The Whole Music Experience

R. Carlos Nakai Talisman Canyon Records Twenty-five years ago, a friend gave R. Carlos Nakai a Native American flute to see what the former jazz trumpeter could do with it. Over the years, Nakai along with Kevin Locke, Mary Youngblood and other stalwarts had brought Native American flute to mass consciousness. But similar to an artist such as Mary Youngblood, Nakai took the indigenous flute into new realms, (European classical, jazz, and ethnic world sounds). The 62 year old flautist even journey into the realm of electronica on a couple of his albums. Nakai's 25th anniversary release (with Canyon Records), Talisman travels full circle and we find Nakai once again performing on solo Native American flute on every other track. You will also find flute duos and the thoughtful Sunrise Prayer in Beauty . Talisman harks back to Nakai's first recording with Canyon Records, Changes . And true to its name, listening to Changes certainly brought much needed transformation to...

photos: from Rock Paper Scissors Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko Africa to Appalachia Independent Release Canada Seckou Keita SKQ TheSilimbo Passage World Artventures UK Like some of you that visit this blog, I am also a huge fan of West African griot music and especially the West African harp, the kora. I am also keen on cultural exchange between West African countries and folk music of North America (blues, Appalachian, traditional folk). Not long ago I read an article on World Music Central regarding the banjo and its ancestor, the West African n'goni. I was fascinated with the article and through synchronicity, I would encounter Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko's exploration of the ordinary banjo--not so ordinary at all. While the banjo has been a staple of bluegrass, folk and other types of North American musical genres, it has also suffered a bad reputation as an instrument that can't seem to stay in tune and in some corners it might just seem rather outd...

Tibetan Chants for World Peace The Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir White Swan Records The first time I heard, more or less, experienced a Tibetan monk choir was back in the 90s when I attended an event at the University of Washington's Kane Hall. Tibetan consciousness had surfaced among the Buddhists and New Agers. At the time, I did not equate the choir with a musical experience, but a religious experience and a cultural exchange. My friends and I attended the concert out of curiosity, but did not know what to expect. And even though some of us had been exposed to Tuvan throat-singing, the guttural vocals of the monks came off as startling. Fast forward to several years of having been exposed to the music of Yungchen Lhamo, Nawang Khechog, various types of throat singing and various types of spiritual chants, I still find the Gyuto Monks Tantric Choir startling. Here I am at a loss to describe the sound and the experience. Even the producer of Tibetan Chants for World Peace , fo...

Sasha Tappa Journey Sense World Music I just received a large package of CDs from the U.K. based label, Sense World Music. So over the next two months, I will be reviewing these recordings on this blog. Many of the performers are women, which lifts my heart. I will be reviewing women who play tabla, sitar, violin and sing. And I am sure this will be a delightful journey for all of us. Of course, I will be reviewing extraordinary men musicians too. I started the journey with a new artist to my ears, Sasha, a proponent of Tappa. According to the CD Tappa Journey liner notes, Tappa is rarely heard in the West and hails from the Silk Road. It possesses a legacy of camel drivers and Punjabi influences. Passionate almost blazing vocals find themselves embellished by Derek Robert's guitar, an Indian string orchestra and traditional Indian percussion. I would even go as far to say that this music, although rarely heard in the West until now, compares to Bollywood music in that it ...

Gabriel Ayala Portraits (Music for Classical Guitar) Canyon Records According to the Canyon Records website where Yaqui classical guitarist Gabriel Ayala is featured, classical guitar playing takes much dedication. Not only that, to learn the techniques which must later be augmented by a palette of musical emotions, involves many lonely hours of just getting it right. However, any loneliness an artist feels would be compensated by performing such luxurious music. On his debut Canyon Records album, Portraits (Music for Classical Guitar) , Ayala performs challenging compositions and does this so well that it seems natural and easy for him. His dedication has paid off in numerous ways. First he chose a wide canvas in which to express himself that includes French composer Erik Satie's popular Gymnopedia No 1 , Spanish composer Isaac Albeniz's Leyenda from Suite Espanola , J.S. Bach's Toccata & Fugue in D minor and the Celtic Wild Mountain Thyme , among other clas...