The Whole Music Experience

Aine Minogue Celtic Pilgrimage Sounds True Mesmerizing soprano vocals and shimmering notes of a Celtic harp float off of Aine Minogue's lastest recording, Celtic Pilgrimage. The contemporary Celtic harp and vocals find themselves embedded in a lush sound scape of cello, bansuri flute, drum & percussion, guitar, keyboards, bass, piano, overtone singing and chanting. And the main focus is the process of a spiritual pilgrimage starting with the call to the quest, the home sickness one feels on route, blistered feet, and the redemption at the end of the journey. All of this captured in compelling music. I have taken inner pilgrimages, but never one in the physical world. Yet, thousands of people each year embark on one spiritual pilgrimage or another in various parts of the world. Most of the major religions, if not all of them, have some sort of pilgrimage. These can be found in Europe, Asia, the Americas and beyond with each pilgrimage testing the body, mind, and soul. ...

International Guitar Night Lincoln Theatre Mount Vernon, Washington February 3, 2008 I thought of including a short review for the International Guitar Night concert, led by San Francisco based guitarist Brian Gore with flamenco guitarist Miguel de la Bastide, Malagasy guitarist D'Gary and English folk-blues guitarist Clive Carroll. The 4 extremely talented guitarists found the perfect venue to share their diverse guitar styles in the historic Lincoln Theatre's intimate setting. Brian had mentioned that he enjoyed returning to the theatre and felt that the audience was like a family. Indeed, it did feel cozy throughout the length of the concert. And the musicians comradery and playful humor contributed to the light atmosphere. Each guitarist performed solo work before teaming up in duets, trios and an amazing quartet. I almost fell out of my chair a few times due to the dazzling digital dexterity of these guitarists, who made playing guitar look like a cake walk--wh...

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...

Alex Alvear Equatorial Colorao Records For those listeners who enjoy South American Andes rhythms, flutes, and gentle flourishes, could do no better than Ecuadoran musician Alex Alvear's Equatorial . Alex reflects on a rediscovery of his native music on this disc. Like so many of us who discovered rock or jazz music in our formative years and thought that we could turn our backs on our musical lineage, Alex found that one can never run too far away from their roots. (Although he did find himself playing Cuban music for some time before returning to his Andes roots). And thankfully he returned full force to his musical heritage because his sweet musical offering brings smiles to listeners' faces--I am sure of it. "I must confess I never fostered traditional music as many of my fellow Ecuadorian musicians have been doing for decades, despite numerous challenges and lack of support. My knowledge of the music of my homeland has been purely empirical; a collage of inte...

Deepak Ram Steps Golden Horn Records Imagine John Coltrane's Giant Steps played on a bansuri flute (India) backed by a bossa nova rhythms played on guitar and percussion, and that describes flutist Deepak Ram's latest CD, Steps . Since Indian classical music and jazz both rely on improvisation, this is not the first time the two traditions wed. And the overall musical marriage wraps a warm blanket of dreamy revelry around its listeners. This album feels good as it lifts the energy in the room. Not only that, Deepak and those musicians who came on board, Tony Marino, Vic Juris and Jamey Haddad know their way around jazz classics. Besides, Coltrane's Giant Steps and Naima (off of the same Coltrane album), Deepak also brings in Miles Davis' All Blues , Gershwin's Summertime , Darius Brubeck's October and Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodger's My Funny Valentine . Deepak contributes his two original pieces, Madiba's Dance and Blues for Shyam Babu ...

Le Trio Joubran Majaz Randana/Harmonia Mundi The Joubran brothers, Samir, Wissam, and Adnan all deftly play the Arabic oud. Palestinian by birth, but sporting Israeli citizenship, it's challenging to fathom that the beautiful music flowing from the newest disc, Majaz , hails from a place of turmoil. In recent news, we read that the Israeli government placed another stranglehold on the Palestinians living in Gaza, and now many Palestinians seek refuge in Egypt, causing an already overheated Middle Eastern situation to boil over while the rest of the world watches helplessly. It's hard not to think of this political situation when listening to the three brothers play their ouds. These are young men who hail from a long lineage of Palestinian traditional musicians and instrument makers, and in fact, the middle brother, Wissam not only composes and joins his other two brothers on oud, but he also crafts the instruments. While performance of a 3-oud ensemble brings a contempor...

R. Carlos Nakai & Nawang Khechog Winds of Devotion Sounds True It has been less than a year ago when Tibetan musician and former monk Nawang Khechog suffered injuries from an automobile accident in India. In fact, the musician and two of his family members were on their way to celebrate the Tibetan New Year. The driver of the car and Nawang's niece died in the accident. Nawang suffered a head injury which he miraculously healed. Perhaps that healing reflects on the power of prayer, compassion, and positive thinking. And certainly that former monk experience along with the power of music also proves helpful. Sounds True finally released, Winds of Devotion , a collaboration between the Ute-Navajo flutist R. Carlos Nakai and Nawang Khechog and as you would imagine if you are familiar with these two phenomenal human musicians, that this is a meditative work. American classical cellist David Darling, percussionist Geoffrey Gordon, vocalists Chris White, bassist Wade ...

Iver Kleive Requiem Kirkelig Kulturversted It's not that I want to end the year listening to a requiem and in the past couple of months, I have listened to two of them. Norwegian pianist/organist/composer Iver Kleive composed a Requiem for the death of his son, Alexander, for the victims of the attack on the Twin Towers of September 11, 2001 and also the fallen in Iraqi war. "Based on requiem text in Latin, it is composed for choir, organ, and two soloist." Requiem was recorded in Ljubljana, Slovenia last spring and was released during the fall. Although the work here which includes the illustrious choral voices of the Oslo Bach Choir, Mimas chamber choir, APZ Tone Tomsic, soloist Marianne E. Andersen (mezzo soprano) and Trond Hallstein (baritone) and booming organ, it is not an easy listen. As you would guess the music falls in a minor key with many descending lines and often times the organ takes on a dissonant journey. The music might feel cathartic to so...

Celtic Woman 3 (Ireland) compilation Hearts O' Space/Valley Entertainment Celtic Woman 3 lends itself well to those people who like to unwind themselves once and awhile. Fabulous vocalists including Mary Black, Kate Power, Margaret Brennan, Lucy Champion, Dolores Keane and others, sing ballads strung over an ambient and mystical backdrop. The end result could be used during a massage session or for an afternoon relaxation break. Although enchanting and beautiful this collection of songs does fall on the sleepy side. I was hoping for some jigs or reels--for some kick since I mainly suffer from low energy. I find that this CD works best for relaxation and not for energy-building. I also find that I prefer to listen to this recording in the evening when I am winding down rather than in the morning when I am trying to jumpstart my day. Although it might add tranquility to a peak hour traffic commute. This recording would also make a fine soundtrack for a long journey by train...

Stella Chiweshe (Zimbabwe) Double Check (Two Sides of Zimbabwe's Mbira Queen) Piranha Musik Formerly posted on Cranky Crow Whole Music I am currently reading about the medieval woman mystic Hildegard von Bingen so I find myself drawing comparisons between the German prophetess Hildegard and the contemporary Zimbabwean Queen of Mbira, Stella Chiweshe. These two women share many commonalties including hearing songs or possessing a knowingness during their respective childhood. Both women encountered life-changing experiences around the age of 8 and both women pursued paths forbidden for the women of their time or culture. In the press notes for Stella Chiweshe's 7th recording, Double Check, on the German label, Piranha Musik, Chiweshe wears the label of mystic and the words, "spiritual" or "inspiration" pop off the page when others attempt to describe her. Which only proves you can't keep a good woman down and as history would prove again and again, ...

Aage Kvalbein & Iver Kleive Julemeditasjoner (Christmas Meditations) Kirkelig Kultverksted (KKV) The Norwegian Girls Choir with Kari Bremnes Julens Hjerte (The Heart of Christmas) KKV I received two Nordic holiday recordings, Christmas Meditations and The Heart of Christmas in the mail a few days ago. I wasn't sure that I would have much time to listen to them until I slipped a disc in my neck and had to rest for a couple of days. Fortunately, for me, the repertoire on both recordings lent itself well to relaxing. I have enjoyed the music too even though I normally do not listen to holiday music. This year however is a little different because I moved to a small town which is currently decked for the holidays. We also experienced a bit of snow this morning and well, it kind of gets you in the mood. Cellist Aage Kvalbein pairs up with pianist Iver Kleive (two regulars on the KKV label) to bring us a collection of meditative holiday songs. The collection incl...

R. Carlos Nakai with Udi Bar-David Voyagers Canyon Records Although you don't hear about it in the evening news, alternative or otherwise, musicians play a key role in the peacemaking process across the planet. Navajo-Ute flutist R. Carlos Nakai pairs up with Israeli cellist Udi Bar-David in a cross cultural conversation that includes Middle Eastern modes and scales, classical and jazz music, as well as, Native American flute. In fact, the theme of the recording, Voyagers speaks a Universal language that reminds us that no matter our race, culture or religion, we are essentially all one people. R. Carlos sums it up in the liner notes, "Separate beings, separate voices, one mind, one dream--human. The social issues of race, color, culture, religion, etceteras all become meaningless defiles and encounters when the interpersonal communication is the language of music..." So I ask you, why do we not see or hear about peacemaking musicians in the news? Why do we only he...

Mahsa & Marjan Vahdat   Songs From a Persian Garden   Kirkelig Kulturverksted In 2004 an intriguing CD with the ironic title, Lullabies from the Axis of Evil arrived in my mailbox. Produced by Erik Hillestad for the Norwegian label, Kirkelig Kulturverksted, the recording married the voices of western women with the voices of women from the "Axis of Evil" countries (as dubbed by President Bush in a State of the Union address). The women sang lullabies from their respective countries and while the women such as Lila Downs, Eddi Reader, Sarah Jane Morris, Nina Hagen and Kari Bremnes were the famous names at the time, the vocalists from some of the East countries appear to be gaining international recognition. KKV also released recordings by the Palestine vocalist and composer, Rim Banna to critical acclaim and now two sisters, vocalists from Iran debut in the West. Similar to Banna, Mahsa and Marjan Vahdat sang lullabies on the Axis of Evil CD and in fact, the...

Terence Blanchard A Tale of God's Will (A Requiem for Katrina) Blue Note So many natural disasters have occurred after the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Yet, with each storm, each flood, each drought or other catastrophic event, we have the opportunity to further awaken ourselves. We can ask ourselves what we can do to live in balance with the planet. And we also need to ask ourselves what we are willing to sacrifice or jettison in order to live in balance? One thing we don't want to do is to turn our backs to musicians with messages about what went wrong and what could go wrong. Musically, New Orleans presents us with so many musical legends. The birth of jazz in the hands of Jelly Roll Morton happened in New Orleans. A variety of musical styles hail from New Orleans and when people visit the city, music is one of the main attractions that grabs their attention. But, now the Crescent City has become the focus of dialogues about racism, earth climate changes, poverty, in...

Freedom of Expression: A Conversation with Axiom of Choice vocalist, Mamak Khadem (This interview was originally published on Cranky Crow Whole Music in 2002. It is one of the articles that led me on the path to exploring the consciousness of music). For many years I have harbored a growing interest in the healing qualities of music. I had read many articles about the healing properties of Mozart and Beethoven and I had read about music from the celestial spheres, but reading expert opinions is one thing and experiencing the healing effects of music even for something as simple as a cold is another story.   I sat in a crowded theatre at Meany Hall at the University of Washington campus fighting off chills and certainly not wanting to deal with a crowd, music enthusiasts or not. However, when the members of Axiom of Choice, a group that blends Persian classical music with Western influences hit the stage, I felt my fever abating somewhat as I absorbed the music that emana...

Miles Davis Kind of Blue Columbia (1959) It is now over 20 years ago that I hosted my first community radio show in Bellingham, Washington. My first live show featured jazz, during time when alternative rock was the only music to hit the spot with me. Needless to say, I didn't know anything about jazz other than the music my mother played around my childhood homes. Yet, it did not take me too long before I discovered the wealth of talent associated with American jazz. Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and Bitches' Brew were staples for my show, and the rest of the show sadly was made up of me giving blind faith to whatever jazz records I could pull out of the bins before my show. And I had not listened to those artists previously nor did I know anything about the artists. That would come much later, but jazz was indeed shouting at me. Today I am rediscovering Miles Davis' Kind of Blue and the end result causes me to walk around my apartment snapping my fingers ...

Will Clipman Pathfinder Canyon Records If you have listened to R. Carlos Nakai or any number of Canyon Records artists, you have heard Will Clipman's work on percussion and drums. On Pathfinder , the master percussionist Clipman performs on all of the global percussive instruments himself. The pieces feature polyphonic drums and global percussive melodies--that's right, Clipman plays melodic percussion. The music ranges from whimsical to dance-inducing-hip-swaying and many moods in between. The rhythmic music lifts our spirits and begs us to dance along with it. Sometimes we find ourselves on the African continent, or we find ourselves snaking our way across an American Southwest desert. The drumming comes from ancestors and it hails from the spirit of the present. Clipman who calls himself, Saamokee (a marriage between Saami and Cherokee), finds his shamanic roots while igniting his passion for drumming on Pathfinder . With such titles as, Bodhisattva , Thirteenth Moo...

John Coltrane A Love Supreme MCA Records, (1964) Jazz saxophonist-composer John Coltrane discovered God in the late 1950s which led the be bop performer to eventually record, A Love Supreme . According to Coltrane, "During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At the time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music." A Love Supreme with its hard edges and dissonant staccato saxophone passages, would not be my first place to seek happiness. But having been through an ordeal of relocating and completely altering my life circumstances recently, A Love Supreme seems like the right medicine for me. And anyone experiencing a dip on their life path, might also find this music to act as a healing balm. It's not for everyone, and Coltrane caused a lot of controversy among the jazz world with his hard edges and experimen...