The Whole Music Experience

I have been thinking a lot lately about how we have let various industries control our lives. Now the economy is crumbling, but the old economy which destroys the environment, treats people like disposable slaves and reaps a profit through sheer madness for only a handful of elites was not healthy for any of us. And certainly the planet and its other inhabitants have suffered enough under the weight of the old economy. Time to let it go and embrace the new. It's true that the arts are suffering because of the tight-wallet syndrome. Many people consider art a non-essential, but what if we as artists treated this era as a time of community building? I am suggesting that people not run out and buy those high definition televisions, but instead turn off the television sets, forget all those computer games and gadgets, including the iPod which just isolates people from one another. Get out of the house, go to a concert, a live storytelling event or even a book signing at a book...

Chango Spasiuk Pynandi Los Descalzos (Barefoot) World Village In the Americas a rich stew of indigenous, African and European music exists, and especially in South American countries such as Brazil and Argentina. While many of us have heard tango performed on the smaller version of a squeeze box (bandoneon), the standard accordion also plays its role in Argentine music. In the deft hands of Argentine accordionist Chango Spasiuk (who I first heard on the Rough Guide to Argentina several years ago), the European instrument bridges the gap between European, American indigenous and African music. On this accordion-driven recording Pynandi Los Descalzos African rhythms support regional and European classical music, even a baroque violin appears on Mejillas Coloradas . The album is all acoustic with strings, double bass, accordion, Afro-Latin percussion, guitar and vocals on one track, Viejo Caballo Alazan . The recording features regional dance music, although more of the folkloric...

Gianluigi Trovesi All' Opera Profumo Di Violetta ECM New Series Do not let the title of Italian reedman Gianluigi Trovesi's All' Opera fool you. While operatic favorites act as the jumping off point for this Italian project, this recording feels more like falling down a rabbit hole. Baroque meets post modern and sometimes within the same track. Trovesi joined with the amateur Italian wind and percussion orchestra Filarmonica Mousike, violin-cello player Marco Remondini, percussionist Stefano Bertoli and conductor Savino Acquaviva to produce this whimsical recording. While you will hear fragments of opera music by Rossini, Bizet, Puccini, Verdi and Monteverdi, you will also hear hints of Spanish habanera, hints of John Coltrane's Giant Steps and playful passages that recall the late Italian composer Nino Rota (most famous for his soundtracks for The Godfather and Fellini's earlier films). Trovesi proves his finesse as a clarinet and saxophone player by bri...