11-01-2020 WORLD:MUSiC:MiX # 33 selected ETHNiC FUSiON tracks 2005-1991

Caetano Veloso

11-01-2020 WORLD:MUSiC:MiX # 33 selected ETHNiC FUSiON tracks 2005-1991 # WmW:   Caetano Veloso and José Miguel Wisnik, Gipsy Kings, Värttinä, Liz Carroll, Radio Tarifa, Vinicio Capossela, Djivan Gasparyan, Boris Kovac, Thierry Titi Robin, Africando, The Klezmatics, Danyel Waro, Mahotella Queens, Strunz & Farah, Oliver Mtukudzi

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2011-2001

A true heavyweight, Caetano Veloso is a pop musician, poet, filmmaker, author, activist, and statesman. Since the 1960s, he has been a cultural shapeshifter whose songs and recordings are filled with musical and literary invention, a deliberate androgyny, and an effortless genre meld of samba, MPB, tropicalia, rock, funk, jazz, and more.
Caetano Veloso and José Miguel Wisnik
Madre Deus 3:37
Onqotô 5:26
from Onqotô 2005
Onqotô is a rhythmic score for "Grupo Corpo", a Brazilian modern dance company, by Caetano Veloso and José Miguel Wisnik. This may be a reason why Onqotô has been overlooked. A pity, for the music here is among the best Caetano has released in recent years. It reveals yet another musical facet of Caetano Veloso.
Onqotô reminds me of Caetano's experimental music of the early seventies. There are long percussive grooves.  Madre Deus and especially Pesar do mundo are beautiful lyrical islands.

Family act from southern France whose Afro-Spanish take on flamenco launched them to worldwide fame in the 1980s. The Gipsy Kings are largely responsible for bringing the joyful sounds of progressive pop-oriented flamenco to the world. The band started out in Arles, a village in southern France, during the '70s when brothers Nicolas and Andre Reyes, the sons of renowned flamenco artist Jose Reyes, teamed up with their cousins Jacques, Maurice, and Tonino Baliardo, whose father is Manitas de Plata. 

Gipsy Kings 

Aven, Aven (Gipsy Kings) 4:37

Legende (Gipsy Kings) 4:12

from Roots 2004

Fans of flamenco icons the Gipsy Kings have been waiting a long time for a record like Roots. The group spent much of the last ten years churning out a sleek and heady mix of often disposable worldbeat that, while perfectly executed, never lived up to the promise of their hugely successful 1988 American/English debut. The aptly named Roots finds the brothers Andre and Nicolás Reyes leading the veteran octet through 16 blistering tracks, bereft of the percussion and electronic trickery that has plagued so many of their previous outings. The family collective rented a farmhouse in the south of France for the recording, and the results are nothing short of a revelation...

A compelling Kaarelian roots-inspired Finish folk group that has featured as many as 21 members. One of the most internationally successful acts to emerge from the contemporary Finland music scene, Värttinä revitalized the nation's folk traditions with an aggressive and ultra-modern style that eschewed not only the costumes of their ancestors but also the long-accepted cultural notion that women should sing unaccompanied.

Värttinä 

Sepän Poika/The Blacksmith's Son (Antto Varilo) 3:20

Maahinen Neito (Earth-Maiden) 4:23

Vihi (Wind) (Antto Varilo) 3:33

from iki 2003

Twenty years after Värttinä began, there's still plenty of energy in the band, although they've come a long, long way. More mature, they've learned to use finesse over speed, and the themes they tackle here are certainly more adult... The keening voices, once a band trademark, have all but vanished, replaced by more delicate harmonies that suit the material, and the six instrumentalists give them plenty of room -- although they're quite capable of making a storm of noise, too... After their live disc, they seem to be embarking on a new musical chapter, in search of new pastures, and the journey here proves very satisfying indeed. The frantic edge that characterized them for so long has vanished, although their joy in music-making very obviously remains.

A fantastic Irish fiddler from Chicago, Liz Carroll has been a member of Cherish the Ladies and the Green Fields of America. She's also part of one of the greatest Irish trios performing today, along with Billy McComiskey and Daithi Sproule. Her solo work also deserves attention.

Liz Carroll 

The Rock Reel/The Morning Dew/Reeling on the Box Reels (Liz Carroll / Traditional) 3:21

Catherine Kelly's/Lake Effect (Liz Carroll / Traditional) 3:52

The Tractor Driver/A Tune for the Girls Reels (Liz Carroll) 3:56

from Lake Effect 2002

Chicagoans know the lake effect all too well. But the main effect it seems to have on Irish-American fiddler Liz Carroll is to get her to make some glorious music. These are all her compositions, and they showcase her exceptional talents as a player -- although she's a good bandleader, too, judging from the way the small ensembles on the disc work together. While she can fiddle up a storm, she doesn't mind handing over the spotlight to John Doyle, whose work, guitar, and especially bouzouki are outstanding throughout... And when Carroll reaches back for old tunes, which occur here and there, it's not with reverence, but smiling glee. A superior, delightful record.

Radio Tarifa is one the outstanding world music groups of the turn of their time. Their name derives from the town of Tarifa, which is the part of Spain nearest to Morocco. The group's mixture of Spanish and Arabic music is not itself new (see Juan Peña Lebrijano. for example). What is new is that instead of simply fusing musical styles as they currently exist, Radio Tarifa goes back in time to the common past of those styles, back to before 1492 when the Moors and Jews were exiled from Spain, and imagines a shared style that might have evolved had history been different, including not just elements of Spanish and Arabic music but also other musics of the Mediterranean, of the Middle Ages, of the Caribbean

Radio Tarifa 

El Viaje de Lea (Benjamin Escoriza) 4:03

Ramo Verde (Benjamin Escoriza / Traditional) 2:48

La Molinera (Benjamin Escoriza / Traditional) 3:58

from Cruzando el Rio 2001

This, the third disc from Spain's leading roots ensemble, features a mixture of old and new. It continues to offer up the group's time-machine stew of delectable bits and pieces of Spanish musical history. It still uses an extraordinary collection of instruments, modern and medieval, Spanish and Moslem... Still, this group never fails to be interesting.

Perhaps best likened to an Italian Tom Waits, singer/songwriter Vinicio Capossela channeled influences spanning from two-fisted novelist John Fante to poet and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge to forge an experimental, profoundly literary approach to popular music quite unlike anything else in the contemporary European sphere.
Vinicio Capossela
Decervellamento 4:11
Corre il soldato 3:58
from Canzoni A Manovella 2000
Canzoni a manovella. Songs with crank. Yes, the music of the past, folk, polka, fanfare, piano in abundance, a reference to circus atmospheres, not to any circus, but to the circus of life, a carousel ride between sweat and dust, which is imagination and travel . The song becomes theater, and theater becomes song, because we are all unaware spectators of the stage of life, for this reason Vinicius' voice may seem difficult and anti-musical, but once you have overcome this obstacle, you can get lost in the folds of his voice and at every fold to discover a mask, a character, an emotion.

The acknowledged master of the Armenian reed instrument known as the duduk, Djivan Gasparayan was born just outside of the nation's capital city of Yerevan, first picking up the instrument at age six.
Djivan Gasparyan ‎
Nazani 3:44
Havun Havun 6:42
from Armenia (Heavenly Duduk) 1999
After joining the Tatool Altounian National Song and Dance Ensemble in 1948, his first professional engagement was as a soloist with the Yerevan Philharmonic Orchestra; Gasparayan later went on tour extensively throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and the United States, and in 1973 was the first musician given the honorary title of People's Artist of Armenia by the nation's government. Gasparayan's commercial breakthrough followed in 1989 when he was featured on Peter Gabriel's soundtrack to the Martin Scorsese film The Last Temptation of Christ; he subsequently contributed to the soundtracks of The Russia House,

Boris Kovac is one of a handful of modern composers and performers from the region of Hungary, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia whose names reached Western Europe and America. 
Boris Kovac
Visible Side (Boris Kovac) 2:48
Finale(Boris Kovac) 4:38
from East Off Europe - Closing The Circle 1998
Boris Kovac's second album for the Canadian label Disques Victo, East Off Europe: Closing the Circle ranks among the best musical achievements of his career. This cycle is clearly related to his previous album Anamnesis: Ecumenical Mysteries. One finds a similar instrumentation (violin, clarinet, saxophone, double bass, piano, voice), the same chamber music meets tradition meets modernity approach. But this time Kovac took the recipe to a new level of emotional power...

Thierry Robin (born August 26, 1957, Rochefort Sur Loire, France) known as Titi Robin, is a French composer and improviser. His style combines Mediterranean world including Gypsy, Oriental and European cultures. He plays guitar, buzuq, mandolin and ’oud.
Thierry Titi Robin
Que Tu Amor 5:30
La Petite Mer 6:10
from Payo Michto 1997

Africando represents a cross-cultural collaboration between top-ranked, New York-based, Latin musicians and African vocalists. 
Africando
Gombo (Boncana Maïga / Nicholas Menheim) 5:10
Diaraf 5:37
from Gombo Salsa 1996
On Gombo Salsa, Africando moves into even higher and hotter musical territory. The band continues to polish its radiant mixture of classic mambos, sones, boleros, and cha-chas. However, on this album listeners do not hear the voice of Pape Seck. He died unexpectedly in 1995 before the release of their second album. His raspy, gritty voice will never be forgotten by all music lovers the world over. His phrasing and timing, combined with an earthy, sensual feel, place him among the immortals. With his irreplaceable loss, Africando decided to employ other great soneros from Africa and Cuba. The result is the strong vocal front line of Medoune Diallo, Nicholas Menheim, and Ronnie Baro. Bolstering this lineup is the venerable veteran Gnonnas Pedro from Benin, who assures listeners that in the music lies the truth...

Inimitable N.Y.C. band blends klezmer music and socially conscious lyrics with contemporary rock, funk, and avant-garde jazz.
The Klezmatics
Man in a Hat (The Klezmatics / David Lindsay / Traditional) 3:03
Khsidim Tants (Traditional) 4:17
from Jews with Horns 1995
Picture the Reverend Horton Heat with a yarmulke, if you like. Or "Fiddler on the Roof" with Coltraneian complexity. Just don't expect somber religious music. The Klezmatics' brand of Jewish klezmer is as spirited as it is spiritual. The fast numbers, which dominate their third album, are frenzied celebratory drinking songs -- a true revival of the community spirit which spawned this eastern European brand of folk music. All that happiness poses a sequencing challenge: Where do you put the few downbeat stylistic diversions (a Yiddish labor song from 1889; a thunderously moving, jazzy clarinet improvisation; an eerie poem with a classical arrangement)? Jews With Horns suffers a little for hiding most of its variety at the end of the album. But that's a quibble in the face of such top-notch musicianship...

Danyel Waro was born and raised at the Ile de la Réunion, a French territory in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar. A descendant of French colonists, he is the most renowned proponent of the Maloya, a compound rhythm which had its origin in chants of enslaved workers on the sugar cane plantations, a sort of "blues à la Réunion." Maloya is seen as a strong force of Réunion identity and was at times even banned by the French authorities governing the island. Whereas the archaic Maloya consisted first of all chants sung over traditional percussion instruments, Waro must be credited with having expanded the Maloya style to transport a message and through his performances, music, and lyrics, live up to a new unity. 
Danyel Waro ‎
Batarsité 8:05
Tikok 7:15
from Batarsité 1994
...WARO was born in Le Tampon on the southern slopes of the volcano that forms the island of Réunion and exemplifies the island’s heritage as someone who is of mixed race having been descended from both colonists and slaves. Having grown up in the most primitive conditions with no running water, no electricity and subjected to a hard life of eking out a living from the land, the lack of luxuries left its toll on WARO’s psyche which has forever connected him to the land and the plight of a colonized island that still suffers from the ramifications of the historical injustices. These traditional musical forms have been used as a political weapon to sharpen the psyche and instill a sense of pride amongst the people who have suffered from the fervent,  even militant dominion of France’s iron fist throughout the centuries....

The Queens, often heard in concert and on record with deep-voiced "groaner" Simon Mahlathini, represent the South African township style with absolute perfection. Established in 1964 as a session harmony group, they came to prominence in the '70s with their tough vocal style and rock-solid mbaqanga backing band.
Mahotella Queens
Women of the World (Eileen Butler / Mike Pilot) 3:01
Africa (Allan Schlosberg) 4:28
from Women of the World 1993
Although usually heard backing the groans and surging vocals of Mahlathini, the Mahotella Queens can certainly perform on their own. A working unit since 1964, they show on this new release that their harmonies and leads deserve attention on their own. There are celebratory praise songs such as "Africa" and the title track...

Combining elements of Latin and Middle Eastern music (Jorge Strunz is Costa Rican while Ardeshir is Iranian), this acoustic guitar duo's world-jazz fusion style offers an interesting blend of music. 
Strunz & Farah
Caracol (Jorge Strunz) 4:28
Américas (Luis Perez Ixoneztli / Juanito Oliva / Jorge Strunz) 5:36
from Americas 1992
The latest from this dazzling and astonishing guitar duo surpasses 1990's award-winning Primal Magic with blazing intensity and passion. Their uptempo flamenco sound really vaults way beyond standard fare. Jorge Strunz occupies the left channel, while Ardeshir Farah holds down the right. Visual images abound, conjuring up remote, romantic islands, tropical rainforests and warm, moonlit waters. "Américas" melds the flair, dexterity and cultural roots of their combined Latin American and Middle Eastern heritages with the surrounding septet of tremendous musicians.

One of Zimbabwe's greatest musical and cultural icons, Mtukudzi's distinctive mix of styles and traditions earned its own genre as "Tuku" music.
Oliver Mtukudzi
Chipembenene 5:58
Ngwarai Vana Vangu 4:15
from Mtukudzi Collection 1984-1991
A musical and cultural icon in his native Zimbabwe, Oliver "Tuku" Mtukudzi's songs reflected the daily life and struggles of his homeland by blending together a number of South African music traditions including mbira, mbaqanga, jit, and the traditional drumming styles of the Korekore to create a distinctive style that his fans affectionately dubbed "Tuku music." An inventive guitarist and passionate singer, Mtukudzi was also an astonishingly prolific recording artist, releasing 67 albums during his four-decade career.