Bulletin - September 2008
Ethnic & World Music
Joe Bonsall
->
Various
Artists
CAJUN |
JOE
BONSALL & THE ORANGE PLAYBOYS |
Swallow 6209 |
Cajun Jamboree |
● C D $15.98 |
27 tracks, highly recommended
Great collection of sides recorded in the 60s and 70s by one of the giants
of Cajun music - singer & accordion player Joe Bonsall. Joe started
performing in the 1930s but didn't make to record until the early 60s and
from 1963 on came under the wing of Cajun DJ, producer and promoter John
"Tee Bruce" Broussard who produced most of the recordings here. Joining
Joe are his suoperb group The Orange Playboys featuring Wilson LeJeune on
steel guitar, Bobby Caswell on rhythm guitar and the great Floyd LeBlanc
on fiddle. The material is a mix of original and traditional songs and
tunes with the occasional oddity like their French language cover of Jim
Croce's Bad, Bad, Leroy Carr but most of it is gorgeous straight
ahead traditional style Cajun music. (FS)
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AUSTRIA |
ANTON KARAS |
Collectables 0849 |
The Third Man Theme And Other Favorites |
●
C D $7.98 |
14 tracks, 56 mins, recommended
The Third Man Theme is just one of those odd ball hit songs that comes
out of the blue, hits big and then goes right back. A wave of Zither songs
didn't follow in its wake, but it's an interesting sound and for fans of
atmospheric movie soundtracks it's probably something worth checking out
although the version here is not the one used in the film soundtrack. The
legend has it that Anton Karas was playing his Zither in a Viennese beer
garden when film director Carol Reed stumbled upon him and had an epiphany
about using this sound for the movie he was directing. The original The
Third Man Theme composed by Karas, became a smash and stayed on top of
the pop charts in 1950 for an impressive 11 weeks. Based on this success,
the door was flung open to the potential for music from a film to have a
life of it's own, not to mention World Music's viability to an American
record buying public. So, all in all, an interesting story and collection
of music, but possibly not for everyone. (JM)
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CAJUN |
THE SAVOY FAMILY BAND |
Arhoolie 525 |
Turn Loose But Don't Let Go |
●
C D $12.98 |
15 tracks, 54 min., highly recommended Another outstanding
album from the first family of Cajun music, including a reworking of a
song Two Step De Prairie Soileau recorded in the 1930s by the great
pioneer Amede Ardoin. Other covers include a beautiful waltz by Dennis
McGee called Valse Des Reeds (Reed's Waltz), the mournful public
domain piece Baby And The Gambler (which Ann Savoy learned from a
78 rpm by Delma Lachney), and the Belton Richard love songs I'll Be
Lonely (Je Vas M'Ennuyer and You're So Easy To Love, among
others. The only non-Savoys are Drew Simon, who plays drums on three
tracks, and Steve Riley, who plays drums on one. Another strong outing. (JC)
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GREECE |
VASSILIS TSITSANIS |
JSP JSPCD 77111 |
Rembetika 3 : 1936-1940 All The Pre-War
Recordings |
●
C D $31.98 |
Five CDs, 101 tracks, essential A third collection of
classic Greek rembetika music from the collection of Charles Howard as his
associates courtesy of JSP. This one is devoted to the work of the great
Vassilis Tsitsanis who was perhaps was one of the greatest performers to
emerge from the classic rembetiko period before WW II, a modern Greek hero
whose funeral procession drew two hundred thousand mourners. Tsitsanis was
the master of the bouzouki, a long necked mandolin like instrument, which
he plays on all tracks here as well as being composer of most of the songs
and providing accompanying vocals. Unlike many of his fellow rembetes
Tsitsanis had a formal education and brought elements of Western Music to
his music. Lead vocals are provided by great singers like Yeoriia Mittaki,
Sophia Abadzi (sister of the great Rita Abadzi), Apostolos Hadzichristos,
Rita Abadzi, Efstratios Payioumidzis (better known as "Stratos"),
Stylianos Perpiniadhis (better known as "Stellakis"), Daizy Stavropoulou
and others. Considering the rarity of some these recordings the sound
quality is outstanding and the booklets have brief biographical notes,
outlines of the songs and discographical details. Dusky and smoky as the
taverns where it was played, this is timeless music suffused with a
profound sense of the joyfulness and the strivings of life. Tsitsanis'
musicianship is nothing short of astounding and he plays with both great
virtuosity and effortless ease. The whole gamut of human emotion and
experience is evoked, playful and flirtatious one minute, yearning and
melancholy the next. These magnificent recordings are absolutely essential
to fans of Greek music and highly recommended to everyone else! Previous
volumes (JSP 7776 and 77105 are equally indispensible. (FS/ DP)
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AFRICA-SOUTH AFRICA |
BARRY VAN ZYL & THE BO KAAP COLLECT IVE |
Arc Music 2133 |
Goema Music From Cape Town, South Africa |
●
C D $13.98 |
18 tracks, 60 mins, highly recommended Goema music is a
high energy, upbeat music played by the Muslim population of Bo Kaap, Cape
Town, South Africa that utilizes multiple vocal parts in addition to
varied percussion, with Bass, Banjo and Guitar. Based on this CD, Goema is
a joyous and humorous type of music that is played at full throttle. Barry
Von Zyl is a South African drummer/ percussionist, well known for his work
Johnny Clegg and others as well as for his soundtrack for the
Oscar-winning movie "Tsotsi." The Bo Kaap Collective are Cape Town
musicians of various renown. History plus full lyrical transcriptions are
provided in not only English, but French, German and Spanish. Here we have
some obscure music that is truly an infectious treat that will keep your
toes tapping. (JM)
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MISCELLANEOUS |
VARIOUS ARTISTS |
Music Of The World 148 |
Global Voices |
●
C D $16.98 |
Three CD set, 43 tracks, 162 mins, highly recommended
We've turned up a handful of copies of this superb out of print three CD
set originally issued in the mid 60s. THis is an exciting exploration of
vocal-based music from around the world. The first disc is all traditional
music and includes some truly amazing vocal percussion from South Indxia,
overtone singing from Vietnam and Tuva, a Fijian war chant, a Native
American sunrise song from Oklahoma, spine chilling polyphonic singing
from Sardinia, sung Hebrew poetry from Yemen and more. The second disc is
devoted to sacred music and includes a CRoatian choir, a liturgical choral
group from HUngary, Buddhist chants, Hindu devotional songs, Sufi chants,
African American gospel and more. The third disc features contemporary
music including modern acapella stylings, Eastern European improvisations,
yodelling, blues, flamenco singing, group singing from Galcia with
accompaniment a Breton Folk-rock band and more. Although the third disc is
not quite as compelling as the other two there are quite a few very fine
tracks here and overall this is a terrific set with outstanding sound and
comes with a 56 page booklet with artist photos and discussion of all the
performances and some lyric transcripts. (FS)
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