07-05-2020 > WORLD:MUSiC:MiX # 33 selected ETHNiC FUSiON tracks 1981-1970

g l o b a l  m u s i c a l  v i l l a g e

Richard Horowitz

07-05-2020 > WORLD:MUSiC:MiX # 33 selected ETHNiC FUSiON tracks 1981-1970 # WmW:   Richard Horowitz, Amara Toure, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Silvio Rodríguez, Hailu Mergia and The Walias, Ornella Vanoni, Toquinho, Vinicius de Moraes, Los Jaivas, Planxty, Fela Kuti, Lafayette Afro Rock Band, Steeleye Span, Jorge Ben and Trio Mocotó

M  U  S  I  C / WmW

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1981-1970

Composer and multi-instrumentalist Richard Horowitz specializes in music from the Middle East. From 1968 to 1979, Horowitz lived in Paris and Morocco, where he studied music, Arabic, French, and Oriental philosophy while performing throughout Europe and Morocco.
Richard Horowitz
Eros Never Stops Dreaming 5:17
Queen of Saba 3:30
from Eros in Arabia 1981
On his 1981 debut album, the composer and percussionist channels the Fourth World spirit of his collaborator Jon Hassell, to spellbinding effect.
...A Moroccan frame drum echoes and distorts on “Eros Never Stops Dreaming.” The processed ney recalls the odd sanza songs that Cameroon musician Francis Bebey was crafting around the same time, while the churning bass figure suggests the cavernous interiors of Arthur Russell’s World of Echo. ..
...From there, the album moves into coarser terrain, taking sandpaper to the magical spells of the opening tracks. The eddying voices and chants of “Queen of Saba” sound like something lifted from a Smithsonian Folkways field recording...
...Fittingly, for an album whose title suggests the Greek god of love crossing the Mediterranean Sea to ancient Arabia, Horowitz’s music seeks a space in between and finds something magical there.

Touré’s 30 year-long career began in the late 1950s in Dakar as part of the Senegalese collective known as Le Star Band de Dakar. Touré and the band enjoyed rapid success and became prominent figures in Senegal’s booming, Cuban-influenced son montuno and pachanga scenes in the 60s. The singer-percussionist later went on to form his own band Black and White based out of Cameroon, where he further refined his unique take on Cuban music by fusing spirited, West African mandingue sounds…
Amara Toure
Amara Touré Et L'Orchestre Black & White
N'Niyo 5:59
Lamento Cubano 5:45
from Amara Toure (1973 - 1980) (Analog Africa No. 18)
The enigmatic Amara Touré from Guinée Conakry finally getting a well deserved compilation showcasing all of the 10 songs ever released between 1973 and 1980. Cuban influenced music of a different kind featuring amazing spaced-out guitar works!!

"Latin music, is it really foreign to us Africans? I don't think so. Listen to the drums, to the rhythm. It all seems very close to us - it feels like it’s our own culture”, declared enigmatic singer Amara Touré... 

Born in Jamaica, based in England, he is a talented reggae singer, writer, and poet; originator of the "dub poetry" style.
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Want Fi Goh Rave 4:21
Sonny's Lettah (Anti-Sus Poem) 3:53
Forces of Viktry 4:53
from Forces of Victory 1979
If Dread Beat An' Blood brought Johnson and initial flush of notoriety, then Forces of Victory was the record that cemented his growing reputation as a major talent. Bovell and the Dub Band swing hard on this set, especially on the album's opening track "Want Fi Goh Rave." This contains some of Johnson's most memorable songs/poems, such as the heartfelt prison saga "Sonny's Lettah" and the confrontational "Fite Dem Back," which he delivers in his trademark sing-song Jamaican patois. Dramatic and intense to the point of claustrophobia, Forces of Victory is not simply one of the most important reggae records of its time, it's one of the most important reggae records ever recorded.
Magnificent, top 10 all-time reggae album, and selected by David Bowie in his top 25 "confessions of a vinyl junkie". Jamaica-born LKJ was a poet, journalist and (political) activist before starting fronting a band in London...

Cuban songwriter who founded the nueva trova movement. In Latin America, his work is on par with Bob Dylan's and John Lennon's.
Silvio Rodríguez
Mujeres 4:18
Rio 2:13
Y Nada Más 3:03
from Mujeres 1978
...Silvio Rodríguez's Mujeres is often regarded as his masterpiece, representing a great artist at his very best. Instrumentally spare and transparent, the record is sonically crystal clear and shining. Rodríguez's guitar is bright and shimmering, and his voice has a bell-like open tone that would never sound quite as unencumbered and free again. The playlist includes some of his very finest material, including the light yet impassioned "Río" and heartbreaking "Y Nada Más." Recordings both before and after this album would have a significantly more produced, polished sound, with complex instrumentation and sophisticated studio work...

An innovative Ethiopian keyboardist, accordionist, and bandleader, Hailu Mergia rose to prominence in the early '70s fronting the Walias Band, an instrumental funk and jazz ensemble and fixture of the Addis Ababa hotel circuit.
Hailu Mergia and The Walias
Tche Belew 5:00
Yikirta Lemminalehu 3:35
Ibakish Tarekigne 4:00
from Tche Belew 1977
So excited for the long-anticipated re-release of “Tche Belew,” Hailu Mergia and the Walias’ 1977 instrumental jazz and groove recording set against the backdrop of post-revolution Ethiopia. Following Mergia’s Shemonmuanaye/Classical Instrument reissue last year, the keyboardist and accordion player has been visiting stages across Europe and North America to much critical acclaim. “Tche Belew” was a groundbreaking recording and the LP became collectible for so many reasons but overall it is just an astounding merger of Ethiopian songs, elegant contemporary arrangements and “western” instrumentation. Completely sublime music from one of the seminal bands of a funk-laced era of Ethiojazz and soul.

Born September 22, 1934, to a Milanese family, Italian singer Ornella Vanoni spent most of her twenties alternating between theater (her debut was in 1957 with Federico Zardi's I Giacobini) and music. She started by singing "le canzoni della mala," or songs about the underworld, but after meeting Gino Paoli in 1960 (with whom she wrote "Senza Fine," one of her biggest hits) she began exploring the more sentimental sounds of pop. 
Ornella Vanoni, Toquinho, Vinicius de Moraes
Ornella Vanoni E Toquinho - Senza Paura (Sem Mêdo) 3:53
Vinicius De Moraes E Ornella Vanoni - Samba In Preludio (Samba Em Preludio) 3:00
Ornella Vanoni, Vinicius De Moraes, Toquinho - La Voglia La Pazzia (Se Ela Quisesse) 2:53
from La voglia la pazzi l'incoscienza l'allegria 1976
After learning from Paulinho Nogueira how to play guitar, Brazilian Toquinho met Chico Buarque at the age of 17, deciding to start a music career soon after. In the mid-'60s, the artist composed his first song, called "Lua Cheia"; in addition, he played guitar for prominent local acts such as Sergio Ricardo and Alaíde Acosta.
Vinícius de Moraes was a fundamental figure in Brazilian music. As a poet, he wrote lyrics for a great number of songs that became all-time bossa nova and samba classics. As a composer, he wrote some good music, and as an interpreter, he left several important albums. From a musical family, he began very early to write poetry.

Chilean folk-rock band Los Jaivas got involved in the local scene in the '60s, becoming the pioneers of their music style and debuting in 1971 with the independently released El Volantin. 
Los Jaivas
Pregón Para Iluminarse 5:17
Un Día De Tus Días 3:10
Tarka Y Ocarina 13:15
from Los Jaivas 1975
Line-up / Musicians
- Gato Alquinta / vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, charango, recorder, piccolo, tarka, trutruka, congas, güiro
- Eduardo Parra / piano, organ, congas, bongos, tarka, siku, sleigh bells
- Claudio Parra / piano, electric piano, güiro, maracas, siku, trutruca
- Julio Anderson / bass, acoustic guitar, trutruca, backing vocals
- Gabriel Parra / drums, bombo legüero, congas, caja, cowbell, trutruca, backing vocals

Veritable supergroup of Irish traditionalist helped spark an Irish folk renaissance in the 1970s. Along with groups like the Bothy Band, Planxty helped to usher in a new era for modern Celtic music. While their sound remained rooted to traditional music, the band's virtuosic musicianship and high-energy delivery reflected modern influences, while their unique vocal harmonies and instrumental counterpoint were unprecedented in Irish music.
Planxty
Johnny Cope 5:15
Cold Blow and the Rainy Night 2:39
Mominsko Horo 3:16
from Cold Blow and the Rainy Night 1974
Irish stalwarts Planxty begin Cold Blow and the Rainy Night -- their third record for Shanachie -- with a rousing version of the Scottish battlefield classic "Johnnie Cope." It's a fitting opening to a record that essentially rounded out their recording heyday as the members splintered off to form equally influential Celtic acts like the Bothy Band, Moving Hearts, and De Danann. Co-founder Dónal Lunny, despite contributing instrumentally to a few tracks and taking a seat in the production chair, left the group, allowing newest member Johnny Moynihan to take over bouzouki and -- along with Andy Irvine and Christy Moore -- vocal duties. The title track is one of the finest of their career, utilizing Liam O'Flynn's expert uillean pipes and the band's peerless harmonizing to a tee.... Cold Blow and the Rainy Night, along with The Well Below the Valley, and their legendary debut, are essential listening for those in love with, or merely intrigued with, the genre.

Nigerian singer who was a key figure in the development of Afro-beat, blending agit-prop lyrics and dance rhythms as a medium for social protest. It's almost impossible to overstate the impact and importance of Fela Anikulapo (Ransome) Kuti (or just Fela as he's more commonly known) to the global musical village: producer, arranger, musician, political radical, outlaw. He was all that, as well as showman par excellence, inventor of Afro-beat, an unredeemable sexist, and a moody megalomaniac.

Fela Kuti 

Alu Jon Jonki Jon (Feladey & Friends) 12:41

Jeun Ko Ku (Chop'n Quench) (Feladey & Friends) 7:14

from Afrodisiac 1973

The four (lengthy, as usual) songs occupying this album were originally recorded in Nigeria as 45 rpm releases. Afrodisiac consists of re-recordings of these, done in London in the early '70s. While it's true that Fela Kuti's albums from this period are pretty similar to each other, in their favor they're not boring. These four workouts, all sung in Nigerian, are propulsive mixtures of funk and African music, avoiding the homogeneity of a lot of funk and African records of later vintage, done with nonstop high energy. The interplay between horns, electric keyboards, drums, and Kuti's exuberant vocals gives this a jazz character without sacrificing the earthiness that makes it danceable as well. "Jeun Ko Ku (Chop'n Quench)" became Kuti's first big hit in Nigeria, selling 200,000 copies in its first six months in its initial version.

The often-sampled funk masters Lafayette Afro Rock Band emerged initially as The Bobby Boyd Congress then Ice, before claiming this moniker.

Lafayette Afro Rock Band 

I Love Music 7:10

Conga (Lafayette Hudson) 5:01

Malik (Donny Donable) 5:13

from Malik 1972

We can speak about "Killer french Funk" with this second lp from the band, issued in 1972 on french "America" label. Also enjoy the second press issued on US "Makossa" label (Makossa 2311). Recorded in Paris and New York under the production & direction of Pierre Jaubert ('Berjot') & Roland francis , the Lafayette Afro-Rock Band were a jazz super session group that created a heavy, ghetto funk that has since been sampled by everyone (Public Enemy for exemple) After the first release "Soul Makossa" LP, everyone recognize the talent in this group. The response was immediate with new rhythm music, that deliver the contemporary funky soulful disco feeling with "Malik".

Pivotal English folk-rockers who brilliantly interpreted traditional material before going electric behind Maddy Prior's ethereal voice. A highly influential British band who helped deliver folk-rock to the mainstream in the mid-'70s, Steeleye Span have enjoyed a lengthy tenure at the vanguard of British roots music, innovating their country's traditional songs while adding a host of their own original material to its canon. 

Steeleye Span 

The Blacksmith (Traditional) 4:45

Boys of Bedlam (Traditional) 4:19

Female Drummer (Martin Carthy / Tim Hart / Ashley Hutchings / Peter Knight / Maddy Prior) 4:01

from Please to See the King 1971

The debut of Steeleye Span (Mark II), with Peter Knight on fiddle and Martin Carthy on guitar, is more solid in almost every area from repertory to production. The group still had its feet in both modern and traditional sounds simultaneously, so Please to See the King mixes very beautiful, distinctly archaic sounding songs such as "Boys of Bedlam" with amplified, electric numbers like the rousing, ironic "Female Drummer" (which was a highlight of their concerts)... The use of electric guitars was also unique, and quite different from rivals such as Fairport Convention, occasionally mimicking the sound of bagpipes here...

Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist whose skilled blend of samba and western pop has been popular since the 1960s. One of the most important Brazilian composers and performers to appear in the 1960s, singer and songwriter Jorge Ben proved successful at infusing samba with soul music.

Jorge Ben and Trio Mocotó

The Trio Mocotó is a group that shaped a style that would be known as samba-rock, resulting in the fusion of the two genres. The trio influenced many artists who were searching for some kind of fusion between Brazilian and American pop music, like Tim Maia and Jorge Ben, whom they backed in recordings and performances both in Brazil and internationally.

Oba lá Vem Ela (Jorge Ben) 4:12

O Telefone Tocou Novamente (Jorge Ben) 3:48

Força Bruta (Jorge Ben) 5:08

from Forca Bruta 1970

The combination of Jorge Ben and Trio Mocotó had already produced great things when Força Bruta first appeared in 1970... Força Bruta was a slightly different album, a slice of mellow samba soul that may perhaps have been the result of such a hectic schedule during 1969. One of the hidden gems in Jorge Ben's discography, it's a wonderful album because it kept everyone's plentiful musical skills intact while simply sailing along on a wonderful acoustic groove that may have varied little but was all the better for its agreeable evenness. The songs may have been more difficult to distinguish -- virtually every one began with acoustic guitar, similar instrumentation, and Ben's caressing vocals over the top -- but it made the record one of the best in Ben's hearty career.

Trio Mocotó