The Whole Music Experience

Silvana Kane La Jardinera Six Degrees Records Silvana Kane (Canadian band Pacifika) offers an enchanting solo debut La Jardinera , featuring nueva cancion (new songs) from South America.   The minimalist approach of Kane’s yearning vocals set against a framework of acoustic guitar, banjo, bass and trumpet gives off an intimate feeling as if we sit in Silvana’s living room while she shares her favorite songs.   Kane reaches back to her childhood living in Peru, Canada and the United States when she discovered celebrated Latin American singer-songwriters such as Mercedes Sosa, Violeta Parra, and Chabuca Granda.   Kane transforms the folkloric songs into contemporary lullabies, which Kane sings in sweet, whispery Spanish.   Since I’m a fan of South American folk songs and warm acoustic music, I enjoy immersing myself in Kane’s recording.   When I first listened to the CD, I also visited YouTube to watch Kane’s sensual and touching videos. T...

Imani Winds Terra Incognita E1 Entertainment Although Imani Winds formed in 1997, Terra Incognita marks the first album I’ve heard by the quintet. As the name would imply this chamber ensemble features wind instruments, but not all woodwinds, French horn is included bringing a wide range of sonorities. IW performs both original and interpretations of classical, jazz, and traditional. Terra Incognita (named after the Wayne Shorter piece performed on this recording), also features works by Cuban expat Paquito D’Rivera and composer Jason Moran. Guest musicians include D’Rivera on clarinet and Alex Brown on piano. The recording is part IW's Legacy Project, featuring music from around the world. I’m particularly fond of projects that marry classical music to jazz, world, and folkloric idioms. And I’m not surprised to hear work by D’Rivera on this recording since he combines all those elements in his music. Remember his track on the album and documentary film Calle 54 ...

Liliana Barrios Èpica (El Viaje de Homero y Virgilio Expòsito) World Village Sierra Maestra Sonando Ya World Village My mother claims that she played all types of music to my siblings and me when we were babies. She mentions that she even played “highbrow music” and most likely she was referring to European classical, but she might have meant Argentine tangos and Cuban son, after all, my mother grew up in Panama and her first language is Spanish. However, my first language is not Spanish and it certainly isn’t the language of tango or son, but this music is probably floating in my DNA somewhere among those Spanish peasant genes. Certainly when I hear a bandoneon conversing with weeping strings passion and pathos bubble over in my bloodstream; my heartbeat quickens. It’s not fair to Argentine tango musicians, but when someone mentions tango my mind automatically thinks of Astor Piazzolla. Tango has its lineage of vocalists, bandoneon players and composers. Some ...

Around the World in a Day Let’s sample 11 Putumayo CDs representing South America, the African continent, the Arab world, Europe and North America. We’ll start in 2009 and work our way down to 2003 creating a time capsule effect. And since compilations such as French Café and Italian Café bring out vintage performers, we will travel far and wide. Putumayo Presents Brazilian Café (2009)—This compilation presents a laidback Brazilian vibe. New and established artists perform traditional and not-so-traditional bossa novas and sambas. The right mix of female and male voices, lush horns, soft guitar and Brazilian rhythms make this the ideal music for a rainy day. Café Cubano (2008)—I bet the food is spicy and the rum plenty in a Cuban café. I don’t drink so if I visited a trova house or café, I’d hope to hear sones and boleros sung by musicians preserving their musical heritage. And that’s exactly what you’ll hear on this disc. Veterans and newcomers perform that hip-...

Tito Gonzalez Y Su Son De Cuba Al Doblar La Esquina (To Turn the Corner) Independent Release Ever since I watched the documentary Buena Vista Social Club at the Seattle International Film Festival in 1999, I have been in love with the Cuban son (genre of acoustic rustic music). The melodic call and response vocals and passionate horns accompanied by poly rhythms played on congas, bongos, maracas, très and guitars and guided by the clave beat possesses an infectious quality. The lyrical content ranges from romantic, to socio-political and sexual commentaries, to put it mildly. Sunny, but never laid back, Cuban son and its descendent salsa get people of different backgrounds up on their feet dancing. I would imagine that even someone in a coma would respond somehow to it. Cuban très (a guitar with doubled three strings) player and fisherman (and cab driver among other occupations), Tito Gonzalez leads his twelve-person band through a set of original songs that sound like they ...

Màrta Sebestyèn I Can See the Gates of Heaven World Village Sofìa Rei Koutsovitis Sube Azul World Village The label World Village provides its listeners with diverse women’s voices. From Peruvian Tania Libertad to Tibetan Soname and too many women musicians to name in this review, the recordings fall somewhere between comfortingly familiar to exotic, with many of the musicians falling into cutting edge. Some of the musicians such as Susan McKeown collect and preserve traditional songs and others such as the globe-trotting women vocalists in the French group Lo’Jo offer a musical stew. Hungarian folklorist and musician Màrta Sebestyèn collects traditional Hungarian songs, and has been doing this since her childhood when she won a song contest. A photograph of her circa 1977 appears in the liner notes in which Màrta collects a field recording from a traditional elder vocalist. However, Màrta with her traditional vocals and ear for beauty is more than a so...

Chango Spasiuk Pynandi Los Descalzos (Barefoot) World Village In the Americas a rich stew of indigenous, African and European music exists, and especially in South American countries such as Brazil and Argentina. While many of us have heard tango performed on the smaller version of a squeeze box (bandoneon), the standard accordion also plays its role in Argentine music. In the deft hands of Argentine accordionist Chango Spasiuk (who I first heard on the Rough Guide to Argentina several years ago), the European instrument bridges the gap between European, American indigenous and African music. On this accordion-driven recording Pynandi Los Descalzos African rhythms support regional and European classical music, even a baroque violin appears on Mejillas Coloradas . The album is all acoustic with strings, double bass, accordion, Afro-Latin percussion, guitar and vocals on one track, Viejo Caballo Alazan . The recording features regional dance music, although more of the folkloric...

Bachata Roja (Various) Acoustic Bachata From the Cabaret Era Iaso Records Bachata Roja brings us classic acoustic bachata from the early 60s to the late 80s. This rustic music that hails from the Dominican Republic countryside (later immigrated to the cities), draws comparisons with the Cuban son. Similar to other Latin music traditions, rhythm performed on percussion, or the strums and rapid guitar riffs, keeps this music alive and snappy. Bachata Roja , a collection of some of bachata's stellar vocalists, composers and guitarists, provides us with historical and cultural notes from a politically challenging time for the Dominicans. But you would never guess in listening to these driving rhythms, sprite vocals, and double entendres. Despite some of the lyrics which reflect on some of the less acceptable societal behaviors, I find this music sunny and invigorating. And I am not the only one who finds this music invigorating since this CD has reaped its share of critical k...

Photo: Puerto Plata (Iaso Records) Puerto Plata Mujer de Cabaret Iaso Records I am mostly familiar with Cuban musical traditions, but the nearby island of Dominican Republic, (shares an island with Haiti), offers a similar fare of sones, boleros and merenues. Puerto Plata sings these traditions over luscious rhythms and the guitar work of Edilio Paredes and Frank Mendez, who both have these styles down pat. Mujer de Cabaret (cabaret women) , features 11 delectable songs, fleshed out with hard-driving guitar, Caribbean percussion, and 84-year old Puerto Plata serenading us (both women and men), with his "sweet nostalgic" vocals and guitar. And boy, is there a lot of guitar on this CD! Fans of the Buena Vista Social Club sound (mostly Cuban sones and troves), will enjoy this warm and sunny offering from a octogenarian musician, who has lived an eventful life judging from the press notes. Not only that he has kept his sense of humor intact over the years, having su...