The Whole Music Experience

Legends of Fado Compilation Arc Music The first fado recording I heard did not feature the new generation of fadistas.    I discovered fado after a music librarian in Seattle referred me to Amália Rodrigues, a name that sounded exotic to my ears in 1996.   Yet, the first CD that I purchased (a scratchy archival recording) featured lesser-known vocalists from the 1920s and 1930s.   I fell in love with the vocals and when I played it for a vocalist (colleague) she glanced at me as if I had lost my mind.   Flash forward to 2000, when I discovered Mariza and no one looked at me as if I lost my mind.   These days fado enjoys worldwide acclaim and while a new generation of vocalists innovate the tradition, they too pay homage to the mothers and fathers of fado.   After all,   a plant can’t grow without its roots. The compilation Legends of Fado features Rodrigues, of course, but also other male and female fado legends that give Amál...

Coyote Jump Waking from the Roots Canyon Records Classical guitarist-composer Colin Farish teams up with Native American flautist John-Carlos Perea under the moniker Coyote Jump.  Similar to R. Carlos Nakai, Perea brings his flute into the realm of chamber music with relaxing results.  The dynamics (pow-wow drums and soaring flute) that you would hear on a Nakai-De Mars (composer James DeMars) does not appear with Coyote Jump’s Waking from the Roots.   This duet leans towards the meditative new age sound, while tossing in ecological themes.  I prefer to listen to this CD before bedtime because of its relaxing qualities.  While the songs do not resemble impressionist classical music, the musicians composed the songs with an image from nature, from sudden and tumultuous weather ( Lightening Drum ) to a sacred waterfall in Indian Canyon ( Ohlone Waters ) and so on.  This is not new in America since many composers Grofe, Copeland, Gershwin, and...

Marshall Gilkes Sound Stories Alternative Side Records When trombonist Marshall Gilkes’ Sound Stories arrived at my post office box, I had no plans for reviewing the recording in the near future.   I was taking a short sabbatical from reviewing so I could concentrate on other projects.   However, out of curiosity, I slipped Sound Stories into my CD player and the music grabbed me.   The blend of lyrical and be bop jazz played tightly by this quintet begged for a review.   With Gilkes leading, Donny McCaslin (tenor sax), Adam Birnbaum (piano), Yasushi Nakamura (bass) and Eric Doob (drums) through both composed-through and improvisations, this album showcases a great deal of jazz talent.   Who doesn’t enjoy the alchemical process of music? A little bass, drums, toss in piano, and an extensive conversation between tenor saxophone and trombone, and you have a recipe for a jazzy escape. The ironically titled, Anxiety--Part 1 and Part 2 did not ...

Music Meditation If you choose to have your day go smoothly, then start your day with music, not the morning news (unless you wish to pray all day for what you hear in the news).  Now, that you have kept a music journal and you have an idea of how music affects your moods, it's time to set aside 20 to 30 minutes each morning for deep music listening.  You can listen to music through headphones if you don't want to wake others up, but keep the volume low so you don't suffer from hearing loss--ringing in the ears is not fun. Follow these steps: 1). Tune into your emotions and choose the appropriate music for releasing unwanted emotions or enhancing desired feelings. 2). You can choose different songs from different recordings or play consequitive tracks off of a single CD.  You can even listen to music you store on your computer or other devices. 3). Sit or lay down quietly with this music, removing all distractions. 4). Similar to sitting or walking medita...

Sagapool Coop Faux Monnayeurs Independent Release/Canada Similar to the French music collective Lo’Jo, Quebec’s Sagapool collectively represents a multicultural stew on its self-titled album.   However, as mentioned in the press notes, Sagapool performs meditative music.   Not to confuse meditative with new age, this sextet lead by clarinetist Guillaume Bourque musically ponders the Great White North, and oddly sounds like Finish or Norwegian folk music.   Sure, the musicians toss the words Klezmer and Balkan around in the band’s description, and we do hear an Eastern European gypsy tinge, especially on an upbeat song Marcel , which sounds like the circus rolled into town. However, I can draw comparisons between this Quebecois band and European musical acts, but by the end of the day, the best descriptor is original.   Now, I’ve never traveled to Quebec so I am left with a mystical description of the place--some far off land, bordering the US and ...

The Touré-Raichel Collective The Tel Aviv Session Cumbancha With so many Malian-music collaborations to choose from these days, it is still not a cliché to introduce yet another.  Malian blues guitarist Vieux Farka Touré teams up with Israeli pianist Idan Raichel.  From what I can tell from the press notes, neither musician has collaborated on an acoustic jam session previously that combines the earthiness of Malian music with Middle Eastern modes.  In fact, these musicians are superstars of world pop and rock, but The Tel Aviv Session , sounds more new age than anything else (new age in a good way).  I find this album deeply relaxing alternating with invigorating. On the opening track Azawade, Raichel’s piano arcs over Touré’s bluesy chord progressions, reminding me of angels descending to the red earth.  Backed by Yossi Fine on bass, and Souleymane Kane on calabash, the only other musician that comes to mind is Taj Mahal, who also weds the tr...

La Nuova Musica David Bates Handel’s Il Pastor Fido Harmonia Mundi Love is a complicated matter for Italians.  Remember the star-crossed lovers in Romeo and Juliet?  Still, in another era, Italian troubadours roamed from court to court singing about unobtainable love.  During the classical era, Italians fumbled their way through courtship in Mozart's operas.  However, for George Frideric Handel during the Baroque era, nymphs and Greek shepherds endured Cupid’s painful arrows.  Two couples appear at the center of the baroque opera Il Pastor Fido (The Faithful Shepherd) along with an early predecessor of the femme fatale who has her own plans. Amarilli (soprano Lucy Crowe) is in love with Mirtillo (soprano Anna Dennis), but betrothed to Silvio (countertenor Clint van der Linde).  However, Silvio made a vow to Diana, goddess of the hunt and he only has one thing on his mind.  Dorinda (mezzo-soprano Madeleine Shaw), has fallen for Silvio...

Leni Stern Sabani Independent release I sometimes wonder when the Malian musical star will fade out, but it just grows brighter each year.   With western musicians such as Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, Corey Hart, Bonnie Raitt and Leni Stern collaborating with Malian musicians, not to mention the prominence of Malian musicians worldwide, the excitement just keeps growing.   Guitarist-songwriter Leni Stern (German-born), has already lived a musically exciting life that would make any cultural creative proud.   She has collaborated with Peruvians, performed at the Festival of the Desert (Saharan Desert, Mali), and jammed with the stellar lights of Malian music.   And now, she’s released a blues album featuring the n’goni (grandfather of the banjo) performed by herself and Haruna Samake from Salif Keita’s band, with another Keita band member, Mamadou Kone brings percussion to the session.   The result is the haunting Sabani --Malian blues with a feminin...