The Whole Music Experience

Song Catchers In Search of the World’s Music By Mickey Hart with K.M. Kostyal National Geographic (2003) I found this gem at Village Books in Bellingham, Washington. I wasn’t planning on buying any books, but then I made the mistake of checking out the arts section in the store. Tucked in with the music theory and Rough Guide to Classical Music , I found Song Catchers (In Search of the World’s Music). I made the mistake of picking up the book and turning each lovingly crafted page portraying both the history of ethnomusicology and recording devices as seen through the passionate eyes of Mickey Hart. Grateful Dead drummer/ethnomusicologist, Hart caught the anthropological bug early in life when he found a recording of African pygmies at his family home. He delved into this secret world without knowing where it would lead him later in life. And similar to the other famous song catchers he mentions through the book, (Frances Densmore, John and Alan Lomax, Moses Asch…), he ...

Imani Winds Terra Incognita E1 Entertainment Although Imani Winds formed in 1997, Terra Incognita marks the first album I’ve heard by the quintet. As the name would imply this chamber ensemble features wind instruments, but not all woodwinds, French horn is included bringing a wide range of sonorities. IW performs both original and interpretations of classical, jazz, and traditional. Terra Incognita (named after the Wayne Shorter piece performed on this recording), also features works by Cuban expat Paquito D’Rivera and composer Jason Moran. Guest musicians include D’Rivera on clarinet and Alex Brown on piano. The recording is part IW's Legacy Project, featuring music from around the world. I’m particularly fond of projects that marry classical music to jazz, world, and folkloric idioms. And I’m not surprised to hear work by D’Rivera on this recording since he combines all those elements in his music. Remember his track on the album and documentary film Calle 54 ...

Jordi Savall Hespèrion XXI & other groups El Nuevo Mundo Folias Criollas Aliavox/Harmonia Mundi Fans of early music know that if they wish to take a musical journey to the renaissance, baroque period, or even to King Louis XIV court, Jordi Savall and his ensembles can take them there. I’m not sure where the Savall-Figueras family comes up with the energy to release as many early music gems as they do, but I’m grateful as a music reviewer and armchair scholar. I also started thinking of these musicians as the musical equivalent of a royal Catalan family. They certainly play courtly music, colonial, rustic and otherwise. I’m still catching my breath after reviewing a Bach recording (The Brandenburg Concertos) by Jordi Savall recently. And now he and his musicians have united with early music and folkloric musicians in the Americas, “New World” where they explore colonial music that combined music of American Indians, Spanish settlers, missionaries, and African slaves. Whi...

Dino Saluzzi El Encuentro ECM I first discovered Argentine bandoneon master Dino Saluzzi when he released his ensemble’s recording, Juan Condori . I instantly fell in love with Saluzzi’s composition which married musical instincts with compassionate poetics. This poetry wasn’t conveyed in words, but in the universal language music, with musical conversations reflecting on jazz and Argentine indigenous sensibilities. And actual words can barely convey the fragile moments, the nuances, and the sudden sweeping gestures present in Saluzzi’s compositions. He’s a musician that clearly wears his heart on his sleeve. The next recording I heard and reviewed featured Saluzzi with German violoncellist Anja Lechner, Ojos Negros . The musical conversation sounded even more delicate and intimate, those haunting exchanges between the violoncello and the bandoneon, falling deeply into classical chamber music with a far-reaching effect. And now on Saluzzi’s live debut for ECM, El Encuentro ...