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| David McGuinness, Alasdair Roberts, Amble Skuse |
03-10-2019 WORLD:MUSiC:MiX # 33 selected ETHNiC FUSiON tracks 2018-2008 # WmW: Alasdair Roberts, Amble Skuse, ZitheRandom, The Klezmatics, Cheikh Lo, Amparo Sanchez, Mara Aranda with Solatge, Vetras Saites, Femina, Simphiwe Dana, Os Mutantes, Madredeus & Banda Cosmica
M U S I C / WmW
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2018-2008
Scottish songwriter Alasdair Roberts' career as a recording artist sprang into a critically lauded, cult-praised profession when a demo he made with his group Appendix Out found its way into the hands of intimate nouveau folkie Will Oldham.
With a focus on merging live performance and interactive technologies, British composer Amble Skuse has created a unique body of work that unites elements of electro-acoustic improvisation, modern composition, field recording, and folk music traditions.
David McGuinness, Alasdair Roberts, Amble Skuse
Babylon (David McGuinness / Alasdair Roberts / Amble Skuse / Traditional) 4:14
The Dun Broon Bride (David McGuinness / Alasdair Roberts / Amble Skuse / Traditional) 5:39
Young Johnstone (David McGuinness / Alasdair Roberts / Amble Skuse / Traditional) 6:21
from What News 2018
A gorgeous collaboration between Scottish folk singer Alasdair Roberts, electronic composer Amble Skuse, and early music pianist David McGuinness, What News frames a set of historical U.K. ballads within a minimalist context that is both powerful and immediate. Although the project originated from an idea of Roberts' and was released by his longtime label Drag City, this is undeniably the union of three peers combining distinctive but complementary disciplines. Rather than relying on his typical guitar arrangements, Roberts approached McGuinness, with whom he had previously worked in the former's eclectic Concerto Caledonia ensemble, and asked him to adapt the songs for fortepiano (a piano of late 18th and 19th century design often associated with composers like Haydn and Mozart). While Skuse may seem like the outlier here, she too has a great affection for traditional material of the British Isles and her contributions are a key element in how the songs on What News are presented. Even before the first piano note, it is her eerie tonal collage of electronic hum and clattering lens snaps that introduces "The Dun Broon Bride." Roberts, whose reedy brogue has never sounded so appropriately applied, makes a brief electric guitar appearance on this strident ballad, but otherwise acts solely as the trio's vocalist. For his part, McGuinness constructs the backbone of the album with rich and nuanced keyboard performances on a restored 1844 pianoforte and his own 1920s dulcitone, a melodious and quite beguiling tined keyboard endemic to Glasgow...
Elekimpro 5:12
Goa 3:56
Peacock Blues 4:28
from Stringswing 2017
The zither improvisation of Debreczeni-Kis Helga and Dömény Krisztián is the spontaneouos mixing of jazz, folk music, contemporary composing and pop music, in which the moment creates fusions, the meeting of inner worlds dialogues, playing and harmony. Melodies of folk music, ancient shamanistic rituals, and even blues circles, which seem to be far from the zither-style, can be heard in their concert.
The Klezmatics
Der Geler Fink [The Yellow Finch] (Lisa Gutkin) 2:48
Der Yokh [L'Estaca] (Lluís Llach) 4:43
Apikorsim [Heretics] (Frank London / Traditional / Yuri Vedenyapin) 5:01
from Apikorsim 2016
Back in the mid-1980s, when they started out, the Klezmatics shook up the then emerging world music scene by showing that klezmer should be part of the equation. After all, here was a band from New York who showed that the Jewish music traditionally performed at weddings and ceremonies across eastern Europe could be complex, contemporary and rebellious. And they deservedly won a Grammy. Their 30th anniversary album doesn’t show their full range – they were reworking Woody Guthrie when I last saw them – but the variety is still impressive, with brassy, jazz-influenced instrumentals and dance songs mixed against a dash of rebellion (the title track announces “happy heretics have no rabbi”), and finely sung ballads...
Cheikh Lô
Bamba 3:50
Doyal Naniou feat.: Oumou Sangaré 5:56
Leer Gui Fall 6:10
from Balbalou 2015
Cheikh Lô would be a major star if he were a little more prolific and consistent. This is his first album in five years, and there was an equally long wait for his previous set – which is unfortunate, because he has a distinctive, soulful and easy-going style, mixing Senegalese mbalax with influences from across Africa and as far afield as Brazil. Balbalou starts magnificently, with a trio of songs that include a cheerfully rousing collaboration with the Brazilian singer Flavia Coelho and the French accordionist Fixi on Degg Gui, and a powerful appearance from Mali’s Oumou Sangare on the driving Doyal Naniou, an attack on the African propensity for coup d’états...
