The Whole Music Experience

World   Chung Woong Korean Traditional Music Ensemble   Traditional Music from Korea Arc Music I’m pretty sure that the last time I heard traditional Korean music was while watching a historic Korean movie at a film festival.   Since I enjoyed the soundtrack to that movie, I leaped on the chance to review Chung Woong Korean Traditional Music Ensemble’s CD, Traditional Music of Korea .   The recording was produced at the Festival Mondial des Cultures de Drummondville, Quebec and released on the Arc Music label, which specializes in the world’s music traditions. The instruments first capture a music listener’s attention, from rousing drums, gongs, clappers, to a variety of zithers, oboes, flutes and a shawm.    Rousing at times and tranquil at other times, these musicians immerse us in Korean music and culture, including meditative, ritualistic and festival music.   For instance, the CD opens with the tranquil Ch’ŏngsŏng jajinh...

Thai Elephant Orchestra Dave Soldier & Richard Lair Mulatta Records (2000) Thai Elephant Orchestra Dave Soldier & Richard Lair Elephonic Rhapsodies Mulatta Records (2003)     Thai Elephant Orchestra Dave Soldier & Richard Lair Water Music Mulatta Records (2010) Never in my wildest imagination did I ever expect to review CDs by elephant musicians.   True elephants play music differently than humans, but when we consider that they are limited to a trunk and their front feet, the music they do make seems extraordinary.   Little did I know ten years ago, living in Seattle and testing recordings out on squirrels and crows that musicians with a scientific bent in New York were actually playing music with birds and elephants.   While there are likely animal advocates who will think that human musicians encroach upon the non-human’s space for ego gratification, I would disagree.   The musical interaction and interludes...

Kiran Ahluwalia (Canada/India) Wanderlust Time Square Records On her previous debut recording, Canadian-Indian vocalist Kiran Ahluwalia introduced the world to the sensuality of traditional ghazals. Wanderlust reveals the vocalists expanding upon the traditional form, with an eye for globetrotting. She marries the heartfelt fados of Portugal, to soulful ghazals of South Asia, while adding flourishes of African percussion. On the track, Teray Darsan Kiran's lush vocals are backed by light blues guitar and exotic beats. Kiran and her producer Rez Abbasi add more elements than on the previous recording, without harming the rich tableau of stories, or the South Asian atmosphere. The djembe, talking drum, Portuguese guitar, accordion, Portuguese bass and electric guitar, all seem to make a nice home for themselves here, embellishing stories about wisdom gained through love won and love lost.   However, it is Kiran's strength as a vocalist that take center stage...

Shweta Jhaveri Huge 21stCentury Cosmos The first CD I received of Khayal vocalist Shweta Jhaveri's was anahita , (Intuition Music & Media), several years ago. This recording introduced me to Jhaveri's contemporary Khayals embellished by violin, bass, guitars, dobro, drums, and percussion. Jhaveri formed her own label, 21stCentury Cosmos which she released to traditional recordings, Avishkar and Khayal-Saga . Her newest recording, Huge marries English lyrics to Indian classical vocal techniques, (alaap or improvisation). The end result suggests ethereal pop with an exotic locale. Drums, percussion, electric bass, acoustic bass, and keyboards ( New Age Morning ), lightly support Shweta's warm vocals. The music feels accessible without the cloying new age tendencies. The 7 compositions feature uplifting spiritual lyrics. I am assuming that some of the songs were composed late winter or early spring since the lyrics reflect on sun and new beginnings, but that coul...

Samba Drumming in Taiwan (A Musical Adventure) By Amy Denio Greetings from Taiwan. A year ago, the only reference I had to the island was "made in Taiwan." Through an uncanny sequence of events, I've gotten to know this verdant pacific jewel pretty well over the last 9 months. In September, 2006 I went to a party in a sculpture garden near Seattle and I met a one-legged French artist named Jean Paul Richon. Our meeting started a sequence of events which led me to Taiwan, to work on a project to arrange 15 aboriginal & popular Taiwanese songs with Brazilian rhythms, find a teacher to teach them to 25 Amis tribe kids (age 12-15), living here in Taipei, and produce the recording. Jean Paul enjoyed my accordion playing, and was leaving for a winter residency in Taiwan the next day, so we exchanged email addresses. A few weeks later, he wrote me to say I'd been invited to play at the Taipei Blues Festival! I flew from Rome to Seattle to Taipei & came her...

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Sufi Qawwalis Arc Music (Review from Cranky Crow Whole Music) I doubt Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan needs an introduction to anyone viewing this site since this late Sufi master vocalist garnered acclaim in South Asia as well as, other corners of the world. His transcendental vocals have appeared on the soundtracks of Bollywood and Hollywood features and he performed his Sufi traditional concerts to spellbound audiences worldwide. Just listening to the four tracks on Sufi Qawwalis, Love Song, Naat-e-Sharif, Song of Praise and Traditional Qawwali will send your spirit soaring to great heights. You don't need to meditate or do anything beyond slipping this disc into your stereo. Hailing from a long lineage of practitioners of qawwali (the Indo-Pakistan version of Sufi music which traveled to the subcontinent in the 13th Century and was transformed by the Sufi poet and composer, Hazrat Amir Khusrau), Nusrat was poised for success. And yet, similar t...