from the Sardinian region of Alghero (whose inhabitants speak Catalan) returns with Aquamare, a solid new recording of folk songs in a jazzy, contemporary vein, with a equally solid acoustic ensemble of guitars, mandocello, accordion, reeds, acoustic bass and percussion.

Finally, writer Enrico Noviello investigates the life and music of the recently deceased Italian musician and singer in Andrea Sacco suona e canta, a book and CD set tells "the story of the singer and storyteller from Carpino." The 128 page soft-cover book, written in Italian (no translations), includes lots of photos along with a detailed history. The accompanying CD is 21 tracks recorded from 1966 through 2002. Forwards by Franco Cassano and Salvatore Villani.

Need more? - CF

Hamza El Din: the passing of a legend

2006-05-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a bad week for world music, first with the passing of rai great Cheikha Rimitti, and now Nubian master musician Hamza El Din

Hamza el Din was at the forefront of the first wave of 'world music' with his recording "Escalay" (1971) and brought the music of North Africa the same kind of attention that Ravi Shankar was bringing to the music of India. He made the ud an important part of the global movement towards international musical communication. He was also a great believer in the healing power inherent in music, and made that part of his mission.

he also never shied away from experimentation, performing with many diverse musicians from around the world, including Kronos Quartet. His 1999 recording "A Wish" inlcuded contributions from Kronos cellist Joan Jeanrenaud, composer and pianist W.A. Mathieu, Jordanian percussionist Hani Naser and Japanese diva Shizuru Ohtaka.

When guitars collide

2006-05-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

Toronto guitarists Don Rooke (acoustic lap-style Hawaiian guitar) and Jeremy Bellaviti (steel string acoustic guitar) present a home-studio concert especially for RootsWorld, a combination of original songs by Rooke and improvised duets. Join us for a limited-time engagement of the broom, plunger and socket sessions. Listen!

Buy Don's CDs here

From the valley of the Saracens

2006-04-29T09:02:00.000-07:00

Tendachënt
La Valle dei Saraceni (Folkclub Ethnosuoini)

Tendachent returns in 2005 to continue their exploration of the Mediterranean traditions that have comingled with their Piemonte culture. Founded by Maurizio Martinotti (also the founder of the seminal Italian ensemble, La Ciapa Rusa), Tendachent is one of the foremost modern folk ensembles in Italy today, and with this recording, the legend grows. If you like folk-rock and roots-folk in all its stripes, this one is highly recommended.

Listen to a complete song (Real Player)

Buy the recording

Who's world music is it, anyway?

2006-04-25T16:38:00.000-07:00

I do not normally present 'press promos' as part of this blog, but my long time compadre-in-music Ken Braun of Stern's Music in NY sent out this promo sheet with his current releases, and I just had to share it with you all...
Cliff Furnald, ed.

-----------------------------
Dear friends and colleagues,

The first people that ever lived in North America walked across the iced-over Bering Strait from Siberia to Alaska about 10,000 years ago. They carried no documents and were not authorized to enter this country. Border bears spotted them and gave chase, and such encounters resulted in casualties on both sides. Law enforcement was obviously inadequate. Some of the "frozenbacks" were deported to their country of origin, but many (no one knows exactly how many) slipped into America. It’s been happening like that ever since, and not only on the northern border but also along every other frontier. See what happens without strict immigration controls? The country fills up entirely with people from somewhere else...
Read the rest of Ken's piece in RootsWorld

True world music with Italian brass

2006-04-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

Banda della Scuola Popolare di Musica di Testaccio
Azzurro Mediterraneo

An indescribable experience: this large ensemble of brass musicians, with percussion, accordions and much more added to the mix, presents a truly Italian banda experience, which means, they are all over the map, musicially and geographically, presenting political protest, Israeli dance tunes, Sicilian devotional music and global pop (try "Bhangra Tripper!"), all rendered completely personal and unusual by the power of their arrangements and musicianship. 40 members, from 15 to 75 years old, mostly students and amateurs but also some professionals present a musical program that will amaze you.

hear some music and buy the CD

April 2006 - World Music Charts Europe

2006-04-20T14:43:00.000-07:00

Here is the April edition of World Music Charts Europe, a chart compiled by DJ from across Europe based on radio airplay.

KAL Kal, Serbia (Asphalt Tango)
KINAVANA Kekele, D.R. Congo (Stern's)
DESCARGA ORIENTAL/THE NEW YORK SESSIONS Maurice El Medioni meets Roberto Rodriguez, Algeria/Cuba (Piranha)
TECHARI Ojos de Brujo, Spain (Diquela / Pias Recordings)
PART TWO Kora Jazz Trio, Senegal (Rue Stendhal Diffusion)
BOULEVARD DE L'INDEPENDANCE Toumani Diabate & Symmetric Orchestra, Mali (World Circuit)
REMIXED Amsterdam Klezmer Band, NL/Russia/Germany (Essay Recordings)
LA VIDA TE DA Amparanoia, Spain (Wrasse)
LAMP FALL Cheikh Lo, Senegal (World Circuit)
LA CANTINA Lila Downs, USA (Peregrina/Narada)
M'BEMBA Salif Keita, Mali (Emarcy Records/Universal)
BELLOW POETRY Maria Kalaniemi, Finland (Aito)

More charts

A new world, music from Palestine - Wissam Murad

2006-04-19T13:14:00.000-07:00

Vocalist, percussionist, oud player (and member of the Palestinian ensemble Sabreen), Wissam Murad steps forward with a rich recording of modern songs rooted in tradition, accompanied by an excellent ensemble of ud, bass, percussion, violin, kanoun and cello. The new CD is titled Min Ba'd

Buy the CD

2006-04-18T06:35:00.000-07:00

Pauliina Lerche
Malanja

The Finnish multi-instrumentalist (vocals, accordion, kantele, violin and deltar) creates original music, from the tradition, and combines her strong roots with a more modern, global approach on thios 2006 release. Besides accordions and acoustic guitars, instruments featured on the record include the vibraphone, kaval, low whistle, Estonian bagpipes, dobro, Carnatic violin and the recording debut of the deltar, a harp-like instrument designed by an Iraqi-born acoustics professor. Malanja is a strong follow-up to her wonderful Katrilli CD of 2004 and a fine companion to her ensemble work with Kriya.

Listen: Jo mie viikon
Buy the CD

More recordings by Pauliina Lerche

2006-04-17T16:26:00.000-07:00

HAZMAT Modine
Bahamut (Geckophone)
On my list of quirkly originals, this crew just moved towards the top. Duel harmonicas, guitar, trumpet and a drum/tuba rhythm section back vocals of real originality, guests add Romanian cimbalom, electric banjitar, contrabass sax, claviola and bass marimba, while a gang of genuine Tuvan throat singers round it all out. Totally unique, highly recommended.

Buy the CD

A Fulani Journey through the American South

2006-03-24T09:19:00.000-08:00

Afrissippi
Fulani Journey

Things like this are just too irrisistible: a Senegalese musician moves to Oxford Mississippi, meets up with some local blues talent and before you know it, a new band is born. Guitarist Guelel Kumba is joined by Eric Deaton (of the RL Burnside Band) and local legends, The Taylor Grocery Band, with a special bonus video that includes a guest appearance by the MC5 legend, John Sinclair.

Listen!

Buy the CD

2006-03-21T12:19:00.000-08:00

Crooked Jades
World's On Fire (self-released)
In my continuing campaign to find a select group of uinique American recordings to offer to you, here is The Crooked Jades. A potent mix of all-acoustic old-time mountain instruments (banjo, guitars, jews harp, fiddle, double bass, etc) and modern edge, this band (mostly) writes their own material in a style that at first seems to be in the tradition, but on closer listening reveals a sharp, contemporary approach to lyrics and playing style. Highly Recommended!

Listen:
Can't Stare Down a Mountaineer

Bellow Poetry

2005-11-30T09:28:00.000-08:00

Maria Kalaniemi's 2005 release is a solo recording that examines the potential of accordion in the Finnish rune song and lament tradition. Maria describes the music this way: "Inspiration for this music came from Kalevala runo-singing, shepherd's music, laments, Finnish gypsy music, Finno-Swedish tradition and of course, there are other spices, as well. I call this music runo-playing - it is not what you might expect from an accordionist. It is mainly my own compositions and improvisations, inspired by these various elements. There is also one traditional song and one composed by Swedish troubador Evert Taube. It is very deep, melodic and lyrical music. Someone told me that it sounds like Finnish fado - I like that. I am playing solo mostly, and I use my voice as part of the music. On two tracks Olli Varis joins me on his electric guitar."