Issue 27 02/2004
FolkWorld CD Reviews
Calvin Vollrath "New Fiddle Classics"
Label: Own Label CVCD103 18 tracks, 51 minutes
Calvin Vollrath - not a name that trips off the tongue, at least not in the
UK. But it should be: this Canadian fiddler has thirty albums to his name, mostly
his own compositions. New Fiddle Classics is a collection of eighteen tunes,
each with a track to itself, providing over fifty minutes of the finest Alberta
fiddling. Calvin is something of an icon in Canadian fiddle circles, appearing
frequently at fiddle camps and on national TV, and his annual CD launch parties
are becoming an institution. Most of the tunes here are named after fiddlers.
Like their namesakes, the styles range all across Canada: Quebec, Ontario, BC
and elsewhere. Calvin sticks to the more old-time sound, straying as far as
country and swing, but generally staying clear of the Celtic sounds we're familiar
with from Atlantic Canada. Two notable exceptions here are tunes written to
commemorate Calvin's tour of Shetland: Gulberwick March and Compliments to Willie
Hunter. The former combines Shetland swagger with Western Swing, and the latter
is a soaring jig worthy of the late great Shetland fiddler and composer.
Highlights abound on this CD. The Denis Brisson Reel is a wonderfully sparky
tune in the classic French Canadian style with a spot of clogging. Swingin'
on a Sklar is an urbane little number somewhere between Vassar Clements and
Mark O'Connor, named by Gail Schonhoffer of Saskatchewan. Turkey in the Raw
is a new old-time classic, pure fiddle fantasy and another shucking corny name.
Michel Mallette Reel brings us back to classic Canada with growly depths and
sweet syncopation, a fitting end to a very fine album.
While all these melodies stand on their own merits, the backing deserves a mention.
It's discreet but distinctive, pressing all the right buttons and providing
enough variety to guarantee that Calvin's music never loses its edge. It probably
helps that Calvin plays the guitars, mandolin, bass and spoons himself, and
even does his own clogging stunts. Trent Bruner plays piano, sometimes airy,
sometimes solid, always reliable: the vamping on Leo's Ready to Step is all
this jaunty tune needs, but a lighter touch is evident on the aptly named Swinging
Bridge.
Make no mistake: these are catchy little numbers, and some may well become classics
in time. Calvin's composing talent is rich and varied, with a gift for melodies
that stick in your head. There's plenty of good stuff here for fiddle fans of
most flavours, and there's lots more available from www.calvinvollrath.com
which serves as Calvin's shop front. This man has avoided all distribution deals
until now, but thankfully the Internet has brought him to the attention of audiences
outside Canada.
Alex Monaghan
Kathleen Loughnane "Harping On"
Label: Own Label 12 tracks, 46 minutes
Kathleen Loughnane is a harpist from Tipperary living in Galway. This is her
second solo album. She's joined by her colleagues Mary Bergin, Martina Goggin
and Dearbhaill Standún from the group Dordán, as well as numerous musicians
from all over Ireland. In fact there isn't actually a solo track in the dozen
here, but Kathleen's harp holds it all together and makes it very much her album.
The range of material is immense, from a Handel Chaconne through pieces by Carolan
and Ruarí Dall, to reels by Martin Mulhaire and Tommy Peoples. Kathleen carries
them all of with aplomb. There are also several of her own compositions, notably
a majestic suite for the University of Galway.
In just under 46 minutes, Harping On combines a dozen instruments and as many
musical forms. Kathleen kicks off with a couple of jigs, one of her own and
a big version of Queen of the Rushes, with Brian McGrath on keyboards. Then
there's an interesting pairing of the hornpipe Queen of the West, beloved of
Joe Burke, and the Carolan air Eleanor Plunkett. Sharon Shannon joins in for
a couple of waltzes, with Alec Finn on guitar, then Alec switches to bouzouki
for Carolan's Loftus Jones, and that Chaconne is joined by Kathleen's own slip-jig
The Sandhopper with Sharon Shannon again.
The only song on this CD is Bean Dubh an Ghleanna, sung by Séamus Begley in
his warm relaxed style. Then it's back to the tunes with Efterkalken from Sweden
and the hornpipe Ben Hill where Kathleen is joined by her children on box and
whistle. Sean Ryan takes over the whistling for a superb version of Danny Boy,
a couple of well-known jigs bring us to another poignant lament, and The Three
Sea Captains is followed by a pair of reels with great piping from young Cormac
Cannon. To top it all off, there's that seven-minute suite with the full Dordán
line-up plus Jimmy Higgins on trumpet.
Harping On is an excellent sampler of Irish harp music, and a highly varied
and entertaining album. Well worth a listen, but maybe not readily available
outside Ireland: email reiskmore@tinet.ie
or drop Kathleen a note at 8 St Mary's Terrace, Taylor's Hill, Galway.
Alex Monaghan
Lyn Geddes "Early Lately"
Label: Grapefruit Sounds: No cat number; 2003.
This is a debut album from a singer/songwriter who lives in Yorkshire, England.
And if I had to choose one adjective to describe it, I would choose the word
"worthy".
Although she is a songwriter, only one of her songs ends up here: the others
are all from the Tradition (of the British Isles). And mostly "extremely well-known
Traditional", at that. And there I think, lies the problem.
The songs are so well-known that unless one is new to Traditional Folk, they
are songs one can sing in one's sleep. And she does a very good job on them
all. Superb diction, pleasant voice, very competent guitar accompaniment of
herself… one cannot fault it. But she adds nothing NEW to the songs (indeed,
perhaps how CAN she? Hasn't every possible nuance been explored over the years?),
and she'd perhaps be better advised looking for less-well-known traditional
songs next time.
Homepage of the artist: www.lyngeddes.com,
contact to artist tel. +44 1765 601447
Dai Woosnam
Dave Gibb "Speed of the Plough"
Label: Pom Records; POMCD03; 2003; Playing
time: 54 mins, 33 secs
Dave Gibb is based in South West Scotland. Gibb is not exactly a newcomer to
the Folk Scene, but I had never heard him sing (before this CD arrived on my
desk). That said however, I'd heard something of this guy's reputation, even
down here in Lincolnshire England. He'd been a winner of the Danny Award at
Celtic Connections, and created a few waves North of the Border. So I placed
the CD into my player with some optimism.
Was that optimism justified? On balance, I think yes. This is his third album,
and covers an impressive range of subjects. But with his eclectic choices of
song subjects we have the usual problem: he uses his liner notes for his lyrics,
when they should be for his THOUGHTS. We do not need the lyrics setting down:
his diction is PERFECT. What would be great would be knowing WHY he chose the
subjects he did. Plus, some of the songs are mysterious in that they do not
yield up anything even approaching "instant meanings".
One song that is very clear is the final track "Empire". Now the jury may be
out on whether ever Dave makes it as a songwriter, but one thing for sure is
he will have trouble hacking it as a historian. Somebody ought to tell him that
it was us dreadful Brits who were the first country to abolish slavery, not
the last (as you'd suspect from the agitprop anti-Empire approach of the lyric).
But I like lots of things about the CD. First, his voice. Imagine Neil Young
and Robin Williamson joined not at the hip, but at the vocal chords: there you
exactly have Dave Gibb's delivery. A nice persuasive guitar player to boot.
I also like his John Betjeman-like way of throwing in proprietary names into
his verses (e.g. "Embassy Regal") and his willingness to coin adjectives like
"pissified". But against that, I have to say that whilst the songs are all well
crafted and tuneful enough, none of them knocked me for six. I cannot honestly
see them getting wide circulation through covers from other artistes on the
Circuit.
Take a song like "Princess Mitzy". Drunken life seen from the gutter. A human
and an animal interact. It has its moments: but the plain fact is that it is
a variation on an old theme, and that splendid old song that ended with the
line "the pig got up and slowly walked away" said it much better and more pithily.
A song that used to be de rigueur in the Folk clubs incidentally.
But come to think of it, there is one song that does blow me away. It is the
one song he did not write: I refer to Rabbie Burns's "Green Grow The Rashes".
He delivers it superbly.
And this makes me think that for his next album I would like to see the ratio
reversed: instead of eleven originals and one cover, one original and eleven
fine songs from other writers...long dead if necessary (if saving on royalties
is what it is all about!)
Homepage of the artist: www.davegibb.co.uk,
contact to artist: isobelgibb@hotmail.com
Dai Woosnam
Bob Fox "Borrowed Moments"
Label: Topic
Records; TSCD544; 2003; Playing time: 58 mins, 55 secs
Gosh, this is going to be a tough review to write. Why? Wasn't there much in
this CD to delight the listener? Of course there was. But it is just that my
favourite album in 2002 was Bob's "Dreams Never Leave You", and that was always
going to be a hard act to follow.
And the fact that this album doesn't reach those dizzy heights is perhaps only
to be expected. When you start with the CD dynamite, it is only the rarest artiste
that can follow with the TNT. And Bob does not quite pull it off.
But that said, it's an above-average album with a generous playing time of close
to one hour, and both Fox and his accompanying musicians are on fine form. I
know it is invidious, but I wish to pick one artiste out from a talented ensemble:
Anna Ryder.
Or should I perhaps say "annA rydeR"? That is how the CD notes spell her name.
(Dear Anna, you are too talented to need gimmicks, leave such things for some
nonentity of the Pop World who was perhaps the artiste formerly known as Prince-ESS.
You should let your fingers do the talking.)
And CAN they talk! Anna's piano accordion is on top form throughout: I particularly
loved her touch of the Flaco Jiminez in "Child of Mine".
That the album cannot scale the heights of "Dreams Never Leave You" just MUST
be down to the choice of material. Oh, for sure, there are no DUDS here, but
it does take to track 5 to warm up. There we have a version of "Dance to your
Daddy" that is up there with Owen Brannigan's or Alex Glasgow's. A fine " Shoals
of Herring" and an even finer version of Vin Garbutt's "She Waits and Weeps"
follow. And tracks 8-11 are also solid songs given a fine treatment.
Good stuff. But there is nothing here that knocked me for six as on that previous
album where he delivered an inspired song I'd never heard before (Jimmy Nail's
"Big River") and sublimely prefaced it with that perennial favourite "The Waters
of Tyne": a more divine juxtapositioning of two songs would be hard to find.
But maybe he can scale those heights again next time out.
Contact to label: promo@glassceilingpr.com
Dai Woosnam
Gary Tipping "Gary Tipping"
Label: No Label: 2002
Now, this is the strangest of affairs. Talk about déjà vu?! I had to pinch myself
to be sure I wasn't dreaming.
Along comes a privately produced CD called "Gary Tipping", copyright 2002. I
was about to send it back to our esteemed editors with a note that they must
have had two copies, as they had already sent it to me about a year ago, and
I had reviewed it a couple of editions back. Then my eye fell on a letter from
Gary Tipping to Michael and Christian, accompanying the CD. Apparently he had
been pleased with my review - he felt that I had clearly LISTENED to his CD
- and he wondered if they would again send the CD to me for review
. I was puzzled for a moment. And then the penny dropped. Although it was the
same CD cover photo and title, this was indeed a follow-up album! On closer
inspection, there was a clue. His name was now in blue type instead of green.
So I set out to review it. And, despite my best efforts to make him happy, I
am not altogether sure that he will put the kettle on for me, should I ever
visit him at his home in Southsea, on the South Coast of England!
Now, let me first say that I thank him for his kind words. Of COURSE, I listen:
I think it is a duty that all reviewers owe their subject. But, that said, I
know where he is coming from: a reviewer much more famous than me once said
that he seldom read the book he was about to review…on the grounds that it "prejudiced
one's thinking so"!
Now, having played this album three times all the way through, the question
is not whether I have listened to IT, but whether Gary has listened to ME. (No
reason of course why he SHOULD, but seeing as he had specifically asked for
me to review it, I thought perhaps he might have acted on my recommendations
in my earlier review.)
I regret to say that generally speaking my words seem to have fallen on deaf
ears. Let me quote chapter and verse…and the best way to do so is to directly
quote from my earlier review.
I mentioned that "he gives us no track-timings: this is a big error if he wants
his album to get any radio plays". Guess what? He gives no timings again. Gary:
I have a spare stop-watch: would you like it for your birthday?
But more importantly, I ended by saying "the tone of his singing voice never
varies. True, it is perfectly pleasant, but he would never TALK this way. Instead
he would emphasise words and put light and shade into his conversation. So on
your next album Gary, please worry less about tone and texture, and more about
MEANING. Let us get the impression that you FEEL what you sing".
And guess what? Again, the tone and texture are EVERYTHING on this album. To
be honest, at first I thought I would SWEAR that these songs were discarded
offcuts from the first album, such is the similarity of delivery to that previous
CD. But then I knocked that idea on the head, since these songs seem slightly
stronger than the first batch.
So if IS a later production, can the artiste PLEASE not insult his potential
audience by coming out with the same album cover and title? Even an unoriginal
title such as "Gary Tipping 2" , would have been a step in the right direction.
Oh, and I nearly forgot! The SONGS. If you want decently crafted songs that
make sense, and a voice that is very pleasant, Gary is your man. Be warned though:
the fact is that NONE of the songs are likely to live in the memory.
Contact to artist: garytipping@realsurfing.net,
Tel.+44 7905 349840.
Dai Woosnam, Grimsby, England.
Plethyn "goreuon"
Label: Sain;
SCD2375; 2003
Plethyn have long been one of the glories of Wales. This trio performed in public
for the last time some 5 years ago, after having been going strong since the
late Seventies. They had built a massive reputation in their native country,
especially amongst their Welsh-speaking compatriots.
Then, in 2003, after the five year absence, they returned to the recording studio
to produce this "best of" collection. Eleven of the 18 tracks were specially
re-recorded for the album.
This album makes few concessions to the 79% of Welshman who are not able to
converse in the "Language of Heaven": it is proudly and unashamedly in the Welsh
language. And very fine it is.
This brother, sister and close friend had a GLORIOUS sound. I always think of
them as Britain's "Peter, Paul & Mary". Indeed, whilst Britain have had great
"three MEN" folk groups like CBS and The McCalmans, I am hard pressed to think
of a really fine MIXED British trio singing in the English language. I often
wish that Plethyn had given equal emphasis to both languages of Wales: that
way they would now be a household name outside Wales too.
Still, one should be thankful for their marvellous output in their Mother Tongue.
Gorgeous harmonies, strong songs, fine self accompaniment (augmented by some
tasty work from well known local musicians), this makes for an album that is
a candidate for my Top 5 of the year.
Add to that some interesting, and typically impishly provocative liner notes
from Sain Records' boss (and Plaid Cymru President) Dafydd Iwan. I love the
way he refuses to curry favour with those potential CD buyers who perhaps see
themselves as British first, and Welsh second. Listen to this, from his note
on the song "Yn dewach na dwr".
" …During the Malvinas conflict in 1982 …a conflict between British Imperialists
and Argentinian Fascists…" Forget the second bit: doesn't the choice of the
name MALVINAS over "Falklands" speak volumes?
And in signing off, that last word helps provide my final thought: do not be
afraid to play this album with the volume control turned fully up. None of the
neighbours could possibly consider such passionate harmonic voices to be anything
other than LIFE-ENHANCING.
Contact to label: catalog@sain.wales.com
Dai Woosnam
Andy White "Boy 40"
Label: ALT Recordings; 2003
I regret to say that this album impressed me less than I had hoped. Why exactly?
True, Andy White has a decent enough voice, but his self-penned songs are bland,
and border on the anonymous. And the production has an equally bland quality:
one that brought to mind the albums of another Andy, Andrew Gold, the "great
white hope" of the late 1970s.
I wish Andy would take the following on board: it is no shame to be an INTERPETER
of (other people's) songs. And if "royalties" is the problem, well, there is
a whole myriad of songs out there filed under "Traditional": their writers have
been sleeping in country churchyards for 200 years, and, Andy, you won't have
to pay them a cent!
One nice aspect to the album though is track 6: "The Fortune Teller's Right".
It is a multimedia track and was filmed in Byron Bay, NSW, Australia. Now, how
much my appreciation of this track was due to the fact that I have personally
visited Byron Bay lighthouse (the most easterly point on the Australian mainland),
I don't know. But whatever my motivation, I salute him for this creative idea.
More folk artists should follow him.
Homepage of the artist: www.andywhite.com,
contact to artist/label: altrecordings@hotmail.com
Dai Woosnam
Jan Ekedahl "Dubbelgangarn"
Label: Sjelvar
Records; SJECD16; 2003; Playing time: 42 mins, 59 secs
I was unfamiliar with the work of Jan Ekedahl, and having heard this album,
am forced to conclude that this was MY loss. This CD consisting of exclusively
INSTRUMENTAL guitar tunes, impresses from start to finish.
This guy is a pioneer of folk guitar styles in Sweden. In 1982, he was one of
the founders of the Swedish folk group "Gunnfjauns Kapell. And his vast experience
shows in this impressively catholic variety of arrangements for the acoustic
guitar.
He has composed the melodies himself: and tuneful they are. He is joined for
duets on three tracks by Mats Bergstrom. Six of the tunes are re-workings of
tracks from his previous album "Gitarrfamiljen" (1985), and the rest are new
tunes.
If you like acoustic guitar instrumentals, played in an assured manner, then
this is an album right up your street.
Contact to label: sjelvar@sjelvar.com
Dai Woosnam
Jarek Adamow "Songs of the medieval Polish
bards"
Label: Global
Village; 821; 2003; Playing time: 34.14 min
Jarek adamov is a Polish musician and former member of the Polish band Sie gra
quartet. He recorded a debut cd in 2000 which made him win the Polish record
of the year award. Now he just released his second solo cd "Songs of the Polish
medieval bards". The songs presented on this cd are old ballads which have been
performed throughout Poland by wandering bards. Jarek collected a few ballads
and tunes which he recorded with Hurdy-gurdy, clarinet, whistles and percussion.
Jarek keeps his music very sober which is the strength of this cd. It starts
with a tune with only the drone of a hurdy gurdy and a slow tune played on clarinet.
Already in this first track he creates a dark, mystic atmosphere which continues
for the rest of the cd. Also his ballads are very intense, Podolanka, for example,
is almost hypnotising. Jarek sings this ballad like a prayer with the hurdy-gurdy
playing a different melody. I cant help it, it forces to listen over and over
again. This were only the first two songs but it keeps on being fantastic music
until the last tone. I love the way he uses the hurdy-gurdy in a very simple
but 100% effective way. Within nine songs he shows several sides of Polish ancient
music which were until now completely unknown to me. I can only recommend this
album as it, in my opinion, is one of the best cd's of 2003 I've heard so far.
Eelco Schilder
Loukia Agapiou "Die dursichtige Seele"
Label: Extraplatte;
549-2; 2003
Loukia Agapiou is a young Greek singer who brought together a collection of
15 Greek ballads. Only accompanied on guitar by Antonis Vounelakos the cd caught
Agapiou at her best. Her powerful voice brings each of the ballads alive. Although
the booklet says she sings Greek ballads I have to tell you that this is not
true. She also sings for example the fado song "Cancao do mar" and the Nino
Rota song "Canzone Arabbiata". The funny thing is that this cd shows
that these songs have the same atmosphere, the same passion although they come
from different countries. I think Loukia showed with this cd she is a great
singer who is able to put the passion and beauty of South-Europe into her music.
Eelco Schilder
Trio bravo "Menschen am Sonntag"
Label: Ozella; 005; 2003; Playing time: 57.00
min
Trio bravo started in 1995 with violinist Mark Chaet and Contrabass player Sergej
Sweschinskij as the leading musicians. Their early repertoire was the east-European
traditional music. But in time the group developed their own sound and style.
Since 2002 the trio bravo has two new musicians. From Bulgaria comes pianist
Svetoslav Karparov and from Poland the percussionist Adam Tomaszewski. The group
doesn't play traditional music anymore but a crossover between jazz, classical
music and world music. It has fragments of tango and blues and an overall atmosphere
of the music that is known from the film-music from the first part of the 20th
century. The musicians are masters on their instruments and the atmosphere on
the cd is like the title, it gives rest on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
Eelco Schilder
Todd Menton "Where will you land"
Label: New
folk records; 6952; 2003; Playing time: 54.24 min
Todd Menton is the former front man of Boiled in Lead. He just released his
new solo cd "Where will you land" which contains an impressive blend of six
traditional and six own compositions. This is not just the ordinary singer-songwriter
stuff. Todd adds many extra's to his music which makes this album real interesting.
Already the opening polka gives an idea of what Todd is offering us. He plays
with sounds, traditional tunes and rhythms. Same for the famous tune Princess
royal played on electric guitar and a washboard only this is the most innovated
version of this tune I've ever heard. Al the songs are of strong quality. His
solid voice fits perfect to both the ballads as well to the more rock influenced
songs. This "Where will you land" is a recommendation to everybody who enjoys
both original and new interpretation of the modern folkmusic.
Eelco Schilder
Darren Crossey "Coming home"
Label: new
folk records; 6492; 2003; Playing time: 46.19 min
Darren Cossey is an Irish musician who just released his debut cd called Coming
home. Darren recorded twelve nice songs from traditional ballads to the
Ewan MacColl song The lags song and the Kris Kristofferson song Me
and Bobby Magee, once made famous by Janis Joplin. Besides himself singing
and playing guitar he gets help from John Wright on bass and guitar, Sean Conway
on whistles, Mike Wallace on bodhran and Todd Menton on mandolin. The cd has
a strong start with the song Ireland. The flute, subtle mandolin and
his nice voice make this a good way to start an album. He reaches the same high
level of music in songs like The lags song and Farrewell green valleys.
But to my opinion the cd does have a few weak points as well. Somehow the vocals
in for example Galtee mountain boy don't fit the music. It's like the
vocals and the instruments were recorded separately from each other. Also on
a few occasions I get the feeling Darren forces his voice into a singing style
that is not naturally his. This happens especially in the faster songs, in ballads
he is at his best. The Me and Bobby Magee song is probably the weakest
link on the whole album. A totally boring version without any fantasy or passion.
A nice debut from a talented musician with a some beautiful moments but unfortunately
also with some missed chances.
Eelco Schilder
Helsinki mandoliners "Helsinki Mandoliners"
Label: Kansanmusiiki-instituutti;
86; 2003
The Helsinki mandoliners consist out of four of Finland's best musicians. Petri
Hakala, Arto Jarvela, Olli Varis and Tapani Varis played together with several
Finnish musicians, for example all four of them played with Maria Kalaniemi.
This cd contains 13 strong tunes on mandolin mostly composed by Jarvela with
a blend of blues, jazz and a touch of traditional music. It's impressive the
way the four musicians manage to keep my attention during the whole record,
often records with only one kind of instruments are getting boring at the end
but not this one. They search for new possibilities on their instruments and
give each tune a new sound. It's technically at a very high level without getting
to academically. Not interesting for those who search for the popular modern
Finnish folk sound. This cd is more for those people who like to see what's
behind the popular music, what is the possibility of the mandolin at his own.
That's what this cd shows us.
Eelco Schilder
Lydie Auvray "Tango toujours"
Label: westpark;
87099; 2003; Playing time: 45.11 min
Lydie Auvray already plays the accordion for many years. She recorded several
lp's and cd's and I think that about now she has played all possible music styles.
Her latest cd is one with only tango tunes which she composed herself. I like
the tango very much but since the wedding of our prince with a girl from Argentina
we Dutch have heard so many tango. I enjoy many of them, especially the once
who are able to play the tango with the passion, emotion and fire it originally
has. I can really cry when I hear a musician play the tango who understands
what tango is. Auvray also makes me cry but not because of emotion. She makes
me cry out of horror about the way she presents middle of the road tunes with
a Tango accent as "today's tango. Without any fantasy, any passion she takes
the safe side of music. Probably many people will love her commercial exploration
of the tango. For me personally this album is far from what I think is tango
music with a passion.
Eelco Schilder
Son dos y arean "Manana mi amor"
Label: Extraplatte;
560; 2003
Strange group this Son dos y arean. The three musicians , Milagros Pinera-Ibaceta
on guitar, percussion and vocals, Jose Arean on bass guitar and Daisy Jopling
on violin and vocals, mix Cuban passion with Irish music. The cd starts with
a nice ballad called sentimiento followed by the Irish traditional Farewell
to Ireland and the Robert Bullock tune turning of the season. It might sound
like a strange combination but somehow it works. Maybe because of the central
role the violin plays in the music. Because this is an important element in
almost each part of this cd, this makes the different styles of music fit together.
It's not just folk music the groups plays, it has influences out of the jazz,
latin and classical music. It has an overall very easy sound without being middle
of the road music. The combination of subtle rhythms, careful vocals and great
violin bring the atmosphere of beautiful warm night which gives the feeling
that life isn't so bad after all.
Eelco Schilder
Naftule's dream "Live in Florence"
Label: innova;
572; 2002; Playing time: 51.51 min
Naftul's dream is a group that since seven years brings music inspired by Jewish
culture in a innovating way. With clarinet, trombone, accordion, electric guitar,
tuba and drums they play jazz music which has a big touch of klezmer music.
Often played in such a free jazz style that it's hard to find the cultural influence,
but often suddenly a melody is recognised, or at least sounds familiar. I have
to be honest and tell you that I think I'm to inexperienced to understand this
music. Being a fan of Jewish music, the way this group brings the music is to
free for my ears. I get stuck in the web of sounds, change of rhythms etc. I
hear that this is a group of very good musician, that this cd is a high quality
product but not my style. This doesn't say anything about the quality, as I
wrote before I hear the quality in the music and I think this cd will be highly
appreciated by lovers of experimental jazz.
Eelco Schilder
Frank Baier "portrait"
Label: Pläne;
8887; 2003; Playing time: 75.71 min
A document of time, this reissue on cd of the Frank Baier songs. Pläne
comes with a cd which contains his solo lp auf der schwarzen liste from
1980 and his lp with Walter Westrupp Dat muss doch auch wat spasschen bringen
from 1976. Baier is a political singer who also collected many labour songs
which he published in the book Arbeiterlieder aus dem Ruhrgebiet Labour
songs from the Ruhr-area His style varies between singer-songwriter in the American
style to typical seventies German folk with a light psycho touch. I prefer his
songs with Westrupp because they have a more innovating sound, better variety
of instruments and styles. I think this cd is interesting for people who also
understand the German language so they can understand the lyrics. For those
people this is a great chance to get a collection of songs from an almost legendary
musician which probably has inspired people in the seventies/eighties. For them
this cd must be a gift from heaven. For people who do not understand the German
language, I think this is less interesting or you must have a high interest
in German History.
Eelco Schilder
More English CD Reviews: Page 1 - Page
2 - Page 3 - Page 5 -
Page 6
More German CD Reviews: Page 1 - Page
2
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