Jarek Adamów and Paweł Brzozowski
"Contemporary Polish Village Music"
Folken Music, 2006
Jarek Adamów & Sami Swoi
"Expedition to the Lost World Part 1 - Winter"
Folken Music, 2006
Two older releases by the Polish multi instrumentalist Jarek Adamów. In the last issue of FolkWorld I wrote a review of two of his more recent
projects[44]
and in 2003 I put his solo album in my list of best albums of the year.
These two older releases show the creativity of Adamov. With constantly the rich Polish tradition as basic element he keeps surprising me with new ideas and new sounds. On the album he recorded with Paweł Brzozowski, he brings the sounds and traditions of the country together with some modern Polish rock guitars and programming. What I like is that even in the rock parts you still find the rawness and pureness of the Polish culture. With sometimes almost industrial sounds, Adamów creates an impressive landscape and builds a bridge between the old and new Polish society.
Sanda Weigl "Gypsy in a Tree"
It was only about a year ago that I got Sanda Weigl her 2002 album Gypsy killer, which was released last
year.[43]
Listening to that album was a real adventure, as you can read in my review about this CD, I loved her dark, theatrical and bit experimental sound. Now, eight years after this small masterpiece Sanda comes with Gypsy in a tree. On this new album she is backed by a small ensemble on piano, accordion, electric bass and percussion and two guest musicians on guitar, tuba and clarinet. She recorded ten traditional songs and one of her own compositions. Again Sanda impresses with her expressive voice and her very direct and intense way of performing. Compared to the 2002 album, this new work is more conventional and shows a professional singer who creates music that I would love to hear in a small, dark theatre with Bordeaux red chairs to sit on. Again great quality, wonderful vocals but less surprising and innovative as the Gypsy killer album. Not that it matters, Sanda Weigl is still at the top of vocal gypsy-influenced music.
Huun-huur-tu "Ancestors Call"
Huun huur tu is probably the best known band from Tuva and already for many years they perform at the known stages and festivals worldwide and have release many successful albums. With the typical vocals styles and rhythmic patterns of Tuva they go back to a more pure and naked version of the tradition. Although al tracks are newly written the album has a beautiful ancient atmosphere. No crossover project this time but back to the soul of their music. All twelve compositions are of the high quality you expect from such a legendary band. Not for those who love their more experimental side, but for those who like to hear the roots of the Huun huur tu music.
Ustad Shujaat Husain Khan "Dil"
Lalgudi GJR Krishnan & Anil Srinivasan "Eternal Light"
This new album on the Italian Felmay label contains the Gara gujri todi, which consist out of three parts. It’s played by one of the best known Northern Indian classical musician Ustad Shujaat Husain Khan on sitar and vocals. In the past ten years his star has raised on to the highest international level and you can hear his music on over 50 releases. On this new album he plays together with Federico Sanesi on Tabla. I like his melodic, gentle style which can be best heard in the beautiful third part of the album Ek prakar which is a Lullaby. I’m far from an expert on Indian music, but I like this soft and dreamy album which shows a master at work.
Milagro Acustico "Sangu ru poeta"
Last year I got the three-cd release Thermæ Atmospheræ for
review.[43]
A nice album with some wonderful music, but personally I thought three cd’s was a bit too much. Now the Sicilian-Turkish band Milagro acustico takes revenge by releasing a wonderful album called Sangu ru poeta. From the first moment the female vocals start and the musicians create their haunting, mysterious sound, the album reveals an intriguing world of poetic music. The eleven tracks are full of Arabic and Mediterranean influences, strong solo parts and nice orchestration. Listen to the powerful LAmentu pi la morti di Turiddi Carnevali (The lament for the death of Turiddu Carnivali) in which the band combines ancient tradition with a modern, open sound. This Sangu ru poeta is a wonderful mix of music from the crossroad of cultures Sicily and Turkey. With this album Milagro Acustico proofs to be at the top of the Southern European world music.
Notorious "The Road to Damascus"
Notorious is a US folk band that you can book as a duo, trio or quartet. This is their third album and their second one as a quartet. The hearth of the band is formed by composer/musician Larry Unger on strings and violinist/singer/composer Eden MacAdam-Somer. They are joined by percussionist Mark Hellenberg and other string virtuoso Sam Bartlett. On this third album they have guest performances by singer/bouzouki player Frances Cunningham and bass player Mark Murphy. The thirteen recordings on the album are of a sparkling, happy kind. A fine mixture of original songs and songs by artists such as Si Kahn, Esma Redžepova and a few traditional ones. The opening of the album is excellent with the fresh sounding instrumental The road to Damascus composed by Unger. Also their interpretation of Si Kahn’s Wild rose of the mountains is wonderful. Strong vocal work and a great old time sound. Their interpretation of the Romanian traditional Hora Mireshi and the Redžepova song Čaje Šukarije are nice but doesn’t have the intensity of the originals, they are changed into a kind of exotic American folk songs. I think this band is at its best in the more US folk styled tracks, In those they show real craftsmanship and a more than pleasant overall sound.
Sokoun "Zanneh"
Ensemble Noisten "Klezmer trifft Derwisch"
Ensemble FisFüz "Ashuré"
Three bands with a, more or less, Arabian sound but all from Non Arabian countries. First the Canadian based band Sokoun. A group with two Tunisian musicians and one from Lebanon. The trio brings on this debut album original material played on ud, percussion and violin. The eleven tracks breath the atmosphere of the musicians original countries and shows the quality of the three individual musicians. They open with a rhythmic track called Once a dream and after this they bring an intimate three quarters of Arabic mood music. Sometimes pure like in the short ud solo Qamar and sometimes a bit more dramatic like in the over seven minutes long track Samai Masmoudi. I personally think that the trio is at its best in the more introvert tracks like the earlier mentioned Qamar but also in the well played Moorish tango which is a pleasant crossover composition with a beautiful, warm violin part. This debut album shows a band with possibilities and quality. It needs time and guts to develop a more own, unique sound. But Sokoun has everything a band needs to become a solid name in World music.
Avishai Cohen "Seven Seas"
This is the eleventh album for bass player Avishai Cohen since 1998. His last recordings, Aurora, are almost two years old and that was my first acquaintance with his moody
music.[39]
Seven seas contains ten new recordings on which Cohen is joined by a fine blend of musicians. While Aurora took me from the first minute, this Seven seas somehow doesn’t work for me even after four times listening to it. It’s hard to explain why. I keep having the feeling that the tracks are too much in the same vein, not as refreshing and catchy as his previous output. Sure, here is a master at work with high skilled music and professional recordings. But I miss real fire and passion, or probably this album does have that but it’s just not my style of passion.
Potsch Potschka "Varieties of Truth"
Potsch Potschka is not a name you easily forget and seen his musical history, we should remember his name. Played and recorded with Nina Hagen, Spliff and others. And about sixteen years ago he started recording solo with a big love for world music. On this new album he recorded nine new songs together an international band, mainly from the southern regions of Europe, North Africa and India. The album contains accessible world music, sometimes passionate and authentic but often a bit too mainstream for me personally. I like how the band represents the many colors of the music, but sometimes it’s made a bit too ‘popular’ for my personal taste. The message they want to spread is beautiful, it’s all about respect and searching for the connection between people.
Cambi "Ne more mi bit"
Cambi "Prava Karta"
Two albums by the Croatian band vocal group Cambi. No English information available, so all I could find out is that the group was founded 25 years ago and that today nine male vocalists sing in a traditional, classical style. The album from 2008 Ne more mi bit is a beautiful, moody vocal album which shows the quality of the singers. Strong harmonies and melodic compositions make this a real pleasure to listen to. For lovers of Polyphonic music this might be an interesting buy. I’m not so positive about the 2010 album Prava karta. Here the band is backed by an electric band and plays the most terrible, middle of the road Eurovision song contest pop music you can imagine. This so called popular approached killed the soul of the music and turns this wonderful group into some kind of ‘music for the millions’ classical-pop band. Hopefully in the next 25 years they stay away from this kind of production and stay close to their quality; their wonderful voices and harmony singing.
Klapa Šufit "Ponoć, mila moja majko"
Klapa Šufit is a vocal ensemble from Croatia with an impressive young history. They perform music from the Klapa history, from the Dalmatia region. The band was formed almost twenty years ago by students of the Gymnasium in Split. The rest is history, they are very successful both in their own country as on an international level and this new album shows you exactly why. Eleven new recordings show the beauty of the a cappella multi part singing of the band. Outstanding voices blend into a powerful sound and a mystic atmosphere. Music that will appeal to a big international audience, it’s accessible music and a great representation of the Dalmatian culture.
Luftmentschn "Grosses Kino"
Grosses Kino is the seventh album since 2004 by the awarded German quartet Luftmentschn. On drums, accordion, violin and bass they play a mixture of folk, jazz, classical, klezmer, world and many other styles. As the title suggests, this new album is inspired by cinema music and gives a rich variety of sounds and atmospheres. All four musicians play at a high professional level and together they create a mainstream kind of crossover acoustic music. Sometimes adventures, but mostly in a decent, a bit conventional way, this quartet brings sounds from a tango movie, a flamenco thriller and a klezmer slapstick. Recommended for those who like world-jazz music.
Griff "The False Fly"
When I reviewed the former album by the Belgium band Griff, I already showed my enthusiasm about their wonderful
music.[41]
At that time a trio with all types of bagpipes, this time they added an accordionist, guitarist and a double bass to their great music. The result is a new album with thirteen, more or less, traditional songs and tunes from all over Europe and a handful of original compositions. As a sextet the band sounds better than ever before and this False fly is a serious candidate for album of the year. Again this fabulous bagpipe solos and duets backed by rhythmic guitar, strong accordion and a sober, but real effective bass. It’s amazing how this band make all these influences from several traditions sound so fresh and new. Listen to the title song and you know what I mean, or the very strong original composition by Remi Decker called How many goats which is one of the highlights on this album. A composition full of inventive twists, showing the beauty of the bagpipe and the creative brain of the composer and musicians. They even do some Joik in their personal interpretation of Mari Boine’s composition Gula gula. Very nice try with a good tribe feeling in a more spacey version than the original. With the next song Les mots it’s again Remi Decker who shows his quality as composer. Here in the best Ambrozijn tradition without being a copy, Decker knows to surprise me again with a fine blend of traditional elements, modern and creative arrangements. The album ends as it should end, the bagpipes only. With this new album Griff impresses me and at this moment, only six months from 2012, I consider this as the best folk album of this year so far.
Fakutya "Egyéb veszély"
Fakutya "Kutyafa"
Faktuya is a Hungarian band founded in 2000. The first years they focused on playing on children dance events, but the past six years they brightened their horizon. The band focuses on music from the Moldova region and has released three albums until today. I start with their most recent output called Egyéb veszély. On this album the musicians how a more contemporary, free and creative vision to the traditional music. Funny intro and breaks are mixed with wonderful traditional (more or less) music with sometimes unexpected twists. For example the song Kettös that starts as a flute piece, but ends with a more heavy dance using violin and electric guitar. They do this more often, giving a rougher rock sound to a traditional song without losing the soul of a composition. This album contains a wide variation of styles and sounds. Often I hear wonderful music and creative musical arrangements, but a few moments I wonder if the band didn’t put to many ideas on one disc. Nevertheless a fine album with modern Hungarian folk. They also send FolkWorld their earlier album called Kutyafa. This debut CD shows a traditional band with nice vocals, lots of flutes and a repertoire that sounds good, but doesn’t have the bands own identity of the last album yet. Nevertheless this CD shows how the band has developed in only a few years. A very impressive development which gives hope for the near future, Fakutya might become one of the Hungarian leading modern folk bands, time will show.
Mark McMillen "Keenyo"
Singer, composer and keyboard player Mark McMillen has an impressive career and now releases his latest solo work. This is such an album that makes me wonder why it was send to a folk magazine as it doesn’t even come close to folk music of any kind. It’s well produced, riskless jazz pop that perfectly fits into the mainstream taste of the audience. When you are into this kind of music, visit the webpage and look around, maybe this is your thing.
Alison Brown Quartet "Live at Blair" [DVD Video]
Alison Brown is, according to my personal opinion, one of the nicest banjo players I know. With her relaxed style she impressed me before with her previous output. Always mixing strong play with folk, jazz, blues and light rock and pop elements. Uplifting and fresh music that makes the sun comes out. Her latest release is a live registration from a concert she gave about two years ago. Together with her own quartet and violin/mandolin player Joe Craven she does what she is good at. Playing easy going music of constant high quality. Not only music, a nice small story half way and the introduction of their “roadmanager” might surprise you. Alison Brown is a musicians that brings me in a good mood and this DVD shows exactly why.
Banda Inaudita con Julián Páez "A la luna venidera"
The Spanish band Banda Inaudita was introduced to me by their second album Dos already a few years
ago.[32]
A nice album with beautiful music by fine musicians. Now their latest album is out and this is an absolute highlight in the bands history. From the first moment I put A la luna venidera in my CD player I love it. Together with the singer Julián Páez the musicians create a rich, pure and wonderful poetic world based on the work of the poet Miguel Hernández. With the guitar and clarinet in a central role, each poem gets its own atmosphere. The intensity of the singer and the musicians together and the fact that they somehow manage to touch the soul of each poem, make this an album that I listen to over and over again. The beauty of Spanish culture is recorded in a wonderful way by Banda Inaudita and Julián Páez, a most have album and a new candidate for best album of the year 2011.
Turlu Tursu "The All Weathers Country"
Osvaldo Hernandéz-Napoles "Tierra"
Two new releases by the Home records label, by now you all know one of my favorite labels. Two international sounding albums and again two strong additions to the Home records catalogue. The first from a trio called Turlu Tursu playing on accordion/bansuri/melodica, drums/percussion and bass/baritone guitar. With influences from all over the world, this trio plays world-rock with a light progressive touch. With a central role for the accordion, they mix styles from South-America, Europe, orient with jazz and rock. Great how all three musicians play with passion and fun, creating a real dance event with noises, melodies and up-tempo beats. A fine album for lovers of the more progressive folk genre.
How different the other album is! Here he plays the accordion, bass drum and sings together with the traditional vocal female trio Sami Swoi. This is back to the basic elements of the Polish music, the aged voices of the three older woman, the simple rhythms and the rich sound of the accordion. Totally different than the other album, but somehow they reflect the same feeling. With adding these two older releases to my Adamów CD collection I’m getting more and more impressed by the work of this Polish musician and singer.
Barbes Records, 2010
World Village, 2010
Felmay, 2011
Felmay, 2011
The second album on the Felmay label and from India comes from the South of India. Lalgudi GJR Krishnan & Anil Srinivasan surprise me with this seven track new album. The combination of Krishnan’s violin and Srinivasan’s piano create a very accessible style of Southern Indian music which is very suitable for the untrained western listener. It might be the sound of the Western trained Srinivasan, his piano play brings together the best of both worlds. But then the poetic violin of Krishnan, which tells a beautiful story. Somehow I keep playing this album. It makes me calm, I love the sparkling melodies and the highly professional musicians. A beautiful addition to any music collection.
CNI Music, 2011
Black socks press, 2010
Own label, 2009
Own label, 2010
Pianissimo Musik, 2010
The second group comes from Germany and is a quartet called Ensemble Noisten. Three of the musicians studied at the Music academy in Cologne and the fourth is a percussionist from Sri-Lanka. They bring mostly traditional pieces and a few original compositions. They try to build a bridge between the Klezmer and Dervish tradition, but in their music much more influenced can be heard. The guitarist has a more Western-European way of playing and the percussionist does occasionally add a more oriental sound to the tunes. The compositions are well chosen and very easy going. This ensemble focuses on an audience that has not much experience with both the klezmer and the Dervish music. The tunes are very well played, but also a bit riskless. When you are into beautiful, melodic clarinet and flute pieces, Arabic influenced music arranged for the ear of the West and North parts of Europe. This is your album. It gives you some exotic elements, professionally played without getting out of your comfort zone.
The third and last band is Ensemble FisFüz also from Germany. This trio plays music from the South of Europe, North Africa, klezmer and Turkey. And all of this, like the Noisten ensemble, in a comfortable mix with West-European sounds. There is a difference, this ensemble has a more natural sound and shows some beautiful (solo) parts that has emotion in it. With a light touch of jazz these three musicians knows how to create pictures of landscapes with their music. Nice soft ud parts, a clarinet that dances, laughs and weeps and a percussionist who completes the music with subtle rhythms. A very nice album by three fine musicians.
Blue Note, 2010
Own label, 2010
Scardona, 2008
Scardona, 2010
Scardona, 2010
Own label, 2011
Appel Records, 2010
Own label, 2009
Own label, 2006
Own label, 2010
Compass Records, 2009
La Ribera, 2010
Home Records, 2010
Home Records, 2011
More acoustic styled music comes from Osvaldo Hernandéz-Napoles on his album Tierra. This percussionist and multi instrumentalist recorded with many international artists including the known group Ialma and the world wide known band Vaya con dios. On this solo album he plays with guitarist, ud player and singer Karim Baggili, who also wrote the music and arrangements for the album, Patricia Hernandéz-van Cauwenberge on percussion and Vardan Hovanissian on Chvi and doudouk. This album turns out to be a pleasant surprise. Sparkling, well arranged acoustic world music with a Mediterranean sound. Strong instrumental parts, beautiful melodies and musicians who play at a high level. The Southern-European styles blend perfectly with the Balkan influenced sounds and the South-African rhythms that sometimes pop-up. It’s a sunny album that brings me in a good mood, will be one of my favorite summer albums of 2011 I guess.
