MAY 09′
VASANT RAI “SPRING FLOWERS”
Buds are blooming so it’s time for another Indian classical/western music hybrid-affair, this time from one iteration of a short-lived collective assembled under Vasant Rai, who would release another record for Vanguard with similar personnel called “Autumn Song” in 1978. Mr. Rai, heavily pedigreed in a lineage of masters, also released a couple standalone records for Vanguard that featured his sarod playing. Although the compositions here are all Rai’s, this is definitely a team sport, featuring some bad-ass 70’s jazz-fusion hitters, primarily multi-instrumentalist Collin Walcott and violinist Jerry Goodman (credited on tracks 1, 3, 5 & 6 - a stalwart of the John McLaughlin/Mahavishnu Orchestra sessions). Things world/jazz fusion can be problematic, but sometimes it’s a pleasing affair, as on this record, with its satisfying combination of instrumentals dusted in traditional Indian music vibes. The second track “Distant Village” makes it all worth the price, and in the end its a lovely sounding record, with improvisational hints that never come off as too polished or refined, providing an ingenuous delicacy at a time when this sort of thing was becoming reeaally macho and overworked. Vasant Rai, sarod, acoustic guitar, flute, tambura; Collin Walcott, tabla, congas, percussion, sitar, electric bass; Glen Moore, piano, bass; Paul McCandless, oboe, French horn; Dilip Naik, electric guitar; Jerry Goodman, violin.
Vanguard VSD 79379, 1976
Side One:
1. Smile of Goddess Sarasvati (4′38)
2. Distant Village (5′20)
3. Spring Wind (5′57)
4. Guitarist from Unjha (4′35)
Side Two:
1. Saptak (6′54)
2. Leaving Home (4′32)
3. Midnight Meditation (6′53)
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“BALACHANDER, MAN FROM MADRAS: PLAYS THREE SONGS BY SAINT THYAGARAJA”
If you took a look at this groovy cover and its intimate photo and thought to yourself ‘this is probably some really amazing musical expression well worth my time’, you’d be right. In fact, these fundamentally fast-paced conduits to the universe are totally riveting, and should run anyone who favors Indian classical and devotional music smack dab into the rounded belly of Vedic salvation. Dedicated to the 18th c. musician/composer Saint Thyagaraja (more interpretations of the saint can be heard at the September page on the Ramnad Krishnan record), these peices are interpreted by S. Balachander on the veena, who, like the countless other Indian classical virtuoso’s we hear on recordings like this (how many roam India un-recorded for the West?!?), delivers jaw dropping performances accompanied by mridangam, ghatam, and tambura. This record really does provide, and should be a constant in any music stable of Indian classical indulgence. From the liner notes:
“The year 1967 was designated as the official Bi-Centenary of Thyagaraja’s birth and was celebrated all over India, North and South. Special concerts and radio programs, lectures and symposiums honored the Saint, while most of the great South Indian Music Festivals devoted their entire program to Thyagaraja’s music. Since some of these Festivals lasted two weeks, with music from dawn to midnite (and even later), it is easy to imagine the enourmous musical legacy left by Thyagaraja. It is generally acknowledged that he composed thousands of songs, and while many still remain, most have been lost, probably to be unearthed by scholars. Even as this recording was being taped, 26 old manuscripts were discovered and these newly revealed songs were perfomred during January, 1968, at the great Thyagaraja Festival in Thiruvayaru, a small village where Thyagaraja lived and worked. Approximately a thousand songs have been translated into English, almost 600 in one book alone.”
World Pacific Records, WPS-21457, 1968
Side One:
1. “Sangeetha Gnaanamu” Raagam Dhanyaasi Aadhi Taalam (4′34)
2. “Vinaraadhaa Naa Manavi” Raagam Devagaandhaari Aadhi Taalam (16′59)
Side Two:
1. “Gnaana Mosaga Raadha” Raagam Poorvikalyani Roopakam Taalam (21′36)
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CHARLAMBIDES “HISTORIC 6TH WARD”
Recorded between 10/91 - 2/94 and originally released by the folks at Wholly Other, this was a lovely edition of 500 re-issued by Time-Lag in 2003. The sessions featured Jason Bill on electric guitar, voice, bass, flute, percussion, and incidental noises, Christina Carter on acoustic and electric guitar, chord organ, bass, and sampling delay and voice, and Tom Carter on electric guitar, casio, shortwave, voice, banjo, harmonica, flute, and percussion. This is early inspired stuff by the prolific intuitive rockers who continue to delight us with soulful creativity and purpose. From the liner notes:
“Over 10 years have passed since I sat down with a $50 rack reverb & a borrowed Gibson SG & recorded the earliest of these tracks (”Can You Count the Stars”, later overdubbed with Christina’s vocals), possessed by the mysterious drive to record without objective (born of boredom, desire, what else I don’t know; seemingly remote in these days of consciously unconscious endeavor). Though Charlambides didn’t exist yet, this was the spirit in which we conceived ourselves–aimless in the best sense, & guided only by intuition, existing free of the twin shackles of “direction” & “expectation” that would soon be tripping up my other band, the Mike Gunn… Thanks to Nemo for suggesting the reissue, & helping us overcome our objections & restore the record.” — Tom Carter.
Time-Lag 003, 436/500, 2003
Side One:
1. My Little Bessie
2. Of March
3. Can You Count the Stars
4. Magnus
5. Take My Hand and Lead Me
Side Two:
1. Gypsy Woman
2. High in My Head
3. Waking Up
4. The Light
5. Now the Day Is Over
Side Three:
1. Wine
2. Cheap
3. Hail To The Brightness
4. First in My Shoes
5. Pieta
Side Four:
1. Samar
2. Splitting
3. Words Onto the Sky
4. What Do I Do Now
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ROEDELIUS “LUSTWANDEL”
Full of lilting charm and the unmatched loveliness that only our man Roedelius can muster from a keyboard, this recording is another favorite that hits home right where the heart lives. If implicit silence is an instrument, then it should be credited here, as the record maintains a discreet spaciousness, providing the listener ample breathing room in between the intimate notes and chordal expressions. When Roedelius is at his best, as on this record, his music is like a great film that coats you with its ineradicable impression — or like that foreign place you’ll never forget, images lingering in a blurry concoction of physical sensation and emotion. All music on the album was composed by Roedelius with the exception of “Wilkommen”, which was composed by Roedelius and Will Roper. It was released by Sky Records in 1981 and has been reissued on CD by Sky Records in Germany in 1992, and by the Gyroscope label in the United States in 1996 - Oop at present time.
Best. Nr. sky 058, 1981
Side One:
1. Lustwandel (3′49)
2. Legende (2′10)
3. Ansinnen (1′04)
4. Betrachtung (2′12)
5. Draussen Vorbel (4′16)
6. Harlekin (1′05)
7. Von Ferne Her (3′28)
Side Two:
1. Vom Fliegen (3′24)
2. Wilkommen (1′56)
3. Pirouette (1′33)
4. Dein Antlitz (4′07)
5. Langer Atem (7′15)
6. Die Andere Blume (1′13)
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SANDY BULL “THE ESSENTIAL SANDY BULL”
This re-issue record has been re-re-issued as “Reinventions - The Best of the Vanguard Years”, and is currently available on CD, but in a form that leaves out about 25 minutes of the original re-issue. The double record here was part of the ‘Vanguard twofers’ series released in 1974, that culled highlights from Sandy’s three early Vanguard releases “E Pluribus Unum”, “Inventions”, and “Fantasias”. If your familiar with those, then you know that the personnel included the great Billy Higgins on percussion, adding a solid rhythmic backbone to Bull’s workouts (the two collaborated on both “Inventions” and “Fantasias”). This record is offered here for those who have yet to grab all the Bull Vanguard records (all available in CD format), providing a healthy-sized dose of that catalogue. Definitely a lion in the mix of neo-folk revivalists of the mid 60’s and early 70’s, Bull fits right into the canon alongside Fahey, Basho, Walker, et. al. Although his was a less complex improvisational sensibility to the aforementioned, it was his curiosity and early hybrid experimentations (beginning in the late 50’s) with world instruments and sounds that remains the more integral part of his legacy. With so much in the ethnic folk-mix during the 60’s and 70’s, and a lack of any real music history on my part, it’s difficult to say who was influencing who, but I think Bull was one of the first to push non-traditional musical styles with traditional instruments and vice versa.
Vanguard Records, VSD-59/60, 1974
Side 1:
1. Blend (21′51)
Side 2:
1. Carmina Burana Fantasy (4′33)
2. Manha De Carnival (With Billy Higgins), (12′57)
3. Little Maggie (4′09)
Side 3:
1. Memphis, Tennessee (With Billy Higgins), (9′46)
2. Carnival Jump (9′00)
3. Sweet Baby Jumper (2′51)
Side 4:
1. Gavotte No. 2 From Cello Suite No. 5 (With Billy HIggins), (1′50)
2. Electric Blend (21′44)
“INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS: BANJO, FIDDLE, GUITAR, DULCIMER AND HARMONICA”
By now anyone following this site should recognize a soft spot for folk-Americana, especially early field recordings that feature traditional styles. This LP from Tradition Records (which existed from 1955 to 1961, founded and funded by Diane Hamilton, featured recordings by, among others, John Jacob Niles, who posthumously rose to fame after the Dylan documentary “No Direction Home”), although short on farm animal, children, or dog sounds, is an amazingly clean (fidelity) set of recordings taken in the field by folk singer Paul Clayton, Liam Clancy, and Diane Hamilton in 1956. This record pre-dates the field recording projects that sprang up shortly after the neo-folk revival by nearly ten years, arguably serving as inspiration for the movement:
“Clayton issued these pieces on an album that became among the most influential recordings of the folk era, “Instrumental Music from the Southern Appalachians” on Tradition Records. Etta’s renditions of One-Dime Blues and Railroad Bill became standards at the height of the folk music revival in New England. Taj Mahal a student at UMASS in the early 60s first heard this LP in a college dorm: “I was immediately taken by her version of Railroad Bill. She is the greatest influence in my guitar playing.” Etta had numerous offers to perform but did not go because, “My husband could play piano real well, we could have made it, but he did not want to leave home.” Paul Clayton had a cabin outside of Charlottesville, VA, and he would bring his musician friends down from the New York folk scene to visit Etta. Paul, a friend to Bob Dylan brought Bob and Susie Rotolo to visit Etta in 1962 to celebrate Bob’s 21st birthday. Bob soon after rewrote Clayton’s song Whose Going to Buy You Ribbons, When I’m Gone into Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright, in which you can clearly hear Etta’s guitar influence.”
Performers on the record included Mr. Hobart Smith (Brother of Texas Gladden, and the only performer on the record who had been previously recorded), Mrs. Edd Presnell, Mr. Richard Chase, Mr. Lacey Phillips, the aforementioned legend Mrs. Etta Baker and Mr. Boone Reid (Etta’s Father):
“Etta was first recorded in the summer of 1956 when she and her father happened across folk singer Paul Clayton while visiting Cone Mansion in North Carolina, near their home in Morganton, NC. Baker’s father asked Clayton to listen to his daughter play her signature “One Dime Blues”. Clayton was impressed, and arrived at the Baker house with his tape recorder the next day, recording several songs (four of which appear on this record).”
All anecdote aside, this collection of songs provides coveted in-situ variations on the unique form of music that served as a cornerstone of communities for hundreds of years. Where the record falls short is trying to offer a requisite take on the “Appalachian” sound, but it makes up for it with the quality and refinement of local interpretations of worn in the heel classics (think 150 some-odd years). Available in the compact disc format.
Tradition Records, TLP 1007, 1956
Side One:
1. Cripple Creek (Hobart Smith - fiddle), (1′47)
2. Pateroller Song (Hobart Smith - fiddle), (1′41)
3. One Dime Blues (Etta Baker - guitar), (2′58)
4. Sourwood Mountain (Boone Reid - 5-string banjo), (1′48)
5. Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad (Etta Baker - guitar), (1′22)
6. Amazing Grace (Mrs. Edd Presnell - dulcimer), (1′42)
7. The Girl I Left Behind Me (Richard Chase - harmonica), (1′23)
8. Marching Jaybird (Lacey Phillips - 5-string bajo), (1′18)
9. John Brown’s Dream (Hobart Smith - fiddle), (1′30)
10. Sally Goodin (Mrs. Edd Presnell - dulcimer), (1′00)
Side Two:
1. Railroad Bill (Etta Baker - guitar) (2′37)
2. Soldier’s Joy (Lacey Phillips - 5-string banjo), (1′57)
3. Molly Brooks (Richard Chase - harmonica), (1′19)
4. Pretty Polly (Hobart Smith - fiddle), (1′26)
5. Johnson Boys (Boone Reid - 5-string banjo), (1′28)
6. John Henry (Etta Baker - guitar), (2′38)
7. Drunken Hiccups (Hobart Smith - fiddle), (1′08)
8. Shady Grove (Mrs. Edd Presnell - dulcimer), (1′06)
9. Bully Of The Town (Etta Baker - guitar), (2′56)
10. Skip To My Lou (Richard Chase - harmonica), (1′06)
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