The Whole Music Experience

Anat Cohen Notes from the Village Anzic Records Not long ago, reed woman Anat Cohen was in Seattle. I missed her show. Then a few days ago I found her delightful recording Notes from the Village at my local library. And these notes from Manhattan’s East Village, I’m guessing, provide a global sound with everything from klezmer clarinet runs that bring pleasurable chills to my spine to Afro-Latin rhythms which kick into action halfway through the song Siboney . Cohen also pays respect to the late John Coltrane on her interpretation of After the Rain and to Fats Waller and Sam Cooke ( A Change is Gonna Come ). I admit that I check recordings out from the library and then most of them are only played once and just sit on the shelf next to my player. But with Notes from the Village , I’ve listened to this recording while catching up on my work, upon waking in the morning (before I meditate), and at various times throughout the day. I’m impressed with Cohen’s talent as a jazz-...

Sondre Bratland and Annbjorg Lien Everywhere Kirkelig Kultureverksted Two of Norway’s biggest musical talent, singer/balladeer Sondre Bratland and hardanger fiddler Annbjorg Lien combine their talents on Everywhere . The throaty laments of the fiddle frame Bratland’s baritone voice on this wintry album. “For a number of years the duo of Sondre Bratland and Annbjorg Lien has been performing concerts in Norwegian churches. This CD Everywhere presents their fully ripened versions of Norwegian religious folk songs.” (Liner notes). The recording features lively and somber songs. The Norwegian folk elements are most evident on the lilting melodies sung in Norwegian and the folk fiddling that rivals American bluegrass with its twang and twists. Both Bratland and Lien have produced several critically-acclaimed albums over the decades, though Lien is decades younger than Bratland who is a true veteran of Norwegian folk and sacred music. Lien performed with her own band for sever...

Laya Project Compilation EarthSync In 2004 before the tsunami hit South Asia and East Africa, animals and indigenous people fled to higher ground. There intuition had saved them from one of the greatest disasters to happen in the last decade. The aftermath brought much needed attention to the poorer communities bordering the Indian Ocean and climate change, and also exotic music that might not have been brought to the world’s attention had the tsunami not struck ground in this region of the world. Laya Project’s Tsunami Music: Sounds Embrace Survival from the Maldives to Myanmar, from India to Indonesia , spearheaded by Patrick Sebag and project producer and director (both a documentary and double CD) Sonya Mazumdar, the repertoire here comments on the musical vastness of this planet. While the CDs contain plenty of tabla beats, Indian twang, bansari flutes etc, listeners also hear Buddhist chants, love songs for the departed, and the rich polyphony gamelan of Indonesia. The...