The Whole Music Experience

Polyphony/Britten Sinfonia/Stephen Layton  George Frideric Handel Messiah Hyperion Records I am not a religious person, but when I listen to Handel’s Messiah , I feel a certain holiness enter the room—the space becomes sacred.  Oddly, a Handel expert told me last year that the baroque composer was not particularly religious.  True he had composed other oratorios with Biblical themes before composing the music for Messiah , but he did recycle material from his secular operas to appear as arias in Messiah .  However, this exalted music with its fiery arias and stunning orchestral interludes, must have given old Handel some pause for religious thought.  The libretto alone tells a powerful story of prophecy, suffering and transcendence, as well as, faith in Divine Providence. Handel reworked the oratorio several times, adding arias for soloist and most notably for the castrato Gaetano Guadagni, in 1750.  The original performance of Messiah to...

Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov Beethoven Complete Sonatas for Piano and Violin Harmonia Mundi If someone wanted to become intimate with the Romantic musician-composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), spending time with the composer’s scores would certainly open a door. Many classically-trained musicians and scholars delved into the German composer’s scores, though barely decipherable given the composer’s messy handwriting and equally messy palette of raw emotions Beethoven brought to his sonatas and other work. And the musicians would also discover when researching the composer that he started out as a violinist and even mastered the instrument, though piano turned out to be his forte (pun intended). Hungarian pianist and Beethoven interpreter Andràs Schiff recorded the entire cycle of the German composer’s piano sonatas for ECM Records, with the last recording of the series released in 2009. Now, German violinist Isabelle Faust and Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov...

Joana Amendoeira À Flor Da Pele World Village A new fadista to my ears, Joana Amendoeira sings original fados in a classic style that hails back to the era before Amàlia Rodrigues. Her fifth CD, À Flor da Pele offers less gusto than her contemporary Mariza’s work, but as much sensuality and beauty as heard on Mariza’s and Cristina Branco’s recordings. Joana’s vocals caress every note and she embodies the poetry she sings with broad strokes. Her band includes Pedro Amendoeira on Portuguese guitar, Pedro Pinhal on classical guitar and Paulo Paz on double bass and the music the quartet performs possesses a sepia tone veneer and a whiff of nostalgia. Although I don’t understand Portuguese, I feel the longing Joana sings about in the song, Apelo . The following song, Amor O Teu Nome conjures the happiness of lovers with its lilting Portuguese guitar and Joana’s spritely vocal interpretation. And each song, opalescent and strung together like pearls, reveals the di...

Totò La Momposina La Bodega Astar Colombian vocalist Totò La Momposina came to my attention in 2004, when her delicious cumbia, Yo Me Llamo Cumbia appeared on the Putumayo compilation Women of Latin America , alongside Chilean Mariana Montalvo, Brazilian Monica Salmaso, Colombian Marta Gòmez and others. She headlined in the Putumayo Presents Women in Latin America tour along with Brazilian Belo Velloso and Mariana Montalvo (mentioned earlier), and if she did not rouse audience members physically, she most certainly roused them emotionally. So years later, I am pleased to receive her recording, La Bodega . Released on an independent label, Totò offers us songs that you cannot sit still while listening to them. In fact, I flew out of my chair and found myself dancing throughout my small apartment. I knew that in order to write this review, I would need to do so in silence because those Afro-Colombian cross-rhythms, thumping beats, punchy brass and Totò’s alto vocals...

Tuning in the key of 440 Thad Carhart The Piano Shop on the Left Bank Discovering at Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier Random House, 2001 As a child, I gravitated towards any piano that I encountered, at people’s houses, at the church and in stores. I never learned how to play piano and my family did not own one, but the instrument, in all of its wooden glory, with white and black keys beckoning for my fingers to caress them, called to me.  And I adored it. Now, as an adult, I listen to many solo piano recordings, from Bach and Beethoven to Ravel. Some of the pianists in my collect include, Glenn Gould, Angela Hewitt, Pèter Nagy, Andràs Schiff, Murray Perahia and many others. These virtuosos have no awareness that I exist in some tucked away small city, enchanted by the music they recorded. And the author Thad Carhart who wrote The Piano Shop on the Left Bank , has no awareness of me luxuriating in his every word as he waxed on about every aspect of the piano...

About Provence and Provencal Music:   Southeastern France or Provence is a former Roman province, located on the Mediterranean Sea and adjacent to the Italian border.  Provence is bordered by the Alps and Italy to the east, the Rhone River to the west and the Mediterranean Sea provides the southern border.  The principality of Monaco, Nice, Marseilles, Aix-en-Provence, Avignon, Arles are all important Provençal cities.  Occitan is the language historically spoken in Provence and the Occitan regions of France, although the language has been losing its prominence.  The language is also spoken in parts of Spain, Italy (Piedmont), Germany and even the U.S (Idaho and Oregon).  The famed medieval troubadours penned their poetry and sung their verses in Occitan, which is a Latin Romance language. The troubadours draw comparisons to the West African griot or the Irish bards.  They not only sung love songs, they also traveled on trade routes bring...

Cesaria Evora Nha sentimento Lusafrica Nancy Vieira Lus (release date November 2009) World Village Last March a news brief regarding a minor stroke suffered by Cape Verdean vocalist, Cesaria Evora appeared on World Music Central . The musician had flown to Australia to perform at WOMADELAIDE and she suffered a stroke prior to the festival performance. Needless to say her performance was cancelled leaving disappointed fans in the wake. This month brings us happier news since the 66-year old Evora releases the recording, nha sentimento on Lusafrica. The press release described the recording, “Cesaria ventures further afield than ever before, twisting Arabic musical traditions into bluesy sinuous compositions from some of Cape Verde’s best songwriters.” The result sunny Cape Verdean repertoire with Egyptian exoticism produced by longtime friend and collaborator Manuel de Novas (who recently passed away) with songs arranged by Egyptian Fathy Salama. Again—the ...

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 ...