The Whole Music Experience

The Gurdjieff Folk Instrument Ensemble Led by Levon Eskenian Music of Georges I.   Gurdjieff ECM Many of you reading this review probably have never heard Armenian folk music, though you have heard most of the instruments on Levon Eskenian and The Gurdjieff Folk Instrument Ensemble's recording Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff  if you have listened to traditional music of Iran, Kurdistan, Turkey, and India.   This folk ensemble features the traditional Armenian reed instrument duduk which both Real World Records and World Village have featured on several recordings.   Other instruments that might sound familiar to your ears are the Iranian spiked fiddle (kamancha), the Turkish saz (long-neck lute), the Arabic tombak (drum) and oud, as well as, the dohl drum and santur from India.   To say that Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff falls into exotic territory is an understatement, but the Gurdjieff who studied many spiritual paths, also compose...

Paul Hillier National Chamber Choir of Ireland Stewart French Tarik O’Regan Acallam na Senórach: An Irish Colloquy Harmonia Mundi Sung in Middle Irish and English, the medieval frame-tale of the meeting of Saint Patrick and associates of Finn mac Cumaill comes to life on Paul Hillier’s latest recording, Tarik O’Regan Acallam na Senórach: An Irish Colloquy .   And what a splendid recording this is, with soprano vocals that sail through the glass ceiling and blend seamlessly with a mixed choir’s polyphony.   Opening with bodhrán the choral work takes on a mysterious quality.   The drumbeats prepare listeners to enter the realm of enchantment and to take a journey to Ireland’s medieval past.   And the story portrayed on the recording represents the meeting of pagan and Christian cultures, and communication from spiritual realms. Besides the ethereal polyphonic vocals, we are treated to Stewart French’s classical guitar such as on Guitar ...

Marilyn Mazur Celestial Circle ECM Records Reminiscent of her label mate, Susanne Abbuehl, percussionist-composer Marilyn Mazur’s Celestial Circle features moody jazz with sedate vocals.   I’ve enjoyed listening to Mazur’s unobtrusive compositions performed by the artist’s ECM band, (John Taylor-piano, Josefine Cronholm-vocals, and Anders Jormin-double bass), while I work.   The beautiful textures created by this quartet doesn’t qualify as background music (too intriguing), but while I listen to the pure tones of this particular recording, I’m able to get the best of both worlds—listening to music and editing my work.   I’d imagine that this music would go well with a cup of chamomile tea at bedtime too. The songs fall on the melancholy side, alternately feel contemplative with warm tones and exotic percussive brushstrokes. The players seem to have an intuitive connection with each other, almost breathing in sync with the bass, piano, and percussio...

Jean-Guihen Queyras Akademie Für Alte Musik Berlin Vivaldi Cello Concertos Harmonia Mundi I’ve never been a huge fan of the Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi’s repertoire.   I heard it grace several music soundtracks growing up, heard The Four Seasons at weddings, on street corners, farmer’s markets and cafes, mostly in passing.   I only own one other Vivaldi recording, featuring a Norwegian girl’s choir singing sacred works on Kirkelig Kulturverksted.   But Vivaldi’s cello concertos have the power to win me over and to transform the cello’s melancholic reputation.   Many of us are familiar with the expressive cello as portrayed in Bach’s (a baroque contemporary of Vivaldi) cello suites, but during the baroque era, the cello’s role was to contribute a continuous bass along with bassoon and other low-end instruments.   This means that innovative Vivaldi went against the musical protocol of his time, when he transformed the cello into a lead pl...

Anonymous 4 Secret Voices Chant & Polyphony from the Las Huelgas Codex Harmonia Mundi I’m pleased to receive a new recording by the all-woman vocal ensemble Anonymous 4.   While I’m not a Christian, I enjoy Christian music from medieval and renaissance eras.   I find the polyphony and Gregorian chants relaxing, as do many music fans.   In fact, there is a craze out there for this type of music that goes underground at times only to resurface later.  Many of the fans of early sacred music aren’t religious, but looking for peaceful and contemplative music. I lose track of the number of albums recorded by Anonymous 4, but each album features provocative music programs.   We are usually treated to music sung by ancient women or composed by women as in the case of Hildegard von Bingen, which Anonymous 4 covered.   However, on the latest recording, Secret Voices , we are privy to medieval music from the cloisters of Las Huelgas, in Cas...

Dino Saluzzi, Anja Lechner, Felix Saluzzi Navidad de los Andes ECM Records I’ve heard two other of Argentine bandoneon player-composer Dino Saluzzi’s recordings and each time I felt captivated by the soulfulness of his compositions.   On Navidad de los Andes ( Christmas of the Andes ), cellist Anja Lechner and his brother reed player Felix Saluzzi come on board.   All these musicians have already collaborated with each other on previous recordings, but this is their debut as a trio on ECM.  And yes this is exciting news. I put my headphones on to listen deeply to this musical landscape and I felt rewarded with the subtle nuances of a bow gliding across strings, the click of the bandoneon keys, and breath flowing through reed instruments.   But the best way to describe the music here can be found in the liner notes where Leopoldo Castilla shares his reflections on the Saluzzi’s compositions.   “In this beautiful musical work the sound is born...

Ravi Shankar Nine Decades, Vol. II Reminiscence of North Vista East Meets West Music   Nine Decades, Vol. III Orchestral Experimentations East Meets West Music Imagine it is 1969 and you’re sitting in Hollywood parlor witnessing two ragas performed in the intimate space of Ravi Shankar’s home.   Not only that, Shankar and tabla player, Alla Rakha just returned from playing Woodstock.   While we can’t travel back in time, you can listen to Raga Kaunsi Kanada North Vista (28:14) and Raga Bihag North Vista (39:22) in your home now that the ragas were re-mastered and on Reminiscence of North Vista released as part of Shankar’s Nine Decades series.   Shankar’s and Rakha’s performance feels alive and even spontaneous coming off this disk.  This vibrant presence in my room is hard to explain. Raga Kaunsi Kanada begins with a meditative alap that last for most of the duration of the track.   An alap allow musici...

Even when we think we are listening to silence, we still hear ambient sounds of our urban and rural environments.  Scientist Gordon Hampton, with his research project One Square Inch has traveled the world in search of pockets of pure silence.  He found one such spot in the Hoh Rain Forest in Washington State. I found the article on scientist Gordon Hampton's research about sound in the Hoh Rain Forest in Washington Magazine , (Summer 2010) or issue #5. While I don't have the online link to this article, you can learn more about this research at www.onesquareinch.org

Sibiri Samakè Bamana Hunter Music Dambe Foli System Krush Every traditional culture has its healing plants, magic, and sacred music.   The Donso (hunter) of Mali is no exception.    Finding roots in the ancient Mande Kingdom of West Africa, the Donso once were in service to the Great Mande King Sunjata Keita, who you hear about a lot in the traditional music and history of Mali. The Donso served as soldiers for the king, along with providing spiritual healing and nourishment to their communities. True the traditional songs, sung in their original language, that appear on Dambe Foli possess a trance and ritualistic aura. While the liner notes supply me with information about each of the song-sets, I can barely read the font in which the information appears.   From what I can glean the album contains praise songs (not uncommon with traditional Malian music), protection spells, and ceremonial songs.   The Donso n’goni (not to be conf...

Heather Masse Bird Song (2009) Red House Records The Wailin’ Jennys Bright Morning Stars Red House Records The music industry is rife with irony.   For instance Heather Masse, a musician with a solo career and a member of two bands, marks the third alto vocalists for the Canadian band The Wailin’ Jennys.   The first two altos left the band to pursue solo careers, but neither of them became a "Prairie Home Companion" darling in the manner that Masse had.   However, each alto brought her own signature to the band such as the old English ballads influence of Cara Luft and the mandolin-tinged bluegrass of Annabelle Chvotsek and each vocalist helped to transform WJ. Heather Masse, the only American vocalist in the band, brought her music conservatory experience, mainly as a jazz vocalist and her love of old timey blues and jazz.   While you can certainly hear these influences in the form of bluegrass swing ( Cherry Blossom Love ...

Ruth Moody The Garden Red House Records I didn’t know what to expect from Ruth Moody’s (Wailin’Jennys) solo outing The Garden . I thought the musician-songwriter would bring out the Celtic music influence, but you won’t find any Irish fiddling on this album. Y ou will find fabulous musical arrangements that fall between country, bluegrass and folky pop ( Travellin’Shoes ) and you’ll find some of Moody’s best song crafting of her career thus far. Moody expands her vocal range singing in a whispery voice on Never Said Goodbye (she also plays piano on the track), and then giving Emmy Lou Harris a run for her money on the duet We Can Only Listen . On Tell Me she recalls Patsy Cline’s classic hits. Moody also crafts catchy tunes with witty turn of phrases. The other thing Moody does that amazes me is she takes old worn out phrases such as “birds of a feather stick together” and she turns it into art. I’m not sure if she’s using these phrases as clever devices o...

The Byrd Ensemble (Seattle) Our Lady (Music from the Peterhouse Partbooks) Scribe Records The Tudor period represented a traumatic time in English history.   We are reminded of the vengeance of Henry VIII against not only his wives (plural, he had 6 of them), but also against the Catholic Church.   During his reign monasteries were sacked and musical composers displaced unless they could adapt to composing for the protestant church.   Somehow these Catholic compositions on Our Lady  were saved for posterity.   The church music of this time (renaissance) featured polyphonic and monophonic vocals.   One of the most famous composers of this period of English history was Thomas Tallis, who greatly inspired both the Seattle-based The Byrd Ensemble and the Tudor Choir. While I’ve reviewed recordings by The Tudor Choir, Our Lady is the first recording I’m reviewing by The Byrd Ensemble (formerly The Renaissance Singers).   I’m out of touch...

The Afro-Semitic Experience Further Definitions of the Days of Awe Independent Release Outside of the Klezmer tradition, I know little about Jewish music and culture. I think music from any religious tradition reaches more people when it undergoes modernization and innovations. This is no exception with The Afro-Semitic Experience recording Further Definitions of the Days of Awe which incorporates musical styles outside the Jewish realm such as tango, rock, Afro-funk, and salsa.   However, with so many diverse styles traipsing in and out of the studio and live performances featured on this recording, in my opinion, the overall production feels cluttered at times. The musicians bring passion and enthusiasm to this collaboration which includes old school cantors jack and Daniel Mendelson and in the live performances, cantors Lisa Arbisser and Erik Contzius along with horns, percussion, woodwinds, and keyboards.   The opener Ashrie, Part 1 sounds haunting ...

C.J. Chenier Can’t Sit Down World Village The title of C.J. Chenier’s new zydeco recording, Can’t Sit Down sums up my body’s response to this rousing music.   The first time I listened to the CD, I popped it into my portable player while riding the bus.   While I didn’t get up and dance the boogie woogie, my feet were tapping so hard that other bus riders turned around to see who was causing the commotion.   They responded to my large grin with gawks and puzzled looks. So I’d like to thank the son of the legendary Clifton Chenier for waking my body up after a long and exhausting day. If you seek traditional zydeco in its purist acoustic form, you won’t find that here.   C.J. blends rhythm and blues (listen to Timothy Betts electric guitar solos on most tracks) with zydeco accordion and rhythms.   The oddest instrument that appears on the recording is an African kalimba which opens the Tom Waits’ classic Clap Hands and the most familiar in...

Howard Shore’s The Lord of the Rings Symphony Performed by 21st Century Symphony Orchestra & Chorus Kaitlyn Lusk, Soprano, Ludwig Wicki, Conductor Howe Records/BR Klassik I’m a closet fan of The Lord of the Rings series, both the movies and the books. When I saw a CD for a symphony, adapted from the film score for LOTR , I jumped at the opportunity to review the CD. I’m listening to disc 2 at the moment, and listened to the entire symphony yesterday. Memories from the movie in the form of emotions flood my brain as I listen to the score. Similar to another fantasy classic, Star Wars , J.R.R Tolkien’s classic promotes the triumph of love over fear or good over evil. Innocent characters (Hobbits) go on a quest for a power object that had fallen into the wrong hands. This quest goes on through a series of books, or for those who just watched the movies, 12 hours of cinema with a glorious music soundtrack. And it amazes me just how powerful this score is since I’m sure it...

Bezuidenhout (piano), Von der Goltz (violin) Freiburger Barockorchester Mendelssohn Double Concerto for Piano and Violin And Piano Concerto in A minor Harmonia Mundi Dubbed the Mozart of the 19 th century by Robert Schumann, imagine that Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809-1847) composed his Concerto for Piano and Strings in A minor when he was 13 and his Double Concerto for piano and violin the following year, prior to composing his famous overture for Midsummer Night’s Dream .   Much of the Bezuidenhout, Von der Goltz and Freiburger Barockorchester’s performance of these compositions sounds like Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Paganini rolled into one and sprinkled with Bach and Mozart.   This recording, a rare treat by any standards, easily ends up on my top 10 classical recordings for 2011.   The passion on the disc alone can heat my home. The recording opens with the Concerto for Piano and Strings features the balanced architecture of Bach...

photo by Patricia Herlevi Just a note on an observation from the other day.  I walked through two different scenarios.  The first one, I walked through the Bellingham Farmers Market and felt a good vibe from street musicians performing on acoustic instruments, different types of traditional or folk type music.  The second scenario, I walked through (as quickly as possible), through the food booths set up for the Taste of Bellingham festival and felt assaulted by a psychedelic grunge band.  Knowing what I know about music entrainment and resonance, not to mention, the best music for food digestion, it baffles me why so many people are still unconscious about the effects of sound on their bodies. While I wasn't going to stop in the middle of the street and preach to deaf ears, I knew that I wouldn't be stopping by any food booths along that street and possibly missing out on supporting a good cause. The mixture of hot sun + crowds + food diversity + driving m...

I have plans to include essays on this blog about applying music to permaculture, green architecture, and other eco-friendly practices.  I hope to interview architects and landscape designers and healers who work with plants, animals, and nature using sound/music as a tool. If you know of anyone I could interview for this research and to include on this blog, please contact me at wholemusicexp at gmail.com Thank you.

Others have brought to their stressful life situations to my attention recently. Since I’m going through my own transitional period, I feel more sensitive than usual to other people’s emotional needs, especially the need for comfort. I recommend listening to music in whatever way possible. At the moment I’m limited to 10 CDs while the others (another 588 CDs) are safely stored at a friend’s house along with my guitar. But I keep thinking of the desert island scenario and what CDs I would take along with me knowing full-well that the island would not provide electricity for me to play these CDs and the battery on my computer only lasts 2-hours. Then there are other scenarios that could play out such as complete blackouts of electricity in areas where disasters have struck. Expect the unexpected is my motto these days, but what about adding music preparedness to the kit? Obviously there are situations where we won’t have access to our CDs, but we might still have access to music...