19-06-2018 11:41 # WORLD:MiX # 33 selected ETHNiC FUSiON tracks # WmW

Terakaft

19-06-2018 11:41 # WORLD:MiX # 33 selected ETHNiC FUSiON tracks # WmW   Terakaft, Meridian Brothers, The Klezmatics, Duo Milla Viljamaa & Johanna Juhola, Piirpauke, Damon Albarn, Justin Adams, Kolinda, Lila Downs, Lo'Jo

M U S I C

LISTEN THE PLAYLIST ON DEEZER.COM

WmW label The player always plays the latest playlist tracks. / A lejátszó mindig a legújabb playlist számait játssza. 

Terakaft is a gang of guitarists, in the same vein as Tinariwen. Nothing astonishing about that if you consider that Terakaft was founded by Kedou and Diara, two formative and historical guitarists from Tinariwen.
Terakaft
Bismilla 2:24
Rastaman Aridal 3:58
Ter Simawan 4:53
from Bismilla (The Bko Sessions) 2007
Guitar, Vocals – Diara, Kedou Ag Ossad, Liya Ag Ablil, Rhissa Ag Ogham, Sanou Ag Ahmed
Recorded at Studio Bogolan, Bamako, Mali, in January 2007.
Edited at La Fontaine du Mont, Mûrs-Erigné, France.

Bogota's the Meridian Brothers are the creation of Eblis Álvarez, who writes, arranges, produces, plays, and sings everything on their recordings, though when the band plays live he is aided by other musicians. Their music is almost unclassifiable, a bracing meld of electronic and organic instruments, influenced by Latin rock, psychedelia, Frank Zappa, the Residents, modern vanguard electronic music, and South American and Caribbean folk traditions and rhythms.
Meridian Brothers
La Industria del Deporte 4:09
El Cantinero Experimental 5:41
Jornada Nacional Contra La UtilizacióN de AntíDotos 4:14
El Enamorado 4:33
from El Advenimiento del Castillo Mujer 2006
Traditional instruments, electronics and distorted vocals are dragged through an array of influences to create a world that is as original as it is unclassifiable.
Originally released back in 2006 by Colombian label La Distritofonica, the limited CD-only album showcased a rare style of "Abstract folk music" inspired on the experiments of some Bogota collectives from the time (2005-2006).

Inimitable N.Y.C. band blends klezmer music and socially conscious lyrics with contemporary rock, funk, and avant-garde jazz. / The Klezmatics take one of the wildest approaches to klezmer, the traditional dance music of the Eastern European Jews. Although their music is heavily influenced by the recordings of Abe Ellstein and Dave Tarras in the 1940s and 1950s, their lyrics comment on a wide variety of political and social issues and have led the group to be labeled "the planet's radical Jewish roots band." The original members of the Klezmatics -- Dave Lindsay (bass), Rob Chavez (clarinet), Alicia Svigals (fiddle) -- were recruited through an ad in the Village Voice in 1985. Trumpet player Frank London of the Klezmer Conservatory Band joined the group soon afterward. Within a few weeks, the band was expanded with the addition of Lorin Sklamberg (vocals, accordion), Margot Leverett (clarinet), and David Licht (drums). Initially calling themselves "Hortzeplotz," they soon renamed themselves the Klezmatics, a play on words inspired by the rock band the Plasmatics.
The Klezmatics

Joshua Nelson

with Joshua Nelson and Kathryn Farmer
Eyliyohu Hanovi 2:38
Elijah Rock with Joshua Nelson 9:17
Ki Loy Nue with Kathryn Farmer 6:40
Didn't It Rain with Joshua Nelson and Kathryn Farmer 5:01
from Brother Moses Smote The Water 2005

Kathryn Farmer

The Klezmatics are arguably the most genre-bending performers on the klezmer scene today (and perhaps of any day). Here, they combine with an up-and-coming singer from the South. That singer just happens to be of an ancient order of Judaism and is African-American, and he attempts to fuse gospel soul with traditional Jewish works. Of course, they got along marvelously. The album focuses on the similarities and ties between Jews and blacks, particularly in the aspects of slavery, the shared songs from Passover and gospel services, and the vibrant cultures. There are notes of pure klezmer and of pure gospel, but the concert from which the album was recorded is really a masterpiece of fusion. The styles are crunched together nearly seamlessly, the languages used (alternately Hebrew, Yiddish, and English) being the only differential in some parts. Joshua Nelson (the gospel singer) tends toward a Mahalia Jackson sound, and the Klezmatics themselves do what they always do. Slapped together, it's a joyous, powerful affair. For fans of musical cross-pollination, this album is a godsend. It's cross-cultural fusion done right. For an added bonus, the CD includes a short bit of video footage from the Berlin concert.

Milla Viljamaa (born 1980) is a Finnish musician and composer known for her creative works in various fields ranging from folk, tango and chamber music to theatre, opera, and film productions.
By the time Johanna Juhola gained her master's degree in accordion from the Sibelius Academy in 2008, she was already a well-known face on the Finnish music scene as a member of the bands Troka, Las Chicas del Tango and Spontaani Vire, collaborator in duos with Timo Alakotila and Milla Viljamaa, through numerous guest appearances and her compositions for theatre, film and television productions. 
Duo Milla Viljamaa & Johanna Juhola
Fuga y Misterio 4:44
Jeanne y Paul 4:39
Balada Para un Loco 4:25
from Piazzolla Passage 2004
...Do not think for a minute that Tango music has to be played by Argentinean or Latin-American performers. It is an easy trap to fall into and I am as guilty as most in wanting my Elgar played by an English orchestra and conductor and my Ravel played by a French Orchestra… etc. etc. Winners of the 2002, International Astor Piazzolla competition in Castelfidardo in Italy the duo Milla Viljamaa and Johanna Juhola are described rather pretentiously in the booklet notes as ‘urban-fusion folk musicians of the young generation’. Never fear, the gifted duo are absolutely magnificent and their exceptional playing fired my imagination in transporting me to the bustling and vibrant atmosphere and often visceral pictures of life on sultry Buenos Aires streets. Not an easy thing to do on a very wet and extremely blustery day in a small seaside town near Blackpool...

Piirpauke, led by Sakari Kukko, has been a pioneer of world music for many years. Sakari Kukko is a visionary, world traveler and multi-instrumentalist from Finland. When he formed the first line-up of Piirpauke he was immediately awarded with a hit. Since that first success with a poignant Karelian folk tune, Sakari has guided his ever-improving line-ups on musical journeys through the Balkans, Turkey, Africa, Latin America and points in between.
Piirpauke
Laulu laineilla = Auf dem Wasser zu singen / o Be Sung Upon the Water (Franz Schubert) 2:21
Serenadi = Ständchen / Serenade (Schubert) 3:55
Matka tuonpuoleiseen = Reise ins Jenseits / Journey To The Otherworld (Kukko, Sane, Ahonen) 8:30
from Laulu laineilla (Auf Dem Wasser Zu Singen - To Be Sung Upon the Water) 2003
Piirpauke is a Finnish musical group combining folk music, world music, jazz and progressive rock. It was founded in 1974 by the keyboardist-saxophonist Sakari Kukko, who is the only original member left in the band today. In addition to large number of Finnish musicians, several musicians from various countries have also played in Piirpauke (WikipediA)

Distinctive vocalist who fronted indie stalwarts Blur before diversifying with a host of projects ranging from trip-hop to opera. As the frontman for Blur and Gorillaz, Damon Albarn helped shape the British mainstream during the '90s and beyond, first establishing himself as a Brit-pop icon before expanding into hip-hop, opera, electronica, and world music.
Damon Albarn
Afel Bocoum / Toumani Diabaté
An essential member of Ali Farka Toure's band for more than three decades, Afel Bocoum took his first steps into the limelight with his debut solo album, Alkibar: Messenger of the Great River, in 1999.
Accomplished Malian kora player blends influences from his homeland with world styles like jazz and flamenco. A master of the kora (21-string West African harp), Toumani Diabaté has brought the traditional music of his native Mali to the attention of an international audience with a series of well-received solo albums and some unlikely, but acclaimed, collaborations
Spoons (Damon Albarn) 5:19
Le Relax (Damon Albarn) 3:51
Makelekele (Damon Albarn / Afel Bocoum) 4:24
Le Mogon (Damon Albarn) 3:51
from Mali Music 2002
Following in the footsteps of his pop elders Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, and David Byrne, Blur and Gorillaz leader Damon Albarn acts as a world music ringleader with Mali Music. Serving as a benefit to the Oxfam charity, this first release from Albarn's own Honest Jon's label sees Albarn jamming on a haunted melodica alongside Malian musicians. Albarn traveled throughout Mali and recorded the source material at various venues, from small bars to village streets. Primary players include guitarists Afel Bocoum and Lobi Traore, kora player Toumani Diabate, and ngoni player Ko Kan Ko Sata Doumbia. Albarn brought the recordings into a professional studio, adding guitars, keyboards, percussion, and effects to a majority of the tracks, and the result is a thoroughly chilled album. Layered and rich musical tones emerge from pianos, samplers, xylophones, and chanting choirs. Beats and keyboards mingle effortlessly with the exotic instruments. It's often quite difficult to decipher what sonic flourishes were recorded live and which ones were crafted afterwards via computer. It's obvious that Albarn has conceived the album with an enormous respect for the musicians and culture at the heart of the project...

Guitarist/producer and composer Justin Adams is both one of Britain's great bluesmen and African crossover music's leading proponents. First coming to prominence in 1990 with Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart, Adams laid the foundations of his career through working as a respected sideman. His list of credits grew to include internationally known artists such as Sinéad O'Connor, Damien Dempsey, and more. His love affair with the music of North Africa first became evident with the release of his debut solo record in 2001.
Justin Adams
Blue Man (Justin Adams) 4:07
Desert Road (Justin Adams) 4:28
Majonoun and Leila (Justin Adams / Salah Dawson Miller) 6:08
from Desert Road  2001
Justin Adams has a fascination with the space of the desert, and on his solo debut, he recreates the feel, openness, and rhythms of the Western Sahara, where it bleeds into Mali, Morocco, and Mauritania. A proponent of the less-is-more school of playing, he inhabits a place where North African, West African, and blues music intertwine and notes bend, hang, and ultimately mix with a late 20th century recording studio, where samples and beats co-exist. The percussion, from longtime collaborator Salah Dawson Miller, fleshes out the bones. Although Adams is very much a player's player, he lets the rawness of style show through, never flashy, always to the point, whether plucking lead lines or fingerpicking, letting his left hand dictate the melodies and rhythms. The overall effect is soothingly hypnotic, as mesmerizing as shifting waves of desert sand. It's beautiful, often eerily bluesy (a nod to Blind Willie Johnson, one of his idols), and evokes the mystery of one of the earth's last great places. A tiny masterpiece.

Kolinda plays complex folk music with diverse instrumentation and with medieval and Eastern influences. They lived in France for a time, and were produced by Hughes de Courson of the French folk group Malicorne. Kolinda disbanded in 1979, only to reform five years later.
After playing as a group for 11 out of the past 16 years, with 7 albums under their belts, Kolinda is still relatively unknown in their native Hungary and virtually unheard of in North America.
"They're one of the most interesting European groups that I've heard," says Gary Cristall, organizer of the Vancouver Folkfestival, "but they do it in a different way. Even though they were doing traditional stuff, it had a different edge to it. They've never been looked on very favorably in Hungary. They were always a little too far outside."...
Kolinda
Napforduló / Solstice 4:48
Elfelejtett Istenek / Forgotten Gods 6:10
Rohanás 9-ben / Rush in 9 3:38
from Forgotten Gods 2000
Double Bass – Péter Kôszegi
Oboe – Endre Juhász
Percussion – Csaba Gyulai, Tibor Pongrácz
Violin – Lilla Várhelyi
Vocals – Kriszta Kováts
Vocals, Flute, Violin – Dóra Kováts
Vocals, Mandocello, Gadulka, Synthesizer – Péter Dabasi

A Mexican-American Laurie Anderson or if Frida Kahlo were a musician instead of a visual artist. Singer Lila Downs grew up with the culture of her father, a professor from the United States, but eventually turned her back on it to explore the tradition of her mother, a Mixteca Indian from Mexico. In doing so, she has created a very individual strain of song that has indigenous Mexican roots and North American sonorities. Born in 1968, she spent her early years in Mexico, but after her parents split up, she was shuffled off to live with a relative in California. She grew to love music, specifically classical and opera, and began studying those in college. After two years, however, she experienced a crisis, questioning why she was singing and dropping out to become a Deadhead, following the Grateful Dead around the country in a VW bus, earning money by making and selling jewelry, and not singing at all.
Lila Downs
La Sandunga (Máximo Ramón Ortíz) 4:13
Naila (Chuy Rasgado) 3:14
Ofrenda (Lila Downs) 3:10
Bésame Mucho (Consuelo Velasquez) 5:24
from La Sandunga 1999
Downs weaves a numinous tapestry of indigenous Mexican and Latin American traditions with Tex-Mex, North American folk, blues, jazz, rock, funk, and hip-hop inflections. Hers is an astonishing voice whose mimetic brilliance, affecting coloration and soaring range (in Spanish, English, and indigenous Mexican idioms) reflect a mesmerizing creative tension that razes all categories. Listeners unfamiliar with her work may recall her riveting appearance in the 2002 film Frida, wherein she played a Vargas-like singer, a one-woman Greek chorus to the protagonist's unrelieved suffering (even against a powerful cameo by Vargas herself, Downs more than holds her own). The ensemble (piano, clarinet, tenor and baritone sax, guitar, bass, Latin percussion) commands a variety of idioms, in brilliant complement to the singer. For Downs, music entails a sacred quest, one not without risk; but laying personal claim to some untouchable Latin classics...

Long-tenured eclectic world music ensemble formed in Angers, France in 1982. Lo'Jo are as much about an idea as they are about the music they make. Founded in 1982 in the small French town of Angers by singer/keyboardist Denis Péan, they've been involved in multimedia shows, circuses, politics, and even hosted a festival in the Malian desert; not your basic group by any means. Lo'Jo Triban -- their full title -- had been in existence for a year when Richard Bourreau (violin/kora) joined and the music began to gel. For several years, they played events locally with a rotating cast of members, working with dancers and film as part of their overall presentation. 
Lo'Jo
Sin Acabar (Lo'Jo / Denis Péan) 3:58
Mojo Radio (Lo'Jo / Denis Péan) 4:28
Kourchbene Bellissimo (Lo'Jo / Denis Péan) 3:32
from Mojo Radio 1997
With instrumentation including melodica, accordion, violin, kora, djembé, and bendir, "Lo'Jo has made the trip from Angers, France to Bamako, Mali in barely a minute" (Washington Post). Title track Mojo Radio is ripe for radio airplay with tiers slowly building to its catchy, reggae-backed chorus. A classic in the Bohmemian musical world of France, now reissued and as relevant as ever. The Lo'Jo triban are as close as world music gets to the ethos of the Grateful Dead: a travelling circus of influences and ideas, and big band of core members and hangers on who have forged a unique identity. French chanson, reggae, Arabic dance and Paris trance are inextricably woven together by a band of singers, melodica, accordion, violin, kora, djembé, bendir and other instruments expected and surprising from all over the musical world.