The Whole Music Experience

Le Vent Du Nord La Part Du Feu Borealis Records Chuck and Albert Ènergie Independent release (Canada) For those of us that reside in the northern hemisphere with emphasis on northern, it’s time to gather near the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate or cider in your hands. And for those of you suffering from cold toes, place some traditional Quebecois music in your player and get your feet tapping. Two new releases, La Part Due Feu (the fourth studio recording by Le Vent Du Nord) and the appropriately titled Ènergie (Chuck & Albert from Prince Edward Island) ought to do the trick. I fell in love with traditional Quebecois music years ago and my collection has grown and I hope my knowledge of this music has grown as well. Le Vent Du Nord came to my attention during the summer of 2003 when an early incarnation of the quartet performed at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. Step dancing, fiddle, hurdy-gurdy, guitar and hearty vocals were ...

Rolf Lislevand Ensemble Diminuito ECM Series  When Rolf Lislevand’s Nuove Musiche (ECM, 2006) arrived in my mailbox along with Trio Mediaeval’s 2006 ECM recording, I ended up with a stray Alaskan dog in my apartment. Trio Mediaeval’s recording had been playing in my apartment when the dog showed up at my backdoor. Now, how it found its way into the yard remains a mystery. I pulled the dog into my home and phoned its human companion. But in the meantime, the Alaskan dog gravitated towards the CD player and long before Joshua Leeds and Susan Wagner published the book, Through a Dog’s Ear. This dog preferred early music. Shedding dog story aside, listening to the Norwegian early music lute player Lislevand and the Scandinavian early music vocal ensemble, Trio Mediaeval in a single afternoon opened some much needed doors for me, musically speaking. And now two of the TM vocalists, Linn Andrea Fuglseth and Anna Maria Friman appear on Rolf Lislevand Ensemble’s Diminuito , an...

Mario Adnet & Philippe Baden Powell Afro Samba Jazz The Music of Baden Powell Adventure Music I spent two weeks listening to Brazilian guitarists Mario Adnet and Philippe Baden Powell’s Afro Samba Jazz and I am still savoring every minute of it. Similar to Virginia Rodrigues’ Mares Profundos (Edge Music, 2003), Adnet’s and Powell’s interpretations celebrate the much revered Baden Powell Afro-sambas. A bus load of musicians appear on the recording including Monica Salmaso, the Adnet clan, Teco Cardosa and too many musicians to name here. They bring their horns, drums, flutes, clarinets, saxophones, guitars and double bass, reminding me of carnival season 6 months premature. On first listen I experienced a memory of hearing Astrud Gilberto’s interpretation of Berimbau on a great hits album I once owned. Then of course, in 2003 I listened to Virginia Rodrigues’ Celso Fonseca’s covers of Baden Powell’s Afro-Samba classics. The sambas engage listeners with lush African po...

Musicians on Call: Have a heart, but not the knowledge of the healing power of music I learned about an organization called Musicians on Call, who donate live and recorded music to hospitals. The mission statement reads: "Musicians on Call brings live and recorded music to the bedside of patients in healthcare facilities. Musicians on Call uses music to promote and complement the healing process of patients, families and caregivers." While this might be a heartfelt effort, what I could glean from the organization's website was that the music provided falls into country, rock, and pop music. There are no sound healers or music therapists on the board of directors or on the staff for this organization. This concerns me because country, pop and rock music might actually interfere with the healing process with invasive lyrics, a back beat (with pop and rock), which would not be beneficial to someone suffering from a heart condition. And some rock music might cause depr...

The Wailin’ Jennys Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House Red House Records Anyone who has listened to a recording or attended a concert performed by Winnipeg’s The Wailin’ Jennys, knows that it all ends too quickly. The sweet strains of harmonies that the trio of women vocalists, (Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta and Heather Masse), have the ability to amaze and thrill. Then add the fiery bluegrass fiddle of Jeremy Penner, and the listening pleasure must be repeated a few times in order to feel completely satiated from this a cappella and accompanied music. Live at the Mauch Chunk Opera House (Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania), offers both, a live concert and a recording. And listeners no doubt, will press the repeat button to enjoy an encore performance of these 14 delicious tracks. The recording not only offers a clean and crisp sound, but the musicians create a warm and inviting atmosphere with a little bit of on-stage banter and a beautiful delivery of previously recorded songs and some ...

Ithmara Koorax & Juarez Moreira Bim Bom (The Complete João Gilberto Songbook) Motèma Music With Brazilians in the throes of celebration over the announcement about 2016 Summer Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro, it seems appropriate to review a bossa nova recording. Brazilian chanteuse Ithmara Koorax and guitarist Juarez Moreira do their own bit of celebrating the founder of bossa nova, João Gilberto. The year 2008 marked the 50th anniversary based on João Gilberto’s first bossa nova recordings. Fifty years later bossa nova feels hotter than ever and Gilberto has become a Brazilian jazz legend. The bossa nova style with its laid back groove, slightly flat and syncopated vocals and sedate guitar, seems only simple on the surface. After giving Bim Bom several listens and paying close attention to Koorax’s vocals and Moreira’s guitar, I could hear that this subtle music sports its share of complexities. The musicians, to their credit, only make it sound simp...

I published "The Whole Music Experience "Becoming Aware of Effects of Words, Thoughts & Sounds" in the October 2009 issue of the New Spirit Journal. http://www.newspiritjournal.com/

Universal Song When God created music and heard the first human sing, God had an idea. Place the most beautiful harmonies up on the mountain tops give that gift to shepherds and cowherds. Sprinkle New Orleans with lots of spice, musical strains from everywhere unite in celebration---march on saints! In India, the twangs of ancient instruments and vibrato voices linger in halls of the gods and goddesses, holding a center of peaceful bliss. In Africa and the Caribbean, a cacophony of languages and polyrhythms allow humans an aerobic workout--sexual tension released. Climbing the Andes, pan flutes of peasants and Indians resonate in thin air. And further up the Americas, Native Americans pound on the community drum and sing about tribal life. Throughout the planet, horns, bells, whistles, flutes, shawms and trombones ring out, clarinets and saxophones swirl with Italian accordions, fiddles and violins strike chords and everyone joins their voices into a peace choir. Women ...

The late jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie did not only leave us with his be-bop-Latin jazz fusion, but in his memory, a fund to help ailing musicians with healthcare costs was also established. When the jazz musician was dying from pancreatic cancer at the Englewood Hospital and Medical Center in New Jersey, he told his oncologist, Dr. Forte, "I can't give you any money, but I can let you use my name. Promise you'll help musicians less fortunate than I am." According to the liner notes for The Complete Joao Gilberto Songbook (CD, Motema), "In late 1993, Englewood Hospital and Medical Center Foundation honored his request by establishing the Dizzy Gillespie Memorial Fund which raises money to help underwrite the costs of hospitalization, diagnostic tests...for jazz musicians in need, but unable to pay." Dr. Forte organized physicians to give free care to musicians both at offices and at home. To learn more about this fund, go to http://www.motema.com...

Alex E. Smith, Cheevers Toppah & Nitanas Landry Rain in July (Native American Vocal Harmony) Canyon Records Barbara Furtuna In Santa Pace (Polyphonies Corses) Buda Musique (France) As far as I know, Rain in July is Alex E. Smith, Cheevers’ Toppah’s and Nitanas Landry’s follow-up to the Native American trio’s Harmony Nights (2007). The Native American vocal harmonies that appear on Rain in July sound as lush as an alpine valley. These gifted vocalists weave their voices into tight harmonies while mostly singing vocables. However, a few of the love songs supply lyrics sung in English. The most remarkable aspect of this trio is the inclusion of a female vocalist, Nitanas Landry who hails from Canada. Usually when you hear Native American harmonies, they involve two men vocalists. While the harmonies possess beauty in their own right, adding the feminine voice brings in a sacred balance that resonates well with the earth, and certainly wi...

Doug Cox & Salil Bhatt Slide to Freedom 2 Make a Better World Northern Blues In 2003 I interviewed Canadian bluesman Harry Manx at the Vancouver International Folk Festival. As we sat in the gorgeous Jericho Beach park (Vancouver, Canada), and the sun washed over us, Harry and I discussed his unique blend of American blues and classical Indian ragas. I was also introduced to the music of Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, founder of the Mohan Veena. As synchronicity played its role, I received 2 albums by Vishwa Mohan Bhatt shortly after that, which I enjoyed immensely. Fast forward to the present where I am listening to Vishwa's son, Salil Bhatt, also a Indian slide guitarist, team up with Canadian slide guitarist Doug Cox on Slide to Freedom 2 (Make a Better World). You'll find nothing short of high-vibrational music on this disc. Blues pieces sung by John Boutte mix with ragas. I especially like the blues piece, I Scare Myself and of course, the rousing For You Blu...

Trio Ifriqiya (Faycal El Mezouar, Èmile Biayenda and Didier Frèboeuf Petite Planète World Village I have had to listen to Trio Ifriqiya’s Petite Planète several times before reviewing it. To label it a fusion project would do this recording an injustice. True, Algerian Faycal El Mezouar’s Arabic oud, violin, percussion and vocals make a good marriage with Didier Frèboeuf’s jazz piano and the neutral drumming of Èmile Biayenda (founder of Les Tambours de Brazza). However, as the album’s title implies Arab-Andalusian music and jazz improvisations only scratch at the surface of a global musical dialogue that travels from West and North Africa to Spain, to the United States and back again. A listener can glean a lot from this trio’s repertoire and do some mind-traveling in the meantime. The opener, Ya Qalbi Khelli el Hal delves into those Arabic modes, complete with Arabic vocals, oud, piano and percussion. Hada al Gharam mixes up the jazz improvisations with the Arabic mode...

Playing for Change: Conversation with Filmmaker Jonathan Walls When it comes to street musicians, I have a fond memory of an African-American vocalist who sang soul tunes on University Avenue in Seattle. He accompanied his vocals by jingling a jar of coins and he always brought a smile to my face, even on the gloomiest days. Also in Seattle other street musician stars such as the Andean ensemble with their pan flutes and bombo drums performing at the Northwest Folklife Festival, where they drew crowds and downtown Seattle, as well as, an extraordinary Native American violinist that performed in Pike’s Place Market, etched themselves in my memory. So when I turned on the radio and to an NPR show, On Point , not too long ago, and heard an interview with Grammy award-winning producer/recording engineer Mark Johnson who chatted about his project, Playing for Change , I experienced goose bumps. My heart went out to Johnson who experienced an epiphany in a New York City subway...

Anonymous 4 Four Centuries of Chant Harmonia Mundi The laws of synchronicity work efficiently in my life. Two weeks ago, I pulled out Anonymous 4’s Portrait because I was craving ethereal polyphonic chants. Then I received an e-mail release notice from Harmonia Mundi announcing a new Anonymous 4 recording. Four Centuries of Chant, though is a compilation archives monody or plainsong chants that appeared on previous albums. While this quartet is mostly known for its vocal polyphony, the 20 plainsong chants (which includes work by Hildegard von Bingen, Tavener, along with medieval, renaissance chants and Hungarian Christmas music), deserve attention. These chants were culled from An English Ladymass , The Lily & The Lamb , Miracles of Sant’Iago , A Star in the East , Hildegard Von Bingen—11,000 Virgins , A Lammas Ladymass, The Legend of Nicholas , 1000: A Mass for the End of Time , Darkness into Light , and The Origins of Fire . Susan Hellauer cited in the liner notes, ...

Angela Hewitt Plays Handel & Haydn Hyperion Records In the past I have listened to award-winning Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt’s Bach recordings, which I found as delicious as the Bach interpretations of the late Glenn Gould (also Canadian). So when I put the Handel & Haydn CD into my player, I thought I was listening to Bach. I even pulled the CD out of my computer to make sure that Hyperion had not made a mistake and accidentally put a Bach recording in the jewel case. They had not. I read Hewitt’s liner notes in which she discussed the similarities between George Frideric Handel’s Suite No 2 in F major and Bach’s repertoire. “If you play this for somebody without telling them who wrote it, I bet the last person they would name would be Handel. Many would say Bach.” I would say the same about Chaconne (with 21 variations) in G major , which Hewitt opens the recording. But why should any of this surprise me? Handel and Bach were contemporaries, both of Germanic ...

Thomas Zehetmair Niccolo Paganini--24 Capricci ECM New Series I became a fan of Niccolo Paganini back when I took a history of Western music class in college. The fiery and bombastic qualities of the Romantic Era composer and violinist's work dovetailed with my rebellious late teen personality of that time. And throughout the years I remained a aficionado of Paganini. I recall hearing a line from Kate Bush's Violin referring to Paganini and later, watching the Canadian film, The Red Violin , again I felt goosebumps listening to the Paganini-like soundtrack. Paganini had a reputation of being a devil with an enchanting fiddle. True to the era in which he performed music, he certainly knew how to work emotions with a bow and strings. Mostly I have heard the 19th century composer's concertos, so it is refreshing to hear his solo violin work performed by Viennese conductor/chamber musician Thomas Zehetmair take up this challenge. And this collection of caprices f...