MARCH 09′
TOUMANI DIABATE “KIARA”
Toumani Diabate is likely a household name for folks interested in Malinese music and the sounds of the kora, but for me he’s a somewhat new addition to my listening adventures. I first started appreciating the kora when I chance-grabbed a dual kora with vocal accompaniment record by Dembo Konte and Kausu Kuyateh called “Simbomba” that wound up totally blowing my mind - easily one of my favorite records! Since then folks have shared other kora recordings with me, and I’ve kept my eyes peeled for more of the same. This 1988 Hannibal Records release was Toumani’s first solo effort, and features some dazzling performances of primarily traditional songs, including one written by his father in the 1940’s which is the title track for the album (his father was apparently responsible for helping establish the kora as a solo instrument). Throughout the record Toumani drifts light-heartedly through melody and song structure with improvisational flourishes that are always tethered to the spirit of the tune. As on this album, when the kora is masterfully played, it’s a seemingly endless flowing back and forth of harmony and melody, as if two or three people are playing together… how one person can accomplish the simultaneous rhythm, melody, and harmony that the instrument yields is completely mind boggling. Of singular beauty is the title track Kaira (written by Toumani’s father), whose bouquet is like that of a childhood kiss, you can hear it over and over, but it always feels like the first time.
Hannibal Records, HNBL 1338, 1988
Side One:
1. Alla L’aa Ke (7′14)
2. Jarabi (5′04)
3. Kaira (8′08)
Side Two:
1. Konkoba (10′26)
2. Tubaka (9′28)
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GEORGIA KELLY “SEAPEACE: MUSIC FOR HARP”
This is in some way a companion to the above, but musically it’s a universe away. The record is credited to Heru Productions, which was a Topanga Canyon label Georgia started with this her 1978 debut. Even before I listened to the record or knew anything about Georgia, the title, cover art, and song names were a dead give away for the proto-new age vibes contained herein. I discovered that after making this recording, Georgia went full bore into the krystalline heart of the New Age healing nexus, and later founded the Praxis Peace Institute in Sonoma in 2001. To be sure music has healing properties, delivering both physical and emotional impact. But the problem with overdoing a good thing is — much like the downside to the New Age movement’s co-opting of ‘healing music’ — too much mainline too fast and you puke. This record was probably made not long after Georgia’s departure from her classical musical training, and is a really gorgeous workout of solo harp, dipping from time to time in various world music influences. During the first couple listens I expected the nausea to take hold, but the music kept delivering, sneaking in tastefully structured compositional threads and a confident playing style. Georgia is more than just a healer, she’s a gifted musician with avante-garde sensibilities — just be sure and stick it out for the last track “Chinese Sunrise” which shows off both Georgia’s chops, and her compositional flex! Additional support by a guy named Tony Selvage on violin for the title track.
Heru Productions, 1978
Side One:
1. Nilapadmam (Blue Lotus) (11′00)
2. Seapeace (9′08)
Side Two:
1. Aeolian Temple Music (7′54)
2. Chinese Sunrise (11′29)
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DEUTER “NIRVANA ROAD”
The thin black diagonal line that cuts through the cover of this record might be the same one that seperates New Age cheese from the sometimes well-crafted musicianship that shows up within the genre. That said, Deuter deserves our praise as a prolific songster and self-taught explorer of music and its spiritual place in our lives. This record, perhaps not the pinnacle for Chyaitanya Hari Deuter’s 50+ solo outings, finds our man incorporating tabla, harp, flute, acoustic guitar, synth, field recordings, hammered dulcimer (santur?), bongo’s, and plenty of chimes to create a canvas that’s both musically pleasing and spiritually transcendent. In spite of the New Age categorization Deuter often falls into, there is maturity and well crafted restraint in his work that fortunately never quite betrays its Krautrock origins. Those familiar with the joyful sunny-meadow flair of his earlier recordings will find a similar sensibility here, just with some ARP-ish choral stuff (a tiny bit), more compositional strategizing, and a continued and increasing mastery of various instruments into his one-man repertoire (a couple folks actually contribute on the record, one credited as Renu on harp, and the other Sebastiano on tabla). Shimmery.
Kuckuck 068, 1984
Side One:
1. Starway (3′10)
2. Connemara (5′52)
3. Pacifica (5′21)
4. The Low Road (3′55)
5. The High Road (5′18)
Side Two:
1. Cathedral (2′50)
2. Meadows and Mystics (3′18)
3. Echo of the East (3′28)
4. Caravan (5′02)
5. Alpine Shadow (3′49)
6. Nirvana Road (5′35)
“RAM NARAYAN EN CONCERT: PARIS, SALLE GAVEAU, NOVEMBRE 1978, BOMBAY, NCPA, JUIN 1979″
This is heavy stuff, requiring an immersive and concentrated state of mind to take in all its subtle and persistent beauty. If I could, I would find a soft spot under a really old tree during a warm summer windless evening overlooking a valley where the sun sets on one end and the moon rises on the other, and play this record really loud. This is an hour and one half + of recordings of two performances from the late 1970’s, yielding deeply intense variations on three rags and one misra, or poetry cycle. The sarangi, prior to Ram Narayan’s officially elevating its status in the late 1950’s, wasn’t even considered an instrument suited to individual solo performance, but rather, only as accompaniment for singers and dancers. Ram was given a sarangi to play at age six, and his father, also a musician, taught him some unconventional techniques which Ram capitalized on to develop his unique playing style, delivering nuanced solo interpretations of classical songs forever changing the landscape of Indian classical music. The music speaks for itself, but I will say that the deceptively simple sounds and delicate builds throughout the ragas on this record are deeply felt, and provide the listener an opportunity to hear a man at the peak of his form who has devoted his entire life to a singular focus; channeling the great tradition with revolutionary technique and profound ability.
Ocora, 558624/25 HM 52 x2, 1989
Face I:
1. Rag Purya-Kalyan, 1st Part (27′15)
Face II:
1. Rag Purya-Kalyan, 2nd Part (28′55)
Face III:
1. Misra Piloo (22′15)
Face IV:
Rag Shankara (21′53)
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“HIGH ATMOSPHERE: BALLADS AND BANJO TUNES FROM VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA, COLLECTED BY JOHN COHEN IN NOVEMBER OF 1965″
This 1974 Rounder Records release (complete with photo booklet) is one of my favorite LP’s (and is available on CD from the Rounder folks with additional tracks not found on the vinyl). Aside from the killer title (which has it’s origins in an anecdote delivered by the gifted Wade Ward on the first side of the album), these songs are another glorious slice of the American vernacular musical tradition, and are about as deeply rooted as any I have heard. The performances are raw and unpolished, definitely not meant for the studio. As far as I can tell, beyond Wade Ward, none of the folks who appear on the recording are known (in a popular sense), and the general feel is one of intimacy and personality. 
This is the real Appalachian deal from deep within the hills of West Virginia and North Carolina. These are people and the music that carried meaning from generation to generation, songs central to every day life and the traditions that bound people together. Unadulterated by commercial interests, these amazing performances resonate in profound, yet simple and heartfelt ways both musically and lyrically. From the first bite to the last morsel, you won’t want to leave a scrap behind. 
From the outer jacket notes: “This collection was recorded in Virginia and North Carolina in November 1965, and was neither intended to be released, nor to be a record ‘concept’. It was meant as the field work in a long range project to document traditional ways of tuning the five string banjo. Based on lists compiled by Stuart Jamieson, Woody Wachtel and myself, we had developed reports of 61 different tunings, yet have only been able to substantiate 39 of them with recorded performances by traditional artists. This search for tunings served as an entree with old time mountain banjo players; as the strings got changed a rush of old melodies fell into place and memories were recollected beyond the comprehension of deliberate consciousness.”
Rounder Records 0028, 1974
Side One:
1. Remember Me and Do Pray For Me (Lloyd Chandler, Sodom, NC) (1′29)
2. Ramblin’ Hobo (Gaither Carlton, Deep Gap, NC) (1′44)
3. Apple Blossom (Gaither Carlton, Deep Gap, NC) (’50)
4. Pretty Crowing Chicken (Frank Profitt, Vilas, NC) (3′45)
5. Forkey Deer (Sidna Myers, Hillsville, VA) (2′03)
6. Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down (Frank Profitt, Vilas, NC) (1′52)
7. Cumberland Gap (George Landers, Marshall, NC) (2′04)
8. Rolling Mills Are Burning Down (George Landers, Marshall, NC) (3′06)
9. Half Shaved/High Atmosphere (Wade Ward, Independence, VA) (2′31)
10. Shady Grove (Wade Ward, Independence, VA) (1′22)
11. Twin Sisters (Sidna Myers, Hillsville, VA) (’57)
12. Fortune (Fred Cockerham, Low Gap, NC) (1′42)
Side Two:
1. Barker’s Creek (George Landers, Marshall, NC) (2′49)
2. Young Emily (Dellie Norton, Sodom, NC) (2′05)
3. Early, Early in the Spring (Dellie Norton, Sodom, NC) (2′04)
4. Warfare (E.C. Ball, Rugby, VA) (3′20)
5. A Conversation With Death (Lloyd Chandler, Sodom, NC) (4′11)
6. I Wish My Baby Was Born (Dillard Chandler, Andy Cove, NC) (1′02)
7. Old Jimmy Sutton (Wade Reedy and E.C. Ball, Rugby, VA) (1′44)
8. Alabama Girls (Sidna Myers, Hillsville, VA) (1′31)
9. Home Sweet Home (Geoge Landers, Marshall, NC) (2′04)
10. Cumberland Gap (Frank Profitt, Vilas, NC) (1′29)
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