06-07-2018 16:06 # WORLD:MiX # 33 selected ETHNiC FUSiON tracks

Justin Adams

06-07-2018 16:06 # WORLD:MiX # 33 selected ETHNiC FUSiON tracks # WmW   Justin Adams, Kolinda, Lila Downs, Lo'Jo, Tony Allen, Samba Toure, Raul Rodriguez, Tania Saleh, Axel Krygier, Dina El Wedidi

M U S I C

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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
Desert Road (Justin Adams) 4:28
Blue Man (Justin Adams) 4:07
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.

The man who put the beat in Afrobeat as the drummer (and occasional leader) of Fela Kuti's Africa '70.  The drummer and unofficial music director of the late Fela Kuti's band, Africa 70, from 1968 until 1979, Tony Allen (born Tony Oladipo Allen) helped create the sounds of Afro-beat. With his solo recordings, however, Allen has refused to remain stagnant, incorporating dub and avant-garde hip-hop influences into his modern African dance music.
Tony Allen
Moving On (Tony Allen) 6:40
Afro Kungfu Beat (Tony Allen) 6:09
African Man (Tony Allen) 5:03
from Film Of Life 2014
Tony Allen, Fela Kuti's drumming counterpart in the creation of Afrobeat, has been quite active in the 21st century, recording with Charlotte Gainsbourg, Zap Mama, and in supergroups the Good, the Bad & the Queen and Rocket Juice & the Moon. That said, the last releases under his own name were 2006's Secret Agent and 2007's collaboration with Jimi Tenor on the fourth volume of Strut's Inspiration Information series. Film of Life was recorded in France with the Jazzbastards playing and producing, and a slew of guests contributing to its musical mix. It can be heard both as a portrait of Allen's career as Afrobeat's bannerman rhythmnatist or -- perhaps more accurately -- the soundtrack to his own musical innovation and evolution through it. Either way it's a stone killer...

Samba Touré creates a harmonious blend of River Niger blues, traditional Songhai themes and Western influences. Like most Malian songs, Samba’s lyrics convey moral messages as well as introducing us to different elements of Malian culture, such as the importance of family.
Samba Toure
Gandadiko 4:24
Malè Bano 5:12
I Kana Korto 3:58
from Gandadiko 2014
The crisis in Mali may be over, but the dangers remain, and Samba Touré’s hypnotic desert blues provide an intriguing commentary. The mood is less bleak than his last set, Albala, recorded when radical Islamists controlled his village, but the title track – Gandadiko roughly translates as Burning Land – is an angry story of suffering and indifference, while Woyé Katé is a call for refugees to return. Elsewhere, there are morality tales about pollution, lazy men and the dangers of easy money, and translations of his powerful, poetic lyrics are thankfully provided – with the exception of those for a slinky trance song written to calm an evil djinn spirit, omitted “for your own security”. The music is mature and confident, with Touré’s quietly commanding voice matched against insistent bass riffs and guitar work that echoes his one-time mentor Ali Farka Touré, but with a dash of funk and Bo Diddley thrown in. Impressive.

Flamenco guitar and Cuban tres player Raúl Rodríguez Quiñones was born in Sevilla (Spain) in 1974. He started out playing electric guitar and drums, taking a particularly interest in blues and rock music, but by age 17 shifted his attention to playing flamenco guitar.
Raul Rodriguez
Razón De Son (Intro) 1:14
Razón De Son (Punto Flamenco) 4:18
El Negro Curro (Sonería) 6:53
Si Supiera (Blueslería) 4:24
from Razon de Son 2014

Interview with Raúl Rodríguez “Razón de Son”

Tania Saleh is a Lebanese singer/songwriter who has been paving her own path in the Arabic underground musical scene since 1990. Her voice is wise and true, a soft mix between the traditional Arabic music she was raised on and the western sounds she chose to follow. She writes about the daily worries of a troubled society, of love and hate and what’s in between. Her music follows the rhythm of her daily life and mirrors her changing mood, creating a boiling pot of tunes, feelings and love for innovation. 
Tania Saleh
Beirut Windows [As Janelas De Beirute] 4:03
A Few Images [Algumas Imagens] 3:50
Hushed Scat [Silêncio] 2:39
from A Few Images/Algumas Imagens 2014
A Lebanese woman writes about love.  The songs are about love, though not the sweet romantic kind. Rather this is about all-consuming, passionate love, and lost and failed love. This is love seen from a woman’s point of view in a region of the world where men rule, where a woman's needs are silenced or suppressed...

Axel Krygier is a musician and composer from Buenos Aires (Argentina). His music does not bear any simple definition, it is rather a fusion between the characteristic sounds of South America (cumbia, tango), European folk melodies (Klezmer, Balcan) with groove, dub, psychedelia, twist and countless styles, as Axel Krygier's sounds are a constant surprise.
Axel Krygier
Hombre de Piedra 4:37
Alcohol 3:43
Mosquito 3:31
Mi Piel de Animal 4:35
from Hombre de Piedra 2015
Inspired by the French prehistoric documentary Lascaux: Le Ciel des Premiers Hommes, Argentine maverick composer/musician Krygier’s fifth album is his first concept work. He uses a dizzying array of musical genres to tell his tale of Big Foot’s journey from the Stone Age to the Information Age. Though the vocals are in Spanish, anyone can enjoy the musical delights to be found here. Among genres one encounters on this journey are B movie lounge music (on the title track), disco, rockabilly, and he even pays homage to Italian maestro Ennio Morricone with a spaghetti-western theme. And that’s just the tip of the musical iceberg on this world-music cornucopia. With his deft ability to morph from one style to another between tracks, it’s easy to see that Krygier’s résumé includes music for films, plays and dance performances...

An independent Egyptian singer, guitarist and songwriter. Performed all around Egypt in Cultural and public theatres, lately also in Egyptian Jails. Also performed in other countries such as France and Yemen, also performed as chorus with the Egyptian singer Mohamed Mounir and other as a soloist with the Grammy Award Winner Fathi Salama. Also recorded in movies soundtracks such as the Egyptian movie Ibrahim El Abyad. Also part of the soloists of el Warsha Egyptian Folkloric group, performed with them as a soloist and actress in many international festivals and performances.
Dina El Wedidi
In Wonderland [Fi Belad El Agayeb] 4:59
Circles [Dawayer] 4:5
The Night [El Liel] 5:01
from Turning Back 2014
Scene Noise correspondent Kamila Metwaly heads to the official album launch concert of beloved Egyptian songstress Dina El-Wedidi who effortlessly straddles the line between underground and commercial, redefining folk music for the 21st century.