HAZMAT MODINE draws from the rich soil of American music of the 20's and
30's through to the 50's and early 60's, blending elements of early
Blues, Hokum Jugband, Swing, Klezmer, New Orleans R & B, and
Jamaican Rocksteady. The band is fronted by two harmonicas which use
call and response, harmony, melody, and syncopated interweaving rhythms.
The band includes tuba, guitar, and percussion, claviola and Hawaiian
steel guitar. The band's sound reflects musical influences ranging from
Avant-garde Jazz to Rockabilly and Western Swing to Middle-Eastern,
African, and Hawaiian musical styles.
One of the funkiest albums ever on Blue Note -- a set that mixes the trumpet talents of Blue Mitchell
with some killer backings from Monk Higgins -- all in a groove that
makes more gritty edges than the best funky soundtracks of the time!
Higgins keeps the backings full, but always quite lean -- fusing all
elements together into a sharp, tight rhythm that steps along with some
of the slight African touches you might guess from the title -- a groove
that's not really that authentic, but which resonates with some of the
best inspirations that Hugh Masekela was bringing to American music at
the time. And while the album might be an attempt to cash in on
Masekela's groove, the feel here is really quite different overall -- as
tracks are nicely stretched out, with plenty of room for jazzy solo
work -- and a groove that's much harder overall, thanks to Higgins!
Other players include Freddy Robinson on guitar, Wilton Felder on bass,
Paul Humphrey on drums, and Plas Johnson on tenor -- and titles include "HNIC", "Flat Backing", "Na Ta Ka", "Bantu Village", and "Blue Dashiki".
Blue Mitchell Bantu Village Track Listing
1. H.N.I.C.
2. Flat Backing
3. Na Ta Ka
4. Heads Down
5. Bantu Village
6. Blue Dashiki
7. Bush Girl
This deluxe double-disc box from Germany's Roof Music contains a collection of Louis Thomas Hardin's music recorded from 1977-1999 entitled The German Years
as well as a second disc entitled The Last Concert, Mimi-Festival 1999.
There are 44 pages of liner notes that lovingly put the complex music
into as much perspective as possible, though it is up to the listener to
diligently explore the lifework of this creative and unique individual.
"High On a Rocky Ledge" could be John Cale
in his sixth decade and is a highlight. This track and "Do Your Thing,"
"I'm This I'm That," and "Pygmy Pig" are culled from 1979's H'Art Songs
album, one of seven different sources for the music on disc one. The
performances are as delightfully diverse as the titles and keep one's
attention as the parade of ideas unfolds. "Heimdall Fanfare" is a
completely different outing from "Fujiyama 2 (Lovesong)," while "Do Your
Thing" could certainly have found some kind of commercial success had
some publisher gotten it into a film soundtrack -- or had Janis Joplin lived long enough to cover more of Moondog's
compositions. The concert on disc two flows seamlessly from disc one
and is so perfect that it sounds like a studio recording, except for the
applause. Performed on August 1, 1999, five weeks before his passing on
September 8 of that year, it is an amazing "bookend" to this
compilation.
By AllMusic
The Black Swan is the twenty-third album by Scottish folk singer Bert Jansch. It was released in 2006 through Drag City.
Review
Now this really is a switch: Scottish guitar hero and songwriter Bert Jansch (Pentangle) recording for Drag City, with a host of admirers in tow -- Beth Orton, Devendra Banhart, Noah Georgeson (who performed and co-produced with Jansch), Helena Espvall, son Adam Jansch, and more. Black Swan is a collection of original and traditional tunes. Jansch
turns in a performance that shows his typical restraint, and within it
his wonder as a guitarist. His use of the blues, American, Celtic, and
British Isles folk forms is also informed by music from Eastern Europe,
and he ties them all together seamlessly. "High Days," a solo track,
uses all three, as he winds out an elegy for a friend. "When the Sun
Comes Up" begins with Orton's vocal and David Roback's slide guitar and Otto Hauser's drums, shuffling underneath. Jansch spills it modal and bluesy, Orton
grabs onto his changes and effortlessly lets her voice wrap around his
lyric lines. Her signing on the traditional number "Katie Cruel" has
been brilliantly rearranged by Jansch. Banhart sings in a muted duet with Orton,
but his vocal was unnecessary. It's a spooky track that's been prepared
for by the preceding cuts. The slippery Piedmont blues style Jansch
tucks into his British folk on "My Pocket's Empty" is evocative of an
earlier, simpler time, though as revealed by the tune, times were hard
then, too. Jansch's singing is at its most expressive here; he's moaning in his reedy baritone. Orton makes one more appearance here on the gorgeous and-all-too-brief arrangement of the blues tune "Watch the Stars." Hers and Jansch's
vocals take the tine out of the song's Southern American birthplace and
brings it into the world, one grainy line at a time. It's a singalong
blues that reveals the sheer expanse of the universe in the grain of
their voices. Ultimately, this disc is not so different from Jansch's
others, but it is wonderfully spirited and loose. It feels live, and
backroomish. It's as informal a date as one can find among superstars --
and make no mistake, you may or may not know his name, but his large
catalog proves it -- Jansch
is one. As for the rest, the hardscrabble dirty, slide guitar-drenched
English folk of "A Woman Like You" rings as true as a Texas blues love
song by Lightnin' Hopkins.
Traditional public domain nuggets such as "The Old Triangle" are almost
radically reworked and ring spookily true for the current era. The
blues-rock of the humorously political "Texas Cowboy Blues," complete
with keyboards and popping acoustic 12-strings, shimmies and even shakes
in places. The last few cuts, a gorgeous instrumental called
"Magdalina's Dance," and "Hey Pretty Girl" (performed solo), are
drenched in historical tropes, but are thoroughly modern and soulful.
The bottom line is this: for the past ten years Jansch has been undergoing a creative renaissance akin to Bob Dylan's and people are slowly but surely finding what he has on offer. Black Swan
proves that the guitarist and songwriter has a bounty at his disposal.
He is writing and recording music that is profound, funny, topical,
worldly, and ultimately, necessary.
Karuna Supreme, recorded in 1975, is one of the earliest true fusions
of Indian music and jazz, and remains one of the most successful. John
Handy’s incredible mid-’60s quintet ably demonstrated his aptitude for
modal playing, and Ali Akbar Khan had long been one of Indian music’s
greatest ambassadors. Like Khan, Zakir Hussain was also the son of one
of India’s finest musicians, and had been exposed to jazz as well from
an early age (his father, Alla Rakha, recorded with Buddy Rich in
addition to his long association with Ravi Shankar). The way these
players find the common musical ground from their respective backgrounds
is breathtaking. The album starts with the lively “Ganesha’s Jubilee
Dance,” which has a simple but unforgettable melody that Handy and Khan
use as a springboard for some amazing soloing. Handy’s improvisations
are melodic and effortless, and some of the rhythmic flourishes supplied
by Ali Akbar Khan are incredible. Zakir Hussain is equally stunning,
reacting instantly to whatever the soloist is doing, offering both
support and drive to the piece. The title cut is slower and more
contemplative, but no less beautiful, and a nice complement to the
animated “Ganesha’s Jubilee Dance.” “The Soul and the Atma” is a bit
more reminiscent of Indian classical music, with its alap-like
introduction, but once the tabla kicks in, the structure opens up for
more amazing improvising. It starts kind of slowly, but gradually builds
intensity over the course of its 20-plus minutes. The level of
communication among the players throughout this session would be
difficult to surpass. This is one of those rare East-meets-West
recordings that absolutely succeeds at every level. Highly recommended.
Track Listing: 1) Ganesha’s Jubilee Dance (9:19) 2) Karuna Supreme (11:06) 3) The Soul and the Atma (20:44) Credits:
Very groovy stuff -- and one of Herbie's best from the 60s! In a way, this album's very similar to some of the best Verve "groovy experimental" albums from the same period -- like some of Cal Tjader's Eastern/Latin work -- and it features Herbie playing with a wide range of instrumentation that includes oud, zither, harp, and lots of eastern percussion. Keeping things real, though, are some key jazzers like Roy Ayers, Julian Priester, and Jimmy Owens -- plus rhythm by Reggie Workman, Bruno Carr, and Patato Valdez. Tracks are very groovy -- with a mixture of jazz and exotic instrumentation -- and titles include "Turkish Coffee", "Odalisque", "Uskudar", "Eli Eli", and "Dance Of The Semites".
Tracklist
1. Turkish Coffee (5:01)
2. Incense (7:19)
3. Odalisque (7:43)
4. Do Wah Diddy Diddy (2:38)
5. Uskudar (3:38)
6. The Oud and the Pussycat (5:04)
7. Yavuz (4:37)
8. Dance of the Semites (4:29)
9. Eli Eli (3:56)
Total Time: 44:25
Line-up/Musicians
Bass – Reggie Workman (tracks: A1 to A4, B1 to B4)
Clarinet – Hachig Thomas Kazarian (tracks: A4, B1 to B4)
Congas – Carlos "Potato" Valdes* (tracks: A1 to A4, B2)
Drums – Bruno Carr (tracks: A1 to A4, B1 to B4)
Flugelhorn – Jimmy Owens (tracks: B1, B3, B4)
Flute – Herbie Mann (tracks: A1, A3, A4, B1 to B5)
Oud – Chick Ganimian (tracks: A1 to A4, B1 to B4)
Percussion – Geraldine Swee (tracks: A1 to A3), Hachig Thomas Kazarian (tracks: A1 to A3), Moulay "Ali" Hafid (tracks: A4, B1 to B4), Robert Marashlian (tracks: A4, B1 to B4)
Trombone – Joe Orange (tracks: A4, B2), Julian Priester (tracks: A4, B2)
Trumpet – Jimmy Owens (tracks: A4, B1 to B4)
Vibraphone – Roy Ayers (tracks: A1 to A3)
Zither – Mohamed Elakkad (tracks: A4, B1 to B4)
Paris-based Renaud Garcia-Fons, one of the world’s most creative double bass players, has always been adept at creating an eclectic and innovative blend of European music. For his eighth album for the Enja label, Garcia-Fons gathered some of his musical friends who are masters at such dissimilar instruments as zither, accordion, bansuri, octobass, clarinet, and flamenco guitar, and undertook a musical voyage around the Mediterranean.
The first of eighteen tracks features a melody that evokes the Moorish past of Spain, the music reflective of both the occident and the orient. During the course of the journey, Garcia-Fons goes on to pay homage to a couple of Federicos, namely the Andalusian poet Garcia Lorca and the Italian filmmaker Fellini. A musical tip of the hat is also given to Barcelona, Rome, Iraklio (Crete), Dalmatia, and the Bosphorus strait among other ports of call. Garcia-Fons has consistently proven himself to be a class act and Méditerranées is no exception. This is the soundtrack for a luxury cruise in your mind.
This gorgeous improvisational collaboration between Persian kamacheh player Kayhan Kalhor and North Indian sitarist Shujaat Husain Khan was rightly hailed as the finest world music release of 1998. AS NIGHT FALLS ON THE SILK ROAD is shot through with aching melodicism, virtuosic musicianship, and a fierce, carefully focused passion rarely heard from any corner of the globe. Kalhor's kamancheh (a four-stringed, upright Iranian ancestor of most European and Asian bowed instruments) merges seamlessly with Khan's sitar and understated vocals to create rich, protean, highly evocative soundscapes at once spacious and infinitely dense.
Swapan Chaudhuri, one of the greatest living masters of the tabla, supports Kalhor and Khan. Chaudhuri propels the duo's playing with his sensitive, bogglingly complex hand-drum accompaniment. By turns peaceful, tender, and feverishly energetic, the musical conversations that evolve here take the already profoundly spiritual tradition of Indian music to new heights of invention and greater depths of meditative meaning. This beautiful recording is an essential addition to any world music collection. (Source: cduniverse.com) The Music:
01 - My Eyes, My Heart 15:10
02 - Between Dawn and Dawn a New Truth 21:21
03 - Snowy Mountains 08:55
04 - Traces of the Beloved 27:06
Total time: 72:32
The Players:
* Kayhan Kalhor - kamancheh
* Shujaat Husain Khan - sitar, vocals
* Swapan Chaudhuri - tabla (track 1)
* Rafiuddin Sabri - tabla (all tracks except 1)
* Ravi Kuma - dholak (tracks 2 and 3)
* S. P. Bahlla - percussion (tracks 2 and 3)
Οι «Palyrria» διαθέτουν μία μουσική πανδαισία, μία παραγωγή με μεγάλη επιμέλεια, σπάνια για τα ελληνικά δεδομένα. Με συνέπεια εδώ και μία δεκαετία αποτελούν ένα από τα πιο δυναμικά συγκροτήματα που ασχολούνται με τη συνύπαρξη των παραδοσιακών δρόμων και της μουσικής τεχνοτροπίας της παγκόσμιας dance- electronica κουλτούρας των τελευταίων δεκαετιών.
Δημιουργήθηκαν το 1996 σαν ένα dance project. Το 1999 διαμόρφωσαν τον προσωπικό τους ήχο, που τους χαρακτηρίζει μέχρι σήμερα. Το ονομάζουν World- Electro και όντως η μουσική τους δεν είναι ούτε αμιγώς ηλεκτρονική, ούτε όμως και καθαρά «ethnic». Είναι μια προσπάθεια αναγέννησης της ελληνικής κυρίως παραδοσιακής μουσικής δια μέσω των σύγχρονων μουσικών της δύσης. Χρησιμοποιούν αρχαίες Αιολικές κλίμακες, την πεντατονία της Ηπείρου, όργανα που μας έρχονται από τα βάθη της ιστορίας, σμίγοντάς τα με τον ηλεκτρονικό ήχο, τους club ρυθμούς και τη μουσική τεχνολογία, σε ένα πάντρεμα που μοιάζει αρχαϊκό και φουτουριστικό ταυτόχρονα.
Στον τελευταίο δίσκο τους “Electrifying Nature” συμμετείχαν σπουδαία ονόματα της διεθνούς μουσικής σκηνής όπως Kumar (Κούβα), από το συγκρότημα των Ojos de Brujo, οι Maxwell Wright & DJ Panko (Ισπανία), Florian Mikuta (Ρουμανία), Matthias Loibner (Αυστρία) και Αχιλλέας Περσίδης, Παντελής Στόικος, Σεραφείμ Μαρμαρίδης, Γιάννης Δημητριάδης από την Ελλάδα.
Born out of the need for experimentation PALYRRIA is a band that has devised and perfected its own, unique sound.
They call it world-electro and indeed this music is neither electronic nor ethnic. PALYRRIA has always been fascinated by traditional and ritual music as some of the band's members have performed and recorded with renowned traditional musicians.
Ray Anderson can make a trombone sound like a hive of bees or just about anything else. That means he's a good match for Ibrahim Electric's Ibrahim Electric Meets Ray Anderson Again, recorded live at Copenhagen's JazzHouse and Pakhuset in ?rhus in February 2007, the second meeting between these two forces of nature. This group is all about fun, funk and a few other things: a popular 1960s party groove meets jazz improv, blues and rocking riffs with a jam band feel. They've done this before and perhaps the idea is if it ain't broke don't fix it. These guys don't take themselves too seriously and that's a good thing. Song titles give a clue to what this is all about. Among the eight tracks, there's "Funkorific," "Splash," "Skip It," "Blue Balls" and "Absinthe"; in Danish maybe all that spells p-a-r-t-y? Who are these guys (if you don't know already)? They're all Danes: Niclas Knudsen on guitar, Stefan Pasborg on drums and Jeppe Tuxen on Hammond B3 organ. And, oh yeah, that American trombone... "Vocals" are supplied by the screaming audience members at the show in Copenhagen. They sound like they didn't spend much time in their seats. Throughout Anderson provides tireless, inventive solos, amiably supported by the large talents of these great Danes. While somewhat derivative in mood and inspiration—originals, but incorporating many reworked riffs and beats of the psychedelic era— all eight pieces sound vibrant and energetic and just the thing for your next rent party. This is the kind of record where you don't have to think too much. Think of it as a Copenhagen vacation, circa 1968. Artist: Ibrahim Electric Album: Meets Ray Anderson Again Label: Stunt Release date: 2008 Genre: Funk / Jazz Style: Deep Funk / Revival Format: mp3 vbr Tracks: 8 Total Time: 53:34 Total Size: 75 Mb
Track list:
1. Funkorific (8:58)
2. Splash (5:53)
3. Red Room (4:09)
4. Lobi (5:29)
5. Skip It (6:00)
6. En Kold Fra Kassen (6:32)
7. Blue Balls (9:23)
8. Absinthe (6:10)
