The Whole Music Experience

Since 2012 was a light year as far as reviewing jazz and classical recordings and heavier on world music recordings, this year I'm only including 7 recordings in the top classical and top jazz CDs for the year.  The Top Jazz CDs will appear a week from today.  You will also find two surprises on my list if you were expecting only European classical CDs. 1. Arcanto Quartett with Olivier Marron, Franz Schubert String Quintet op. 163, Harmonia Mundi 2. Kristian Bezuidenhout & Freiburger Barockorchester, Mozart Piano Concertos K. 453 & 482, Harmonia Mundi 3. Javier Perianes, Beethoven Moto Perpetuo, Harmonia Mundi 4. Isabelle Faust, J. S. Bach Sonatas & Partitas, Harmonia Mundi 5. La Nueova Musica with David Bates, Handel's Il Pastor Fido, Harmonia Mundi (box-set) 6. Ravi Shankar, The Living Room Sessions Part 1, East Meets West Music 7. Mahsa & Marjan Vahdat, Twinklings of Hope (Persian/Iranian classical), Kirkelig Kulturverksted

Ravi Shankar Tenth Decade DVD In Concert: Live in Escondido East Meets West As Pandit (term of reverence in India) Ravi Shankar made his way to the concert stage, the 91 year old sitar player looked exhausted and dispirited.   Accompanied by his right-hand man tabla player Tanmoy Bose, master percussionist (also on tabla) Samir Chatterjee, student Ravichandra Kulur on bansuri flute (and percussion on one track), and another student Parimal Sadaphal on sitar, Shankar opened with the Alap to the evening raga, Yaman Kalyan .   By the time the musicians had joined in jod portion of the raga (when the tabla introduces beats), Shakar’s face emitted a rosy glow.   An hour and twenty-four minutes later as the musicians played the fiery last notes of the final raga, Ragamala , (based on an Indian folksong), Shankar resembled a new man, glowing from a spectacular performance. The second raga, Khamaj in slow and medium tempo teen taal (or 16 beats per ...

photo by Patricia Herlevi It happens to all of us.  Trying to stay in a good mood and beat the positive drum, and the blues comes seeping through the cracks.  Pretty soon, the funk gets deeper and the moods spiral downward.  Some people take pills, but for mild to moderate depression, try music instead. Obviously, turning to music with self-defeating lyrics or a vocalist lashing out venom to his or her listeners won't uplift any moods.  Sometimes when people feel a funk coming on, they choose music that will only take them deeper into depression. However, working in increments of positivity goes a long way in battling a bad mood. For moderate depression, you need to move to the next level which is anger.  For this you might need something along the lines of Beethoven's 5th Symphony or classic American blues (not the self-pitying blues).  But you don't want to wallow in anger to then you find music that will take you to the next level.  I r...

Jørn Simen Ǿverli Markaviser Folk songs from Oslo Kirkelig Kulterveksted While many cities boast a monument at their center, a forested region marks Oslo’s center both geographically and for the recreational purposes.   This scenario ties into Norwegian folksongs from Oslo.   The press notes cite, “Folk songs from Oslo do not come easily to mind, even though they exist...”   Stretching the boundaries of folksongs from ones with anonymous authors of songs past down for several generations to folk songs composed by known artists, but also passed down, folksinger Jørn Simen Ǿverli joins Ǿyonn Groven Myhren (vocals on two tracks, 15 & 16), Frode Haltli (accordion) and Stian Cartensen (accordion, flute, banjo steel guitar, guitar...) on the accordion-centered Folk songs from Oslo. The songs on the CD enchant and remind me of French bals-musette sung to the Norwegian language.   The jaunty accordion set to polka and waltz melodies sound more...