The Whole Music Experience

Archival Reviews (Cranky Crow Whole Music) Orchid Ensemble Heartland (2003) Independent Release Orchid Ensemble Road to Kashgar (2004) Independent Release Orchid Ensemble's 2000 recording, Heartland possesses an appropriate title since this CD oozes heart and soul with its delicate collection of traditional and contemporary Chinese music along with music from other cultures. The ensemble is led by Lan Tung on erhu (a two-string stick fiddle that is played on the lap) and she is joined by zheng virtuoso scholar Mei Han and multi-cultural percussionist Jonathan Bernard (marimba and percussion). The 12 compositions on the CD, also feature dumbek, tar, djembe, tambourine, wood blocks, temple blocks, vibraphone, glockenspiel, Chinese opera gongs & drums, tuned bells, mark tree, and other exotic percussion. However, some listeners will be exposed to the 2,500 year old zheng with its pentatonic scale playing along side a Latin American marimba while the erhu weeps ov...

Mayte Martin Alcantara Manuel World Village Mixing jazz, Latin American new song and flamenco Spanish guitarist/vocalist Mayte Martin celebrates the poetry of Manuel Alcàntar. The flamenco that appears on Alcantara Manuel could be described as passionate, but more melancholic than fiery. The emphasis appears to be on the text and vocals which are framed by 2 guitars (right and left channels), double-bass, percussion and violins with Martin’s voice caressing each word with soulful emotions. I’m reminded of the late Argentine new song performer Mercedes Sosa who also has the gift of igniting text with her emotive voice. Martin also possesses a powerful and sensitive alto voice. And both performers extract the soulfulness of the Spanish language while employing it as a powerful tool that travels into the hearts of their listeners. I actually had to research the Spanish prize-winning poet Manuel Alcàntar whose poems featured on this album focus on death, the sea, heartache, wa...

Liliana Barrios Èpica (El Viaje de Homero y Virgilio Expòsito) World Village Sierra Maestra Sonando Ya World Village My mother claims that she played all types of music to my siblings and me when we were babies. She mentions that she even played “highbrow music” and most likely she was referring to European classical, but she might have meant Argentine tangos and Cuban son, after all, my mother grew up in Panama and her first language is Spanish. However, my first language is not Spanish and it certainly isn’t the language of tango or son, but this music is probably floating in my DNA somewhere among those Spanish peasant genes. Certainly when I hear a bandoneon conversing with weeping strings passion and pathos bubble over in my bloodstream; my heartbeat quickens. It’s not fair to Argentine tango musicians, but when someone mentions tango my mind automatically thinks of Astor Piazzolla. Tango has its lineage of vocalists, bandoneon players and composers. Some ...

London Symphony Orchestra Valery Gergiev Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet LSO I discovered Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev’s music for Romeo and Juliet while I was researching one of the composer’s piano concertos for an article. I was immediately captivated by the composer’s musical themes, his edgy orchestration and accessibility. London Symphony Orchestra’s (led by Valery Gergiev) live recording of Romeo and Juliet marks also my second listen to this phenomenal work. The live performance does the incidental music justice, though I would still love to see dancers performing the ballet to this score. When I listen to classical works I have this tendency to search for influences or for possible disciples (informal or formal) of the composer. The question in my mind while I listened to this version of the ballet score revolved around Leonard Bernstein’s score to Westside Story . As you know, Westside Story based itself on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as well, though only ...

Lokua Kanza Nkolo World Village/Harmonia Mundi With the kalimbas, flutes, percussion and soothing male vocals, Congolese Lokua Kanza’s solo album, Nkolo recalls the music of Ugandan Samite. However, Kanza’s covers more of the African Diaspora by bringing in gospel choirs (though more on the angelic than passionate side of things), and Brazilian fare. Gentle lilting guitar, percussion, bass, flute, and lush vocals appear on Dipano while Loyenge sounds like Congolese blues. The press notes sums up Nkolo , “His voice dominates the ensemble. Sometimes it’s thrown into relief or highlighted by angel choirs, bells, whistles, drums, a child’s voice…” The emotions (without reading an English translation of the lyrics), also offer contrasts from melancholy to pure joy of living on the planet. The Brazilian sound on the album should come as no surprise since Nkolo lives in Paris and Rio, but he hasn’t forgotten his homeland. “What I want to do through this album is convey the be...

Have CD; Will Travel Conversation with Putumayo World Music Co-Founder Dan Storper Today with so many of us on restricted food diets or dealing with stress of abrupt changes that have taken place in our lives (unemployment, loss of loved one or loss of habit due to natural disasters), we find that we must find comfort and even moments of peace through simple pleasures. For people dealing with economic restrictions that usual afternoon cup of designer coffee might not even be a reality any longer. Or perhaps dreams of traveling the world have been put on hold. One solution is to take a music break in the afternoon listening to a pleasurable compilation of exotic music. In the most extreme cases, it is my hope that some kind of healing music is present to help people deal with stress and trauma. We thrive with food, water, air and music.  We die without. Most of us by now are familiar with the Putumayo World Music label. We have seen the CDs with the distinct folk ...

Around the World in a Day Let’s sample 11 Putumayo CDs representing South America, the African continent, the Arab world, Europe and North America. We’ll start in 2009 and work our way down to 2003 creating a time capsule effect. And since compilations such as French Café and Italian Café bring out vintage performers, we will travel far and wide. Putumayo Presents Brazilian Café (2009)—This compilation presents a laidback Brazilian vibe. New and established artists perform traditional and not-so-traditional bossa novas and sambas. The right mix of female and male voices, lush horns, soft guitar and Brazilian rhythms make this the ideal music for a rainy day. Café Cubano (2008)—I bet the food is spicy and the rum plenty in a Cuban café. I don’t drink so if I visited a trova house or café, I’d hope to hear sones and boleros sung by musicians preserving their musical heritage. And that’s exactly what you’ll hear on this disc. Veterans and newcomers perform that hip-...

Javier Perianes Blasco de Nebra Piano Sonatas (1750-1784) Harmonia Mundi Baroque/classical composer and keyboardist Blasco de Nebra is only the second obscure Spanish wunderkind that has come to my attention in the last 2 years. The first one was a promising 19th century Basque composer Juan Crisòstomo Arriaga who died at a young age. De Nebra produced 172 compositions, but only 30 survived. The Andalusian composer died at the age of 34, not unlike his contemporary Mozart. But while Mozart has been celebrated to the hilt and loved worldwide, de Nebra has barely emerged from the shadows of obscurity. Certainly not for lack of talent or vision. Pianist Javier Perianes, also an Andalusian, performs Keyboard Sonatas op. 1 (from Madrid) and sonatas and pastorelas from the Manuscript 2998 found in the archives of Montserrat. While the work would have originally been played on harpsichord and fortepiano, Perianes plays the sonatas on a contemporary piano giving these baroque pie...

Freiburger Barockorchester Rene Jacobs Mozart Symphonies Nos. 39 and 40 Harmonia Mundi I came across information about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s connection to the Vienna chapter of the Freemasons recently and I wondered about the brotherhood’s influence on the magical aspects of Mozart’s repertoire. Mozart joined the Freemasons (was initiated into the brotherhood) in 1784 at the age of 28. As someone not versed or even knowledgeable about the Freemasons outside of the fact that the brothers practiced metaphysics, the only conclusion I reached was that the opera The Magic Flute definitely had metaphysical symbolism. And I also noticed over the years that music scholars would refer to the architecture of Mozart’s compositions. That statement now makes more sense in the light of the Freemason connection. Sound healers, music therapists, and psychoacoustic practitioners, including the founder of psychoacoustics Dr. Alfred Tomatis (French ear, nose and throat doctor) have also...

London Symphony Orchestra Live Valery Gergiev (Conductor) Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2 LSO Russian Late-Romantic composer Sergei Rachmaninoff composed music for listeners with strong hearts and the ability to run the gamut of emotions within the course of a single symphony or concerto, as in Piano Concerto No. 3 , for example. While the movie, Shine gave the impression that a musician dealing with an emotional imbalance (that includes a lot of musicians), would suffer insanity performing Rachmaninoff’s technically and emotionally-challenging music, I believe the movie’s sentiment gave the wrong impression. While Rachmaninoff couldn’t be called an average man by any stretch, he also did not spend his time in a sanatorium and he composed music that excited plenty of sane people. So why would his compositions drive anyone over the edge? On the contrary I find the classical works of Russian composers (Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, etc), emotionally stimulating and invi...

Ricardo Silveira ‘til Tomorrow Adventure Music Brazilian jazz guitarist Ricardo Silveira’s ‘til Tomorrow blasts off with the adventurous  Rocket’s Tail . Silveira’s guitar dazzles as it converses with flutes and Brazilian percussion. Overall the career retrospective recording which chronicles several albums dating back to 1984 with Silveira’s debut radiates a warm and generous vibe. I’ve already listened to it several times and visualize sunny beaches and smiling laidback people. This is Brazilian jazz after all. Silveira provides clever arrangements which he handed over to an array of exceptional players. Lush horns, plenty of flute and beautiful guitar work dominate this recording. The track You Can Get What You Want portrays a snappy conversation between the guitar and horns. Two Brothers Mountain slows down the pace and creates a romantic mood. The samba Woodpecker’s Sound alternates between frantic horns, guitar and kit drum with a slow, dreamy interlude. The mu...

Mike Marshall And Caterina Lichtenberg Adventure Music Two parts Bach, one part Brazilian with Venezuelan and French seasonings describes American mandolin player Mike Marshall’s latest recording on Adventure Music. The virtuoso has literally traveled around the world with his mandolin and on this recording he teams up with Early Music mandolin player Caterina Lichtenberg, thus the simple and direct CD title. Opening with a Bach violin sonata in which Marshall plays double-duty on cello, the duo then launches into their musical journey which hop scotches its way through American bluegrass, Brazilian jazz, Early Music, Bulgarian and Venezuelan classical. And yes, this exhilarating recording leaves a listener breathless. Jean-Marie Leclair’s Sonata VI for Two Violins (French baroque) sounds absolutely gorgeous when played on two mandolins. The movements alternate between gentle and lilting to enchanting. The short Bulgarian folk tune oddly doesn’t feel out of place following...

Wayne Silas, Jr. Unconditional Round Dance Songs Canyon Records Pipestone As the Rez Turns Round Dance Songs Canyon Records Native American round dance songs hail from the tradition of gatherings of American Indians that take place during the winter months. Relatives, colleagues and friends who might not have seen each other for several months or for an entire year come together to dance, sing, drum, and party into the wee morning hours. The songs often supply humorous lyrics and in the case of Menominee/Oneida singer-song-maker Wayne Silas, Jr. on Unconditional , supply saucy ones( It’s On Tonight and Let’s Do the Math ). While pow-wows are generally open to the general public to watch American Indians sing, drum and dance in competition, round dances, as far as I know are by invitation only for friends and family to share and celebrate. Pow-wow drummers gather around a group drum whereas, round dance drummers play individual frame drums while partici...

Egypt Noir Nubian Soul Treasures Various Piranha (Germany) Anyone who has been listening to world music in the last 2 or 3 decades will be familiar with both Egyptian and Nubian music. The serpentine melodies, pentatonic scales, call & response vocals, and marriage between Oriental and western music certainly has the ability to attract a wide following, especially the younger crowd hungry for exotic dance grooves. The music on Egypt Noir (performed by an array of younger and classic musicians) entices with its musical mix. You’ll hear the lush Egyptian-style orchestra arrangements with call & response vocals skimming over the lush surface, plenty of raspy sounding shawms (an oboe-like instrument), heart-thumping polyrhythms and you might think a celebration is taking place. It is. Take a listen to the rousing beats, Cuban-style horns and saxophone and you’re in for a cosmopolitan musical treat. I’m listening to Egypt Noir for the third time as I ...

Wikipedia, Bangle Tiger Tabby This article that reveals research regarding the vibration of a cat's purr promoting bone growth was brought to my attention.  Who would have thought?  What power lies in a cat's meow? Here is a link to the research page: http://www.animalvoice.com/catpurrP.htm

American composer James DeMars Here's the article Governor's Arts Awards honor Tempe composer http://www.azcentral.com/php-bin/clicktrack/email.php/9236746 Congratulations James!

Milagro Acustico Thermae Atmospherae Look Studio/CNI Music Since 2002 when I was first introduced to the Italian ensemble Milagro Acustico, I have reviewed several of its recordings. MA’s music can best be described as a musical journey through time and space that marries contemporary genres such as jazz with ancient Silk Road and Mediterranean music traditions. The musicians, led by Bob Salmieri embed passionate female and male vocals within an array of exotic acoustic instruments. Fans of Middle Eastern and Turkish lutes, percussion as well as, flamenco guitar, western horns, and bass will feel at home listening to the 3-CD album, Thermae Atmospherae . When I put the first disc into my player the songs sounded familiar to my ears. So I brought out previous MA recordings and I noticed that many, if not all the music on the CDs had been pre-recorded and I believe arranged in a slightly different manner. Thermae Atmospherae revolves around the concept of the Roman bath, but...

Skruk For All Times Kirkelig Kulturverksted Kjetil Bjerkestrand Piano Poems Kirkelig Kulturverksted For All Times marks the Norwegian choir Skruk’s 33rd anniversary. Led by Per Oddvar Hildre, Skruk never ceases to surprise me with its delightful musical exchanges. According to the press notes, the innovative choir embarked on a variety of cross cultural projects with musicians from Central Asia, Central and South America and New Orleans. This retrospective CD features highlights from those musical explorations and also of its many soloists over the years including Palestinian Rim Bana on track 13. Many of the soloists have gone onto experience successful musical careers, as they should. The collection of beautiful voices on this recording could only be called sublime. What stands out for me is the breadth of the choir’s repertoire. You’ll hear Andes flutes (and percussion), on one piece, Silk Road percussion and instruments on another and New Orleans jazz on still anot...