The Whole Music Experience

Mamak Khadem Jostojoo (Forever Seeking) Banyan Tree Production I discovered Iranian-American Mamak Khadem's voice in 2002 when I received Axiom of Choice's Unfolding in the mail. But many of you have probably heard her beautiful voice complimenting television show and movie soundtracks. Based in California, Mamak has kept herself busy contributing her vocal talents to many projects, including her newest CD, Jostojoo (Forever Seeking) . In her liner notes, Mamak reflects on the recording. "In the past few years, while traveling to Greece, Turkey, Armenia, and various parts of Iran, I became aware of the many similarities among these cultures and their music." She sought that common ground while infusing music from those cultures with the inspiring words of Iranian poetry, especially illustrious poetry of the ancient Persian poet, Rumi. None of this comes as a surprise to me since Mamak and I had spoken about Rumi's poetry briefly during a 2002 intervi...

Stevin McNamara Om Guitar Sounds True Long-time veteran of the music business, guitarist and producer Stevin McNamara provides us with east-west fusion meditative music on his latest disc, "Om Guitar". He invited an array of guest musicians who brought sitar, tamboura and percussion to McNamara's Indian-sounding guitar. The music provides a wonderful background for meditation, contemplation or for doing work that involves little focus. It is ideal for reading, knitting, and sewing type activities, but would not work well for driving a car. "May Fortune Smile" might interests a few listeners. According to the liner notes, this track "derived from an early evening raga, "Yaman Kalyan," often used as an invocation for good fortune and abundance." And who does not want good fortune and abundance? All four long-playing tracks derive from ragas, which represent a certain part of the day. And all of the ragas have been translated into...

Murray Perahia Bach Partitas 2, 3 & 4 Sony Classical It has been over a decade ago when I ran into an old friend that mentioned he was into Bach. I found that friend pretentious at the time and did not listen to any Bach myself. I did not think that I would understand it since most people that I knew that listened to Bach were academic or they were classically-trained musicians. Then after I started using different types of alternative healing, one of the modalities that I discovered was healing with music. Classical music came up a lot and so did the musical architecture of Bach's compositions. But the real clincher came much earlier when I had heard Glenn Gould performing various Bach compositions. Then I too could see the aesthetic and healing values of Bach. I would imagine listening to Bach everyday for at least an hour would lighten my moods, boost my immune system and offer other positive health effects. (If only I would get around to launching that plan)....

Le Vent du Nord Dans les airs Borealis Records The traditional Quebecois group, Le Vent du Nord's third album, Dans les airs also features the group's third incarnation. The departure of Benoit Bourque feels missed here. But his replacement, Rejean Brunet, formerly of the Flying Beavers group, provides a new dimension. Besides, bringing his accordion on board, he also contributed acoustic bass and piano to this recording. Nicolas Boulerice took on a stronger role on this third time out, by contributing vocal duties on many of the tracks. But violinist Olivier Demers, the other remaining founding member along with Nicolas, handled most of the songwriting duties. Despite a revolving door of band members since the debut recording, La Vent du Nord's fare seem tighter than ever and the playing more mature. The traditional fare of songs about drinking, falling in love with sweethearts or losing at the game of love, fills up most of this disc. We are also informed abou...

Corou de Berra Au fil du temps... independent release Twenty years in the making, France's mixed voices choir, Corou de Berra released a retrospective recording entitled, Au fil de temps... (as time goes by). The six voice choir hails from the French Alps and the vocalists perform traditional songs from Provence, Nice, and Italy. They mostly offer up lush a cappella vocals, even spine-chilling a cappella as on the religious piece, Stabat Mater , or happier fare, Bella bella ciao , which many listeners would have heard at one time or another in their lives. However, the choir has also performed original contemporary polyphony. If you listen to track 8, Di mi pichon , composed by Michel Bianco and Serge Dotti for instance, you will hear those luscious vocal harmonies playing along with swing violin, and not too long ago, the choir produced a retrospective of the late Italian folk singer, Fabrizio de Andre. Peter's War from maschi feminine cantanti appears on this 20...

Andy Palacio & The Garifuna Collective Watina Stonetree Records/Cumbancha Only in his 40s, the musician and preserver of Garifuna culture, Andy Palacio died recently of a stroke. It's true musicians have been dropping like flies lately, with so many passing away from pneumonia, strokes, heart attacks and cancer. In the last couple of days, Cape Verdian vocalist Cesaria Evora suffered a stroke, right before she was going to headline at the WOMAD festival in Australia. (She is still alive). While the death of a musician to me is always tragic, Palacio's passing on hit both the global music community and the Garifuna peoples of Belize (and beyond), like a ton of bricks falling out of the sky. In a way, you might say that Palacio's journey into preserving Garifuna culture goes back to 1635 when shipwrecked African slaves liberated themselves and found solace on the Caribbean island, St. Vincent. There the African slaves were welcomed by the Arawak Indians and the...

Photo: Gazpacho Andalu (from Joe's Pub, New York) Gazpacho Andalù Flamenco De Vuelta E Ida Independent Release Juan Manuel Cañizares Suite Iberia (Albeniz por Cañizares) Sony BMG Masterworks Gazpacho reminds me of a scene from Pedro Almodovar's "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," where the most crazed woman of them all splashes a bowl of gazpacho on the lead character. Tomato, garlic and remnants of sleeping pills run down the face of the woman and soak her dress. This is one side of Spain, (over-the-top characters), via the movie business that has shaped my life, along with hearing fiery flamenco guitar and vocals. My ancestral DNA goes on alert and my heart feels energized when I hear sounds of Andalusia. So I am delighted to have received two flamenco recordings recently. The first recording I am going to mention, Flamenco De Vuelta E Ida hails from the New York based, Gazpacho Andalù. This fusion project blends music from North Africa, South...

The Wailin' Jennys 40 Days Jericho Beach Records Firecracker Red House Records I landed a regular writing gig in the Skagit Valley in Washington, covering the arts. I am currently writing an article on the Canadian folk-bluegrass trio, The Wailin' Jennys. I received the trio's two CDs as part of my research and what I will say is that I have not been blown away by this kind of musical beauty and strength since I listened to the Beatles' harmonies as a young child or when I first witnessed Lo'Jo in concert at WOMAD USA in 1998. Two thirds of the Jennys' current lineup hail from Winnipeg--the silky vocals of Ruth Moody and Nicky Mehta carry tinges of the prairies. Their voices wander like tumbleweeds across a desert or like the birds that they sing about on their CDs, "Arlington" (40 Days) and former alto member Annabelle Chvostek's "Swallow" (Firecracker), soar like minstrels on the wind. The third voice of the group has be...

Through a Dog's Ear CD Music to Calm Your Canine Companion Joshua Leeds & Lisa Spector Sounds True Through a Dog's Ear (book) Joshua Leeds & Susan Wagner, DVM, MS Sounds True Two loves have remained constant throughout my life thus far--the love of animals and music. My human instincts and experiences have proven to me that animals enjoy music as much as humans. Certainly animals do not hold intellectual conversations about rhythmic structure and their understanding of music probably does not bode well in an academic setting. However, recent research has proven that animals' moods are affected by music and just like humans, sound healing concepts such as entrainment and resonance are just as true for dogs as they are for humans. According to authors Joshua Leeds (sound healer and researcher), and Susan Wagner (doctor of veterinarian medicine), in their book, Through A Dog's Ear , dogs have refined taste in music. They prefer European classical com...

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...