tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63959098223240460482024-03-12T21:38:28.988-06:00Wrath of the GrapevineWell-Aged MusicThe Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.comBlogger278125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-60237654273346891192013-12-19T12:09:00.003-07:002013-12-19T12:09:46.089-07:00New Favorite Blog - Stack o' SidesOk folks, so I don't get much time on the internet these days, what with living off-grid and all. But I just discovered that one of my favorite musicians, Kit "Stymee" Stovepipe, has started a blog and begun offering up his collection of old jug band 78s for download. It has quickly become my favorite place on the internet. Check out <a href="http://stackosides.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Stack O' Sides</a>!<br />
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<img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmia47TwMjvVhstpznvoYDo-cFqC8Dhd7VNSYIefGh6cL8gp_ZFeluQ18O9i3iDNuhdc4p39iW6i9pQb3ixNmLZmrGxwRhElU341ipa-eIhicvPpcenhOLfJDgX_JIeZ9g3v8ixXYj2I/s640/wolf+blog+banner+flat.jpg" width="640" /><a href="http://stackosides.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://stackosides.blogspot.com/</a></div>
<br />The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-19248114371821590602013-06-05T00:45:00.002-06:002013-06-05T00:55:35.524-06:00The Great Cascadian Jug Band Revival<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hi Folks,<br />
It's been a year since my last post. I'm not dead, just busy in the real world. Busy making music!<br />
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As you may know, I love the shit out of jug band music. I was born and bred on the stuff. And there have been so many bad jug bands because folks see a washboard or a washtub bass and think to themselves "hey, I could do that", that it's sometimes hard to find the good ones, or believe that it didn't die off decades ago. But dear listeners, let me make you aware of one thing:<br />
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<h3>
Jug band music is not dead.</h3>
Jug band music is not only alive and well, it is stomping along mightily and has numerous glorious bastard children. If you are not aware of this, it may be because you are not living in Cascadia, also known as the pacific northwest, the new epicenter of this music, after New Orleans. You also may not know about it because true to their street-performing ancestors, most of these bands have a scarce presence on the internet. They're too busy rattlin' the dimes out of people's pockets and shakin' the geebies out of people's pants to bother with streamlined websites and self-indulgent twitterisms.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBu0DHXUPvnBryCcqdCjdfBwg8s59Y6y7_YvWPNbrpQIgXF01li4LyfY2UjMoKaFHYo-VCBhGNDvVI0vuS9yb68RIr1q-Z7vTiYCp8lTbp2nAMKNRu6u2XUv5p4QTjenaH2KSc5r7zIc/s1600/baby+gramps.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKBu0DHXUPvnBryCcqdCjdfBwg8s59Y6y7_YvWPNbrpQIgXF01li4LyfY2UjMoKaFHYo-VCBhGNDvVI0vuS9yb68RIr1q-Z7vTiYCp8lTbp2nAMKNRu6u2XUv5p4QTjenaH2KSc5r7zIc/s320/baby+gramps.jpg" width="213" /></a>But in the span of two weeks there have been 3 great gatherings of kitchenophonic music.<br />
The first and oldest of these is Seattle's <a href="http://www.nwfolklife.org/festival/" target="_blank">Northwest Folklife Festival</a>. While it embraces all manner of folk music, including world music of many varieties, on every corner of sidewalk you can find folks busking, and it seems to be a beacon for street performers from all over the country. They gather to busk at the nation's biggest free music festival, and make sure that any high-falutin' folk snobs are brought back down home with some toe-tappin tunes.<br />
This year also featured the first annual <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CascadiaRagTimeRendezvousJugBandJubilee" target="_blank">Cascadia Ragtime Rendezvous Jug Band Jubilee in Portland</a>, OR. Boasting 26 bands, it was surely one of the best gatherings of its kind. I wish I could have gone, but instead I went to the preview event, a gathering of six bands in an old speak-easy and naughty-film-screening-secret-theater. Most of these bands are described below:<br />
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<h3>
Baby Gramps</h3>
The old king of hokum and amalgamation of all things "old weird america" is <a href="http://www.babygramps.com/" target="_blank">Baby Gramps</a>. He is Harry Smith's anthology of American Folk Music compressed into a single person. He has been at times the single champion of the bizarre, with his wild ragtime-rockabilly, throat-singing, mad-talking-foot-stomping, hokum falokum idiosyncratic palindromatic amusing musical musings. He was old before it was cool. And will be old after it's cool too. He has inspired countless others to cast off their chains of sex-appeal and charm and invite the demons of strangeness and syncopation to become their new spirit guides. Check out <a href="http://www.babygramps.com/" target="_blank">his website</a>.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY2uGDnadM1AKVjNLxfZtc1ojDURwXxRfSuyNWNINtMbG9rIAJQSZMBhY59fO9yA_pCM1UuOBvedsBSumMOpxV9oUpbRDG0fz6LRWPtVc-eOyZ02jw04V8OLaVunpRMYl6-emOluv8XBc/s1600/crow+quill+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY2uGDnadM1AKVjNLxfZtc1ojDURwXxRfSuyNWNINtMbG9rIAJQSZMBhY59fO9yA_pCM1UuOBvedsBSumMOpxV9oUpbRDG0fz6LRWPtVc-eOyZ02jw04V8OLaVunpRMYl6-emOluv8XBc/s320/crow+quill+1.jpg" width="228" /></a>The Crow Quill Night Owls</h3>
Among those who was taken aback and then taken aforwards by Gramps was a young Kit "Stymee" Stovepipe. He has since locked himself in numerous metaphorical and probably literal closets with nothing but a gramophone, some old jug band records, and an instrument. By so-doing, he's mastered the resonator guitar, washboard, harmonica, and blows a mean jug besides. Syncopation pervades his entire being. Upon emergence from his musical cocoon, he started two fantastically good jug bands. The first, The <a href="http://www.peacenotprofit.org/inkwell/" target="_blank">Inkwell Rhythm Makers</a>, in Eugene, OR, was probably the best thing to come along in jug band world since the Cheap Suit Serenaders. The second, <a href="http://thecrowquillnightowls.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">The Crow Quill Night Owls</a>, is the best thing since the Inkwell Rhythm Makers. They're probably the best jug band in the world, at once fully classic and traditional-sounding, and also unique and fresh. In the Crow Quill Night Owls, Kit Stovepipe is joined by Windy City Alex on tenor banjo and kazoo, and Baylin Adaheer on washtub bass and kazoo. When Maria Muldaur wanted to make a jug band album a couple years ago, she thought it would be impossible because no one is playing that music anymore. Then she discovered the Crow Quill Night Owls, and took 'em on board to record the <a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/garden-of-joy-mw0000827854" target="_blank">only Jug Band album ever nominated for a grammy</a>. Check out their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Crow-Quill-Night-Owls/156042757747804" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="http://thecrowquillnightowls.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a> sites. They just came out with <a href="http://thecrowquillnightowls.bandcamp.com/album/wrap-your-troubles-in-dreams" target="_blank">a new album</a>, a week ago. I bought it the first night it was on sale.<br />
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<h3>
The Gallus Brothers</h3>
Joining Maria Muldaur on her album (and tour, and subsequent kids album), are <a href="http://gallusbrothers.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Gallus Brothers</a>, who also fill out the Crow Quill Night Owls quite often (making the band an unstoppable 5-piece to be reckoned with). The Gallus Brothers have two things that turn heads immediately when they start playing: suspenders and circus tricks! Well, that may have been what first drew folks to the band 10 years ago, but it's the impeccably great fingerpicking guitar of Devin Champlin and the ohmygodwhatthehellisthatthing irresistably infectious suitcase percussion kit of Lucas Hicks that keep folks comin back to boogie until they fall over and get the boogie cramps. Trust me, once you hear the combination of suitcase, low-hat, bones, spoons, washboard, and things that rattle and ding, you will understand why I don't hesitate to call Lucas the most inventive percussionist this side of Moondog. And somehow, though he's the only one doing what he does, it sounds as if all these old good time country blues songs were written with his playing implicit in their rhythm. And whatever the style of the song, Devin plays it perfectly, with just the right bit of bounce to keep your toes attentive.<br />
Check out their <a href="http://thegallusbrothers.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">bandcamp</a> and <a href="http://gallusbrothers.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">website</a>.<br />
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<h3>
Sour Mash Hug Band</h3>
And there are a few contemporary bands for whom jug band music is just one of many influences. These are some of the best indefinable bands out there, fully of roots and original vigor too. Jug band music takes a turn to the east with the <a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/sourmashhugband" target="_blank">Sour Mash Hug Band</a> and their beguiling combination of vaudeville, klezmer, gypsy swing, and some good olefashioned trombone, accordion, and banjolele downhome new orleans shakers. They're like the 1934 world's fair condensed into a band. Curtains, please! They're running a <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/822959079/the-sour-mash-hug-band-is-releasing-a-new-album?ref=live" target="_blank">Kickstarter campaign</a> right now to raise the funds to press their next album. Really. RIGHT NOW. They've got about 24 hours left to meet their goal. Go <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/822959079/the-sour-mash-hug-band-is-releasing-a-new-album?ref=live" target="_blank">check it out</a>!<br />
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<h3>
Hot Damn Scandal</h3>
And lastly, there is the band that's been primarily responsible for my absence from the blogging world.<br />
While I can't pretend to be unbiased about <a href="http://hotdamnscandal.com/" target="_blank">Hot Damn Scandal</a>, I can say that even if I weren't personally involved in the band, I would still drink up the music like hot chili whiskey and dance my earballs off at all their shows. Imagine a post-apocalyptic jug band with Tom Waits on lead vocals, Django Reinhardt on slide guitar, and Mississippi John Hurt standing behind the musicians on-stage, beaming his sly, self-contented smile at those young folks who took his way of pickin' and brought it so many different places. If those three legendary musicians had a child together, and it dropped out of school, thumbed a ride across the country and ended up in New Orleans, it might sound something like Hot Damn Scandal. The repertoire of songs consists of everything from outlaw ballads to dirty jazz, gypsy blues, circus freakouts, ragtime sea shanties, string band funk, lonesome heart breakers, and the occasional tender love song. The singing sounds like a street singer who took one lesson from Paul Robeson, another from Tom Waits, and a third from the bottom of the bottle of life. The music sticks in your head like dirty bubble gum on your soul, and shakes the hips of even the devout seatbound folks, but there are just enough moments of unexpected tuneful dissonance and dueling syncopated solos to keep even the most diehard avant-jazz-head coming back for more.<br />
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As Scott Casey put it,<br />
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“Hot Damn scandal performs music that seems to be carved out of the broken heart of the American dream… you feel like you have heard these songs all your life. These are your favorite boots, your lucky hat, your Saturday night shirt, Your old dog that disappeared after the rain”</blockquote>
Hot Damn Scandal is doing <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scandal/hot-damn-scandals-new-album" target="_blank">a Kickstarter campaign</a> right now to raise the funds to press their upcoming album. If they make it to their ultimate goal, they'll release it on vinyl. How cool would that be, guys & gals? <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scandal/hot-damn-scandals-new-album" target="_blank">Check it out</a>. Really! There's only one week left to make the goal.<br />
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And if you happen to live in or want to visit Northwest Washington in August, you can catch most of these folks and more at the <a href="http://stringbandjamboree.com/" target="_blank">Subdued Stringband Jamboree</a>, one of my favorite little festivals.The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-4185469167319568732013-01-24T21:39:00.000-07:002018-01-24T21:42:39.616-07:00The Pipering of Willie Clancy Vol.2<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dMejtmYIfm-_4QRXJqP3QFDK8vDI019200hso7ee0eGM1hQLtlvoj8v18GHX1fJGfZ3n6O8NXfF6nSJlkl1d9lrMJQNy2oZIp8V0un4sxyvz0CyriJ2aDQw6BwTc3vd-WWBcJSomPY4a/s1600-h/Clancy_1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186046302590550194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dMejtmYIfm-_4QRXJqP3QFDK8vDI019200hso7ee0eGM1hQLtlvoj8v18GHX1fJGfZ3n6O8NXfF6nSJlkl1d9lrMJQNy2oZIp8V0un4sxyvz0CyriJ2aDQw6BwTc3vd-WWBcJSomPY4a/s400/Clancy_1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
Willie Clancy: 1918-1973<br />
Willie Clancy was an iconic figure in the revival of the uillinn pipes and traditional music from the 1960s onwards. His father Gilbert played flute and concertina and had known and listened to legendary blind travelling Clare piper Garrett Barry. Willie played his first tin whistle at five years. He was also influenced by his grandmother, who had a keen ear for music. Like his good friend Junior Crehan, he was also influenced by the west Clare style of fiddler Scully Casey from nearby Annagh.<br />
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"Willie Clancy possessed amazing talents -whistle player, flute player, singer , storyteller, philosopher and wit. He was particularly known for his mastery of that most complex of wind instruments - the Uilleann Pipes.<br />
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Born on Christmas Eve, 1918, Willie grew up in an atmosphere of music, singing and storytelling. Both his parents, Ellen and Gilbert, sang and played instruments. Willie started playing the whistle at the age of five. He was greatly influenced by his grandmother, by his father and by Garrett Barry, the legendary blind piper from Inagh. Garrett Barry died in the workhouse in Ennistymon at the close of the nineteenth century. His piping style was passed on to Willie by his father Gilbert. Willie was aware that Garrett Barry possessed a heritage of music unique to himself. The music of Garrett Barry is known and cherished today because of Willies determination to pass on this treasure. (See image below.)<br />
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Willie was seventeen years old when he encountered the great travelling piper, Johnny Doran. By the early Forties Willie had mastered the basic piping techniques and in 1947 he won first prize at the Oireachtas competition.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieNWdGoLLUOwBvbXykmjAtkScOM5iOBRwIqgup3ZppMB2e1w3Zp-h_J9GEjWYYhYt91rVUZTiYkgvx2okuAt26b3OB7B1hY0gcNOppwAeasc-whUvoZBt5Vq7xeoEzhcD7N2o03esoV1l9/s1600-h/willieclancy.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186046968310481090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieNWdGoLLUOwBvbXykmjAtkScOM5iOBRwIqgup3ZppMB2e1w3Zp-h_J9GEjWYYhYt91rVUZTiYkgvx2okuAt26b3OB7B1hY0gcNOppwAeasc-whUvoZBt5Vq7xeoEzhcD7N2o03esoV1l9/s200/willieclancy.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px;" /></a>Unfortunately, he could not make a living from his music and he was forced to emigrate to London, where he worked as a carpenter. While there, he continued with his music and made contact with other notable players, including Seamus Ennis. With the death of his father in 1957, he returned to Miltown Malbay and married Doirin Healy. He developed a highly distinctive and individual style of piping. From 1957 until 1972 the Summer music sessions in the West Clare town became widely renowned, with Willie Clancy as one of the main attractions. Pipe-making, reed-making and all things connected with the instrument were explored and advanced by the Clancy influence. He gave many performances on both radio and television as well as live sessions in his local area.<br />
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His sudden death in January 1973 at the age of fifty-five was widely mourned among friends and musicians alike. He is buried in Ballard Cemetary just outside the town of Miltown Malbay.<br />
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As a tribute to this extraordinary man and gifted musician, it was decided to set up an annual Summer music school in Willies home town. The school quickly established a name for good music and high standards in tuition, a fitting tribute to a fine musician." -- <span style="font-style: italic;">from <a href="http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/clancy.htm">County Clare Library</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7WuWM8q10h678jVUU1xcppcYgL_Ejr1cIs0u4yNLT0vIgKqbPd24apu0NewAXl7FoISs3udP3pZYiihf4OMBQk8Fx7F4rE7ubWRDAkCtkW7lP5FnlYdWb49UYs2TueQj0sXnUzosYo8rB/s1600-h/WillieClancyCover.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186036243777142946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7WuWM8q10h678jVUU1xcppcYgL_Ejr1cIs0u4yNLT0vIgKqbPd24apu0NewAXl7FoISs3udP3pZYiihf4OMBQk8Fx7F4rE7ubWRDAkCtkW7lP5FnlYdWb49UYs2TueQj0sXnUzosYo8rB/s320/WillieClancyCover.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>Willie Clancy - The Pipering of Willie Clancy Vol.2<br />
Year: 1958-73 (recorded); 1994 (released)<br />
Label: CladdaghThe Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-12173810171840948132012-12-20T21:41:00.000-07:002018-01-24T21:42:14.760-07:00Happy Solstice & Abbots Bromley Horn Dance<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXVuT0cdWPDF8YWSau98MAdKnBh2Hq8wLwSvT7NOFp4v_7Hf9AiN1hIn23GvPbC8RIVWxufOK9I6YSLrEZBGl2_WHQpTuvycESivPfjHkLE0N1Zb2oCj21BaMWkNqLM-ecTgfOUv7IguY/s1600/wintersolstice-7253571.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552977552740944818" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXVuT0cdWPDF8YWSau98MAdKnBh2Hq8wLwSvT7NOFp4v_7Hf9AiN1hIn23GvPbC8RIVWxufOK9I6YSLrEZBGl2_WHQpTuvycESivPfjHkLE0N1Zb2oCj21BaMWkNqLM-ecTgfOUv7IguY/s400/wintersolstice-7253571.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 300px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a><br />
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<b>On Darkness:</b><br />
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The child is born in the darkness of the womb; the chicken hatched after incubation. Birth begins in darkness, as dawn follows the long night, and spring springs from winter. We must not interrupt the incubation period within us, or force it to bear fruit before its time. To pull a seed out of the earth before it sprouts, to open a chrysalis before the emerging butterfly forms its wings may prevent new life from awakening.</div>
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- <i>Torrey Philemon</i></div>
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"You darkness, that I come from,</div>
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I love you more than all the fires</div>
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that fence in the world,</div>
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for the fire makes</div>
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a circle of light for everyone,</div>
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and then no one outside learns of you.</div>
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But the darkness pulls in everything;</div>
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shapes and fires, animals and myself,</div>
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how easily it gathers them!—</div>
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powers and people—</div>
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and it is possible a great energy</div>
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is moving near me.</div>
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I have faith in nights."</div>
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<i>- Rainer Maria Rilke, On Darkness</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCMW_xgdzFKlv_EPqULoMJERF0H-DB18GyWljYrVRZ3RQXV4x-rolU5FG8dRdno0-8HhPFmx-IPENyTZXfBmTXf-CaHY093BeVfeg9T2HAuU2ciAHbXVqsPJ_ChM-cu5yieP9dNt9bmiY/s1600/jbr-disc02.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552992698701617874" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCMW_xgdzFKlv_EPqULoMJERF0H-DB18GyWljYrVRZ3RQXV4x-rolU5FG8dRdno0-8HhPFmx-IPENyTZXfBmTXf-CaHY093BeVfeg9T2HAuU2ciAHbXVqsPJ_ChM-cu5yieP9dNt9bmiY/s320/jbr-disc02.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></div>
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<b>Out of darkness, light: Solstice and the lunar eclipse</b></div>
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by Starhawk, 10-20-2010</div>
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Winter Solstice--the shortest day and longest night of the year. For Pagans, Wiccans and Goddess worshippers, this is one of our most sacred holidays. As winter closes in, the darkness grows and the light recedes. For Pagans, darkness is the necessary balance to light. We don't conceive of the dark as evil, but as a place of potential, of gestation--the black, fertile soil where the seed puts forth roots and shoots, the dark womb where new life is nurtured. But being humans, we also have a natural affinity for the light, the time of growth and new beginnings, of warmth and color and bright new hopes. Solstice reminds us that no darkness, no loss, no grief or disappointment is final. Out of darkness, light is born. Every ending gives rise to a new beginning. Out of disappointment and despair comes new courage, new hope.</div>
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This year, Solstice coincides with a total lunar eclipse. The last time this happened was in 1544. The earth aligns directly with the sun and the moon, casting a shadow on the moon's face. The moon is a Super Moon, at its closest to the earth. And, so my astrologer friends tell me, we are also directly aligned with our Milky Way's Galactic Center, where the galaxy gives birth to stars. We are in a great birth canal, on the night when mythically Mother Night gives birth to the Sun Child of the New Year.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgORtMxHysThjygpURGChrK0aNSTO-ha9N5rPYuF5x34R2v5FLenwk-vPt5mraIQnPnYjI4DfeJtG_PYnt7HLAaIWUoLac9yZX2sGqDflAwZtaWYCWTsCAIHtUML3imn0d6qU6d0khIeqw/s1600/2280475389_e8e6bb099b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552993902581819074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgORtMxHysThjygpURGChrK0aNSTO-ha9N5rPYuF5x34R2v5FLenwk-vPt5mraIQnPnYjI4DfeJtG_PYnt7HLAaIWUoLac9yZX2sGqDflAwZtaWYCWTsCAIHtUML3imn0d6qU6d0khIeqw/s200/2280475389_e8e6bb099b.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 150px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a></div>
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What does this all mean? For those of you who like to align your meditations and your magic with the movements of the stars, we stand tonight between the past and the future. For the first hour and a quarter of the eclipse, (starting at 1:30 am East Coast Standard Time), it's as if we step out of time. We are free of the past, and we can consciously create the future, for ourselves, for our communities, for the earth.</div>
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It's a night to take a good look at what you want to shed. What are the behaviors, the beliefs, the patterns that no longer serve? Let them go. Make the commitment to change.</div>
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And it's a night to envision the future you want to create. What world do we want to see? How will we step up to face the huge challenges of healing our communities, our economies, our climate and our environment? What risks will we need to take? What will we need to let go of, and what will we need to embrace?</div>
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And hey, even if you think all astrology is bunkum, take a moment tonight to go out, to marvel at the moon with the mark of the earth written across her face, to let go of what you no longer need and call in what you want. And if you can do this with friends, and family, in community, with good food and a warm fire and a few candles, and raise a cup of gratitude for all we have and all we share, you may find that the courage, the support, the power, the love and luck you need for this New Year are born in the depths of the night, and awaken at dawn with the rising sun.</div>
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A blessed solstice to you all!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrCiX0aBu_kW7RgPOgsS9wMazbwUqThIaXZWCoHAEJ0VLpWsVtm44Z5homltl2mtQ4TP5ZyhpwFqaBNKTlJ8CQVAiBgXV2-ZhGrQPhUfs3WtH83_dGd7Gn5wgox96jg7YZKKLfD294zFI/s1600/lunar-eclipse3.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552977940582819698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrCiX0aBu_kW7RgPOgsS9wMazbwUqThIaXZWCoHAEJ0VLpWsVtm44Z5homltl2mtQ4TP5ZyhpwFqaBNKTlJ8CQVAiBgXV2-ZhGrQPhUfs3WtH83_dGd7Gn5wgox96jg7YZKKLfD294zFI/s400/lunar-eclipse3.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 291px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a></div>
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And with that in mind I'd like to share with you this special mysterious ancient solstice tradition that was still being performed the last time there was a full-eclipse on a winter solstice, some hundreds of years ago. I'd like to specially dedicate this post to Joski at <a href="http://www.blogger.com/merlinsnewrags.wordpress.com">Merlin's New Rags</a> and Gadaya at the <a href="http://oldweirdamerica.wordpress.com/">Old Weird America</a>, for their superb scholarly posts and special collections of different versions of ancient folk tunes.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color: rgb(0 , 0 , 238);"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552977554667380386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO9K2ddYUsPJ1_GTHJ02KlOLvBHwmAcBgaw5HDg-uCBpIdztJoltLANQMzQV_4Fyi-Fuk_OwJExapBD1LoGMI7K-ehO8bJKlUj10t02usVO2ooaKnl51nimheMzKcyhAa3sT3lZkXjgl4/s400/Abbots_Bromley_Horn_Dance_c1900_Stone+sepia.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 297px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></span></div>
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"Besides for solace of our people, and allurement of the savages, we were provided of Musike in good variety not omitting the least toyes, as Morris dancers, Hobby horses, and Maylike conceits to delight the Savage people, whom we intended to winne by all faire means possible."</div>
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The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpY1Y4B4GEKu-4lDKGfCrtU1GKgm08AiR3Wc9nB8dwn-gx2I20qXkX5orrWu_ak-KnnjuM7ahEJgj3k-gB4b1p6d9PFUwU6NjwnVEw5-xlpNW0nPnKeaYsqNe8acNnmqu82zZL717uCOM/s1600/11533-0+sepia.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552980730252577218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpY1Y4B4GEKu-4lDKGfCrtU1GKgm08AiR3Wc9nB8dwn-gx2I20qXkX5orrWu_ak-KnnjuM7ahEJgj3k-gB4b1p6d9PFUwU6NjwnVEw5-xlpNW0nPnKeaYsqNe8acNnmqu82zZL717uCOM/s200/11533-0+sepia.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 155px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO9K2ddYUsPJ1_GTHJ02KlOLvBHwmAcBgaw5HDg-uCBpIdztJoltLANQMzQV_4Fyi-Fuk_OwJExapBD1LoGMI7K-ehO8bJKlUj10t02usVO2ooaKnl51nimheMzKcyhAa3sT3lZkXjgl4/s1600/Abbots_Bromley_Horn_Dance_c1900_Stone+sepia.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXVuT0cdWPDF8YWSau98MAdKnBh2Hq8wLwSvT7NOFp4v_7Hf9AiN1hIn23GvPbC8RIVWxufOK9I6YSLrEZBGl2_WHQpTuvycESivPfjHkLE0N1Zb2oCj21BaMWkNqLM-ecTgfOUv7IguY/s1600/wintersolstice-7253571.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXVuT0cdWPDF8YWSau98MAdKnBh2Hq8wLwSvT7NOFp4v_7Hf9AiN1hIn23GvPbC8RIVWxufOK9I6YSLrEZBGl2_WHQpTuvycESivPfjHkLE0N1Zb2oCj21BaMWkNqLM-ecTgfOUv7IguY/s1600/wintersolstice-7253571.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnmF7sf5CDRtG2OEVtCUfUJ8V758vGiV2L68KckpXKBBYZY6iJ0o3EoQb5fe2R-ihxNZuZfck4KGbBkjG6jT5JhOwlGaOdfGuEALMSAuBA9nTNb9ej8lg2y95B5DJwcLC2YDXMTYRLow/s1600/11518-0+sepia.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnmF7sf5CDRtG2OEVtCUfUJ8V758vGiV2L68KckpXKBBYZY6iJ0o3EoQb5fe2R-ihxNZuZfck4KGbBkjG6jT5JhOwlGaOdfGuEALMSAuBA9nTNb9ej8lg2y95B5DJwcLC2YDXMTYRLow/s1600/11518-0+sepia.jpg"></a><br />
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The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is the oldest surviving ritual dance in the northern hemisphere. The dance dates back at least to the early medieval period. The first written record of its performance is from the Barthelmy fair in 1226. Historians have suggested that it celebrates the purchase of hunting rights in Needwood Forest from the Abbot of Bromley, restoring previous Saxon privileges. It is performed every year on Wakes Monday in the village of Abbots Bromley, in the English Midlands. At 8:00 a.m. the horns are taken from the church, where they are kept during the year, and the dancers make their rounds, stopping at various locations throughout the village and its surrounding farms and pubs, a distance of about ten miles. After dancing all day, the horns are returned to the church in the evening.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpY1Y4B4GEKu-4lDKGfCrtU1GKgm08AiR3Wc9nB8dwn-gx2I20qXkX5orrWu_ak-KnnjuM7ahEJgj3k-gB4b1p6d9PFUwU6NjwnVEw5-xlpNW0nPnKeaYsqNe8acNnmqu82zZL717uCOM/s1600/11533-0+sepia.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnmF7sf5CDRtG2OEVtCUfUJ8V758vGiV2L68KckpXKBBYZY6iJ0o3EoQb5fe2R-ihxNZuZfck4KGbBkjG6jT5JhOwlGaOdfGuEALMSAuBA9nTNb9ej8lg2y95B5DJwcLC2YDXMTYRLow/s1600/11518-0+sepia.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552981588983795938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYnmF7sf5CDRtG2OEVtCUfUJ8V758vGiV2L68KckpXKBBYZY6iJ0o3EoQb5fe2R-ihxNZuZfck4KGbBkjG6jT5JhOwlGaOdfGuEALMSAuBA9nTNb9ej8lg2y95B5DJwcLC2YDXMTYRLow/s200/11518-0+sepia.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 155px;" /></a><br />
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The Horn Dance team consists of six Deer-men, a Fool, a Hobby Horse, Maid Marion (a man dressed as a woman), a Bowman (Robin Hood or Boy Cupid), and two musicians. The horns are a mystery. They are large reindeer horns mounted on wooden effigies of stags' heads, with the largest pair weighing about 25 pounds. Chemical dating places them at around 1000 years old. Since there are no records of reindeer living in Britain since Neolithic times, there is speculation that these may have been imported especially for the dance. Three of them are painted black, and three brown. Once they were red and white, said to represent the battle between winter and spring, darkness and light.</div>
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<<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGiEkWdCJFMHocqjiTlRRoHIVF2KSijrlP1ff8eByc9UYN3HROw4qmcXQeuL6_gh40TRTfMVIlCVjXCLR01q8YKwsxB5ZQOchRjfdZm8PSWQ9ndVxE-p2U0xf0VOjWwBis1883u9kI-k/s1600/399px-Abbots_Bromley_original_hobby_horse.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552992137946323506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzGiEkWdCJFMHocqjiTlRRoHIVF2KSijrlP1ff8eByc9UYN3HROw4qmcXQeuL6_gh40TRTfMVIlCVjXCLR01q8YKwsxB5ZQOchRjfdZm8PSWQ9ndVxE-p2U0xf0VOjWwBis1883u9kI-k/s200/399px-Abbots_Bromley_original_hobby_horse.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 133px;" /></a><br />
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Does the dance represent a ritual combat between the forces of light and darkness? Or does it reenact a stylized hunt? In primitive societies, the miming of a successful hunt is often used as 'sympathetic magic' to give power over real quarry. The famous wall paintings at Les Trois Frères, France, known as "The Sorcerer" show a naked man dancing in antlers and a deer mask. A carving found at Pin Hole Cave, Creswell Crags, Derbyshire, (known to have been used by Neolithic hunters) portrays a man in an animal headdress. Both suggest that pre-historic shaman used animal disguises in their rituals.</div>
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According to the locals, the dance is supposed to bring good fortune to the people and fertility to the crops. In its slow and serpentine windings, is it stirring some ritual magic from a long-forgotten past? There is no way of knowing, and that is part of the enigma of the horn dance.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTsq-Hg_q5gpmu7uJWT7OnX9RmRgwpQyWiLb8p_bVu2kfF228ycy3lZjHikHYUn31GU6v6Id3SCa_PZxRDKxvjpa3c_xSu663RtZ0YF8hHkKnwSHdj80SDkKGMBEQrqWc1yr456Atk0Kk/s1600/horn1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552981588345275922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTsq-Hg_q5gpmu7uJWT7OnX9RmRgwpQyWiLb8p_bVu2kfF228ycy3lZjHikHYUn31GU6v6Id3SCa_PZxRDKxvjpa3c_xSu663RtZ0YF8hHkKnwSHdj80SDkKGMBEQrqWc1yr456Atk0Kk/s200/horn1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 149px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 0px; width: 200px;" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5k0zZRCbK3k8pqAlauKHfjUUy8BOfcUzCwkHD2fbaASl2lBt5Nme4epz21BuD85jNCjlImzbpe290GYuco79zHM9p0mVmrjVGdsysg497kPsHqJ7Iz4mVrVEhKHw_GURPskhSyS8Xd8/s1600/AbbotsColor.gif"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5k0zZRCbK3k8pqAlauKHfjUUy8BOfcUzCwkHD2fbaASl2lBt5Nme4epz21BuD85jNCjlImzbpe290GYuco79zHM9p0mVmrjVGdsysg497kPsHqJ7Iz4mVrVEhKHw_GURPskhSyS8Xd8/s1600/AbbotsColor.gif"></a><br />
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Although traditionally performed on Wakes Monday, the dance was also performed on other special occasions. For over 400 years now, the leadership of the horn dance has remained in the Bentley family. Although generally performed only by the men, in the 2000 dance Robin Hood was played by a young girl. The mysterious tune generally associated with the dance was first written down in 1857.</div>
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><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5k0zZRCbK3k8pqAlauKHfjUUy8BOfcUzCwkHD2fbaASl2lBt5Nme4epz21BuD85jNCjlImzbpe290GYuco79zHM9p0mVmrjVGdsysg497kPsHqJ7Iz4mVrVEhKHw_GURPskhSyS8Xd8/s1600/AbbotsColor.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552980727825671026" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5k0zZRCbK3k8pqAlauKHfjUUy8BOfcUzCwkHD2fbaASl2lBt5Nme4epz21BuD85jNCjlImzbpe290GYuco79zHM9p0mVmrjVGdsysg497kPsHqJ7Iz4mVrVEhKHw_GURPskhSyS8Xd8/s200/AbbotsColor.gif" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 159px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 200px;" /></a><br />
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There are several theories concerning the roots of this peculiar festival. It may well have begun as a Winter Solstice ritual, but it has also been suggested that it was born when King Henry I (1100-1135 AD) granted hunting rights to the people of the area. The dance was supposed to have been created as a mark of gratitude.</div>
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The hunting rights theory is suspect, however, because the Horn Dance shows signs of having had a much earlier, pre-Christian beginning when magic and fertility ceremonies were very much aspects of the lives of ordinary people. It's interesting to note that some of the figures to be seen in the world-famous cave paintings at Lascaux look very like the Abbots Bromley Horn Dancers. These figures are over 20,000 years old, so perhaps the true origins of the dance you can see today at Abbots Bromley are far more ancient than most people realize.</div>
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<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552983343516949938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0an5dL_Ocy51ift8hHrTxUigNMW5WPQjKvum-rZXS1FNcgbasdFuo1XVNySiWcbxse7jUS2KeKyVGIYHT2IgadMBVhNXh4Mrg2VXvhYvqB5rIcb3zA1ril10uS8pfvXpj_hFxwJ0Osc8/s200/winter-wake-up.98968.40.jpg" style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 238); cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 145px;" /><br />
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<b>The Abbots Bromley Variations</b></div>
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1. Tony Hall - The Abbot's Bromley Horn Dance</div>
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2. Martin & Jessica Simpson & Lisa Ekstrom - Abbotts Bromley Horn Dance/In Winter's Shadow</div>
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3. Andrew Cronshaw - Wheelwright Robinson's tune for the Abbots Bromley horn dance</div>
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4. Trotto - Abbotts Bromley Horn Dance</div>
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5. Leif Alpsjö - The Abbots Bromley</div>
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6. Richard Greene & Beryll Mariott - Abbot's Bromley Horn Dance</div>
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Tony Hall's and Trotto's versions are probably the most traditional forms of the tune, though one with just tin whistle and drum would be even moreso. And yes, I do realize that Jessica Simpson's voice on "In Winter's Shadow" is totally annoying. But it's a fine poem, and a damn good tune. Richard Greene's version is, unsurprisingly, totally gorgeous. </div>
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So. Turn off your lights. Go outside. Look at the moon. Then come in, light a candle, and put the tune on, and drift off into the otherworld. And at the high point of each musical phrase, imagine antlered men clashing heads, locked in a stately, solemn dance.</div>
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<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?1u3aiwa67tw144x">The sound of horns clattering.</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn2Tp4iy5CbkZRkr5Ts7l1uP9I48-QXdGqaTdCDAaLs7DvNeT6T57oVvwLEUg921Ry7Jmd44qDhIghTZFIC32We4mBiQ2wYwHXk7_nGjK2_r3d2QVPNfdxTT3GDqMs3dpHLkXlXulgCyk/s1600/26032+Full+moon+over+calm+ocean.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552994593534982418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn2Tp4iy5CbkZRkr5Ts7l1uP9I48-QXdGqaTdCDAaLs7DvNeT6T57oVvwLEUg921Ry7Jmd44qDhIghTZFIC32We4mBiQ2wYwHXk7_nGjK2_r3d2QVPNfdxTT3GDqMs3dpHLkXlXulgCyk/s320/26032+Full+moon+over+calm+ocean.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 240px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></div>
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And, as an extra wintery bonus, some poems:</div>
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<i>from FOUR QUARTETS: East Coker by T.S. Eliot </i></div>
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O dark dark dark. They all go into the dark. </div>
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The vacant interstellar spaces...... </div>
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I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hope </div>
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For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love </div>
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For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith </div>
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But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting. </div>
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Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought: </div>
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So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing. </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color: rgb(0 , 0 , 238);"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552992141083932306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9-fNjqS3Cu1Ss3u4Izyb92A9zQeLEHRDMYBU1lW5IRzLN3u-vc9FFmDtBGMps-G5IKktGdMc946VFYz0KxLiRmcTCtWs0Vvgvk7iU0j_ydJIRpJKl2HTMkZiNPTLgpuIltuOp5CF3_d0/s200/_45462100_snowdawn_pa220.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 147px;" /></span><br />
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HAIKU <i>by Basho</i> </div>
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Turn this way, </div>
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I also am lonely </div>
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This evening of winter. </div>
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<i>from OUR QUIET TIME by Nancy Wood </i></div>
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In our quiet time </div>
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We do not speak, because the voices are within us. </div>
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It is our quiet time. </div>
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We do not walk, because the earth is all within us. </div>
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It is our quiet time.... </div>
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We rest with all of nature.... </div>
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I AM SINGING THE COLD RAIN </div>
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<i>A Cheyenne Poem </i></div>
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I am singing the cold rain </div>
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I am singing the winter dawn </div>
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I am turning in the gray morning </div>
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Of my life </div>
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Toward home.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color: rgb(0 , 0 , 238);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0 , 0 , 0);"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkcXytHWYV817Uq_klSNVz03hTUuZYgwIszPJGsni_LzgBm2gwDU505LWbB8Q0yUzP_AYYoD646GwOLd8Vb1tztjQIqUSBvMWRdF_YstxHSx-GijHyS__oVCdqkz0FZgf92ujRIaKXfBk/s1600/10feb28_430.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552994590743146722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkcXytHWYV817Uq_klSNVz03hTUuZYgwIszPJGsni_LzgBm2gwDU505LWbB8Q0yUzP_AYYoD646GwOLd8Vb1tztjQIqUSBvMWRdF_YstxHSx-GijHyS__oVCdqkz0FZgf92ujRIaKXfBk/s320/10feb28_430.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 266px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; color: rgb(0 , 0 , 238);"><br /></span></div>
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FIRST SNOW <i>by mary oliver</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div>
the snow
began here</div>
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this morning and all day
</div>
<div>
continued, </div>
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its white</div>
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rhetoric everywhere
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calling us back to why, </div>
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how,
</div>
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whence such beauty and what</div>
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the meaning;</div>
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such
</div>
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an oracular fever! </div>
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flowing
past windows, </div>
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an energy it seemed
</div>
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would never ebb, </div>
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never settle</div>
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less than lovely! </div>
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and only now,
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deep into night,
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it has finally ended.</div>
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the silence</div>
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is immense,
</div>
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and the heavens still hold</div>
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a million candles; </div>
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nowhere
the familiar things:
</div>
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stars, the moon,
the darkness </div>
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we expect
</div>
<div>
and nightly turn from. </div>
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trees
glitter like castles</div>
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of ribbons, the broad fields</div>
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smolder with light, a passing</div>
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creekbed lies
</div>
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heaped with shining hills;</div>
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and though the questions</div>
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that have assailed us all day</div>
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remain--not a single</div>
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answer has been found--
walking out now</div>
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into the silence and the light</div>
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under the trees,</div>
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and through the fields,
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feels like one.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<i>- </i>from <i>new and selected poems</i>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG7N-B4uTsoC16Q_v_H1SZPUVG1fjO8P0O2qOjiG5QFTHaqjaL8ihKgzoZk9C4ZCOWPbkie-wnSXvqFb22E1XlOHlrcoB24qEU5sRLRtnAmW7xSmv-ZBoDIgqpqEbE3aIsxDiIu1p9y_Y/s1600/winter-solstice.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552992689413211330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG7N-B4uTsoC16Q_v_H1SZPUVG1fjO8P0O2qOjiG5QFTHaqjaL8ihKgzoZk9C4ZCOWPbkie-wnSXvqFb22E1XlOHlrcoB24qEU5sRLRtnAmW7xSmv-ZBoDIgqpqEbE3aIsxDiIu1p9y_Y/s320/winter-solstice.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 320px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center; width: 302px;" /></a></div>
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The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-42266364159934798842012-05-15T15:32:00.002-06:002012-05-28T21:18:24.436-06:00Derek Gripper - One Night on Earth: Music from the Strings of Mali<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp22uE1OO9cGUdc4ZWOpuomUnwWhiByA5KFrk58Xi3rzb22m4CxFM5aSAvchSvxGn61RkoMhyphenhyphenZeTn3LAQ5P6uTxRKsnoJcFClFKoWGdg3GfGkjNiAsYRvRlyBF6p3MBoB2YWFs_uAHdZA/s1600/1991356538-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp22uE1OO9cGUdc4ZWOpuomUnwWhiByA5KFrk58Xi3rzb22m4CxFM5aSAvchSvxGn61RkoMhyphenhyphenZeTn3LAQ5P6uTxRKsnoJcFClFKoWGdg3GfGkjNiAsYRvRlyBF6p3MBoB2YWFs_uAHdZA/s320/1991356538-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="yui_3_2_0_21_133711677445738" id="yui_3_2_0_21_133711677445740" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
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<div class="yui_3_2_0_21_133711677445738" id="yui_3_2_0_21_133711677445740" style="font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
This is totally sweet. A must-listen. Mustmustmustmustmust. Really. I can just put this album on repeat and not get tired of it. In fact, it just gets better.</div>
<br />
From a comment left on my blog:<br />
<br />
Toumani’s music is certainly a life changer! I went as far as actually learning to play his particular arrangements of Manding kora music on the guitar. Perhaps you’d like to take a listen: <a href="http://soundcloud.com/olly-barnett/derek-gripper-tubaka">http://soundcloud.com/olly-barnett/derek-gripper-tubaka</a><br />
The full album is due for release under the name “One Night on Earth: Music from the Strings of Mali” from <a href="http://www.derekgripper.com/">http://www.derekgripper.com</a> after the 12th of May. Yours, Derek Gripper (South African Guitarist)<br />
<br />
Check out the album page on Derek Gripper's site here:<br />
<a href="http://www.derekgripper.com/acoustic-guitar-albums/one-night-on-earth/">http://www.derekgripper.com/acoustic-guitar-albums/one-night-on-earth/</a><br />
Which contains download links and some great writing about the guitar and the kora music of Malian griots.<br />
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Enjoy!</div>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-74291088820735233882012-03-24T16:18:00.000-06:002012-03-24T16:18:46.997-06:00Béla Bartók on the Banjo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBj5ZJPaWKwK1CEDMi5yUezrsu4-YYZ6loAOoxhDyOowiftuSG2nLAzo7YvjluOVqAhszkfKgXv78DHOkXwAjyT7FKBNEQ5tzRIV9CJju4FiQWHpDRMlGrwZtdwqHDa9LMRbrlfvnREmQ/s1600/Bartok.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBj5ZJPaWKwK1CEDMi5yUezrsu4-YYZ6loAOoxhDyOowiftuSG2nLAzo7YvjluOVqAhszkfKgXv78DHOkXwAjyT7FKBNEQ5tzRIV9CJju4FiQWHpDRMlGrwZtdwqHDa9LMRbrlfvnREmQ/s320/Bartok.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I just realized that though I don't have the bandwidth to upload anything currently, or the time to write reviews, every once in a while I come across something that would be easy to share with you all. This is one such instance.<br />
<br />
Enjoy this and grab it quick! It's free only this weekend. And the music is very very fine as well. <a href="http://www.jakeschepps.com/">Jake Schepps</a> is a really skilled and exploratory banjo player, and the album also features the absolutely incredible young guitarist <a href="http://grantgordy.com/">Grant Gordy</a> (perhaps my favorite living guitarist, and a really nice guy too), and a crop of talented Colorado-based acoustic musicians. I saw them play these tunes live last summer, in an old schoolhouse in the mountains… maybe 30 people in the audience. Just incredible music.<br />
<br />
John Fahey attempted to fuse the ideas of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3k">Béla Bartók</a> with the "primitive" music of the United States. Jake Schepps' project is another take on the same. Except instead of using American melodies and Bartókian harmonies, he uses Bartók's melodies and an American string band arrangement. And I think you'll find, that like most classical music that was inspired by folk music, it sounds better on folk instruments than on grand pianos.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Hello Friends,<br />
<br />
A short reminder that right now you can download the <a href="http://jakeschepps.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=29b867be2f33bd4a3428e179d&id=e1450b3607&e=b13180c6ca"><span class="s1">critically</span></a> <a href="http://jakeschepps.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=29b867be2f33bd4a3428e179d&id=2523f84742&e=b13180c6ca"><span class="s1">acclaimed</span></a> album "<a href="http://jakeschepps.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=29b867be2f33bd4a3428e179d&id=68e4c510bb&e=b13180c6ca"><span class="s1">An Evening in the Village: the Music of Bela Bartok</span></a>" for <b>FREE</b>. Please spread the word and let any and all know that for the next two days (March 24, & 25) you can download the <a href="http://jakeschepps.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=29b867be2f33bd4a3428e179d&id=9c061e3048&e=b13180c6ca"><span class="s1">entire album</span></a> with bonus tracks for the <b>big fat price of $0.00. </b>Bandcamp does offer the option to pay something if you are so inclined, and you can buy a physical copy for only $10. And as always, if you buy two Bartok CD's you get a <b>free</b><i> </i><a href="http://jakeschepps.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=29b867be2f33bd4a3428e179d&id=5e3dc95b9f&e=b13180c6ca"><span class="s1"><i>Ten Thousand Leaves</i></span></a>.<br />
<b>Facebook</b> info <a href="http://jakeschepps.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=29b867be2f33bd4a3428e179d&id=836f2be2c3&e=b13180c6ca"><span class="s1">here</span></a>. <a href="http://jakeschepps.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=29b867be2f33bd4a3428e179d&id=2334de34a2&e=b13180c6ca"><span class="s2"><b>Tweet</b></span></a> this to your followers by clicking <a href="http://jakeschepps.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=29b867be2f33bd4a3428e179d&id=7fc7608202&e=b13180c6ca"><span class="s1">here</span></a>, and then head straight to <a href="http://jakeschepps.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=29b867be2f33bd4a3428e179d&id=15e05f6081&e=b13180c6ca"><span class="s1">Bandcamp</span></a> to get your copy. <br />
<br />
Thanks!<br />
<br />
Jake and all the Expedition Quartet<br />
<span class="s3"><a href="http://jakeschepps.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=29b867be2f33bd4a3428e179d&id=0a8a0f8e26&e=b13180c6ca">Website</a></span><span class="s4"> | <a href="http://jakeschepps.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=29b867be2f33bd4a3428e179d&id=cd564a09f4&e=b13180c6ca"><span class="s1">Facebook</span></a> |<a href="http://jakeschepps.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=29b867be2f33bd4a3428e179d&id=e57c458332&e=b13180c6ca"><span class="s1">Twitter</span></a> | <a href="http://jakeschepps.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=29b867be2f33bd4a3428e179d&id=231de271d6&e=b13180c6ca"><span class="s1">YouTube</span></a></span></blockquote>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-60834595961509442012-03-21T17:06:00.000-06:002012-03-21T17:06:19.494-06:00A little update<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8KgDXqaCEJbL4OtASVwMKvO_1vUfwR9IFWSO73nfKRnueokVGz7U0sKYewCOyiTz62JHUWz9aUlQm4miNPUu5Cl4DZCvX3Fd79J359huu2r1lSkOQEzJ_7hUMbhHEu3MC1Bdh-CmFYQ/s1600/Flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO8KgDXqaCEJbL4OtASVwMKvO_1vUfwR9IFWSO73nfKRnueokVGz7U0sKYewCOyiTz62JHUWz9aUlQm4miNPUu5Cl4DZCvX3Fd79J359huu2r1lSkOQEzJ_7hUMbhHEu3MC1Bdh-CmFYQ/s320/Flower.jpg" width="212" /></a>Hello, to all readers who haven't given up on this blog for the lack of updates. It's ok, you can give up now!<br />
<br />
It's been almost a year since my last post, and I'm not any closer to having either the time or the consistent internet connection to maintain it. I live off-grid, in what looks at night to be a great wooden spaceship. I have to travel to use the internet, and so my time on it is strictly reserved for business. And, to make matters worse, most of the files have expired in some form or other, and I certainly don't have the time or bandwidth to re-upload them.<br />
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I have not abandoned music of course. Far from it! I now have a gaggle of instruments that I'm in some stage of learning (guitar, banjo, washboard, bones, bouzouki, baglama, pipa, slide guitar, drum, cavaquinho, etc…). I also host a regular celtic session, play in a Tom Waitsy jug band, perform as a storyteller, and I'm the music director of a local community radio station (leave it to a pirate to be on the radio…). I continue to listen to new music with wide ears an spread its wonder and beauty to those I know. I continue studying the world around me, celebrating the seasons and learning to live a regenerative life. If anything, the major difference in my activity is that it now takes place principally in the material world rather than the cyber world. And I am happy for that.<br />
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There were hundreds of albums I still wanted to share. Half of them were uploaded and I never found the time to write about them. Ah well. There are always things left undone. Maybe someday I'll get back to it, if my life goes in that direction. But I do not see that life before me right now, so I am not expecting it.<br />
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So, I hope you can all accept the sweet death of this blog, and my activities in updating it. I'll leave all the posts, though there's scarcely any music to be found there anymore. But hopefully what I've shared, both in sound and in words, has helped to open a few doors, and I hope that wherever those doors lead you, you follow them into the beautiful unknown.<br />
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Happy equinox, and may all of your plantings grow in good time.<br />
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With Irascible Love,<br />
The Irate PirateThe Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-77127713809565222972011-04-30T01:16:00.000-06:002011-04-30T01:16:31.658-06:00Akira Kurosawa's Dreams<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHGDhJnwChoai3xocnanxC8Dxf7Kzt3Oq1zXhZIivRfFJs3UKfO4qubYoPE96Mjfxl4hVvcOui8Zl0nAwA8KLGG_PfDDWRgiZ8QvT48v_s1y3dzaTGVw3CGqT2nroXf9qpmuIoesLdUk0/s1600/9377746_profile_mbox_background.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHGDhJnwChoai3xocnanxC8Dxf7Kzt3Oq1zXhZIivRfFJs3UKfO4qubYoPE96Mjfxl4hVvcOui8Zl0nAwA8KLGG_PfDDWRgiZ8QvT48v_s1y3dzaTGVw3CGqT2nroXf9qpmuIoesLdUk0/s1600/9377746_profile_mbox_background.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div><div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So. I've been gone a while and you oughtn't expect much from me in the coming month, as I'll be in a cabin away from electricity for most of it. I wanted to start sharing some film on this blog, starting with the old crazy visionaries of the 1900s and working forwards, but this film is just so timely it has to be shared now. It's also, in my opinion, one of the greatest films ever made. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I really don't have much time to write, but I can say this:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This film is a complete art. It is perfect. It is the essence of cinema.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This film is life. It is dreams. It is the shadow at the corners of your eyes, come to full focus in front of you.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This film destroys time. Or at least, radically disfigures it and rebuilds it from the ground up, in a more fluid, effervescent manner.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This film is a flower in a factory, a golden cow in a field of white teeth.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let it look through your eyes to the dark grey matter that lurks behind. Let it plant puddles in your eyes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As people in Japan begin to put their lives back together, people in the States are discovering high levels of radiation in their foods. We all see the causes. We accept them. And the machine grinds on, because we are not willing to leave it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Enjoy the coming month, dancing in the spring showers, planting a garden, getting up early to embrace the day. Nourish your dreams. And if you have some time, give these ones a look as well. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_0gqCCDjBR0mDtFvl49MdoDTGQzTzWCxAeV9utznQTVRhhTdAn7EGZtNUsOuiy6Pr09yO5hixk0gN7m7BIZXOeSeWrBEXF6nLsILkp7OiYJs-a9o1kPeQPTZbIUkfwzm3yj3e20AUG4/s1600/You+wanna+go+into+that+hole%253F.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_0gqCCDjBR0mDtFvl49MdoDTGQzTzWCxAeV9utznQTVRhhTdAn7EGZtNUsOuiy6Pr09yO5hixk0gN7m7BIZXOeSeWrBEXF6nLsILkp7OiYJs-a9o1kPeQPTZbIUkfwzm3yj3e20AUG4/s400/You+wanna+go+into+that+hole%253F.png" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>The Skinny:<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"></span>Eight short films with overlapping themes and characters based on the actual dreams of director Akira Kurosawa.<br />
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"From just a cinematographic point of view, Kurosawa's mastery of colour is unrivaled, and a sound reason to watch this film, yet not the only one by far. The true value of "Yume", in my opinion, is the use of the parabolas presented disguised as dreams to teach us a way of life. The absurdity of war. The beauty of nature. The need to preserve our environment. In summary: a praise to life. And yet, Kurosawa being old himself when he filmed his "Dreams", looks at death and presents it as the last station of a wonderful journey. Carpe diem, yes, but not to the point of being scared. Life will follow its course as does the river at the end of the movie, with or without us being here to enjoy it. Just be thankful for the small things in life; they are the most important. Enjoy them while you can and you will leave this existence in peace with yourself."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8dizs8nMy1Sc_0CQkfRjpuh9S6vtsqDK1V8afNAF7RludcMPtXqpmtH-vmR7hJibmLpZGx69VCVgU5rs0SB4caSyInIJW-O_g-8Wkx74FnDzwc1fKw9bi9J-05FEPHPF3xwgENAkXZMQ/s1600/kurosawa_dreams.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8dizs8nMy1Sc_0CQkfRjpuh9S6vtsqDK1V8afNAF7RludcMPtXqpmtH-vmR7hJibmLpZGx69VCVgU5rs0SB4caSyInIJW-O_g-8Wkx74FnDzwc1fKw9bi9J-05FEPHPF3xwgENAkXZMQ/s400/kurosawa_dreams.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div></div><br />
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Review by Magicvoice:<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Akira Kurosawa's Dreams is comprised of eight short films, each featuring a character named "I," who we are to assume is Kurosawa himself. The film begins with two dreams from Kurosawa's childhood and eventually move into adulthood. One tale, "Crows," expresses Kurosawa's love for the artist Vincent Van Gogh, and is the most questionable of the eight tales. An art student enters the paintings of Van Gogh and meets Van Gogh, played here by American director Martin Scorcese. It's interesting that Kurosawa cast Scorsese to play Van Gogh—perhaps he felt that only another auteur could fully grasp the creative compulsion of Van Gogh. That point is not lost on the viewer, but it still would have been preferable to cast a real actor in the part. Scorsese's New York accent just doesn't fit the film.<br />
The best segment of Dreams is "The Tunnel," which is directed by an uncredited Ishiro Honda (Godzilla). It tells the tale of a military officer who is confronted by the spirits of his dead platoon. Heartbreakingly, the officer apologizes for his actions, which led to the death of his men. He takes responsiblity instead of simply blaming the stupidity of war—a universal theme that people today could perhaps learn from.<br />
"Mt. Fuji in Red" and "The Weeping Demon" both deal with nuclear disaster and a post-apocalyptic world. They pretty much hit the viewer over the head with Kurosawa's (and Honda's) views on the destruction of nature and the stupidity of mankind. Since we currently live in an era where world leaders propose to cut down trees in order to avoid forest fires, some people may still need that point to be drilled into them. The last segment shows what would happen if we did things Kurosawa's way. The people in "Village of the Watermills" live at one with nature and are rewarded with health, happiness and long lives that are celebrated upon conclusion. It's the most beautiful dream of all, and a perfect ending to a great film.<br />
Visually, Akira Kurosawa's Dreams is a masterpiece. The sets, composition and use of color are all breathtaking. The pace of some of the stories is a bit slow, but this is still a great and very underrated film. Dreams is Kurosawa's most personal work, and when it's over the viewer might feel like they've just met the man who delivered this work of art, much like "I" was somehow able to meet Van Gogh in one of his paintings. (Magicvoice 2003)<br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Dreams</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The film consists of several dreams based on Kurosawa's own, throughout his life. The dreams are eight separate segments in the following order:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwjkSLMWPjQSOQCmJwKGsj0WzSxsIDN5y6HkBzSI9pFeeEC7-qj_XyvGGX4j5jpShjsf9a6Njb0ZqHrBhrcxMQALqBS6d5uV5HJ2aYrVfp7-19vDBCrofNhY0HMj9kKx7yjRFu1v9C2LA/s1600/bscap0005_091.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwjkSLMWPjQSOQCmJwKGsj0WzSxsIDN5y6HkBzSI9pFeeEC7-qj_XyvGGX4j5jpShjsf9a6Njb0ZqHrBhrcxMQALqBS6d5uV5HJ2aYrVfp7-19vDBCrofNhY0HMj9kKx7yjRFu1v9C2LA/s400/bscap0005_091.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Sunshine Through The Rain</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">There is an old legend in Japan that states that when the sun is shining through the rain, the kitsune (foxes) have their weddings. In this first dream, a boy defies the wish of a woman, possibly his mother, to remain at home during a day with such weather. From behind a large tree in the nearby forest, he witnesses the slow wedding procession of the kitsune. Unfortunately, he is spotted by the foxes and runs. When he tries to return home, the same woman says that a fox had come by the house, leaving behind a tantō knife. The woman gives the knife to the boy, implying that he must commit suicide. The woman asks the boy to go and beg forgiveness from the foxes, although they are known to be unforgiving, refusing to let him in unless he does so. The boy sets off into the mountains, towards the place under the rainbow in search for the kitsune's home.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJDbGoV1Gxog0AIYf-2m_bneXHd6NfhXndhX3trncrsuV9BLmiK1dcoyy3quiY7YNYdGvUK3S-0XmQTYNW1dBpa0FOKH4pcq_6nTnRBgSo0OvRl8gjQyDxhyphenhyphenTJq8ZJA_CAe4kq7WKI1aw/s1600/Aloha%257E%257E%257E.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJDbGoV1Gxog0AIYf-2m_bneXHd6NfhXndhX3trncrsuV9BLmiK1dcoyy3quiY7YNYdGvUK3S-0XmQTYNW1dBpa0FOKH4pcq_6nTnRBgSo0OvRl8gjQyDxhyphenhyphenTJq8ZJA_CAe4kq7WKI1aw/s400/Aloha%257E%257E%257E.png" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>The Peach Orchard</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Hina Matsuri, the Doll Festival, traditionally takes place in spring when the peach blossoms are in full bloom. The dolls that go on display at this time, they say, are representative of the peach trees and their pink blossoms. One boy's family, however, has chopped down their peach orchard, so the boy feels a sense of loss during this year's festival. After being scolded by his older sister the boy spots a small girl running out the front door. He follows her to the now-treeless orchard, where the dolls from his sister's collection have come to life and are standing before him on the slopes of the orchard. The living dolls, revealing themselves to be the spirits of the peach trees, berate the boy about chopping down the precious trees. But after realizing how much he loved the blossoms, they agree to give him one last glance at the peach trees by way of a slow and beautiful dance to Etenraku. After they disappear the boy finds the small girl walking among the treeless orchard before seeing a single peach tree sprouting in her place.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZd85oVCrXhv1cJ9uMJSlpkmfUxMgiiV9LsU0BU1OfPfKtwlw-0r4VDWl8dqFfk7-t_DKhGIw-i1h0jk5RQXcsLKz7oD6AXs5o0RrQcdb2nLRkYYH5A0sDz_W2q5rBvqB4DYE-LDM3_c/s1600/the-blizzard.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZd85oVCrXhv1cJ9uMJSlpkmfUxMgiiV9LsU0BU1OfPfKtwlw-0r4VDWl8dqFfk7-t_DKhGIw-i1h0jk5RQXcsLKz7oD6AXs5o0RrQcdb2nLRkYYH5A0sDz_W2q5rBvqB4DYE-LDM3_c/s1600/the-blizzard.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>The Blizzard</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A group of four mountaineers struggle up a mountain path during a horrendous blizzard. It has been snowing for three days and the men are dispirited and ready to give up. One by one they stop walking, giving into the snow and sure death. The leader endeavors to push on, but he too, stops in the snow. A strange woman (possibly the Yuki-onna of Japanese myth) appears out of nowhere and attempts to lure the last conscious man to his death - give into the snow and the storm, she urges him on, into reverie, into sleep, into certain death. But finding some heart, deep within, he shakes off his stupor and her entreaties, to discover that the storm has abated, and that their camp is only a few feet away.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjiPx6OASo7A1L8fFg1N2psFBu2Xn05aaXZfafAyZVT-8ONsiOnokOuX9tEwYjH2cOtadAmYQ80YBnaS3NEm4HB68eCHHo4UOmHsYZS7cTq2xN-9TQ6xIbeJesBBv5czE1lgk41al_Ew/s1600/facing.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjiPx6OASo7A1L8fFg1N2psFBu2Xn05aaXZfafAyZVT-8ONsiOnokOuX9tEwYjH2cOtadAmYQ80YBnaS3NEm4HB68eCHHo4UOmHsYZS7cTq2xN-9TQ6xIbeJesBBv5czE1lgk41al_Ew/s400/facing.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The Tunnel</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A Japanese army officer is traveling down a deserted road at dusk, on his way back home from fighting in the Second World War. He comes to a large concrete pedestrian tunnel that seems to go on forever into the darkness. Suddenly, an angry, almost demonic-looking anti-tank dog (strapped with explosives) runs out of the tunnel and snarls deeply at him. He proceeds with his walk, afraid, into the tunnel. He comes out the other side, but then witnesses something horrific — the yūrei of one of the soldiers (Private Noguchi) whom he had charge over in the war comes out of the tunnel behind him, his face a light blue, signifying that he is dead.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The soldier seems not to believe he's dead, but the officer convinces him and the soldier returns into the darkness of the tunnel. Just when he thinks he's seen the worst, the officer sees his entire third platoon marching out of the tunnel. They too are dead, with light blue faces. He tries to convince them that they're dead, and he expresses his deep-seated guilt about letting them all die in the war. They stand mute, in reply to his words. He then orders them to about face, and then march back into the tunnel. Lastly, we see a second appearance of the hellish dog, from the beginning of this dream.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">This is one of three "nightmares" featured in the film.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Akira Kurosawa's long time friend Ishirō Honda may have helped to direct, or have directed this piece entirely. The two always spoke of filming a story of a dead soldier returning from war.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGwIHl-hpU5q-_NkqrvjGVhmjE_A1cBtnTN_sUfc3OVLljaHhQyEI9SXMMC2I9lGNPIcWgaq0-WGUZhXma-iZnVdK7OAzVhNUptsNfAjDmqOwRG96YZ5Bw2J5Kbflk_4t9dw2RG6DLIY/s1600/MMMMMFFF+EFFECTS+SO+GOOD.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwGwIHl-hpU5q-_NkqrvjGVhmjE_A1cBtnTN_sUfc3OVLljaHhQyEI9SXMMC2I9lGNPIcWgaq0-WGUZhXma-iZnVdK7OAzVhNUptsNfAjDmqOwRG96YZ5Bw2J5Kbflk_4t9dw2RG6DLIY/s400/MMMMMFFF+EFFECTS+SO+GOOD.png" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Crows</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A brilliantly-colored vignette featuring director Martin Scorsese as Vincent Van Gogh. An art student (a character wearing Kurosawa's trademark hat who provides the POV for the rest of the film) finds himself inside the vibrant and sometimes chaotic world inside Van Gogh's artwork, where he meets the artist in a field and converses with him. The student loses track of the artist (who is missing an ear and nearing the end of his life) and travels through other works trying to find him. Van Gogh's painting Wheat Field with Crows is an important element in this dream. This Segment features Prelude No. 15 in D-flat major ("Raindrop") by Chopin. The visual effects for this particular segment were provided by George Lucas and his special effects group Industrial Light and Magic.[citation needed]</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEsiamRhHYvZLC135TEHJ0G3R4fl0KD_s_uzG3HntzcS4ErFPq4aZ9ERPBEimeEXVTM1ps1XRtoNLt_LNa6AGahAXjkgL7p6xQAeBjS1JTkfRPcUtAiCS_bp8AlkFtr4BWZRDlS4g0l8/s1600/Hahaha%252C+don%2527t+worry%252C+Mt.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEsiamRhHYvZLC135TEHJ0G3R4fl0KD_s_uzG3HntzcS4ErFPq4aZ9ERPBEimeEXVTM1ps1XRtoNLt_LNa6AGahAXjkgL7p6xQAeBjS1JTkfRPcUtAiCS_bp8AlkFtr4BWZRDlS4g0l8/s400/Hahaha%252C+don%2527t+worry%252C+Mt.png" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Mount Fuji in Red</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">The film's second nightmare sequence. A large nuclear power plant near Mount Fuji has begun to melt down, painting the sky a horrendous red and sending the millions of Japanese citizens desperately fleeing into the ocean. Three adults and two children are left behind on land, but they soon realize that the radiation will kill them anyway.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPHsPS6zJlR_Okb03-Dh-y-NiA_NXh2U9jxwYnlt_O8NIN9rgGTCDTKLSPgYpcPet0-2m7WE4QDRKTGmmFwKsHGGO7N73Ef6913AIFlvGCBs2A5aZgE77futCOfOpTn5MdxBHpseELDo/s1600/Film+Still.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHPHsPS6zJlR_Okb03-Dh-y-NiA_NXh2U9jxwYnlt_O8NIN9rgGTCDTKLSPgYpcPet0-2m7WE4QDRKTGmmFwKsHGGO7N73Ef6913AIFlvGCBs2A5aZgE77futCOfOpTn5MdxBHpseELDo/s400/Film+Still.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>The Weeping Demon</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A man (possibly Kurosawa himself) finds himself wandering around a misty, bleak mountainous terrain. He meets a strange oni-like man, who is actually a mutated human with one horn. The "demon" explains that there had been a nuclear holocaust which resulted in the loss of nature and animals, enormous dandelions and humans sprouting horns, which cause them so much agony that you can hear them howling during the night, but, according to the demon, they can't die, which makes their agony even worse. The last of the three "nightmare" sequences. This is actually a post-apocalyptic retelling of a classic Buddhist fable of the same name.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PlZHS9shxAG0YLqgNur87qmBnGzTr2XdYjT3jVO8tjEK_xFBVYPBds3i2FqAtmWq_11S2EY8g_NJtbgIGbxIHlHFMHMp_EgC82l1WUAs6xliG6sD-zb-mWNFPdsP862LSojZMumAfts/s1600/Dreams08.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6PlZHS9shxAG0YLqgNur87qmBnGzTr2XdYjT3jVO8tjEK_xFBVYPBds3i2FqAtmWq_11S2EY8g_NJtbgIGbxIHlHFMHMp_EgC82l1WUAs6xliG6sD-zb-mWNFPdsP862LSojZMumAfts/s400/Dreams08.png" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Village of the Watermills</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">A young man finds himself entering a peaceful, stream-laden village. The traveller meets an old, wise man who is fixing a broken watermill wheel. The elder explains that the people of his village decided long ago to forsake the polluting influence of modern technology and return to a happier, cleaner era of society. They have chosen spiritual health over convenience, and the traveller is surprised but intrigued by this notion.</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">At the end of the sequence (and the film), a funeral procession for an old woman takes place in the village, which instead of mourning, the people celebrate joyfully as the proper end to a good life. This segment was filmed at the Daio Wasabi farm in the Nagano Prefecture. The film ends with a haunting yet melancholic melody from the excerpts of "In the Village" , part of the Caucasian Sketches, Suite No. 1 by the Russian composer Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT16yedRj6W0QGusWiZtdVf2NDP2HfMPqTpuu_JCOr3o-KIk-cnVlC-ThS694kOLYE3_kdwly5-Jc2SlG14kLCkdtWSsXcDq94CSX-sKbpqJVib0-ZJhLIhwB48Rihk2M6zW719uwxTeE/s1600/51l2pPj5QXL._SX500_.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT16yedRj6W0QGusWiZtdVf2NDP2HfMPqTpuu_JCOr3o-KIk-cnVlC-ThS694kOLYE3_kdwly5-Jc2SlG14kLCkdtWSsXcDq94CSX-sKbpqJVib0-ZJhLIhwB48Rihk2M6zW719uwxTeE/s1600/51l2pPj5QXL._SX500_.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div><div><br />
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Year:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1990<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Director:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Akira Kurosawa, Ishiro Honda<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;">T</span>ime: 120min</div><div>Released by: Warner Bros.</div><br />
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I originally made a compressed version of this. But after returning the film, I realized that I'd forgotten to include subtitles, making it that much more opaque to Gaijins like you. So I've just uploaded the entire DVD file for your watching enjoyment. I know, it's big, but you've got a month…<br />
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get it <a href="http://hotfile.com/list/1659945/3af111e">here</a> or <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?f=0Q4DNSUM">here</a>.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3UW26Lzm3qSFL_hUU7NaDDk6gh-plIE1PfeBxvGpRhMz_ceUPpht404dcGcOiO84KveyiHUIELay-Gao3T8SIbbwfohNNiPg2X5w_yfO5QZX3jQdYwsi6yoC9m-hqLVFCCq6BVp33Tg/s1600/c007024128a0ca13e6e5f010.L.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3UW26Lzm3qSFL_hUU7NaDDk6gh-plIE1PfeBxvGpRhMz_ceUPpht404dcGcOiO84KveyiHUIELay-Gao3T8SIbbwfohNNiPg2X5w_yfO5QZX3jQdYwsi6yoC9m-hqLVFCCq6BVp33Tg/s400/c007024128a0ca13e6e5f010.L.jpeg" width="300" /></a></div>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-17403076632392588832011-04-02T13:32:00.002-06:002011-04-02T13:38:47.115-06:00Lo Ka Ping - Lost Sounds of the Tao<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpyS0ioTrYllpAxe7gFAxfLFVAW2eC8Vy6AJXpQvGqHPao2E0B3MWzCj1m3UdzW7EQ4xSm7v6bAnQlLoMuyZvSc-rn0gQRSZo6AW51_2FkSqfQAkNW-mDMVUtaeW7dbkskTVRuONehnIw/s1600/Lo+Ka+Ping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpyS0ioTrYllpAxe7gFAxfLFVAW2eC8Vy6AJXpQvGqHPao2E0B3MWzCj1m3UdzW7EQ4xSm7v6bAnQlLoMuyZvSc-rn0gQRSZo6AW51_2FkSqfQAkNW-mDMVUtaeW7dbkskTVRuONehnIw/s400/Lo+Ka+Ping.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Continuing along with our exploration of East Asian music, here is a totally unique and revelatory album from China. This guy is as iconoclastic as Joseph Spence, Robbie Basho, Harry Partch, or Washington Phillips. He learned by himself, and plays for his own satisfaction. This is a music of presence, of truth and healing, not a music of glamour and show. Comparisons to Blind Willie Johnson are easy to find in the heart-turning perfection of his slides, and comparisons to Lenny Breau would not be farfetched either, for he has an equal capacity to leap into extra-dimensional territory when making melodies built of pure harmonics. But none of them sound like Lo Ka Ping. And, oddly enough, I have yet to hear any other Chinese musician who sounds at all like him either, even when playing the same instrument. The slow, entrancing music of Z.M. Dagar, the great Indian veena player (and mentor to Jody Stecher among others) would perhaps be the closest to the music that comes out of Lo Ka Ping's 7 heavenly strings. It is deliberate, suffused with microtones, and subservient to the great muse who lives in the center of the blackest part of the night sky and is the source of all dreams.<br />
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I cannot recommend this album highly enough. But be forewarned. This does not make background music. You must be ready to listen, ready to be shaken, when you play it, or all its magic will fall on deaf ears.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis2hvjCyv5n88Bf5H3HSFG4hmI0p3e4cdEEr2SfJfnFd4ZgKDFkvcDEII8ncGtqr4nOdDFqRCZAX-5a6INWDbCRAZOqPTbGmclXkuUtUMvCaBu8Qb8JtHPNokmJthxn-1sC3Y2MT-kLvc/s1600/Ch%2527en_Hung-shou_002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis2hvjCyv5n88Bf5H3HSFG4hmI0p3e4cdEEr2SfJfnFd4ZgKDFkvcDEII8ncGtqr4nOdDFqRCZAX-5a6INWDbCRAZOqPTbGmclXkuUtUMvCaBu8Qb8JtHPNokmJthxn-1sC3Y2MT-kLvc/s320/Ch%2527en_Hung-shou_002.jpg" width="307" /></a></div><br />
An album of qin music collected from archives and attics alike, comprising the whole of the known recordings of Lo Ka Ping, a lost qin master privately active before his passing in 1980. A small number of other surviving recordings were unusable due to the poor sound quality. What we have here are a number of traditional works for the qin, as well as a number of original compositions by the performer himself. Also included are two performances taken from Chinese radio around the time of the second World War and delivered to American archives by a Chinese fighter pilot. The ability displayed here by Ping is something quite worth hearing. While the recording quality tends to ebb and flow, the technique remains at a high constant level. There are other recorded qin masters available, and one should certainly avail themselves of any opportunity to pick up a number of them. Ping places himself firmly in their company with these recordings. Pick it up alongside the Hugo masters recordings, and some of the old albums on Ocora and Koch. ~ Adam Greenberg, All Music Guide<br />
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...<br />
<br />
An album of qin music collected from archives and attics alike, comprising the whole of the known recordings of Lo Ka Ping, a lost qin master privately active before his passing in 1980. A small number of other surviving recordings were unusable due to the poor sound quality. What we have here are a number of traditional works for the qin, as well as a number of original compositions by the performer himself. Also included are two performances taken from Chinese radio around the time of the second World War and delivered to American archives by a Chinese fighter pilot. The ability displayed here by Ping is something quite worth hearing. While the recording quality tends to ebb and flow, the technique remains at a high constant level. There are other recorded qin masters available, and one should certainly avail themselves of any opportunity to pick up a number of them. Ping places himself firmly in their company with these recordings. Pick it up alongside the Hugo masters recordings, and some of the old albums on Ocora and Koch. ~ Adam GreenbergThe Wire (8/02, p.60) -<br />
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"...Lo Ka Ping was perhaps the greatest exponent of the guqin, a zither strung with seven silk chords....Lo Ka Ping's touch was deft, not a little bluesy and enormously subtle..."<br />
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...<br />
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This CD is extraordinary. Played on the guqin (an older form of the zither in China), the music is contemplative and calm and yet vigorous and austere in a subtle way...and almost indescribably beautiful and pure. By the end of the album I really did feel spiritually refreshed, baptized by sound, and I won't make this claim for even some of my favorite CDs. This quiet little album doesn't brag, but does in spades what dozens of "new age" type albums claim to do. Nothing against them, but this is the real deal when it comes to pure moods.<br />
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Lo Ka Ping, the performer (and composer of several of the tracks) was a Taoist priest as well as an English teacher in Hong Kong, and music was clearly a religious practice and exercise in self-cultivation for him, in the best tradition of the amateur literati artist. My guess is that this is what infuses the music with such a deep and mature spirituality. And in line with this tradition, he rarely performed in public as a professional would, making these recordings that much more precious.<br />
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These recordings were found in storage boxes and in attics, and the sound quality thus varies widely and, as you can well imagine, is never top notch. While a real rescue operation was performed on them sound-wise, there's only so much you can do under such circumstances. Still, this didn't distract me much, and the rarity and archival value of the recordings, along with their beauty, more than makes up for some of the fuzz and hum. The liner notes tell the whole interesting story behind this recovery as well as reprinting an article about the performer, his life and his music by Professor Dale Craig (1971) and an essay on the value of Chinese music by Lo Ka Ping himself (1920).<br />
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So if you like traditional Chinese music or are interested in Taoism and literati culture (or both, as the case may be), I can't recommend this CD highly enough. And if you're looking for a little bit of spiritual peace on a disc, I reckon you won't do much better than this.<br />
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Booklet notes from: http://www.arbiterrecords.com/notes/2004notes.html<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3StXZMbAqrIzTfFSfO8MrUPtoX47MEnzmkYPAtCdS7lYLVegZ6ZM0Wfm12w9Mwd5hVgu00KjqoJFkOGdyhCwt_ErjImBqomCtIYeP8Uf61ZIiVJxNPczcK9XfcAcTFZ2jlPdRP_DrKw/s1600/Songhuizong8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM3StXZMbAqrIzTfFSfO8MrUPtoX47MEnzmkYPAtCdS7lYLVegZ6ZM0Wfm12w9Mwd5hVgu00KjqoJFkOGdyhCwt_ErjImBqomCtIYeP8Uf61ZIiVJxNPczcK9XfcAcTFZ2jlPdRP_DrKw/s640/Songhuizong8.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><b>Lo Ka Ping</b><br />
<b>Lost Sounds of the Tao</b><br />
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Accidents and chance may open doors to remarkable experiences and lost legacies. How Lo Ka Ping's recordings came to survive is one such caprice of fate. The late Teresa Sterne, who commandeered Nonesuch Records for over a decade, was a dear friend, colleague and a guiding light behind the scenes at Arbiter up until her tragic passing in 2000. She had invented and brought to fruition the idea of World Music in the late 1960's, as it then languished in a genre known as "International", a fate to which it slowly sinks once again. Those who knew Tracey were stunned by the breadth and length of her erudition: she had much to say and she said it, all! In her home, many enigmatic boxes and copious files lay about which she intended to evaluate in creating a memoir of the artists she had guided. This was not be, as illness destroyed her resilience and remarkable stamina. After she came to rest, I closely examined and prepared her archive for the various destinations specified in her testament. Her testament overlooked the fate of several tiny boxes of reel-to-reel tapes sent long ago by those hopeful of having their projects realized. Tracey once recalled a test recording made by the senior Dagar Brothers (Indian dhrupad singers) whose legacy is as small as it is of utmost significance: "They were just warming up and sang a little, not enough to publish. Too bad sweetie, I would have given it to you had I known." One palm-sized cardboard box contained music from Crete, marred by a raucous vocalizer. Another had arrived from Hong Kong, sent over by an American professor at Chung Chi College of the Chinese University. I brought these enigmatic tapes home for exploration.<br />
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China's profound musical culture is often emarginated, as the well-known Beijing Opera presents its public side, light popular music serves as a background for daily activities. and the 'true' tradition, when offered, lacks spontaneity, the spark of life. This box contained the photo of an elderly man seated outdoors behind incense pots amidst a flurry of geometric shapes, about to caress sounds out of the qin, a rarely heard instrument (reproduced on our cover). Beneath the tiny reel of tape lay an aerogram, which read:<br />
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<blockquote>May 31, 1970:<br />
Dear Miss Sterne,<br />
In your letter of March 2 you said you might welcome an attractive program of traditional ch'in [qin] music for your "Explorer" series. I have been working on this since then and now have something tangible to present to you.<br />
I have a tape ready of four traditional pieces (Side I) and four original pieces (Side II) for ch'in, played by an old master who lives in a country home in the New Territories. For the 'audition tape' I am sending you two of each, without documentation, romanized Chinese, or characters, all of which can be given to you later.<br />
Included with the tape is a picture of Mr. Lo which you may want to consider for the record jacket. Photographs of his large collection of T'ang and Ming Dynasty ch'in's can also be provided (color).<br />
My liner note information can be as lengthy (or as brief) as you like, since I am now doing research on the ch'in: notation, transcription, and analysis.<br />
Your release of this recording would be a valuable service to the international musical community and help to broaden the range, and therefore the appeal, of your catalog offerings. Good performances on the ch'in are extremely rare at this time.<br />
If you decide you wish to proceed with this recording, we can discuss our terms of agreement. If, however, you do not wish to go ahead with the project, I shall appreciate your returning the tape and picture to me as soon as possible.<br />
With all best wishes -<br />
Dale A. Craig.</blockquote><br />
We cannot know why Tracey abandoned the project, or her reasons for holding on to the tape, as she was a meticulous correspondent.How did this obscure cipher from the past play? The tape seemed able to survive a playback, so the computer was readied to digitally copy its sounds.<br />
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There emerged a vibrant expressive art, its first impression the forthright spirituality of a Blind Willie Johnson (yes, some scales have the blue note intonation!) who made his Ming Dynasty qin state and moan out visions, as panoramas of ancient brush paintings danced before my eyes, attaining life in sound, all their varied densities in depicting nature now breathing amidst sonic rainbows unleashed through the qin's harmonics. The scratching of the silk strings as one changes the finger positions is referred to as the instrument's respiration. Lo's non-thematic use of the fundamental tones in the beginning of the first piece were akin to a veena beginning a raga, causing one to wonder if this manner had become embedded in his music from the early visits by Indian Buddhists, who had brought their own instruments to China. Van Gulik [The Lore of the Chinese Lute, Tokyo, 1969, p.51] writes:<br />
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"The lute [qin] underwent Buddhist influences directly. There were many lute players among famous monks, such as, during the T'ang period, Master Ying, and, during the Sung dynasty, I-hai and Liang-y¸. When some Indian priests came to China they also brought lute-like instruments with them, and Chinese scholars studied these foreign instruments in connection with the Chinese lute. We find, e.g., that Ou-yang Hsiu, famous poet and scholar of the Sung period, praised in a poem the performance of the monk Ho-pai on an Indian stringed instrument (probably the vina).[This occurred between 1007-1072]."<br />
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Gulik elaborates in his text the ritual and self-purification involved in playing this rare instrument: "That thus playing the lute became a magical act, a ritual for communicating with mysterious powers, is, in my opinion, doubtless due to this indirect Mantrayanic influence.<br />
<br />
"A curious result of this direct Buddhist influence is the fact that among the better known qin tunes there is one entitled Shih-t'an 'Buddhist Words', which is nothing but a Mantrayanic magic formula, a dharani. The music of this tune is decidedly Indian, vibratos and glissandos reproducing the frequent melismas used in Buddhist polyphonic chant in China and Japan up to this day. The words are also given, for the greater part in transcribed bastard Sanskrit, the usual language of dharani, and starting with the stereotyped opening formula 'Hail to the Buddha! Hail to the Law! Hail to the Community!"<br />
<br />
Sterne's neglect in returning the recording inadvertently led to its survival, and the date of Dr. Craig's letter caused worry, as thirty-one years had elapsed and only eighteen minutes survived of a rare artist who illuminated China's musical spirit in sound.<br />
<br />
Was there more of Lo? Where was Professor Craig? Repeated calls to his college proved fruitless, as the faculty members offered vague surmisals, that Craig had moved on nearly 30 years ago, perhaps to Western Australia. The search led onward to the remarkable ethnomusicologist Robert Garfias, based in California, who provided a lead to a former pupil now based in Taiwan, who suggested contacting Professor Kin Woon Tong in Hong Kong, one of the qin's leading experts, and to John Thompson, qin player, scholar, and researcher who created a website housing an invaluable bibliography and discography of this rare instrument, favored by Confucius.<br />
<br />
A few phone numbers turned up and one voice reluctantly promised to contact Craig on behalf of the research. Craig phoned from California at daybreak the following day: he feared that no other recordings of Lo might have survived. Many conversations ensued and Craig mentioned the Chinese Cultural Center in San Francisco, where Craig's transcriptions and written memorabilia relating to Lo were housed. After finding their archivist, a search was made but the manuscripts deposited by Craig some eight years back seem to have been misplaced or discarded.<br />
<br />
After listening to these 1970 recordings once again, Craig wrote: "Now I can re-affirm that he was a master who was achieving perfection in almost total isolation. After 30 years, I can take the broader view and hear how this music is related to the sitar music of India in its ornamentations and expressiveness. It is a highly-refined music and gives formal and expressive satisfaction. Aren't the "bell tones" (harmonics) wonderful?<br />
<br />
"I found a list of the recordings I made of Lo: Returning Home, Teals Descending on the Level Sand, Phoenix on the Red Mountain, The Monk's Prayer (traditional). Composing Poems Underneath the Moonlight, The Lonely Teal, Wandering at Ease, and Meditation in the Dead of the Night (Lo's originals). They were all made in March, April and May, 1970. Four of these were on the tape I sent to your friend. Now I wonder where the other four are. I guess my wife didn't move them back to L.A. from Australia. What a loss."<br />
<br />
Craig happened upon a forgotten 3-inch reel containing Sea Fairy and Murmuring in the Boudoir. Thompson possessed a cassette in poor audio quality made at Lo's home in 1971, with several compositions, including the Shih-t'an referred to by Gulik: only two were possible to restore, as the other pieces were sonically hopeless.<br />
<br />
What so casually endows Lo's playing with profundity and depth is the philosophy behind the music, entering the sound through the Tao rather than displaying the fruits of a learned craft, for he was completely self-taught and thus freed from any burden of tradition. As the qin's music is notated without rhythm, he aided Craig in studying the poems and their metrics in order to decipher the music in relation to the texts on which it is based. His performances, compared to most other players, brim with vitality and spirit, like found objects emerging forth into independent existences, unlike the imposed rhythmic regularity and extremely slow tempi the works are often given by scholars. Lo was alive until 1980 (age 84): according to Tong, his family settled "either in Canada or the United States after his passing." One hopes that this disc will somehow lead to them and uncover more recordings which may survive in their private collections. Tong recalls an LP anthology of qin music on which Lo might be present, but cannot trace the disc. A group recital given at Hong Kong's City Hall in 1971 had been recorded and placed with the Chinese University' s archive of traditional music, founded by Dr. Craig:, yet they were unable to locate this document. Fortunately Dr. Craig checked his attic once again and located the taped perfomance. Craig believes it is the one time in Lo's life that he performed in public, included amidst a stream of artists who each played for a few minutes. Did Lo ever mention how he came to play the qin? Craig pondered: "No, he never mentioned why he chose the ch'in. But I think it came naturally, as a wisdom and virtue discipline, as a part of his Chinese culture. At one point I asked myself an important question: Did I choose the way of the ch'in, or did the ch'in choose me? That was probably what happened to him. I doubt that he performed publicly except in that one concert. I think he did it because of my enthusiasm and as part of our friendship, but also because he was an accomplished musician who was aging, and wanted to finally give something to a wider audience."<br />
<br />
The following portrait written by Dr. Craig, Lo's pupil, now serves as both a memorial to his master and a grand introduction for those interested in this unique instrument whose role is bringing forth the philosophy of the Tao through sound.<br />
<br />
In addition to Lo's surviving legacy are rare examples of scholar-performers, such as Zheng Ying Sun, and Xu Yuan Bay, all heard on restored lacquer transcription disc recordings from the mid-1940s. Zha Fuxi, a noted master, was the source of these unique examples. He had been in the United States as a high-ranking Chinese air force pilot between 1946-48: the ethnomusicologist Charles Seeger arranged to record him in Washington. The other two masters are heard thanks to discs brought over to the United States by Zha Fuxi, being transcriptions of broadcasts from Chinese radio (announced). We are aware that Zha Fuxi had been asked by Chiang Kai-Shek to become a leader in the Taiwanese air force, an offer he rejected. In gratitude, he was granted privileges by Mao Tse-Tung for his refusal: access to ancient and unique qin manuscripts, recordings, and published studies of this music were the fruit of his privileges. Fortunately, he died before the Cultural Revolution consumed China's intellectual elite and destroyed so many cultural treasures, such as these early broadcasts.. -- Allan Evans ©2001.<br />
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<br />
<b>Lo Ka Ping: Cantonese Musician</b> [from, Arts of Asia, Nov./Dec. 1971]<br />
<br />
As one negotiates the curves of the narrow, treacherous highway from Kowloon through the mountains and farmlands of the New Territories in Hong Kong, it seems an unlikely route to a musical experience of the first order. Small herds of cows defiantly wander at leisure across the road, everywhere farmers labor in the fields, and tiny (but very tough) Hakka women in their funereal black-bordered straw hats and black pajamas carry heavy loads which dangle from both ends of their bamboo shoulder-poles.<br />
<br />
After passing by the walled village at Kam Tin (where descendants of the original Sung dynasty villagers still live) and through Yuen Long, the most prosperous town in the New Territories, the pathway to our destination is reached. A half mile walk through sugar cane fields, and we come to a gateway with the characters for "Mr. Lo's English Academy".<br />
<br />
We ring the bell, and soon Lo himself, a gentleman in his seventies, comes to welcome us. We stroll past barking dogs, roosters perpetually announcing dawn, and a scampering pet monkey; then we pass one or two miniature rock gardens built by Mr. Lo himself and enter the living room, where Chinese folk instruments such as the san syan three-stringed banjo, ban hu and ye hu, coconut-shell violins, and chin chin, middle-range guitar, hang from the walls.<br />
<br />
Upon finishing some earthy lok-on tea we are escorted through a large classroom lined with zoological specimens such as cats, frogs, and snakes preserved in jars. In the old-style dining room with its marble table and large carved chairs, there are many paintings and fine examples of calligraphy scrolls, and a valuable gu qin (qin or ancient zither), the first of many to be found in Lo's home.<br />
<br />
Upstairs we are shown the Taoist meeting-hall. Lo is not only a qin player and composer, teacher of English, school administrator, and village government official; he is a devout Taoist, an author of several tracts, and leads his own sect. As we observe the altar with its smouldering incense and offerings of oranges and bananas, we remember the many testimonials to Lo's healing powers, still in his possession, from his followers (both European and Chinese) in Canton. He believes that Heaven has granted him the power to learn anything he wishes, and, since he taught himself the extremely difficult art of playing the qin, we come to understand his faith.<br />
<br />
Now we are admitted into the inner sanctum: Lo's studio. T'ang, Sung, and Ming qin's all in excellent condition since they are played almost every day, are all around us. I note that a favorite, named "Jade tinkling in high heaven", rests on the playing table. A little jade box containing Lo's complete repertoire- each title on a separate cardboard disc- sits behind the qin, along with an incense pot and a few green plants. At one time he knew fifty traditional pieces, now can still play fifteen from memory. In addition he remembers fifteen of his original compositions.<br />
<br />
Before he plays for us he invariably closes his eyes (gaining composure and perhaps uttering a short silent prayer) and clears his throat. As he begins the traditional piece "Returning Home", one is struck by the character and virility in his playing. Rather than finesse and elegance, such as a master from Soochow might display, his playing has more of Cantonese soulfulness and forthrighness. He is capable of continuing for as long as one cares to listen and obviously takes an intense delight in performing.<br />
<br />
The sound of the qin, for those who are unfamiliar with it, is, by comparison with most other instruments, muted and grey. This austere quality is perfect for its use as a conveyor of quiet, introspective moods. It probably has the softest tone of any instrument in existence, and it takes some time for one's ear to adjust to its level of sound and begin to enjoy it on its own terms. Its subdued sound makes it suitable for intimate and private performances-like the Western clavichord. Once one has entered its sound-world, however, one begins to distinguish between the various subtle and very special fingerstrokes and ornaments, all of which are fixed by convention and precisely described in handbooks. The frequently-heard harmonics (made by touching the string lightly with the left hand rather than pressing down firmly) are particularly beautiful; they ring like tiny, unearthly bells.<br />
<br />
As we listen to this quiet music, we try to achieve a state of serene contemplation such as all the qin masters advocated. We might, as a help, remember the beginning of the Poetical Essay on the Lute, written by Hsi K'ang, who lived from 223 to 262 A.D.: "From the days of my youth I loved music, and I have practised it ever since. For it appears to me that while things have their rise and decay, only music never changes; and while in the end one is satiated by all flavors, one is never tired of music. It is a means for guiding and nurturing the spirit, and for elevating and harmonizing the emotions. . ."<br />
<br />
After Lo has played, he chats with us about the centers of fine qin performance in China, speculating that even in contemporary China areas of such intense, specialized, and renowned musical activity perhaps still produce expert qin players. They are Peking in Hopei province; Nanking, Soochow, and Yangchow in Kiangsu province; Taiyuan in Shansi province; Changsha in Hunan province; Canton in Kwangtung province; and Taiwan. Musical societies in each of these centers issued important publications and helped maintain high musical standards.<br />
<br />
The experience of visiting a musician such as Lo and hearing him play is an extremely valuable, because so rare, in present-day Hong Kong. He is one of the very few qin players of any skill in the colony, and in addition is an authentic representative of a very special type which is almost extinct outside China (and, after the Cultural Revolution, perhaps inside China as well): the gentleman-scholar who is also an excellent amateur musician, so evocatively described in R.H. van Gulik's The Lore of the Chinese Lute. Originally published by Sophia University in Tokyo in 1940, this masterpiece of scholarship has ben recently been re-issued by Charles E. Tuttle Co. in a new edition [sadly out of print soon after its reprinting in 1968- ed.].<br />
<br />
Lo never depended on playing or teaching music for his livelihood, as do virtually all other musicians in Hong Kong where the present situation of Chinese music is disastrous. Most of the better musicians have to play dinner music in the large hotels by evening or teach in the middle school and privately by day, or both. The purely commercial society of Hong Kong only seems to have a place for diluted Chinese "classical" music and semi-popular or outrightly commercial new compositions and arrangements. The government has taken no steps to preserve genuine Chinese cultivated music, and it is in danger of disappearing entirely.<br />
<br />
Lo Ka Ping's career is deceptively prosaic, when we consider that he was born during the Ch'ing dynasty and lived through all the cataclysmic events of twentieth - century China. And his present life-style is a tribute to the tenacity of the Confucian tradition in the modern Chinese mind. Born in Canton on February 22, 1896, he graduated from the Ling Nam University when he was 22. He was an early spokesman for the value of Chinese music as part of a modern education, The title of one of his lectures, "Should Chinese Music be Taught in Christian Schools" (1920, reproduced following this essay), is indicative of the condescension of his listeners at that time.<br />
<br />
From 1917-24 he taught English in several Kwantung middle schools, and in the following years was first an Inspector of Schools and then the Head of the Education Department of a district. He served for two years in the Militia Council of the Nationalist Government as a Major, and was on the teaching staff of the Sun Yat Sen University. 1929-35 was spent as Headmaster of several middle schools, in Singapore as well as Canton.<br />
<br />
Lo passed the [Second World War] years in Macao, where he taught English and authored a textbook, and when the war was over he came to Hong Kong. He held teaching posts in government schools in Yuen Long and was Headmaster of two other schools in the New Territories and in 1964 he became the Principal of his own school where he now lives. In 1969, when he was 73, he retired from teaching, after a trip to the United States, though in the world of music he is still very active both as a player and collector of the qin.<br />
<br />
The story of the qin is nearly as old as that of China itself. The earliest definite references appear in the Book of Odes during the Western Chou period (1122-770 B.C.). At that time the qin already had seven strings, and was frequently used in combination with the se, a larger instrument of 25-30 strings.<br />
<br />
Both the qin and the se are in long zither shape, but their construction is completely different. The se, from which the later instrument chang was derived, is a psaltery. That is, the strings have bridges and are plucked. The body of the se is hollow and gently convex. It was a good orchestral instrument because of its large volume of tone.<br />
<br />
The qin is made from an upper convex board of ting wood and a lower flat board of tzu wood. In the middle of the back is a sound hole traditionally called the dragon pond; closer to the player's left is another resonance hole known as the phoenix pool. Two anchor knobs are used to secure the silk or nylon strings. The strings are wound around the anchor knobs, the tuned exactly with the tuning pegs from which hang tassels.<br />
<br />
The qin and se were used in Confucian ceremonial orchestras to accompany singers and as solo instruments. Throughout its history the qin has been associated with nobility and refinement, and an ability to play it, or at least deeply appreciate its music, was considered indispensable for any scholar or cultured person. It is frequently referred to in literature as the most poetic and subtle of all instruments. Confucius was one of the most famous players and composers for the solo instrument.<br />
<br />
It is indigenous to China, and is perhaps the most peculiarly Chinese of all Chinese instruments. An ideology grew up around the qin as the dynasties passed, eventually encompassing, in addition to many other rules, the circumstances in which it should be played: there should be fine scenery, one should ideally have bathed before playing the qin, one should play under pines with cranes stalking nearby if possible, and so on. Qin music is full of references to nature, and ideally a fine player should conjure up images of nature in a sympathetic listener's mind.<br />
<br />
One of the most fascinating aspects of the qin is its elaborate and difficult notation, which goes a long way toward conveying the complexity of the music itself. This notation is in special Chinese characters which are a kind of tablature, i.e. only the finger positions, type of stroke, which string to be played, and the ornamentation are shown. Pitch is not shown directly, and rhythm is not shown at all, since ideally each player is to create his own rhythmic values! (In practice, meter, tempo and rhythm are usually learned from one's teacher by rote).<br />
Just as the repertoire of a pianist or violinist tells everything about his musical taste, so it is for a qin performer. Lo's favorite pieces are usually quite difficult and lengthy and invariably express a lofty sentiment. A representative sampling would include: Conversation between the Fisherman and the Woodcutter, Phoenix on the Red Mountain, The Monk's Prayer, Teals Flying Over Heng Yang, Sea Fairy, The Mongolian Trumpet composed by Tung T'ing-lan of the T'ang dynasty and Clouds over the Hsiao and Hsiang rivers composed by Kuo Mien of the Sung dynasty.<br />
<br />
Like many Western composers, Lo claims he composes best late at night, in the clarity of solitude. He has never dared to drive an automobile, because when a melody comes to him, it possesses him and he can think of nothing else. Some of his longest works were composed only in two or three days. His compositions are technically advanced, show strength and individuality, and demonstrate a capacity for extended structures which is, of course, largely intuitive. Some of his favorite original compositions are: The Lonely Teal, Composing Poems Underneath the Moonlight, The Dream of the Maid in the Distant Tower, Meditation in the Dead of the Night and Wandering at Ease.<br />
<br />
Several of these compositions were heard in Lo's solo performance and in orchestral arrangement in the recent symposium "Chinese Music: Past, Present, and Future" presented in Hong Kong City Hall on October 5th, 6th, and 7th [1971] by the Music Department of Chung Chi College in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. These performances confirmed our opinion that his entire output should be carefully studied and preserved.<br />
<br />
After examining the milieu and life-style of this English teacher from Canton whose outward career has appeared so ordinary, one comes to appreciate his astonishing consistency and unity of purpose. Every object, painting, book, carving, or instrument in his home complements every other and bears witness to his integrity and high ideals. His Taoism makes his music possible, and music is indispensable in his Taoist ceremonies. His is a home in which music naturally flourishes. That it has flourished is evident in his poised and subtle compositions and his skillful and inspired performances. -- Dr. Dale Allan Craig, Hong Kong, 1970.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Should Chinese Music Be Taught In Christian Schools?</span><br />
<br />
by Philip Lo [Lo Ka Ping], 1920<br />
<br />
It is with very profound pleasure that I meet you all here to-night. I have been an interested listener to the various speeches that have been delivered by musicians on this auspicious occasion and I assure you that I have derived very material assistance from the suggestions advocated. But, in particular, I am requested to make a few remarks on a special phase of the subject. I feel very incompetent, however, to speak clearly on such an intricate and perplexing topic as that on which I am asked to speak. When I consider the qualifications of my audience, I can hardly have enough nerve to get up to this platform. Not having learned the art systematically, I can scarcely add any embellishments to the discussion. Indeed the few pieces that I am able to play have been learned at random and only by blind imitation. But since I am given the honor to speak, I feel it a duty to lay bare my few scanty thoughts on Chinese music.<br />
<br />
Before answering the questions - "Should Chinese music be taught in Christian Schools?, it is well, I think, to examine into the cardinal purposes of Chinese music as conceived and practised by the fathers of the art. The chief of these was the purification of the sensual impulses. Our fathers believed that music had the power to rouse the beast-like emotions and thereby drive them away, thus purifying the heart. This, it is to be noted, is in facsimile with the Aristotelian conception of the purpose of music, a conception which led him to advocate that music be incorporated into the school curriculum. Secondly, they intended and actually used music for the psychological examination of human nature. They recognized over two thousand years ago that the native constitutions of human beings possessed both good and bad traits. By the proper exercise of the one and judicious suppression of the other, the child could be moulded to be a good citizen. They claimed that by playing a certain kind of music in the presence of a child, he would invariably respond in a certain way as indicated by his facial expressions. This experiment could be carried out, of course, only by expert musicians. Last, but by no means least, our fathers believed that the person playing music at a particular time indicated his state of mind at that time, such as fear, anger, or happiness. Numerous instances can be cited from our history as illustrations of this point. One of these, I suppose, would suffice. Those of you who are acquainted with the history of ancient China know the great general and far-sighted statesman Hung-ming. Once he planned a defensive attack, but through sheer insanity and total lack of common sense of the man he placed in charge of the scheme, his forces were annihilated. The enemies drew near the city. He realized his danger of being captured unless some ingenious plan be instantaneously devised. This he did by getting up to the top of the highest building and there concealed his fear of the approaching by playing a Chinese Seven-stringed Harp, from the sound of which it seemed that he was very joyful and contented.. The adviser of the enemy listening carefully to the songs, detected that it was a fake, but the generalissimo refused to take the advice and withdrew his forces immediately. Thus Hung-ming was saved.<br />
<br />
From this brief enumeration we indubitably see that morally, psychologic[ally], Chinese music is an art. That this is so was upheld by our greatest sage Confucius. He believed that no man's education could be considered complete without a sound knowledge of music. That is why he included it among the six fundamental branches of study. The character of its inventors seems to substantiate this dignified appraisal, being invented by men of high intellectual calibre, among whom were philosophers, prophets, kings and emperors. Specifically the Seven-stringed harp, the most beautiful of all our musical instruments, was invented by Fu-hie, who was our emperor. Of course I do not assume that all emperors had inventive ability. But in this particular case, noble rank was coupled with exceptional ability.<br />
<br />
Just as its inventors were men of high intelligence, so too, were the men who practiced it. In olden times no ordinary man dared to practice this noble art. We are bewildered to find that this is the exact reverse today. But the cause is not to [. . .]. As with everything else, glory is always followed by decline. When music had reached its peak, of glory, it began to deteriorate. Soon, men [from all] scales of social and intellectual development tried to master the essentials which made music what it was at first, its true beauty was gradually lost. In turn this is due to the lack of [a] universal system of instruction. At the beginning and for a long time afterwards, the musicians had a great deal of leisure, as they were mostly men who lived in retirement. These men had plenty of time to improve the instruments and composed songs for themselves. But they left behind no records of their methods.<br />
<br />
This long decay through promiscuous practice and lack of instruction makes music appear today very different from what it was. We now find an enormous [. . .] of musical instruments, a great many of which [are] being played by persons way down in the social scale. This does not mean, however, that the instruments themselves are inherently bad. Nay, their ignoble appearance has been given them temporarily by their unworthy practitioners. This fact clearly points to the pressing necessity of thorough reformation and judicious selection. To this end I have formed an association of Chinese musicians, which meets regularly once a week. In endeavoring to bring about this reorganization, we are trying at the same time to work our a scientific method of teaching. With all the intricacies involved, such a work cannot be accomplished all at once. But although it is still in process of discussion, yet our efforts thus far have been amply gratified by discovering many instruments that deserve to rank among the highest of musical instruments. A few of these I have roughly sketched and, if you are interested to know what they are, I shall be very glad to show them to you at the conclusion of the meeting.<br />
<br />
I have given you the facts and opinions of Chinese music and I shall be very glad if a step be taken to make it part of the curricula of Christian schools. If it could purify the heart by arousing and driving away the sensual impulses; if it could detect the weak points in this active constitution of the child; if it could show the state of a person's mind at any time; then it would accomplish a great part of what morality, psychology, and education strive to accomplish in concurrence. As such, it should be made part and parcel of all school curricula.<br />
<br />
All notes and translations © Allan Evans.<br />
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</div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><b>Lo Ka Ping - Lost Sounds of the Tao</b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Label: World Arbiter #2004</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Year: 2002</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Lo Ka Ping, guqin. recorded 1970, 1971</div></div><div><br />
</div><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Tracks:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">1. Teals Descending on the Level Sand</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">2. Returning Home</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">3. Composing Poems Beneath the Moonlight</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">4. Lonely Teal</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">5. Water Spirit</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">6. Murmuring in the Boudoir</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">7. Water Spirit</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">8. Buddhist (Shih-T'An) Stanza</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">9. Teals Descending on the Level Sand</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">10. Meditation in the Dead of the Night</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">11. Empress' Lament</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">12. Conversation Between a Fisherman and A Woodcutter </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #660000;">* there is an unfortunate digital skip towards the end of track 11, and track 12 is missing. If you want a clean version, please buy the CD from World Arbiter.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div></div><div><a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/112993923/5efc133/LoKaPng-LosSndsTao.zip.html">stars alight upon night puddles</a>. or <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=26UFBRTO">alternate link</a>.<br />
mp3 192kbps | w/ booklet scans</div><div><br />
</div><div>I believe I have this album thanks to Lemmy Caution. Thanks Lemmy!</div>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-18373816182229493892011-03-25T18:56:00.001-06:002011-03-25T18:57:36.421-06:00Végh Quartet - Bartók: The Complete String Quartets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-gkuqhFoVzdOlw_kRvUWXTdeo2-lUjld1Cc3f5eLWr9TXx27-LkmSwwS0OulfEg-n1GB1j85gHeSyTOPPcnL1nglTT67wIzVL86ImQNT08W_S17erU9UzqnZkzRccRcF7mf-QbHFEEd4/s1600/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-gkuqhFoVzdOlw_kRvUWXTdeo2-lUjld1Cc3f5eLWr9TXx27-LkmSwwS0OulfEg-n1GB1j85gHeSyTOPPcnL1nglTT67wIzVL86ImQNT08W_S17erU9UzqnZkzRccRcF7mf-QbHFEEd4/s400/0.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
In honor of his 130th birthday, I thought we ought to pay some heed to the music of Béla Bartók. Now for those of you who like bluegrass and John Fahey and don't think you like modern classical music, consider this:<br />
<ol><li>John Fahey's compositional sense was guided by the desire to try to do with American folk music what Bartók did with Hungarian folk music. Bartók was as great an influence on Fahey as was Charley Patton.</li>
<li>Béla Fleck was named after Béla Bartók.</li>
<li>This is damn good music, whatever the genre.</li>
</ol>Now, secondly, I want you to look at this photo of our man. Look at his eyes. Tell me, does he not burn with the fires of inspiration? Does he not look as crazy, intense, and twisted as Skip James?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFSVTo88EyjBTh3vQeHeeTyVi6EVT3l8PVEOA9ITD4IYn6hRvqYHOWbVdnoBf2vBwHINpciwQrlj5u-glkLCaKRiw7GJO4k-E-6nVe-PbqzQVkHxVjHcWCfw-GIl7WJKNso2pSJKBMBQ/s1600/Bla%252BBartk+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFSVTo88EyjBTh3vQeHeeTyVi6EVT3l8PVEOA9ITD4IYn6hRvqYHOWbVdnoBf2vBwHINpciwQrlj5u-glkLCaKRiw7GJO4k-E-6nVe-PbqzQVkHxVjHcWCfw-GIl7WJKNso2pSJKBMBQ/s1600/Bla%252BBartk+%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Well?<br />
I thought so.<br />
<br />
Just remember. As the magic of the blues, Celtic music, and Indian Classical music relies on being in neither a major or minor scale, the music of Bartók derives its particular magic from being both harmonious and discordant, at the same time. If his music was a church (and in some ways it is), half the choir would be singing hallelujah together, while the other half shouted "I AM THE GOAT-HORNED DANCING BOY!"<br />
<br />
Amen.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVqFmSjTzb0fjuvsGwIpJJfYfROx5pCE6Ad72Rxnjr00yjI0KS0MXhgCzQdIHBjNl3K6_25ljW-p2IU21xb8HYI5_mIvGXOyeAoCzXrAqmqzZDJg1YIsSZhTw7bep-oR3u5V-OPohgrfc/s1600/z052521roy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVqFmSjTzb0fjuvsGwIpJJfYfROx5pCE6Ad72Rxnjr00yjI0KS0MXhgCzQdIHBjNl3K6_25ljW-p2IU21xb8HYI5_mIvGXOyeAoCzXrAqmqzZDJg1YIsSZhTw7bep-oR3u5V-OPohgrfc/s1600/z052521roy1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc326mIz5NKF6U23asOQVREaeTMlkR7FwkiDfsON8PWzpjjWdlqeI2Q-fGBL31iHRLN5QiqOF397BX7vztz-Y8IjqWXncK6zDanl_cHsjdizjnRmelgwMxM7jK9mDNRxUN2kELFzOJqqw/s1600/aHyNHMV3lli6eh5erXWDjLGSo1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc326mIz5NKF6U23asOQVREaeTMlkR7FwkiDfsON8PWzpjjWdlqeI2Q-fGBL31iHRLN5QiqOF397BX7vztz-Y8IjqWXncK6zDanl_cHsjdizjnRmelgwMxM7jK9mDNRxUN2kELFzOJqqw/s320/aHyNHMV3lli6eh5erXWDjLGSo1_500.jpg" width="222" /></a>Autobiography written by Béla Bartók in 1921.<br />
<br />
I was born on March 25, 1881, in a small place called Nagyszentmiklós, which now, together with the whole county of Torontal, belongs to Rumania. My mother gave me my first piano lessons when I was six years old. My father, who was the head of an agricultural school, was gifted musically and active in many directions. He played the piano, organized an amateur orchestra, learned the cello in order to play that instrument in his orchestra, and composed some dance music. I was eight years old when I lost him. After his death my mother had to work as a schoolmistress and struggle hard for our daily bread. We first went to live at Nagyszöllõs (at present Czechoslovak territory), then to Beszterce in Transylvania (at present Rumanian territory) and in 1893 to Pozsony (Bratislava, at present Czechoslovak territory). I began writing piano music when I was nine years old and made my first public appearance as a “composer” and pianist at Nagyszöllõs in 1891 ; it was therefore a matter of some importance for us to settle at last in a biggish town. Among Hungarian country towns at that time it was Pozsony that had the most vigorous musical life, and by moving there I was given the possibility of having lessons in piano and composition with László Erkel (Ferenc Erkel’s son) and also of hearing a few operas, more or less well performed, and orchestral concerts. I had the opportunity, too, of playing chamber-music, and before I was eighteen I had acquired a fairly thorough knowledge of music from Bach to Brahms (though in Wagner’s work I did not get further than Tannhäuser). All this time I was also busy composing and was under the strong influence of Brahms and Dohnányi (who was four years my senior). Especially Dohnányi’s youthful Opus I influenced me deeply.<br />
<br />
When my education at the Gymnasium (high school) was concluded the question arose at which musical academy I should continue my studies. In Pozsony, at that time, the Vienna Conservatorium was considered the sole bastion of serious musical education, but I took Dohnányi’s advice and came to Budapest and became a pupil of István Thomán (in piano) and of Hans Koessler (in composition). I stayed here from 1899 till 1903. I started studying with great enthusiasm Wagner’s work, till then unknown to me – The Ring, Tristan, The Mastersingers – and Liszt’s orchestral compositions. I got rid of the Brahmsian style, but did not succeed via Wagner and Liszt, in finding the new way so ardently desired. (I did not at that time grasp Liszt’s true significance for the development of modern music and only saw the technical brilliance of his compositions.) I did no independent work for two years, and at the Academy of Music was considered only as a first-class pianist.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPKNGuGH88Nux7W6TF03ksRsKytQuixW5f0cfNBqK2z9p1LaAYgupCW7usUKUjO-g4ErbHeThvimNkVNhGt9rsjSirWYSpO8e5zeYt0DKKJJwbB6JsvLdZwkHOAr-6hZ4s_umHPfBBOXU/s1600/portrait_of_bela_bartok_1913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPKNGuGH88Nux7W6TF03ksRsKytQuixW5f0cfNBqK2z9p1LaAYgupCW7usUKUjO-g4ErbHeThvimNkVNhGt9rsjSirWYSpO8e5zeYt0DKKJJwbB6JsvLdZwkHOAr-6hZ4s_umHPfBBOXU/s320/portrait_of_bela_bartok_1913.jpg" width="248" /></a>From this stagnation I was roused as by a lightning stroke by the first performance in Budapest of Thus Spake Zarathustra, in 1902. The work was received with real abhorrence in musical circles here, but it filled me with the greatest enthusiasm. At last there was a way of composing which seemed to hold the seeds of a new life. At once I threw myself into the study of all Strauss’s score and began again to write music myself. Other circumstances entered my life at the same time which proved a decisive influence on my development. It was the time of a new national movement in Hungary, which also took hold of art and music. In music, too, the aim was set to create something specifically Hungarian. When this movement reached me, it drew my attention to studying Hungarian folk music, or, to be more exact, what at that time was considered Hungarian folk music.<br />
<br />
Under these diverse influences I composed in 1903 a symphonic poem entitled Kossuth, which was at once accepted for performance by János Richter, and was performed in Manchester in February 1904. Other compositions of the same period are a Violin Sonata and a piano Quintet. The former was performed by Rudolf Fitzner in Vienna, the latter by the Prill Quartet. These three works remain unpublished. In 1904 I composed my Rhapsody for piano and Orchestra (Opus I), which I entered for the Rubinstein competition in Paris but without success. In 1905 I wrote my first Suite for Large Orchestra.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEtqev0fPspQs7W7B7y1jjqxoN1j-guKYgSGq_riMv5iS0tXt4ynvNRvhnMopRshGixd9c6rU2FO2RajE1cKyKIFqNpvFGAaVRJqrA7J3FaoaOV4PAoS4_Yv6BhmFArFToZ0072ey5w6A/s1600/Bla%252BBartk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEtqev0fPspQs7W7B7y1jjqxoN1j-guKYgSGq_riMv5iS0tXt4ynvNRvhnMopRshGixd9c6rU2FO2RajE1cKyKIFqNpvFGAaVRJqrA7J3FaoaOV4PAoS4_Yv6BhmFArFToZ0072ey5w6A/s320/Bla%252BBartk.jpg" width="200" /></a>Meanwhile the magic of Richard Strauss had evaporated. A really thorough study of Liszt’s --uvre, especially of some of his less well known works, like Années de Pélerinage, Harmonies Poétiques et religieuses, the Faust Symphony, Totentanz, and others had after being stripped of their mere external brilliance which I did not like, revealed to me the true essence of composing. I began to understand the significance of the composer’s work. For the future development of music his --uvre seemed to me of far greater importance than that of Strauss or even Wagner.<br />
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In my studies of folk music I discovered that what we had known as Hungarian folk songs till then were more or less trivial songs by popular composers and did not contain much that was valuable. I felt an urge to go deeper into this question and set out in 1905 to collect and study Hungarian peasant music unknown until then. It was my great good luck to find a helpmate for this work in Zoltán Kodály, who, owing to his deep insight and sound judgment in all spheres of music, could give me many a hint and much advice that proved of immense value. I started these investigations on entirely musical grounds and pursued them in areas which linguistically were purely Hungarian. Later on I became fascinated by the scientific implications of my musical material and extended my work over territories which were linguistically Slovakian and Rumanian.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhmZqIAOLolSQndwSvASOeA0IIbnk4Gc4sXJitOh8SB1j5N-uEMgsS0Dmt4Fngkl7_V4wNWMATSSAe9idCy9e7mRgKP1BUjM_wG5wqZXElMCisuq__MO4LWnRj5UrjWo-QVNvGPobFL2E/s1600/bartok.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhmZqIAOLolSQndwSvASOeA0IIbnk4Gc4sXJitOh8SB1j5N-uEMgsS0Dmt4Fngkl7_V4wNWMATSSAe9idCy9e7mRgKP1BUjM_wG5wqZXElMCisuq__MO4LWnRj5UrjWo-QVNvGPobFL2E/s320/bartok.gif" width="233" /></a>The outcome of these studies was of decisive influence upon my work, because it freed me from the tyrannical rule of the major and minor keys. The greater part of the collected treasure, and the more valuable part, was in old ecclesiastical or old Greek modes, or based on more primitive (pentatonic) scales, and the melodies were full of most free and varied rhythmic phrases and changes of tempi, played both rubato and giusto. It became clear to me that the old modes, which had been forgotten in our music, had lost nothing of their vigour. Their new employment made new rhythmic combinations possible. This new way of using the diatonic scale brought freedom from the rigid use of the major and minor keys, and eventually led to a new conception of the chromatic scale, every tone of which came to be considered of equal value and could be used freely and independently.<br />
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When an appointment to the chair of piano teaching at the Academy of Music in Budapest was offered to me in 1907 I considered this a happy event because it enabled me to settle in Hungary and to continue my studies in musical folklore. In 1907, at the instigation of Kodály, I became acquainted with Debussy’s work, studied it through thoroughly and was greatly surprised to find in his work “pentatonic phrases” similar in character to those contained in our peasant music. I was sure these could be attributed to influences of folk music from Eastern Europe, very likely from Russia. Similar influences can be traced in Igor Stravinsky’s work. It seems therefore that, in our age, modern music has developed along similar lines in countries geographically far away from each other. It has become rejuvenated under the influence of kind of peasant music that has remained untouched by the musical creations of the last centuries. My works which, from Opus 4 onward, tried to convey something of the development just described were received in Budapest with animosity.<br />
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This lack of understanding had many reasons, one of which was the inadequacy of the performances in which our new orchestral works were heard. We could find neither a conductor who would understand our works nor an orchestra able to perform them. In 1911, when these controversies became very heated, a number of young musicians, Kodály and myself among them, tried hard to found a New Hungarian Musical Society. The chief aim of the new organization would have been to form an orchestra able to perform old, new and recent music in a proper way. But we strove in vain, we could not achieve our aim.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXP6tvLfMp-lMDAtCLxQiKp3qA-5jE99LM8ocmr176Hzysb7NrXJRLQsHY6FfcwGLJYG1sT1AUatLfJ5a1SIN1eHRVUagvx79IKyhKYTp9xOPG_bvraWw0X5UGA_0x3vVtwEA8exINaIQ/s1600/fraternity.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXP6tvLfMp-lMDAtCLxQiKp3qA-5jE99LM8ocmr176Hzysb7NrXJRLQsHY6FfcwGLJYG1sT1AUatLfJ5a1SIN1eHRVUagvx79IKyhKYTp9xOPG_bvraWw0X5UGA_0x3vVtwEA8exINaIQ/s320/fraternity.JPG" width="222" /></a>Other more personal disappointments were added to this broken plan and in 1912 I retired completely from public life. With more enthusiasm than ever I devoted myself to studies in musical folklore. More than one daring journey to faraway countries was planned in my head, out of which, as a modest beginning, one only was carried out. In 1913 I travelled to Biskra [Algeria] and the surrounding countryside, collecting Arabic folk music. Then came the outbreak of the war, which - apart from general human considerations - hit me very hard because it put an end to my work. Only a small part of Hungary remained open to my studies and I worked there under hampered conditions till 1918.<br />
The years 1917 marked a turning point in Budapest’s audience attitude about my works. I had the chance to hear my ballet The Wooden Prince, brilliantly performed by the master Egisto Tango who, in 1918, conducted also the performance of my opera in one act, written in 1911 : The Bluebeard’s Castle<br />
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This auspicious turning point was unfortunately followed by the political and economical collapse of 1918 autumn. The period of unrest that followed and lasted about 18 months didn’t allows to work seriously.<br />
<br />
Even the current situation doesn’t allow to think about the resumption of the works related to folk music. We can’t afford this luxury ; on the other hand, the scientific exploration of territory detached from Hungary is almost impossible for political reasons and because of mutual hostility. As for to visit faraway countries, it’s an unrealisable dream.<br />
<br />
Besides, no real interest appears in the world for this branch of musicology. Who know ? Maybe it hasn’t the importance that these fanatics assign to it.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifibMid4xZCJm0hE54MpE0zalzNnHSKxEQJLmCXUNm_DGJ8DPOPlOBVC2JlAyitrsT_H3pem9BWbxA4NcWvWXSfq48Qx3hvsVugTBY5eJqLYkIdCjAwCMCdS6zlkw_jy6sG9-LS3bdHFs/s1600/Bela_Bartok_-_Fan_Art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifibMid4xZCJm0hE54MpE0zalzNnHSKxEQJLmCXUNm_DGJ8DPOPlOBVC2JlAyitrsT_H3pem9BWbxA4NcWvWXSfq48Qx3hvsVugTBY5eJqLYkIdCjAwCMCdS6zlkw_jy6sG9-LS3bdHFs/s400/Bela_Bartok_-_Fan_Art.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<b>Béla Bartók - Biography</b><br />
by Michael Rodman<br />
Through his far-reaching endeavors as composer, performer, educator, and ethnomusicolgist, Béla Bartók emerged as one of the most forceful and influential musical personalities of the twentieth century. Born in Nagyszentmiklós, Hungary (now Romania), on March 25, 1881, Bartók began his musical training with piano studies at the age of five, foreshadowing his lifelong affinity for the instrument. Following his graduation from the Royal Academy of Music in 1901 and the composition of his first mature works -- most notably, the symphonic poem Kossuth (1903) -- Bartók embarked on one of the classic field studies in the history of ethnomusicology. With fellow countryman and composer Zoltán Kodály, he traveled throughout Hungary and neighboring countries, collecting thousands of authentic folk songs. Bartók's immersion in this music lasted for decades, and the intricacies he discovered therein, from plangent modality to fiercely aggressive rhythms, exerted a potent influence on his own musical language.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1zwAXaaUZdPrgq4DsZ3f7zdszvCt3vyJ6mZQw3l_x00wFDWIENAw3XaaKRznlMsh7xXammX4Gkpd2FcWBQAllmEjfkMIDSSsR8UXnRwj-JvdinDoDrxVSAsbPpSpm_17UlYcq_pp71o/s1600/Bla%252BBartk%252BBartok%252Bbewerkt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1zwAXaaUZdPrgq4DsZ3f7zdszvCt3vyJ6mZQw3l_x00wFDWIENAw3XaaKRznlMsh7xXammX4Gkpd2FcWBQAllmEjfkMIDSSsR8UXnRwj-JvdinDoDrxVSAsbPpSpm_17UlYcq_pp71o/s320/Bla%252BBartk%252BBartok%252Bbewerkt.jpg" width="197" /></a>In addition to his compositional activities and folk music research, Bartók's career unfolded amid a bustling schedule of teaching and performing. The great success he enjoyed as a concert artist in the 1920s was offset somewhat by difficulties that arose from the tenuous political atmosphere in Hungary, a situation exacerbated by the composer's frank manner. As the specter of fascism in Europe in the 1930s grew ever more sinister, he refused to play in Germany and banned radio broadcasts of his music there and in Italy. A concert in Budapest on October 8, 1940, was the composer's farewell to the country which had provided him so much inspiration and yet caused him so much grief. Days later, Bartók and his wife set sail for America.<br />
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In his final years Bartók was beleaguered by poor health. Though his prospects seemed sunnier in the final year of his life, his last great hope -- to return to Hungary -- was dashed in the aftermath of World War II. He died of leukemia in New York on September 26, 1945. The composer's legacy included a number of ambitious but unrealized projects, including a Seventh String Quartet; two major works, the Viola Concerto and the Piano Concerto No. 3, were completed from Bartók's in-progress scores and sketches by his pupil, Tibor Serly.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu9_V7hEKdWowSYjgAEQCE_plVI-OKBgIcFGvVWCpq5ac_9setXXycOo-emzZAA18xW28pPxZgKGLwVOA9n0zXrTeX4lnUyexwR0WHXK0EZZilDaFnUwo5Bu74cCC4K5okmfGlAYrhMT4/s1600/Bla%252BBartk+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu9_V7hEKdWowSYjgAEQCE_plVI-OKBgIcFGvVWCpq5ac_9setXXycOo-emzZAA18xW28pPxZgKGLwVOA9n0zXrTeX4lnUyexwR0WHXK0EZZilDaFnUwo5Bu74cCC4K5okmfGlAYrhMT4/s1600/Bla%252BBartk+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a>From its roots in the music he performed as a pianist -- Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms -- Bartók's own style evolved through several stages into one of the most distinctive and influential musical idioms of the first half of the twentieth century. The complete assimilation of elements from varied sources -- the Classical masters, contemporaries like Debussy, folk songs -- is one of the signal traits of Bartók's music. The polychromatic orchestral textures of Richard Strauss had an immediate and long-lasting effect upon Bartók's own instrumental sense, evidenced in masterpieces such as Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta (1936) and the Concerto for Orchestra (1945). Bartók demonstrated an especial concern with form in his exploitation and refinement of devices like palindromes, arches, and proportions based on the "golden section." Perhaps above all other elements, though, it is the ingenious application of rhythm that gives Bartók's music its keen edge. Inspired by the folk music he loved, Bartók infused his works with asymmetrical, sometimes driving, often savage, rhythms, which supply violent propulsion to works such as Allegro barbaro (1911) and the Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion (1937). If a single example from Bartók's catalogue can be regarded as representative, it is certainly the piano collection Mikrokosmos (1926-1939), originally intended as a progressive keyboard primer for the composer's son, Peter. These six volumes, comprising 153 pieces, remain valuable not only as a pedagogical tool but as an exhaustive glossary of the techniques -- melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, formal -- that provided a vessel for Bartók's extraordinary musical personality.<br />
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<b>Végh Quartet - Biography</b><br />
by Robert Cummings<br />
The Végh Quartet was not only one of the finest string quartets from mid-twentieth century Europe, but its style was never subjected to radical change over the years from personnel changes because the four original players remained members for 38 of the 40 years of the ensemble's existence. Its style evolved in subtle ways, of course, but its essential character endured until 1978: the quartet was Central European in its sound, with a bit more prominence given to the cello in order to build tonal qualities from the bottom upward. The Végh Quartet was best known for its cycles -- two each -- of the Beethoven and Bartók quartets. It also performed and recorded many of the Haydn quartets, as well as numerous other staples of the repertory by Mozart, Schumann, Brahms, and Debussy. For a group that disbanded in 1980, its recordings are still quite popular, with major efforts available in varied reissues from Music & Arts, Archipel, Naïve, and Orfeo.<br />
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The Végh Quartet was founded in 1940 by its eponymic first violinist Sándor Végh. The other original members were Sándor Zöldy (second violin), Georges Janzer (viola), and Paul Szabó (cello). The war years were hardly productive for the group, but in 1946 the Végh players settled in France and launched their international career. Soon they were making regular concert tours across the globe with great critical acclaim, and their first major recordings appeared in the early '50s: six quartets by Mozart (K. 387, 421, 458, 464, 575, and 590) in 1951-1952 on the André Charlin label and the complete Beethoven quartets in 1952 on the Les Discophiles Français label. The complete Bartók quartets came in 1954 on EMI and met with the same critical success.<br />
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The ensemble's reputation flourished in the 1960s and '70s, even though Sándor Végh had developed a parallel conducting career and had always been active as a music teacher, first in Switzerland, then in Germany and Austria. The group continued making international tours and issued numerous successful recordings during this period, including remakes of the Beethoven quartets (1972-1974, on Auvidis/Valois) and the Bartók six (1972, on Astrée). In 1978 Zöldy and Janzer left the group and were replaced by violinist Philipp Naegele and violist Bruno Giuranna. Végh himself took up a conducting post that same year in Salzburg with the Salzburg Camerata Academica. The group disbanded two years later.<br />
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<b>Végh Quartet - Bartók: Complete String Quartets</b><br />
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Year: 1997 (released); 1972 (recorded)<br />
Label: Valois<br />
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<u>Tracks:</u><br />
Disc: 1<br />
1. String Quartet No. 1 in A minor, Sz. 40, BB 52 (Op. 7)<br />
2. String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Sz. 67, BB 75 (Op. 17): I. Moderato<br />
3. String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Sz. 67, BB 75 (Op. 17): II. Allegro molto capriccioso<br />
4. String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Sz. 67, BB 75 (Op. 17): III. Lento<br />
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Disc: 2<br />
1. String Quartet No. 3 in C sharp major, Sz. 85, BB 93<br />
2. String Quartet No. 4 in C major, Sz. 91, BB 95: I. Allegro<br />
3. String Quartet No. 4 in C major, Sz. 91, BB 95: II. Prestissimo, con sordino<br />
4. String Quartet No. 4 in C major, Sz. 91, BB 95: III. Non troppo lento<br />
5. String Quartet No. 4 in C major, Sz. 91, BB 95: IV. Allegretto pizzicato<br />
6. String Quartet No. 4 in C major, Sz. 91, BB 95: V. Allegro molto<br />
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Disc: 3<br />
1. String Quartet No. 5 in B flat major, Sz. 102, BB 110: I. Allegro<br />
2. String Quartet No. 5 in B flat major, Sz. 102, BB 110: II. Adagio molto<br />
3. String Quartet No. 5 in B flat major, Sz. 102, BB 110: III. Scherzo<br />
4. String Quartet No. 5 in B flat major, Sz. 102, BB 110: IV. Andante<br />
5. String Quartet No. 5 in B flat major, Sz. 102, BB 110: V. Finale<br />
6. String Quartet No. 6 in D major, Sz. 114, BB 119: I. Mesto - Piu mosso, pesante - Vivace<br />
7. String Quartet No. 6 in D major, Sz. 114, BB 119: II. Mesto - Marcia<br />
8. String Quartet No. 6 in D major, Sz. 114, BB 119: III. Mesto - Burletta<br />
9. String Quartet No. 6 in D major, Sz. 114, BB 119: IV. Mesto<br />
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<br />
<a href="http://hotfile.com/list/1608988/cabcbb8">a family of flowers, under the sheltering sun</a>. or <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?f=34W6MEP6">alternate link</a>.<br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">* out-of-print (new for $149 at Amazon! used for $99!)</span><br />
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You can also get some free downloads from banjoist Jake Schepps' upcoming Bartók album here: <a href="http://jakeschepps.bandcamp.com/">jakeschepps.bandcamp.com</a>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLrPi7V45W72-Rqqg1lXhDa0LkpGmrDHNtqSjhENzQtg1R5FSlMXra2TVXVPCLf8W2XF3gfuANDYwrFm5znZQ2lnpkJKAi5pPzE8tTQJ06B8JCS2yb_QG6BZ2gzcIsEEsYK0qCpZFFodM/s1600/Bla%252BBartk+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLrPi7V45W72-Rqqg1lXhDa0LkpGmrDHNtqSjhENzQtg1R5FSlMXra2TVXVPCLf8W2XF3gfuANDYwrFm5znZQ2lnpkJKAi5pPzE8tTQJ06B8JCS2yb_QG6BZ2gzcIsEEsYK0qCpZFFodM/s320/Bla%252BBartk+%25283%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-35446689235601629022011-03-21T01:26:00.002-06:002011-03-21T01:29:09.701-06:00Gideon Freudmann & Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin - Sound of Distant Deer<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTnsfG8OD2c2f9tBUtzaa-FVm5sse68Fc2IkZSWp-aqKHGLIOjD7YMATuh7hol3J2H09v5HKY5V0nIcdnqTWTgZvjVGIFaVYhb-ssrvlnNXtVD6s2ruVuRRkGQcxtEkiki5DQCnqaYjE/s1600/2010_nyogetsu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTnsfG8OD2c2f9tBUtzaa-FVm5sse68Fc2IkZSWp-aqKHGLIOjD7YMATuh7hol3J2H09v5HKY5V0nIcdnqTWTgZvjVGIFaVYhb-ssrvlnNXtVD6s2ruVuRRkGQcxtEkiki5DQCnqaYjE/s400/2010_nyogetsu.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Some more shaking shakuhachi brilliance here. This time the coldness of the flute is met by the warmth of a cello, albeit a cello that commonly masquerades as a flute. There is so little I can say about this album. It is incredible. You will never hear cello played like this any other time. There are no words for this music.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_MNJOsZSvKTMdwTpCMZ2rpfM_Go0BUChwJnVHmdZooNuweapxMgAfCPUNwXd8ZEpJ8ymVvoUBQNOKtigxhUwBy-7RnXZbaGTsx41GQlJGaY6t3HuXH0W1OiyhFbaRNiLF7JB-bNFf-Q/s1600/nyogetsu_portrait_3.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_MNJOsZSvKTMdwTpCMZ2rpfM_Go0BUChwJnVHmdZooNuweapxMgAfCPUNwXd8ZEpJ8ymVvoUBQNOKtigxhUwBy-7RnXZbaGTsx41GQlJGaY6t3HuXH0W1OiyhFbaRNiLF7JB-bNFf-Q/s1600/nyogetsu_portrait_3.gif" style="cursor: move;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span>Ronnie Nyogetsu Reishin Seldin studied Shakuhachi in Kyoto, Japan with Kurahashi Yodo Sensei, who was a disciple of Jin Nyodo. There in 1975, he received the name <i>Nyogetsu</i> and a teaching certificate at the level of Jun Shihan in the Kinko school of shakuhachi.<br />
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After his return to New York, Nyogetsu was awarded the rank of Shi-han (Master) in 1978, as a result of his efforts to spread the teaching of this instrument in America.<br />
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In 1980, he received his Dai-Shihan, or Grand Master's license. In April 2001, Nyogetsu received a Koku-An Dai-Shihan (Grand Master's license at the level of Kyu-Dan, or 9th level) from Japan's Living National Treasure in shakuhachi, <a href="http://www.komuso.com/people/Aoki_Reibo_II.html" style="color: #0000cc; text-decoration: none;">Aoki Reibo</a>. He was also given the name <i>Reishin</i> (Heart/Mind of the Bell) to go along with it. Nyogetsu is the first non-Japanese to receive this high award.<br />
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Nyogetsu has performed in numerous concerts, lectures and demonstrations in the metropolitan area and around the United States as well as Canada, Mexico, Scotland, and Argentina. Not only has he toured Japan many times, he has also been interviewed on radio and television both here and in Japan, and has performed on the soundtracks of several documentary films including the Academy Award nominated documentary "A Family Gathering" (1989) for which he also co-composed the sound track. Nyogetsu's playing also appears on the GRAMMY-nominated "The Planet Sleeps" (SONY).<br />
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Ronnie Nyogetsu has released several recordings of shakuhachi music including cassettes, LPs and CDs. Mr. Seldin is the founder of Ki-sui-an shakuhachi dojo with branches in Manhattan, Rochester/Syracuse, Philadelphia, and Baltimore/Wash.D.C. In addition to teaching privately, Mr. Seldin is also part of the Japanese Music Program at the graduate Center of the City University of New York where he gives lectures on and demonstrations of the shakuhachi. He is also on faculty at New York University (NYU). His shakuhachi school - KiSuiAn Shakuhachi Dojo - has been the largest and most active in the World outside of Japan for the past three decades. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjgDV4CkvUDSv_IDIJV0c7R7Hdd7Dm8y26ZJljlgZZXhyzjh-WEajwp5rcv4B447vJlB6U71WgG6ofF2_f-Q8pwAz8SzQl8Yt0na9HcjXTnimSJkDYdZwKYAVRjC91xytsZ3hMRKSg5M/s1600/home.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMjgDV4CkvUDSv_IDIJV0c7R7Hdd7Dm8y26ZJljlgZZXhyzjh-WEajwp5rcv4B447vJlB6U71WgG6ofF2_f-Q8pwAz8SzQl8Yt0na9HcjXTnimSJkDYdZwKYAVRjC91xytsZ3hMRKSg5M/s320/home.png" width="175" /></a>"I never knew anyone could play so many instruments on the cello!"</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Gideon Freudmann, a cello innovator, has created his own style of music called CelloBop - a fusion of blues, jazz, folk and much more. He has performed at The Montreal International Jazz Festival, The Prague Swing Jazz Festival and throughout the US. His music is also frequently heard on NPR's All Things Considered and on the TV show, Weeds. His creative workshops at schools, colleges and music camps, as well as his tunebook, New Music For Cello has inspired cello and violin students and teachers from coast to coast to perform his music by their own cello choirs and string ensembles. Gideon's original composed music has been commissioned for film, theatre and dance. His recent project has been performing live soundtracks for classic silent films. Gideon has 12 original CDs to his credit and has performed on dozens of albums by other musicians.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">A classical musician by training, Freudmann earned a Fine Arts degree in Cello Performance from the University of Connecticut. Since that time, Freudmann has distinguished himself as one of the finest solo cross-genre cellists, performing in literally hundreds of venues throughout the United States, including a featured performance at the New Directions Cello Festival in New York. His solo CDs featuring exclusively original songs and lyrics have received international distribution, extensive national and international airplay and glowing critical reviews.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Freudmann has held several artistic residencies including the University of Connecticut, James Madison University, Ithaca Violoncello Institute and others, and has performed in dozens of colleges and universities in the country. Freudmann has been featured as a guest musician on an eclectic array of folk and rock CDs, and his innovative sounds have been commissioned for video, film and dance soundtracks. Among his non-classical influences, Freudmann cites the Kronos Quartet, Turtle Island String Quartet, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Leo Kottke, Mose Allison, and The Beatles.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xtUA42lQGHCpLRS7azmKNRsAlhqhwx-UDdTTVhy4YEy_f1G5PAUqgnd4s9GEIG9r-POvuZUWkrlq0ht4SRwQQdSZ81y38YRnJHkFcHhOfm619VLVLgEIOCpSlndkUgf3K3Reg8FF4TY/s1600/510T6ZHQ80L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6xtUA42lQGHCpLRS7azmKNRsAlhqhwx-UDdTTVhy4YEy_f1G5PAUqgnd4s9GEIG9r-POvuZUWkrlq0ht4SRwQQdSZ81y38YRnJHkFcHhOfm619VLVLgEIOCpSlndkUgf3K3Reg8FF4TY/s1600/510T6ZHQ80L.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<b>Gideon Freudmann & Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin - Sound of Distant Deer</b><br />
<br />
Label: (Gadfly 506)<br />
Year: 1998<br />
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" This CD is a collection of songs combining shakuhachi and cello, in solos and duets, both traditional and modern. Nyogetsu plays shakuhachi with cellist Gideon Freudmann. There are four pieces composed for this CD using duets of these two instruments. There are also 3 improvisations between the two performers that they call "Cellohachi"."<br />
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"Sound of Distant Deer," the first ever cello-shakuhachi duet CD ever released, features traditional and original music performed by two masters of their respective instruments.<br />
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Gideon Freudmann, recognized as one of the most unique and original cellists in the country, teams up with Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin, the leading shakuhachi (the japanese flute) instructor in the U.S., for this one-of-a-kind album. Sounding at times meditative, reflective, bizarre, and odd, this first-ever musical combination has yielded a result that is, quite simply, greater than the sum of its parts.<br />
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The music on "Sound of Distant Deer" includes two ancient Japanese pieces, contemporary works written for these two instruments (though never recorded), and music specifically written and improvised for the album by Freudmann and Seldin.<br />
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Gideon Freudmann, with three previous CDs (Banking Left, Cellobotomy, and Adobe Dog House), has long been recognized for pushing the envelope with his unique use of the cello. In addition, his odd and quirky songwriting has made him a staple of the up-and-coming singer/songwriter circuit.<br />
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Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin -- the foremost shakuhachi instructor in the U.S. -- first learned and studied the Japanese flute with his Japanese Grand Master instructor from 1973 to 1980. In addition to teaching students and giving concerts around the world, he runs the largest shakuhachi dojo in the world outside of Japan.<br />
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<u>Tracks:</u><br />
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1 Shika no Tone (Kinko Ryu)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>鹿の遠音<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>10'50<br />
This is perhaps the most famous of all the Honkyoku (Zen Buddhist original music for Shakuhachi). The time is Autumn, it is the mating season, and from two different mountain tops in the ancient city of Nara, a male and female deer are calling to each other.<br />
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2 Slippery Lettuce<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>04'46<br />
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During the recording session, when we took a dinner break, Ronnie attempted to pour some dressing on his salad. The dressing slid off a big leaf of lettuce and onto the table He said, "that's some slippery lettuce," which inspired Gideon to create this funky, bluesy morsel of aural ruffage.<br />
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3 Psalm of the Phoenix<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>10'52<br />
Composed by Edward Smaldone I.<br />
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The indomitable spirit of the Phoenix is portrayed in a wide-ranging series of scenes that are alternately dramatic, prayerful, ecstatic, bluesy, and Zen influenced. Edward Smaidone (b f956) received the 1993 Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He is an Assistant Professor at the Aaron Copeland School of Music at Queens College, CUNY.<br />
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4 Cellohachi - Part 1<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>04'04<br />
Gideon and Ronnie intended to play an improvisational number together from the outset. They recorded three short pieces and decided to keep them all as a suite. See if you can hear the nod to the tune "Summertime."<br />
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5 Cellohachi - Part 2<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>03'35<br />
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6 Cellohachi - Part 3<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>02'04<br />
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7 Ajikan (Itchoken)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>阿字観<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>06'51<br />
This honkyoku is supposed to represent the Zen concept of "seeing with the heart”. It is about "seeing the original sound", a special sort of vision that is associated with enlightenment.<br />
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8 Scivias<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>07'25<br />
This melody draws on a chant by the 12th century mystic, Hildegard of Bingen, and borrows its title from her "Book of Mysteries". Jeffrey Lependorf (b 1962), best known as a composer of operas, is also a master of the shakuhachi and has composed extensively for the instrument.<br />
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9 Lost Together<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>07'03<br />
Composed by new music composer Murray Hidary of New York City.<br />
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<a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/111156167/4e54fc6/RonNgtsuFldmn-SndsDstntDeer.zip.html">the pigeons alight under brooklyn bridge</a>. or <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SJC73VG1">alternate link</a><br />
mp3 >256kbps vbr<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtDv_PsMIoRpmHcnVMLwl5LJmc7AKeDIAt4Bo1UmIdh31f39x-tbQ00OftfekOKzB1rmgX-3D68487JZ_9VYB7o9dXo5vdOrDK9_ccRTrLhsiH6IcUUO5aeU7wsZW1BbYUzAmezC1DrU/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjtDv_PsMIoRpmHcnVMLwl5LJmc7AKeDIAt4Bo1UmIdh31f39x-tbQ00OftfekOKzB1rmgX-3D68487JZ_9VYB7o9dXo5vdOrDK9_ccRTrLhsiH6IcUUO5aeU7wsZW1BbYUzAmezC1DrU/s1600/4.jpg" /></a></div>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-9793921658182939302011-03-21T01:02:00.001-06:002011-03-21T01:03:58.046-06:00Japanese Masterpieces of the Shakuhachi<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MWuYLwmARR3KRGLFp14wynrSQ3beLm-8EpoqYEVNSUxU1wwsIGGMgn6FntVXkzv4jkqEKCZPgl86fLSJTHbBiK6NlrSPEsNNMHx1UlpOOWuDcJAabxSlDVwKu4f4sXmHRVzzdnfOV-s/s1600/shak4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MWuYLwmARR3KRGLFp14wynrSQ3beLm-8EpoqYEVNSUxU1wwsIGGMgn6FntVXkzv4jkqEKCZPgl86fLSJTHbBiK6NlrSPEsNNMHx1UlpOOWuDcJAabxSlDVwKu4f4sXmHRVzzdnfOV-s/s320/shak4.jpg" width="183" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now we enter the void.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Shakuhachi music is some of the most deeply affecting musics I have ever heard. It is suffused with presence. It requires diligence, and awareness, and a sharp will on the part of both the musician and the listener. It cannot be background music. This music is not for soothing you whilst you relax in a spa and pretend to meditate. This music is true meditation. It is a slap in the face, a breath of fresh air, and the nimble light of beauty dancing through the world. Its association with Zen Buddhist monks probably explains the funny basket-hat, or at least I hope so, because I'm at a loss…</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Anyway, all I'm saying is, this music has the brash hunger of an empty shark, the shifting eternity of an unhurried cloud, and the solipsism of a lone swan on a still lake.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"></span>The Shakuhachi</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqFm9i87chhJvG7Tllgoon7DeFOkoYrsFJBDHJ3dL93SVObWM7V5P0moKZ162BpXP4CH8zl7ZIRJX5mRoTbt5xtof-3_yRbJtOHfUU3xkdC1Fnb4d5s9W5xsS-IGJfqkZ2fSW9M8ZFryk/s1600/2347602701_7fdafdffbc_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqFm9i87chhJvG7Tllgoon7DeFOkoYrsFJBDHJ3dL93SVObWM7V5P0moKZ162BpXP4CH8zl7ZIRJX5mRoTbt5xtof-3_yRbJtOHfUU3xkdC1Fnb4d5s9W5xsS-IGJfqkZ2fSW9M8ZFryk/s200/2347602701_7fdafdffbc_o.jpg" width="134" /></a><b></b>The shakuhachi is believed to have evolved from flutes that first appeared in ancient Egypt and arrived in Japan via China about 1,400 years ago. It has a long association Zen and is said to have a meditative quality because its sound is so closely linked with human breath. With no valves or reed it is deceptively simple instrument made of a piece of bamboo with holes. It produces a rich, mellow sound that it intimately related to the bamboo from which it is made. Its name come from its length in Japanese measurements (equaling 58 centimeters). One shaku is equal to 7.25 centimeters. Hachi is “eight.”</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Patterson Clark, an American who studied the shakuchi in Japan, told the Washington Post, the shakuhachi is “notoriously difficult to play...It forces a face-to-face confrontation with expectation, self-criticism, disappointment, frustration, and impatience—all in a single breath. Exhaling through all these impediments and releasing one’s attachments to them can dissolve the ego so that one experiences only the sound—and become the sound.” </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> The shakuhachi is played very softly. Master musician Yoshio Kurabashi told the Washington Post, “The loudest tone is at the start of the first note of the phrase. As the breath continues, the sound grows softer until it fades into silence.” Notes can be flattened, bent, overblown and played with different fingering. By one count 64 sounds can be made in each octave.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> A bamboo shakuhachi flute from the 8th century found in Nara is 43.7 centimeters long and 2.3 centimeters in diameter and engraved with images of four women picking flowers and playing the biwa lute along with images of flowers, butterflies and birds. </div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i26.tinypic.com/24qvo91.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i26.tinypic.com/24qvo91.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<b>Japanese Masterpieces of the Shakuhachi</b><br />
<br />
played by the Masters Meian-ryu, Kimpu-ryu, Tozan-ryu, Ikuta-ryu, Kikusue-ryu<br />
<br />
Year: 1991<br />
Label: Lyrichord<br />
Time: 53:22<br />
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><br />
This famous bamboo flute, historically the instrument of the Samurai, is here played by the Masters of Meian-ryu, Kimpu-ryu, Tozan-ryu and Kikusui-ryu, at Darumaden of Nanzenji, and Meianji, Kyoto.<br />
Selected as one of CD Review Magazine's 50 Definitive World Music Recordings! (June 1990)<br />
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<u>AMG Review</u><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>by Adam Greenberg<br />
One of a long series of albums put out by Lyrichord dealing with traditional musics from around the world, Japanese Masterpieces of the Shakuhachi reprises the major schools of playing for the traditional Japanese bamboo flute. The liner notes, though leaving the performers uncredited, are quite detailed on the history of the flute and of the playing styles used. As many "world music" aficionados know, the shakuhachi lends itself well to making beautiful, earthy tones that Coleman Hawkins could only have dreamed about. The album starts with "Koku," a 12th century piece written by a priest for relaxation. "Sekihiki No Fu" is an accompaniment for a sung Chinese poem. "Matsukaze" represents a pine tree, which itself represents man; the work makes use of komibuki, a panting technique, used here to symbolize the wild breath of a samurai. "Ajikan" is a beautiful meditation on nothingness, and "Oshusanaya" is a pastoral piece. "Sagariha" uses a choppy rhythm that implies waves, though the translation is "drooping leaves." Finally, "Kyushi Reibo" is a piece written in memoriam of the Buddha's death by a pilgrim who was impressed by the strong spirit (reibo) of the Buddha on the island of Kyushu. Throughout, the album shows some noteworthy playing by the musicians of this mysterious sounding flute, and beauty in all aspects of the playing. The sound is perfect for tranquil relaxation, regardless of the century or the continent.<br />
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<br />
<u>CD REVIEW</u><br />
Japanese Masterpieces for the Shakuhachi is one of those rare discs that takes over the mind and body, filling the room with an unearthly mist of sound. The timbre of the bamboo flute on this release can be shrill and penetrating in the upper registers, mellow and breathy in the middle, thick and dark in the lowest reaches. The use of quivering tremolos at climactic moments and well-paced dissonance's that add a foreboding sense of mystery are fully exploited by the indigenous masters of this Buddhist-inspired music. The performances are so convincing that you get the feeling these artists aren't just musicians symbolizing the unknown, but actually calling it forth. An obvious hiss may summon you back to earth once in a while, but the instruments still come across with vitality. - Linda Kohanov, 4/90<br />
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<u>Rhythm Music Magazine</u><br />
The shakuhachi (vertical bamboo flute) was sometimes used in Gagaku, but the music on LYRCD 7176 is associated with the four or five schools of largely solo styles of the Fuke sect of samurai. The starkness of the melodies is decorated by microtonal ornamentation and changing timbres, which can quickly move from shrill overblowing to breathy worbling to mellow sustained tones; when two or more shakuhachis combine, beats created by deliberately "out of tune" unisons add further variety. Small details such as these are the main focus of the music, which amply repays repeated listenings. -Steve Holtje, 3/94<br />
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Tracks:<br />
1 <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Kokh <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>9:08<br />
2 <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Sekihiki No Fu <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>13:48<br />
3 <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Matsukaze <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>6:43<br />
4 <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ajikan <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>6:31<br />
5 <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Oshusanaya <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>7:11<br />
6 <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Sagariha <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>6:00<br />
7 <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Kyushi Reibo <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>4:36<br />
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<a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/111154003/9f22d50/JapMastpShak.zip.html">the wind blows lonely through distant pine trees</a>. or <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?yhmigdoodot">alternate link</a><br />
mp3 >224kbps vbr | w/o cover | 86.1mb<br />
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liner notes <a href="http://www.lyrichord.com/linernotes/LYRCD7176US.pdf">here</a>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-10828118855387569812011-03-21T00:24:00.001-06:002011-03-21T00:25:42.745-06:00Tomoko Sunazaki - Tegoto: Japanese Koto Music<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgFLdK6kqNQatKISr1khYQSu3bhl6Vbxq0CnwWeqXaxPb0Gd2zgVik0eVnWYekYdU7_iXf5WCBWiIjXOSGbLCEm3z-8BnyrqwUVdA6YkYOHtYVDbm1DyZp4oVz15HHUKk3XjJZfywk8U/s1600/KV005418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgFLdK6kqNQatKISr1khYQSu3bhl6Vbxq0CnwWeqXaxPb0Gd2zgVik0eVnWYekYdU7_iXf5WCBWiIjXOSGbLCEm3z-8BnyrqwUVdA6YkYOHtYVDbm1DyZp4oVz15HHUKk3XjJZfywk8U/s400/KV005418.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Japan has been on our minds.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since I've been on a theme of music from the far-east recently, I ought to continue it with a few albums of Japanese music. This is a really beautiful, quite accessible album, totally recommended if you have been interested by any of the Chinese & Vietnamese stuff that I've posted. Though of course it's different too. Sonically, it is like a cat prancing from roof to slanted roof in the middle of a rainstorm. Emotionally it runs the gamut from serenely delicate to luscious and wet to stark and cold. Apart from one flute duet, it's mostly solo Koto, which is just fantastic for cordophiles like myself. Listen to this music at night, and then go take a midnight walk and smell the plum and cheery trees coming into blossom. There is a full gleaming moon in this music, I promise you.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i34.tinypic.com/2d2dpi9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://i34.tinypic.com/2d2dpi9.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<b>Tomoko Sunazaki - Tegoto: Japanese Koto Music</b><br />
<br />
Year: 1996<br />
Label: Fortuna<br />
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Product Description<br />
This splendid collection of recordings covers a wide spectrum of Japanese koto music; the compositions span three centuries, from ancient traditional to modern Western influenced pieces. Undoubtedly, the most impressive element of the releases is the artist herself, the world renowned Tomoko Sunazaki. She is internationally recognized as a master of the Japanese koto. From the age of six, Sunazaki was trained in the direct lineage of the famous koto performer and composer, Michio Miyagi. At the age of 14, she had already earned her teacher's license in koto from the Ikuta School. Later she earned her Bachelor and Master degrees at the Tokyo University of Fine Art, and subsequently joined the faculty there. In 1981, Madame Sunazaki was awarded a teaching degree from the Miyagi Koto school, which is a rare honor.<br />
Michio Miyagi's works are an integral part of each of the releases in this collection, performed with respect and devotion. Miyagi was one of the first to integrate Western inspiration into koto music, an aspect Madame Sunazaki found especially important. By recording traditional Japanese music, Western classics, and the delicate blend of both, she hoped to expand the perceived limitations of the koto.<br />
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Drawing from Sound of Silk Strings (1984), Spring Night (1984) and Moon at Dawn (1986) this compilation CD presents a delicious sampling of Sunuzaki's most elegant and most exciting performances.<br />
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Special note should be taken of the beautiful release Tegoto: Japanese Koto Music. From the stunning rice paper booklet to the choice of titles, this compilation is clearly an artistic masterpiece. This sampling of Madame Sunazaki's most elegant and exciting performances is the perfect choice for the audiophile interested in koto music.<br />
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Review<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>by Backroads Music/Heartbeats<br />
This 60-minute CD-only release is a compilation from Mme. Sunazaki's tapes, plus one cut from Moon at Dawn (her duet with M. Koga). Ms. Sunazaki is a master of the koto, and the music is graceful and serene.<br />
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Tracks<br />
1 Sea of Spring - Miyagi - 6:56<br />
2 London No Yoru No Ame [London in a Rainy Night] - Miyagi - 3:51<br />
3 Shinsencho Bukyoku - Yuize - 9:37<br />
4 Koto Tanshishu - Miki - 9:53<br />
5 Tegoto - Miyagi - 12:26<br />
6 Mittsu No Dansho - Nakanoshima, Nakonoshima - 9:08<br />
7 Kamimu - Sunazaki, Yamamoto - 8:05<br />
8 Midare - Kengyo, Sunazaki - 7:48<br />
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<a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/107330046/fc805b9/TomokSunazak-TgtoJapKotMus.zip.html">snow melts on high mountains</a>. or <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1PD4V5EQ">alternate link</a><br />
mp3 vbr | w/o cover<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;">* out-of-print</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJXV_OHTpXxthtXKLeb8x5HCZyneLPskVZWRMGzrw7wzehjVWFFnfbAaCiz9ZF6qb_xaAXtcjZpIBAIKLtXjSRNReA5wvD0L7Co5-XocI4aW2OiMIytAZ3DKF3j5ZbPael3kolW2fDm8/s1600/20090808-visualizingculturemit19thcenturyCaptainFrankBrinkleygj20702_KotoPlayer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdJXV_OHTpXxthtXKLeb8x5HCZyneLPskVZWRMGzrw7wzehjVWFFnfbAaCiz9ZF6qb_xaAXtcjZpIBAIKLtXjSRNReA5wvD0L7Co5-XocI4aW2OiMIytAZ3DKF3j5ZbPael3kolW2fDm8/s320/20090808-visualizingculturemit19thcenturyCaptainFrankBrinkleygj20702_KotoPlayer.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></span></div>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-44958536743109923502011-02-20T01:35:00.000-07:002011-02-20T01:35:29.297-07:00Pan Gu and Nü Wa<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjLsqQtn1Czhqj56DzYd1mWFpgJ0ymGLuaKugoRl6zLuSel__k_mPL8uTkNGEGmkFOkdcq83JZwRt6WoILwdayLfJqHr8JU3FpQUzFEuJgN7SifynCbAS7Wc0oYb575NjVEMxnv6rMo8/s1600/s33.1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZjLsqQtn1Czhqj56DzYd1mWFpgJ0ymGLuaKugoRl6zLuSel__k_mPL8uTkNGEGmkFOkdcq83JZwRt6WoILwdayLfJqHr8JU3FpQUzFEuJgN7SifynCbAS7Wc0oYb575NjVEMxnv6rMo8/s320/s33.1.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" width="221" /></a></span></b><br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<b>Pan Gu and Nü Wa</b><br />
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</div>Long, long ago, when heaven and earth were still one, the entire universe was contained in an egg-shaped cloud. All the matter of the universe swirled chaotically in that egg. Deep within the swirling matter was Pan Gu, a huge giant who grew in the chaos. For 18,000 years he developed and slept in the egg. Finally one day he awoke and stretched, and the egg broke to release the matter of the universe. The lighter purer elements drifted upwards to make the sky and heavens, and the heavier impure elements settled downwards to make the earth.<br />
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In the midst of this new world, Pan Gu worried that heaven and earth might mix again; so he resolved to hold them apart, with the heavens on his head and the earth under his feet. As the two continued to separate, Pan Gu grew to hold them apart. For 18,000 years he continued to grow, until the heavens were 30,000 miles above the earth. For much longer he continued to hold the two apart, fearing the retun of the chaos of his youth. Finally he realized they were stable, and soon after that he died.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMRWnYFtrdQK3SlOiYZbO3ND7hTxMfu3If9d9tei142YoPNhef_bbaLWKQbvw9Bc1fLmGhwi7lQUK08fo-bJltKjW33BCR1cKmEb0Fpda8mTlmG4Y11tyZgIAtVFn6tCUJnIOxFJANqeU/s1600/Pangu.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMRWnYFtrdQK3SlOiYZbO3ND7hTxMfu3If9d9tei142YoPNhef_bbaLWKQbvw9Bc1fLmGhwi7lQUK08fo-bJltKjW33BCR1cKmEb0Fpda8mTlmG4Y11tyZgIAtVFn6tCUJnIOxFJANqeU/s1600/Pangu.jpeg" /></a>With the immense giant's death, the earth took on new character. His arms and legs became the four directions and the moutains. His blood became the rivers, and his sweat became the rain and dew. His voice became the thunder, and his breath became the winds. His hair became the grass, and his veins became the roads and paths. His teeth and bones became the minerals and rocks, and his flesh became the soil of the fields. Up above, his left eye became the sun, and his right eye became the moon. Thus in death, as in life, Pan Gu made the world as it is today.<br />
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Many centuries later, there was a goddess named Nü Wa who roamed this wild world that Pan Gu had left behind, and she became lonely in her solitude. Stopping by a pond to rest, she saw her reflection and realized that there was nothing like herself in the world. She resolved to make something like herself for company.<br />
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From the edge of the pond she took some mud and shaped it in the form of a human being. At first her creation was lifeless, and she set it down. It took life as soon as it touched the soil, however, and soon the human was dancing and celebrating its new life. Pleased with her creation, Nü Wa made more of them, and soon her loneliness disappeared in the crowd of little humans around her. For two days she made them, and still she wanted to make more. Finaly she pulled down a long vine and dragged it through the mud, and then she swung the vine through the air. Droplets of mud flew everywhere and, when they fell, they became more humans that were nearly as perfect as the ones she had made by hand. Soon she had spread humans over the whole world. The ones she made by hand became the aristocrats, and the ones she made with the vine became the poor common people.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCZ4hhra6x-ntihWlVr9iVAFQnFMxVzwr3u-JF-teyjMJmtl2NHmttJN0-a3rRFnNjZKf_NCTVtuDQiz1sUdv83Ijst2S94P6xpQX9OhfSpGOAiZ2xNAYj40JCKCcdN7zfnSnwEcLEpSU/s1600/panggu.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCZ4hhra6x-ntihWlVr9iVAFQnFMxVzwr3u-JF-teyjMJmtl2NHmttJN0-a3rRFnNjZKf_NCTVtuDQiz1sUdv83Ijst2S94P6xpQX9OhfSpGOAiZ2xNAYj40JCKCcdN7zfnSnwEcLEpSU/s1600/panggu.jpeg" /></a>Even then, Nü Wa realized that her work was incomplete, because as her creations died she would have to make more. She solved this problem by dividing the humans into male and female, so that they could reproduce and save her from having to make new humans to break her solitude.<br />
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Many years later, Pan Gu's greatest fear came true. The heavens collapsed so that there were holes in the sky, and the earth cracked, letting water rush from below to flood the earth. At other places, fire sprang forth from the earth, and everywhere wild beasts emerged from the forests to prey on the people. Nü Wa drove the beasts back and healed the earth. To fix the sky, she took stones of many colors from the river and built a fire in which she melted them. She used the molten rock to patch the holes in the sky, and she used the four legs of a giant turtle to support the sky again. Exhausted by her labors, she soon lay down to die and, like Pan Gu, from her body came many more features to adorn the world that she had restored.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7x8nlZ5qyYsatVdr-Q2tiG5pujMzTU-XE1PBv4RLsQK1FkiDFFm5rsJ4loWcCdGo4rlnRF8p8bCooH_-KOoVVcW18SXEN7uenVVsTo2tpryQ_NJZBk1nPqyAJGLB0l4ZYgO4H382m1qs/s1600/70829032342518.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7x8nlZ5qyYsatVdr-Q2tiG5pujMzTU-XE1PBv4RLsQK1FkiDFFm5rsJ4loWcCdGo4rlnRF8p8bCooH_-KOoVVcW18SXEN7uenVVsTo2tpryQ_NJZBk1nPqyAJGLB0l4ZYgO4H382m1qs/s320/70829032342518.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-28896126536073447212011-02-20T01:17:00.001-07:002011-02-20T01:22:00.373-07:00Chinese Instrumental Ensemble - Masterpieces Of Chinese Traditional Music<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1403/534564234_aeed2c197f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1403/534564234_aeed2c197f.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">And while we're deep in the orient, here's a great instrumental album from China. While previously I've posted some solo records, here is a full-on ensemble piece that swells and booms and crashes and caresses like a chorus of waves. The music is a journey of splendor, repose, and yearning.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Though holding strong to the Chinese tradition, it draws upon a few western elements (like the Cello), and should prove much more accessible to western ears than, say, Chinese opera. The ehr-hu player, Jie-Bing Chen, released an album with Béla Fleck and V.M. Bhatt a few years back, called 'Tabula Rasa', which is fantastic. She's top class, and the rest of the musicians are too. Give it a try? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><img alt="Image" src="http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa351/TheIratePirate/51txVb-WpGL.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Chinese Instrumental Ensemble - Masterpieces Of Chinese Traditional Music</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Year: 1994<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Label: Wind<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />There are not enough words to describe the exquisite joy in the heartbreakingly beautiful music on Masterpieces of Chinese Traditional Music. Loving care was put into the recording and performances on every track. The blending of traditional Chinese instruments such as the erzu and the guzheng will transport you to a lush moss garden, even if you're stuck in a traffic jam. This is healing music, plain and simple. ~ Tim Sheridan<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />engineered by Kavichandran Alexander using the warm tones of vacuum tube and analog equipment and the unique acoustics of an old church in Santa Barabara, CA to preserve the richness of this ancient music <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Recording information: Christ the King Chapel, St. Anthony Seminary, Santa Bar.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Arrangers: Guo-Hui Ye; Xiao-Gu Zhu.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Personnel: Min Xiao-Fen (pipa); Jie-Bing Chen (erhu); Bei Chen (cello); Yang-Qin Zhao (yang-chin).<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Tracks:</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />1. Dancing Song of the Yao Tribe - Traditional - 8:16<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />2. The Moon Over Wall Gate in Frontier - Traditional - 6:31<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />3. The Moon Is High in the Heavens - Traditional - 12:17<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />4. Parting at Yang Guan - Traditional - 5:28<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />5. Spring Rivers and Flowers Under the Moonlight - Traditional - 9:53<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />6. Melodies From the Night Fishermen - Traditional - 7:54<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />7. A Legendary Couple: Scholar Liang and Lady Chou - Traditional - 13:56</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/106124995/d79b0a5/ChinsInstrEnsmbl-MstrpcsTrdChnsMus.zip.html">the moon is full, resting on your keyboard</a>. or <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5773H8MC">alternate link</a><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />mp3 >256kbps vbr | w/ cover</span>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-12367582641915931612011-02-19T13:48:00.001-07:002011-02-19T13:53:04.929-07:00Vietnam - Instrumental Textures<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbAJ3uRQ-91v1p250ws6z5AcgYuWOn2B5f4KeGSq9fbUIO7ZokCVekrcPaLwr6mo8aIjUMGZXSOoxuu_qnS5iu9A-8ZJEkXQ0YbuObOCKtPPSLi0y9hxGYhK7XWCqS35KO4xWcdSBatBg/s1600/vietnam-dayone04-small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbAJ3uRQ-91v1p250ws6z5AcgYuWOn2B5f4KeGSq9fbUIO7ZokCVekrcPaLwr6mo8aIjUMGZXSOoxuu_qnS5iu9A-8ZJEkXQ0YbuObOCKtPPSLi0y9hxGYhK7XWCqS35KO4xWcdSBatBg/s400/vietnam-dayone04-small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;">Hm. How can I describe this music? It sounds so unlike anything ever conceived by western ears. And yet there are so many parallels in the realm of feeling and pure sound. The </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%90%C3%A0n_tranh" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: underline;">Đàn tranh</a> (long zither) sounds like a slide guitar played by aliens. And the music is pentatonic, melancholy, and wistful like the blues. But it is also striding, triumphant, and exuberant like ragtime. It paints pictures and builds to climaxes like western classical music (both romantic and impressionistic), and bouncing like the best of folk music. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">But really, descriptions do nothing if they cannot bring you to a place of open-mindedness, to hear this music freshly, with innocent ears. Please, listen to these sublime sounds and allow yourself to be transported to another realm. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><img alt="Image" src="http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa351/TheIratePirate/B000003MRJ01MZZZZZZZ.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Vietnam - Instrumental Textures</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />performed by the “SONG OF THE NATIVE LAND” ENSEMBLE <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Year: 1996<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Label: JVC<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Tracks:</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />01 doc tau dan tranh “Tu Dai Oan”solo:17 string zither “Four Generations” <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />02 doc tau dan bau “Ru Con”(dan ca Nam Bo)solo: monochord “Lullaby of the South” <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />03 doc tau dan nhi “Se Chi Luon Kim”(dan ca quan ho Bac Ninh)solo:2 string fiddle“Love Song”(folksong from Bac Ninh Province) <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />04 song tau dan tranh va dan bau “Doan Khue Lam Giang va Vong Co” duo: 17 string zither & monochord“River Lam and Reminiscence” <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />05 doc tau dan nhi voi hoa tau “Phien Cho Mua Xuan” solo:2 string fiddle with ensemble“The Market in Spring” <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />06 doc tau sao truc voi hoa tau “Le Hoi Non Song” solo:bamboo flute with ensemble <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />07 hoa tau nhac thinh phong mien Trung “Luu Thuy,Kim Tien,Xuan Phong, Long Ho” ensemble in a Central Vietnamese style “Flowing Water, Golden Sapeke, Spring Wind, Dragon & Tiger” <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />08 doc tau dan t'rung voi hoa tau“Mua Hai Qua”solo:vertical bamboo xylophone with ensemble“Season for Picking Fruit” <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />09 song tau sao va dan t'rung “Buoi Sang Tien Nuong” duo:bamboo flute and xylophone “Morning on the Terraced Fields” <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />10 hoa tau“Ly Ngua O” ensemble“Song of the Black-haired Horse” <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />11 doc tau dan tranh “Sakura”(dan ca Nhat) solo:22 string zither “Sakura”(variations on a song from Japan)</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/106120297/b904a82/SonOTNatvLndEns-InstrTextViet.zip.html">aliensong</a> or <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QC09NPAN">alternate link</a>.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />mp3 >256kbps vbr | w/ cover</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Image" src="http://i26.tinypic.com/ff1wms.jpg" /></span></span>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-7800632320583504752011-02-15T13:23:00.002-07:002011-02-15T13:29:29.600-07:00Rene Heredia - Alborada Flamenca<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkYz1Dlof8axocUosjXP13khHrVXJ9tFZE2yM2R4MZpyeo4buD39BOrdB8tvmRlQPdnh8JbymApB9nrq2Ph8aZWpgfuzN262T__w2d_nMd7eC4CDLwtijTM9L9gaaR5cEV2yBgqEI2T0/s1600/IMG48002__SANGUIN_DRAWING_.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjkYz1Dlof8axocUosjXP13khHrVXJ9tFZE2yM2R4MZpyeo4buD39BOrdB8tvmRlQPdnh8JbymApB9nrq2Ph8aZWpgfuzN262T__w2d_nMd7eC4CDLwtijTM9L9gaaR5cEV2yBgqEI2T0/s400/IMG48002__SANGUIN_DRAWING_.jpeg" width="266" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Scalding flamenco from one of Sabicas' students.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“The guitar playing of René Heredia is in the finest tradition of flamenco, creating a flaming intensity that cannot fail to arouse.” —Denver Post</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“If any musician on the local Denver scene deserves the moniker of legend, it would have to be René Heredia. Simply put, the man is a living history of the art of Gypsy flamenco guitar. He is both a link to its glorious past through his early association with legendary greats such as Carlos Montoya and Sabicas, and a bridge to its future through his love of teaching and performance…. René Heredia is an artist who is as passionate about the music as the music is itself…. René is a local artist of international stature … without a doubt, one of the greatest proponents of flamenco guitar music alive today….” —Classically Speaking, Music for All</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“René Heredia is the most sensational young flamenco guitarist in the United States.” —Sabicas</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“The audience wouldn’t let him quit.” —Los Angeles Times</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">“René Heredia is a brilliant guitarist.” —Walter Terry, New York Saturday Review</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBvCzLW6ICBIYmhhvwE368JNDxeZaqA58hOaW6NHUIUP6alX09VNgh1261gjFEcwtgNYZ5xDkxpoYTh2ysLWvalRHDz9L4WFVL0_P8KFjzZl7jLnOyR40hhI1I4cwH7Q3W6IcjCiMhbAs/s1600/Image-3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBvCzLW6ICBIYmhhvwE368JNDxeZaqA58hOaW6NHUIUP6alX09VNgh1261gjFEcwtgNYZ5xDkxpoYTh2ysLWvalRHDz9L4WFVL0_P8KFjzZl7jLnOyR40hhI1I4cwH7Q3W6IcjCiMhbAs/s1600/Image-3.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">René with Sabicas</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">René and his Flamenco guitar have been together for so many years of his lifetime that there seems to be no separation of the two. He formed a bond with the guitar as a child. His life, his character, his loves and aspirations have all developed through the instrument.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">He began his training with his father, a Gitano Puro (pure Gypsy). As a boy, René was taught the rudiments of Flamenco Guitar and Spanish Gypsy Dance. He brings a unique view of both sides of the art form to his audience. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As a little boy, René remembers always having the house full of flamencos such as Carlos Montoya, Vicente Escudero, Mario Escudero, José Greco’s dance Company, Carmen Amaya, Sabicas, La Chunga and her Company. They were\all close friends of José Heredia and his family. Sabicas would help and teach René the secrets of Flamenco at his mother’s kitchen table.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">At thirteen, he was performing with his sisters, Fátima, Sarita, Zoraida, Carmen, and brother Enrique. “Los Heredia” were doing concerts, television shows and supper club performances. His international recognition came when he was seventeen and the incomparable Flamenco dancer Carmen Amaya (Spain’s greatest dancer of this century) heard him play. She immediately took him to be her lead guitarist. He toured many years doing concerts in the major capitals of Europe and the United States with the famous Amaya Ballet. While he was in Spain, René was invited to perform with the singing and motion picture star Antoñita Moreno, in “Los Reinos de España”. He was then invited to perform in the Festival de Cante Grande with Fosforito, Jarrito, Juanito Varea, Chocolate, and Gordito de Triana; some of Spain’s most outstanding singers. As his reputation grew, the famous Spanish dancer José Greco invited him to be his lead guitarist for several seasons. René has played for such outstanding dancers as El Güito, Mario Maya, Los Pelaos, Manuela Vargas, Luisita Triana, María Rosa, Ciros, Rosa Montoya, Lutys de Luz, María Benitez, Los Heredia, and many more.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">While living in Paris, René’s distinguished L.P. album, Alborada Flamenca, was awarded the Gran Prix de Disque of France. In the United States, René was invited to perform the world premiere of his symphony composition and Flamenco suite for Guitar and Orchestra “Alborada Gitana”(a Farruca), which he performed with the Denver Symphony and Denver Chamber Orchestra at Red Rocks Amphitheater.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVg123baV0YWgo2lCxacOfaeFtm1icyiuFosqyP3wXaJmbJRHsGAN6Gbdm5Jacc99tLwUNjQAwfTHYferYXaasp1dS-9HCZc3sXaz7MAGo6Rf3f0Jg9HLTuJXze_FIBSNbag14lY_Gkq4/s1600/Image.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVg123baV0YWgo2lCxacOfaeFtm1icyiuFosqyP3wXaJmbJRHsGAN6Gbdm5Jacc99tLwUNjQAwfTHYferYXaasp1dS-9HCZc3sXaz7MAGo6Rf3f0Jg9HLTuJXze_FIBSNbag14lY_Gkq4/s1600/Image.jpeg" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">René has performed live concerts and T.V. shows with his Flamenco Fusion Group and his Flamenco Fantasy Dance Theatre. He performed solo concerts at such prestigious venues as New York’s Carnegie Recital Hall four years in a row, where he received standing ovations; the Champs Elysee Theatre in Paris; Westminster Theatre in London; Teatro Barcelona; Teatro La Zarzuela and Teatro Maravilla in Madrid, Spain; and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Greek Theatre in Los Angeles.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">René has performed concerts with his Flamenco Fantasy Dance Theatre in Kansas City, where he was awarded the “Keys to the City” (sister city of Seville, Spain). He was recognized as one of Colorado’s best-known composers in a special tribute to Colorado artists at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">René was awarded the prestigious Governor’s Award of Colorado for excellence in performance and education, as well as the Mayor’s Award of Denver for excellence in the arts. He has done command performances for such dignitaries as Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, Armand Hammer, Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia, Queen Noor of Jordan, and Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">René was invited to be the lead guitarist and guest artist with Stewart Copeland, founder of “The Police” in his national tour of the U.S.A. in “The Rhythmatists”. René was invited by Colorado Performing Arts Center to be the musical director for the play “Romeo and Juliet” (set to early colonial California).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">René has appeared on numerous national radio and television shows, including The Ed Sullivan Show with Duke Ellington, The Steve Allen Show with Sabicas, and The Art Linkletter Show with Donald O’Connor and Abbie Laine, The George Goble and Eddie Fisher Show with Carmen Amaya, and The Ann Southern Show with César Romero. René appeared in the Spanish Movie “Balcón de Luna” with Paquita Rico, Carmen Sevilla, and Lola Flores. His N.E.T. concert specials and opening acts for such outstanding artists as Bill Cosby, Hal Linden, and Peter Nero have put René in the forefront as one of the leading Flamenco Guitarists in the United States today. </span><br />
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</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Rene Heredia - Alborada Flamenca</span></span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Label: Gypsy Productions, Inc.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Tracks: see below</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?myym12cmmmy">sizzle, my nizzle</a>.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">mp3 >256vbr | w/ scans | 76mb</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">*out-of-print & impossible to find</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><img alt="Image" src="http://i29.tinypic.com/9h076a.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span></div></div></div>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-30498190280809379792011-02-14T00:54:00.000-07:002011-02-14T00:54:25.633-07:00Pete Sutherland - Poor Man's Dream<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeSRrrEB6pDhiSgmOppQsy8j_s9hRHO0gjxfrA-RsXmIm60ZHI6blVevly1l7CXo1dnnDqFAf_ujZNRWBlWqL2KDekB_l7Cw0u6yadfk5-9OncK3yFVlHFUzRJ7txrq8XPSLUY1MmDXsQ/s1600/PeteSolo_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeSRrrEB6pDhiSgmOppQsy8j_s9hRHO0gjxfrA-RsXmIm60ZHI6blVevly1l7CXo1dnnDqFAf_ujZNRWBlWqL2KDekB_l7Cw0u6yadfk5-9OncK3yFVlHFUzRJ7txrq8XPSLUY1MmDXsQ/s320/PeteSolo_1.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Not much to say about this one, it's just a fine bit o' music. Flying Fish had a way of recording these albums that make you feel like you're sitting on a back porch with friends, even when the music is coming from all over the world. Sweet fiddle music and good times...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><blockquote>Raised on a diet of Broadway show tunes,operatic arias and British invasion melodies, Pete Sutherland discovered both traditional music and songwriting in college and like Huck Finn "lit out for the territories". A warm-voiced singer and multi-instrumentalist known equally for his potent originals and intense recreations and ago old ballads and fiddle tunes, his performances "cover the map" and "…shine with a pure spirit, which infuses every bit of his music and cannot fail to move all who hear him". The American Festival of Fiddle Tunes</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bio:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The old timey dance music of the American southern mountains, New England and the Celtic isles are resurrected through the playing of multi-instrumentalist Pete Sutherland. A former member, along with hammer dulcimer player Malcolm Dalglish and guitarist Grey Larsen, of mid-1980s folk trio, Metamora, Sutherland has continued to expand string band traditions as a member of The Clayfoot Strutters and Mac Benford's Woodshed All Stars. Sutherland has also recorded as a soloist and with his wife, Karen. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sutherland's earliest musical memories reflect the opera and musical theater albums favored by his parents. Although he played with several teenage rock bands, he most enduring musical outlet has come through traditional folk music. Inspired by Vermont-based fiddler Louie Beaudoin and Appalachian fiddlers Tommy Jarrell and Ed Haley, Sutherland began performing with the Arm & Hammer String Band in 1973. Moving to Burlington, Indiana in the early-1980s, he helped to form Metamora. Together with the band, Sutherland recorded six albums including the score of the Disney film, "Tuck Everlasting." </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">"Poor Man's Dream," Sutherland's debut solo album, was released in 1984 and combined traditional fiddle tunes with original material. Shortly after the disbanding of Metamora, in 1989, Sutherland returned to his home state where he currently lives. Craig Harris, Rovi</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPaExP2JHZ_14VLsiAoTwUPjnCj80w7Pol-m50yZJBVC5W-IaavCFYtSCP6toaXCesDhj4Nb6Jl07aQQwjPHcU4BpH6OtO5QXBnMD827jWyOq-3tiyc7L820eiD0jBFHPXXXSSPN90Utc/s1600/PeteSutherlandFront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPaExP2JHZ_14VLsiAoTwUPjnCj80w7Pol-m50yZJBVC5W-IaavCFYtSCP6toaXCesDhj4Nb6Jl07aQQwjPHcU4BpH6OtO5QXBnMD827jWyOq-3tiyc7L820eiD0jBFHPXXXSSPN90Utc/s400/PeteSutherlandFront.jpg" width="390" /></a></div><br />
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<b>Pete Sutherland - Poor Man's Dream</b><br />
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Year: 1984<br />
Label: Flying Fish<br />
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Originally issued as an LP on the long-gone Flying Fish label, this 1984 recording of original and traditional songs and tunes produced by Metamora bandmate Grey Larsen has been repeatedly called a "folk classic" - featuring "Aunt Sue" and "Shacks and Chalets".<br />
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Tracks:<br />
01 Coal Black Morning<br />
02 The Apple Picker's Waltz - The Beautiful Lights of Burlington<br />
03 Leather Britches<br />
04 Coleman's March - Shacks and Chalets<br />
05 Inch Along<br />
06 Aunt Sue - Motleigh - Stone's Throw<br />
07 You Were the One Who Loved Me<br />
08 Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah<br />
09 Mad River - Poor Man' Dream<br />
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<a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/104566403/31f7b5f/PeteSuth-PoManDrm.zip.html">dream on</a>. or <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8ZPRPZVW">alternate link</a>. or <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?9bmwn6zli69lkgh">other alternate link</a>.<br />
vinyl, cleaned | mp3 >256kbps vbr | w/ scans<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif3sAjzVref9VVns0o8f0OSMQiCwPlCJnxwSDzmeo2JItxHCX0eZKjmAfUBbN0bUwuCWae34PLSRZwSrhWbgKdhJSZ0AbMILMrSxHqJ00GY8J5JLup6blAe9NWtCu_GcuF64C2itYYqok/s1600/PeteSutherlandBack.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif3sAjzVref9VVns0o8f0OSMQiCwPlCJnxwSDzmeo2JItxHCX0eZKjmAfUBbN0bUwuCWae34PLSRZwSrhWbgKdhJSZ0AbMILMrSxHqJ00GY8J5JLup6blAe9NWtCu_GcuF64C2itYYqok/s400/PeteSutherlandBack.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="378" /></a></div>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-74175738401055885412011-02-13T22:00:00.000-07:002011-02-13T22:00:24.098-07:00Oscar Shumsky - Eugène Ysaÿe: 6 Sonatas for Solo Violin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhzkfQUq4xnNOanccWYgSovZq-3tnkxMjFrBT9TRXJvKv8t1D14mHBMRNUPQl-sgNaEx4Eg1T1fBGdsg5-ZlRCv85sB2g4cRQ2HpQM3Fek9aL2jWZBM_ZJgupvA3Na81EOUavCLSNJE8/s1600/22859035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOhzkfQUq4xnNOanccWYgSovZq-3tnkxMjFrBT9TRXJvKv8t1D14mHBMRNUPQl-sgNaEx4Eg1T1fBGdsg5-ZlRCv85sB2g4cRQ2HpQM3Fek9aL2jWZBM_ZJgupvA3Na81EOUavCLSNJE8/s1600/22859035.jpg" style="cursor: move;" /></a></div><br />
Another solo violin masterpiece! Just as good as Andrew Manze playing Tartini, but in a totally different way. It gets back into a corner and stares you in the eye like it will kill you, and then it takes off on unexpectedly gracious flights of fancy through the starbound firmament, only to return, perching on your rooftop, peering back at you expectantly. This music is ruthless in its beauty. It takes no prisoners, and will settle for nothing less than its ultimate prize: structured emptiness. Because that is what you are left with after listening to the 6 sonatas here - you are left with a very neat and tidy chest of lost memories and hungry ghosts. And with the sense that the violin is a white monster on the prowl, keeping just outside the confines of your ears' horizon.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3cE_jKF1XlrTHElcrYaqTHL-Yhi_2KhR_U_P_Ba0cl8JTC2i3koFnrenrfyOZNyfqnt2dGnSb5andDdw-UhQ8kDKyYt8TIeBREMjrB6emf_pLDVZ6KtIx3sjBKM4iQpvgqAPhH2IBuWU/s1600/U107170INP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3cE_jKF1XlrTHElcrYaqTHL-Yhi_2KhR_U_P_Ba0cl8JTC2i3koFnrenrfyOZNyfqnt2dGnSb5andDdw-UhQ8kDKyYt8TIeBREMjrB6emf_pLDVZ6KtIx3sjBKM4iQpvgqAPhH2IBuWU/s320/U107170INP.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="237" /></a></div><div><br />
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<b>Eugène Ysaÿe - Biography</b><br />
by Edward Moore<br />
Eugène Ysaÿe was one of the greatest violinists who ever lived. He coupled beauty of tone and remarkable technical ability with a depth of musical expression that few violinists before or since can be said to have equalled, or even approached. Ysaÿe succeeded in breathing new life into an art that had become polarized by two divergent styles and personalities: the austere temperament of Joseph Joachim (1831-1907), and the flashy virtuosity of Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908). Ysaÿe achieved a grand synthesis of these two approaches by imbuing the "serious" music of Mozart, Brahms, and Beethoven, so dear to Joachim, with the flashy yet never superficial brilliance that Sarasate had been wont to apply to "lesser" works in the repertoire. Ysaÿe became the leading violinist of his time, spawning many illustrious pupils and proteges, among them Josef Gingold and Fritz Kreisler. Ysaÿe was also an accomplished composer, whose Six Sonatas for Solo Violin, Opus 27 (1924) are recognized masterpieces of the genre.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqnRzaMu6XA6EiqcvRqUPMnBH7OVDLcUzf09Ur-v-bnRXDPWE6EbXVLNqhNo85JO6D89Vrc5emrpeVP5BMZL8evTs3cvrU_B1FuSPgjK2iIhC_i7l5-FnmrcZ9MaCeMdofEpVex0nrek/s1600/fs4950.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHqnRzaMu6XA6EiqcvRqUPMnBH7OVDLcUzf09Ur-v-bnRXDPWE6EbXVLNqhNo85JO6D89Vrc5emrpeVP5BMZL8evTs3cvrU_B1FuSPgjK2iIhC_i7l5-FnmrcZ9MaCeMdofEpVex0nrek/s320/fs4950.jpg" width="204" /></a>Eugène Ysaÿe was born on July 16, 1858 in Liege, Belgium. He received his first violin lessons from his father when he was five years old. After this he studied with Rodolphe Massart, making his first public appearance at age seven. Ysaÿe was not, however, a prodigy; he was later kicked out of the Liege Conservatory due to poor performance! But he persisted, and went on to study with the famous violinist and composer Henryk Wieniawski (1835-80) with whom he made considerable progress; he was soon accepted as a student by the legendary Belgian violinist-composer Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-81).<br />
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In 1879, Ysaÿe made the acquaintance of Joseph Joachim, and performed with Clara Schumann. He soon began touring, visiting Norway in 1881, and playing at the Paris Conservatory in 1883. In Paris, he befriended the composer Cesar Franck, who wrote his beautiful Sonata for Piano and Violin in A Major (1886) as a wedding present for Ysaÿe. This work soon became a signature piece for the violinist, who stamped it with his own inimitable style.<br />
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During this period, Ysaÿe founded the Concerts in Brussels that bore his name, as well as his own string quartet, which included his pupil Mathieu Crickboom, to whom Ysaÿe later dedicated the fifth of his Six Sonatas for Solo Violin. This ensemble premiered Claude Debussy's String Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Opus 10 in 1893. A year later Ysaÿe made his first appearance in America, where he met with tremendous sucess, finally returning in 1918 to take over the post of conductor for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra which he held until 1922.<br />
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After his retirement from conducting, Ysaÿe devoted himself fully to composing, and the teaching of a select group of pupils, including Josef Gingold, who later went on to achieve international fame. By this time, Ysaÿe's performance technique had declined, due to a rapid deterioration of his right-arm stability -- a condition known to violinists as "bow tremor." This was probably the result of diabetes, with which he had been struggling for some time. Despite the fact that his performance career lasted for only 25 years, Ysaÿe exercised a tremendous influence on violinsts -- an influence still being felt today. His personal aura and grand musical sensibility were only two aspects of a complex personality that not only "played" but also lived the music he held dear. He was an authentic performer, an artist of immense stature and unmatched musical ability. Eugène Ysaÿe died on May 12, 1931, at the age of 72.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnHkviHW19WLBUP86ysilM2so9MYGRjoxpC1DPr9jmp39InJjaXcBFXEg9SsKy1HYFGWRGrx-vhIzoLauMIf-1G5AjyiQZrLEZTRn_DyqXPKSaCDspUHUM2c52tRoeg3sixdODRw6Xo0Y/s1600/0+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnHkviHW19WLBUP86ysilM2so9MYGRjoxpC1DPr9jmp39InJjaXcBFXEg9SsKy1HYFGWRGrx-vhIzoLauMIf-1G5AjyiQZrLEZTRn_DyqXPKSaCDspUHUM2c52tRoeg3sixdODRw6Xo0Y/s200/0+%25282%2529.jpg" width="154" /></a><b>6 Sonatas for Solo Violin: Compostition Description</b><br />
by Joseph Stevenson<br />
Despite the fact that Ysaÿe had no formal training as a composer, his works are not only masterfully crafted, demonstrating various dimensions of violinistic expressiveness and sonority, but also provide the listener with a remarkable aesthetic experience. As a peerless virtuoso, Ysaÿe writes with a profound understanding of the violin's soul; as a performer deeply immersed in the music of his time, he evinces a familiarity with many styles; yet Ysaÿe's music, despite many recognizable echoes of other composers, clearly exhibits an unmistakable artistic individuality.<br />
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Inspired by a Bach recital by Joseph Szigeti, Ysaÿe's outlined these six sonatas in a day. The six works are dedicated to, respectively, Szigeti, Jacques Thibaud, George Enescu, Fritz Kreisler, Mathieu Crickboom (a member of the Ysaÿe Quartet), and Manuel Quiroga. Because each sonata is dedicated to a violinist, or, in some cases, a violinist-composer, every work has a distinct individuality. For example, Sonata No. 6 has a subtle, but unmistakable, Iberian flavor. Predictably, the sonata dedicated to George Enescu conjures up a truly Central European atmosphere. Like Fritz Kreisler, Ysaÿe in Sonata No. 4 re-creates the Baroque style with remarkable charm; this is a Baroque, or quasi-Baroque, sound which seduces the listener by its unpretentious spontaneity and freshness. Significantly, while exploring a variety of musical styles, Ysaÿe never lapses into sterile eclecticism; after all, these works are marked by his powerful individuality. Underlying his tasteful stylistic explorations is Ysaÿe's boundless interest in, and fascination by, his instrument. Containing an array of extreme, even breathtaking, technical challenges, these sonatas also explore the rich sonorities of the violin, with particular emphasis on original, and perhaps surprising, harmonic effects.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOTn5ufz-4pPxFevLGOcMRcpZIM1sOmhvdyVNQIlTIIASwCdToL6MVpc57__ygZxHNhYnsV_itH5bA1DdiQbmrSlrRz5G0VdKl5DEx_Gghz7ckrHC_KN_IHh7gCxdLWHM2dmnl8tjrhKY/s1600/0+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOTn5ufz-4pPxFevLGOcMRcpZIM1sOmhvdyVNQIlTIIASwCdToL6MVpc57__ygZxHNhYnsV_itH5bA1DdiQbmrSlrRz5G0VdKl5DEx_Gghz7ckrHC_KN_IHh7gCxdLWHM2dmnl8tjrhKY/s320/0+%25281%2529.jpg" width="292" /></a></div><br />
<b>Oscar Shumsky - Biography</b><br />
by Blair Johnston<br />
There must have been something special in American water during the 1910s, something that allowed an unusual number of the children born during the decade to develop into violin prodigies of extraordinary gifts: Yehudi Menuhin and Ruggiero Ricci come straight to mind, and of course Isaac Stern (who was not really a prodigy as such, but why quibble?), and then, a minute later, the lesser-known but equally-brilliant Oscar Shumsky, born in 1917 and active as a performer all the way up into the 1990s. With this group of young American violinists, the North America made its first true bid for musical equality with the First World. When Shumsky passed on in July 2000, one of the last remaining links (they are growing ever more precious) to a beautiful bygone era was lost -- but not, thanks to modern recording technology and a class of distinguished pupils, forgotten.<br />
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Shumsky was born in Philadelphia, PA, to a Russian immigrant family on March 23, 1917. Early lessons on the violin were fully absorbed, and, at Leopold Stokowski's invitation, Shumsky appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Josef Suk's Fantasy for violin and orchestra (or, according to alternate accounts, in Mozart's Violin Concerto No.5!) at the tender age of 8. During the late 1920s and throughout the 1930s, Shumsky studied with a pair of the finest teachers in the world: Leopold Auer (teacher of, among other distinguished pupils, the great Jascha Heifetz) and Efrem Zimbalist (a great violinist, who is nevertheless better known today as the father of the Hollywood personage by the same name). Shumsky joined Toscanini's NBC Orchestra just before the outbreak of World War II and stayed with it for about three years, all the while working to build a solo career and also playing with the Primrose String Quartet. He taught at one time or another at many schools, including the Peabody Conservatory, the Juilliard School, and the Curtis Institute. In the 1950s he began adding appearances as a conductor to his résumé. His solo career was not a particularly steady one -- he all but ceased giving concerts in the 1950s and only took up an active schedule again when he was in his sixties!<br />
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Shumsky's playing was distinguished by a velvety sonority (partly the product of the fine 1715 Stradivarius violin, the "ex-Rode," that he usually played) that nevertheless was wholly capable of steel-rimmed force when need be, and also by a refinement of manner that, while doing little to make his name one widely known to the general public, endeared him to serious music lovers around the world. Of his many recordings, the complete set of Mozart violin sonatas that he made with Artur Balsam is of special value.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><img alt="Image" src="http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa351/TheIratePirate/51Bi4DBVCUL_SS400_.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Oscar Shumsky - Eugène Ysaÿe: 6 Sonatas for Solo Violin, Op. 27</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Year: 1992</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Label: Nimbus</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Oscar Schumsky was a master of this legendary instrument. The musical world was well aware his virtues as interpreter and pedagogue. But for better or worst, just a few soloists have kept into account the transcendental importance of these sonatas into the literature for violin solo. As far I remember, Ruggiero Ricci was captured and seduced by these pages (as matter of fact the CD has not been released yet, uniquely available on LP format on the label Candide). </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">But when Schumsky decided to be part of this excel minority of notable violinists, probably he was not aware he was writing with golden letters, a glorious incursion to the immortality with these magisterial performances. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Until this date no other soloist has been able to approach respect this sublime performance. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">A desert island issue, inch by inch.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Tracks:</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">1. Sonata for violin solo No. 1 in G minor, Op. 27/1: Grave</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">2. Sonata for violin solo No. 1 in G minor, Op. 27/1: Fugato</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">3. Sonata for violin solo No. 1 in G minor, Op. 27/1: Allegretto poco scherzoso</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">4. Sonata for violin solo No. 1 in G minor, Op. 27/1: Finale con brio</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">5. Sonata for violin solo No. 2 in A minor ('Obsession'), Op. 27/2: Obesession: Prelude</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">6. Sonata for violin solo No. 2 in A minor ('Obsession'), Op. 27/2: Malinconia</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">7. Sonata for violin solo No. 2 in A minor ('Obsession'), Op. 27/2: Danse des Ombres: Sarabande</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">8. Sonata for violin solo No. 2 in A minor ('Obsession'), Op. 27/2: Les Furies</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">9. Sonata for violin solo No. 3 in D minor ('Ballade'), Op. 27/3</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">10. Sonata for solo violin No. 4 in E minor (dedicated to F. Kreisler), Op. 27/4: Allemanda</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">11. Sonata for solo violin No. 4 in E minor (dedicated to F. Kreisler), Op. 27/4: Sarabanda</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">12. Sonata for solo violin No. 4 in E minor (dedicated to F. Kreisler), Op. 27/4: Finale</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">13. Sonata for violin solo No. 5 in G major ('Pastorale'), Op. 27/5: L'Aurore</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">14. Sonata for violin solo No. 5 in G major ('Pastorale'), Op. 27/5: Danse Rustique</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">15. Sonata for violin solo No. 6, Op. 27/6</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/104537728/236fd28/OscShum-YsaSolViol.zip.html">all alone</a>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">or <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SWM88Q4D">alternate link</a></span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">mr | mp3 >256kbps vbr | w/ scans</span></span>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-79007549724805163932011-02-13T21:18:00.000-07:002011-02-13T21:18:39.022-07:00Blind Willie McTell - Atlanta 12-String<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3P-Fsxt-yWJL3k9EfUcx8wcXitXfwcC43lCHH0oXHU8RwGwOPaRIqqdxeUArqseiS5D4_ZTGFyLy8SlL7qTrixSreDXridd5MuWKVKK8QcNGbQQyALjprTP02cfguDnLCFCgNbd9visE/s1600/15279.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3P-Fsxt-yWJL3k9EfUcx8wcXitXfwcC43lCHH0oXHU8RwGwOPaRIqqdxeUArqseiS5D4_ZTGFyLy8SlL7qTrixSreDXridd5MuWKVKK8QcNGbQQyALjprTP02cfguDnLCFCgNbd9visE/s320/15279.gif" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Some people call him the greatest bluesman of all time. I don't think that's true, at least not so long as Son House and Skip James are still riding the great greyhound bus in the sky. But coming in closely behind them, Blind Willie McTell holds his own with the best of the rest of 'em. Though it is thought that he took the name 'Blind Willie' to piggyback on the popularity of Blind Willie Johnson (to be fair, his name was actually William and he was actually blind, unlike "Sonny Boy Williamson II"), his style owes little to the earlier revenant. Actually, McTell's resonant 12-string and plaintif tenor voice align him more closely with the heavenly stylings of Washington Phillips, who in turn influenced Blind Willie Johnson.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">It is not known whether Blind Willie McTell ever heard Washington Phillips.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">What is known is that Bob Dylan (who actually did steal his name from someone else), knew about Mr. McTell, and revered him so much that Bob wrote a song about him. And while it's one of Dylan's better songs of his post 1975 period, it doesn't even stand up to the worst of Willie's. Perhaps it's the pauper's diction, nasal voice, or predictable chord accents. Really, the only connection I can see between the two is the 12-string guitar.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">You can leave Bobby Zimmerman to the dogs. This here's music for god's jukebox.</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjj43DeeESEod3Q5AWZ7yjv-LntZ2FHgD7p3hWRa5U82ISbv3Ny5UbKSlSRn3xHTCEPpiuunHfd6ep5UWl3weG9c6oEX6nfItVnK3qz8VY6KvHEYHeOLL3J8qbdNuT6ilcsoBe0wl8alc/s1600/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjj43DeeESEod3Q5AWZ7yjv-LntZ2FHgD7p3hWRa5U82ISbv3Ny5UbKSlSRn3xHTCEPpiuunHfd6ep5UWl3weG9c6oEX6nfItVnK3qz8VY6KvHEYHeOLL3J8qbdNuT6ilcsoBe0wl8alc/s1600/0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjj43DeeESEod3Q5AWZ7yjv-LntZ2FHgD7p3hWRa5U82ISbv3Ny5UbKSlSRn3xHTCEPpiuunHfd6ep5UWl3weG9c6oEX6nfItVnK3qz8VY6KvHEYHeOLL3J8qbdNuT6ilcsoBe0wl8alc/s320/0.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br />
<br />
Seen the arrow on the doorpost<br />
Saying, "This land is condemned<br />
All the way from New Orleans<br />
To Jerusalem."<br />
I traveled through East Texas<br />
Where many martyrs fell<br />
And I know no one can sing the blues<br />
Like Blind Willie McTell<br />
<br />
Well, I heard the hoot owl singing<br />
As they were taking down the tents<br />
The stars above the barren trees<br />
Were his only audience<br />
Them charcoal gypsy maidens<br />
Can strut their feathers well<br />
But nobody can sing the blues<br />
Like Blind Willie McTell<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2z8dB3bHFtJy_l12f77w2PvkUZ5QsuKp_6nvdr2-YlZEMUMIq9TE2gw1Ll8AJa-2uOewRK0ckbhJztwW8z2d_Nvl1-Sm7GOxybUXESJe0UEOnSNDfjTuXNMPDlbwMA0v8QHntbSogSKI/s1600/Blind+Willie+McTell.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2z8dB3bHFtJy_l12f77w2PvkUZ5QsuKp_6nvdr2-YlZEMUMIq9TE2gw1Ll8AJa-2uOewRK0ckbhJztwW8z2d_Nvl1-Sm7GOxybUXESJe0UEOnSNDfjTuXNMPDlbwMA0v8QHntbSogSKI/s1600/Blind+Willie+McTell.png" /></a></div>See them big plantations burning<br />
Hear the cracking of the whips<br />
Smell that sweet magnolia blooming<br />
(And) see the ghosts of slavery ships<br />
I can hear them tribes a-moaning<br />
(I can) hear the undertaker's bell<br />
(Yeah), nobody can sing the blues<br />
Like Blind Willie McTell<br />
<br />
There's a woman by the river<br />
With some fine young handsome man<br />
He's dressed up like a squire<br />
Bootlegged whiskey in his hand<br />
There's a chain gang on the highway<br />
I can hear them rebels yell<br />
And I know no one can sing the blues<br />
Like Blind Willie McTell<br />
<br />
Well, God is in heaven<br />
And we all want what's his<br />
But power and greed and corruptible seed<br />
Seem to be all that there is<br />
I'm gazing out the window<br />
Of the St. James Hotel<br />
And I know no one can sing the blues<br />
Like Blind Willie McTell<br />
<br />
- Bob Dylan<br />
<br />
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</div><div><div>Biography</div><div>by Bruce Eder</div><div>Willie Samuel McTell was one of the blues' greatest guitarists, and also one of the finest singers ever to work in blues. A major figure with a local following in Atlanta from the 1920s onward, he recorded dozens of sides throughout the '30s under a multitude of names -- all the better to juggle "exclusive" relationships with many different record labels at once -- including Blind Willie, Blind Sammie, Hot Shot Willie, and Georgia Bill, as a backup musician to Ruth Mary Willis. And those may not have been all of his pseudonyms -- we don't even know what he chose to call himself, although "Blind Willie" was his preferred choice among friends. Much of what we do know about him was learned only years after his death, from family members and acquaintances. His family name was, so far as we know, McTier or McTear, and the origins of the "McTell" name are unclear. What is clear is that he was born into a family filled with musicians -- his mother and his father both played guitar, as did one of his uncles, and he was also related to Georgia Tom Dorsey, who later became the Rev. Thomas Dorsey. </div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5lp4a5W4CVIW3GokzNVL3n9EU5vJAJkBWbz223rmQxCGyWz69ccuMMDddAKpEqe3ihsbOak56IXY3pzCOnaV_WpymET_uO0KQfqrvG49OYutfA2jqpfOxCrWyx-FMp0vLR1Jf5o_FC8Y/s1600/William+Samuel+McTell%2528ForUseOnBW.comFamousPeoplePage%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5lp4a5W4CVIW3GokzNVL3n9EU5vJAJkBWbz223rmQxCGyWz69ccuMMDddAKpEqe3ihsbOak56IXY3pzCOnaV_WpymET_uO0KQfqrvG49OYutfA2jqpfOxCrWyx-FMp0vLR1Jf5o_FC8Y/s320/William+Samuel+McTell%2528ForUseOnBW.comFamousPeoplePage%2529.jpg" width="248" /></a></div><div>McTell was born in Thomson, GA, near Augusta, and raised near Statesboro. McTell was probably born blind, although early in his life he could perceive light in one eye. His blindness never became a major impediment, however, and it was said that his sense of hearing and touch were extraordinary. His first instruments were the harmonica and the accordion, but as soon as he was big enough he took up the guitar and showed immediate aptitude on the new instrument. He played a standard six-string acoustic until the mid-'20s, and never entirely abandoned the instrument, but from the beginning of his recording career, he used a 12-string acoustic in the studio almost exclusively. McTell's technique on the 12-string instrument was unique. Unlike virtually every other bluesman who used one, he relied not on its resonances as a rhythm instrument, but, instead, displayed a nimble, elegant slide and finger-picking style that made it sound like more than one guitar at any given moment. He studied at a number of schools for the blind, in Georgia, New York, and Michigan, during the early '20s, and probably picked up some formal musical knowledge. He worked medicine shows, carnivals, and other outdoor venues, and was a popular attraction, owing to his sheer dexterity and a nasal singing voice that could sound either pleasant or mournful, and incorporated some of the characteristics normally associated with White hillbilly singers. </div><div><br />
</div><div>McTell's recording career began in late 1927 with two sessions for Victor records, eight sides including "Statesboro Blues." McTell's earliest sides were superb examples of storytelling in music, coupled with dazzling guitar work. All of McTell's music showed extraordinary power, some of it delightfully raucous ragtime, other examples evoking darker, lonelier sides of the blues, all of it displaying astonishingly rich guitar work. </div><div><br />
</div><div>McTell worked under a variety of names, and with a multitude of partners, including his one-time wife Ruthy Kate Williams (who recorded with him under the name Ruby Glaze), and also Buddy Moss and Curley Weaver. McTell cut some of his best songs more than once in his career. Like many bluesmen, he recorded under different names simultaneously, and was even signed to Columbia and Okeh Records, two companies that ended up merged at the end of the '30s, at the same time, under two names. His recording career never gave McTell quite as much success as he had hoped, partly due to the fact that some of his best work appeared during the depths of the Depression. He was uniquely popular in Atlanta, where he continued to live and work throughout most of his career, and, in fact, was the only blues guitarist of any note from the city to remain active in the city until well after World War II. </div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5svXjtNDSD-v80inxUo67eEyS8_lTpzgJ3fEyXoJkvgmD_wxeoCIiauVQ8rhTkP2jRO9Z-aAXeV4Ahbk5ExlB5k_y2BpnFMjAUNCW6NvIWh7NJhCUq74YeM7auOZuuHPYamO9XyXT8VA/s1600/Blind-Willie-McTell2sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5svXjtNDSD-v80inxUo67eEyS8_lTpzgJ3fEyXoJkvgmD_wxeoCIiauVQ8rhTkP2jRO9Z-aAXeV4Ahbk5ExlB5k_y2BpnFMjAUNCW6NvIWh7NJhCUq74YeM7auOZuuHPYamO9XyXT8VA/s320/Blind-Willie-McTell2sm.jpg" width="247" /></a></div><div>McTell was well-known enough that Library of Congress archivist John Lomax felt compelled to record him in 1940, although during the war, like many other acoustic country bluesmen, his recording career came to a halt. Luckily for McTell and generations of listeners after him, however, there was a brief revival of interest in acoustic country-blues after World War II that brought him back into the studio. Amazingly enough, the newly founded Atlantic Records -- which was more noted for its recordings of jazz and R&B -- took an interest in McTell and cut 15 songs with him in Atlanta during 1949. The one single released from these sessions, however, didn't sell, and most of those recordings remained unheard for more than 20 years after they were made. A year later, however, he was back in the studio, this time with his longtime partner Curley Weaver, cutting songs for the Regal label. None of these records sold especially well, however, and while McTell kept playing for anyone who would listen, the bitter realities of life had finally overtaken him, and he began drinking on a regular basis. He was rediscovered in 1956, just in time to get one more historic session down on tape. He left music soon after, to become a pastor of a local church, and he died of a brain hemorrhage in 1959, his passing so unnoticed at the time that certain reissues in the '70s referred to McTell as still being alive in the '60s. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Blind Willie McTell was one of the giants of the blues, as a guitarist and as a singer and recording artist. Hardly any of his work as passed down to us on record is less than first-rate, and this makes most any collection of his music worthwhile. A studious and highly skilled musician whose skills transcended the blues, he was equally adept at ragtime, spirituals, story-songs, hillbilly numbers, and popular tunes, excelling in all of these genres. He could read and write music in braille, which gave him an edge on many of his sighted contemporaries, and was also a brilliant improvisor on the guitar, as is evident from his records. McTell always gave an excellent account of himself, even in his final years of performing and recording.</div></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfdDhkqgeGpltLokqS8HYeKfObwew0vYPVCznts0GBDOYO9qfbaWExbTNrxHF3BvXBZt2YnHWAFphijG2cUwYmGruoGTEw2Tfsta2R8D8fYnqcBMwabyWlRl3YSI8D5Q1G6YXm70k0r4/s1600/672ac0a398a0b8260a182210.L.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfdDhkqgeGpltLokqS8HYeKfObwew0vYPVCznts0GBDOYO9qfbaWExbTNrxHF3BvXBZt2YnHWAFphijG2cUwYmGruoGTEw2Tfsta2R8D8fYnqcBMwabyWlRl3YSI8D5Q1G6YXm70k0r4/s320/672ac0a398a0b8260a182210.L.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Blind Willie McTell - Atlanta 12-String</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Year: 1975</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Label: Atlantic</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Review</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">by Bruce Eder</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">In 1949, a brief flurry of interest in old-timey country blues resulted in this 15-song session by Blind Willie McTell for the newly formed Atlantic Records. Only two songs, "Kill It Kid" and "Broke Down Engine Blues," were ever issued on a failed single, and the session was forgotten until almost 20 years later. McTell is mostly solo here, vividly captured on acoustic 12-string (his sometime partner Curley Weaver may have been present on some tracks), and in excellent form. The playing and the repertory are representative of McTell as he was at this point in his career, a blues veteran rolling through his paces without skipping a beat and quietly electrifying the listener. Songs include "Dying Crapshooter's Blues," "The Razor Ball," and "Ain't I Grand to Live a Christian."</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Tracks:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">1. Kill It Kid - McTell - 2:33</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">2. The Razor Ball - McTell - 2:53</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">3. Little Delia - McTell - 3:02</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">4. Broke Down Engine - McTell - 2:46</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">5. Dying Crapshooter's Blues - McTell - 3:06</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">6. Pinetop's Boogie Woogie - Gimbel, Smith - 2:49</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">7. Blues Around Midnight - McTell - 2:46</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">8. Last Dime Blues - McTell - 2:49</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">9. On the Cooling Board - McTell - 3:08</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">10. Motherless Children Have a Hard Time - McTell - 2:56</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">11. I Got to Cross the River Jordan - McTell - 4:00</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">12. You Got to Die - McTell - 3:12</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">13. Ain't It Grand to Live a Christian - McTell - 2:38</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">14. Pearly Gates - McTell - 3:22</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">15. Soon This Morning - McTell - 2:40</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/104211211/b10f29c/BlWilMct-Atlnt12Str.zip.html">don't you never dog your woman</a>.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />mp3 >256kbps vbr | w/ cover</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">or now <a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/104213156/f50dd2f/BlWilMct-Atlnt12StrFLC.zip.html">in FLAC</a></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXf6Ww_CqrPILP3iHpeKcHsUOk81-kkxe8_KMwYqM1kXhHJ4nVUW_PubpchCnYvq4uwzg5NBHH05hyphenhyphenhkRLI7MMzgODCIoUp0M9eCU7YbJ1UCBsgwOyNnyMp9CXdlw3TLe8AIkO_JN1jo8/s1600/m-1864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXf6Ww_CqrPILP3iHpeKcHsUOk81-kkxe8_KMwYqM1kXhHJ4nVUW_PubpchCnYvq4uwzg5NBHH05hyphenhyphenhkRLI7MMzgODCIoUp0M9eCU7YbJ1UCBsgwOyNnyMp9CXdlw3TLe8AIkO_JN1jo8/s1600/m-1864.jpg" /></a></div>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-81977731939835021062011-02-12T21:56:00.001-07:002011-02-13T20:25:54.840-07:00Louisiana Cajun French Music<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwfPcLWVWQ9lwHQIjideemZgS0iA4Oe0qwBXUj0_bhh9pqFmlKD8SEKRHMwQCsxQfeTAuL6AzlLs-rSKhlpqqKNJVconibOK8Jgye5B22V3Uff_UmyhwACmaNo5R4F9dDS7GwkucgXbL8/s1600/Flower.CV.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwfPcLWVWQ9lwHQIjideemZgS0iA4Oe0qwBXUj0_bhh9pqFmlKD8SEKRHMwQCsxQfeTAuL6AzlLs-rSKhlpqqKNJVconibOK8Jgye5B22V3Uff_UmyhwACmaNo5R4F9dDS7GwkucgXbL8/s320/Flower.CV.gif" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Well it's about time this blog had some cajun music. It was sorely missing from my gumbo of old american roots and fruits. Now remedied!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Zydeco and Cajun are the premier cultural expressions of the spirited and hardy people of southwest Louisiana. While the two styles have some similarities, they are also quite different. Cajun music as we know it today can be traced back to early Acadian, French, Creole, and Anglo-Saxon folk songs. These early ballads and lullabies -- typically concerned with troubles and hard times -- were often sung a cappella. For the most part, they were performed at home and passed down orally from generation to generation; however, the singers of these traditional songs were eventually accompanied by simple instrumentation. Cajun music is, of course, meant for dancing -- one-step, two-step, and waltzes. Traditionally, the Cajun dance ("Fais-do-do" in Cajun) was the major social function in Cajun society. The principal instrument in Cajun music is the diatonic accordion, preferably in the key of C. Although it is a German instrument, the Cajun people adopted it in the 1870s. To a lesser degree, the fiddle is also a favorite instrument in Cajun music. Early Cajun bands featured both of these instruments, as well as a triangle to keep the rhythm. Acoustic guitars were added to the lineup by 1920, then, three decades later, steel, electric guitars, and sometimes drums. Although Cajun music has changed somewhat over the years and has been influenced by other styles of music -- notably country and blues -- it has remained a distinctive style. The first Cajun record was Joe Falcon's "Allons ý Lafayette" from 1928. Although the style was recorded only sporadically for several decades, Iry LeJeune, Harry Choates, Nathan Abshire, Lawrence Walker, Leo Soileau, and Vin Bruce had become influential Cajun artists by the middle of the 20th century. While the music's popularity continued to grow within Louisiana, it didn't enter the spotlight nationally until the mid-'80s, riding on the coattails of the Cajun food explosion. Today several traditional and contemporary Cajun artists -- including Dewey Balfa, Zachary Richard, and Beausoleil -- tour nationally and internationally. Compared to Cajun music, zydeco music has a much shorter history. Like Cajun music, the dominant instrument is the accordion, but unlike Cajun music, zydeco adds electric bass, horns, and sometimes keyboards. In a nutshell, zydeco is Creole (Black) dance music of southwest Louisiana blending Cajun music with rhythm & blues and soul. The word "zydeco" is actually a bastardization of an early zydeco song, "L'Haricots Sont Pas Salls" (The Snap Beans Aren't Salted). The first Black-French recordings were made in 1928 by Amad‚ Ardoin, an accordion player who played in the Cajun style. However, the music we know as zydeco today didn't begin to evolve -- at least on record -- until the mid-'50s, when Clifton Chenier and Boozoo Chavis made their initial recordings. Like Cajun music, zydeco didn't achieve national popularity until the 1980s, buoyed somewhat by Rockin' Sidney's surprise hit "My Toot Toot." By the '90s, several zydeco artists were signed to major labels, including Terrance Simien, Boozoo Chavis, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Rockin' Dopsie. ~ Jeff Hannusch</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><img alt="Image" src="http://i31.tinypic.com/2j8a6o.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Louisiana Cajun French Music, Vol. 1: Southwest Prairies, 1964-1967</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Year: 1989/1994<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Label: Rounder<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Review by Ron Wynn<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />This first of two 1989 Rounder anthologies spotlighting traditional Cajun music from the mid-'60s began with a great group, The Balfa Freres. This was among the finest and most intense of the founding Cajun bands, characterized by wonderful harmonizing, intense leads and great fiddle backing. Others on this anthology were Austin Pitre & The Evangeline Playboys, a hard-driving, upbeat unit, and the venerable Edius Nacquin, in his 70s when he cut the anthology's final four tracks and still an energetic, distinctive singer. The selections were recorded as part of several field sessions initiated by the Newport Folk Foundation from 1964 through 1967.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Tracks</span>:<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />1 Danse de Mardi Gras - Balfa Brothers - 2:51<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />2 Lacassine Special - Balfa Freres - 3:11<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />3 La Valse du Bambocheur - Balfa Brothers - 5:37<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />4 Hackberry Hop - Balfa Freres - 3:02<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />5 Valse des Platains - Balfa Freres - 3:47<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />6 Lake Arthur Stomp - Balfa Freres - 2:16<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />7 Parlez-Nous Á Boire - Balfa Brothers - 3:42<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />8 La Valse des Bombaches - Pitre, Austin & The Evangeline... - 3:46<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />9 Les Flammes d'Enfer - Pitre, Austin & The Evangeline... - 3:38<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />10 J'Ai Fini Mes Miseres - Pitre, Austin & The Evangeline... - 1:44<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />11 Hack a 'Tit Moreau - Edius Nacquin - 1:44<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />12 Si J'Aurais des Ailes - Edius Nacquin - 1:38<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />13 La Ville de Monteau - Edius Nacquin - 2:43<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />14 Ou T'Etais Mercredi Passe - Edius Nacquin - 1:54</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/104204112/d38a09e/LouCajFreMus1.zip.html">the flames of hell</a>.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />mp3 >192kbps vbr | w/ cover<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><img alt="Image" src="http://i25.tinypic.com/2hzk6tl.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Louisiana Cajun French Music, Vol. 2: Southwest Prairies, 1964-1967</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Year: 1989/1994<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Label: Rounder<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Review by Eugene Chadbourne<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Beyond a doubt one of the best issues in this label's catalog, this dandy album provides the listener with the variety that can be found in a compilation, but also satisfies the taste for each artist by doling out generous portions of their music. As for the performers who are featured, all they need is a little room to show their stuff and all credit for the album's grand success is theirs. These are the grand old men of Cajun, the names that come up time and time again in interviews with stars of the genre. Like many originally folk forms of music, the appeal of this music style eventually led it to be played by full, almost pop-sounding ensembles by the '90s. Cajun had already influenced the sound of country and rock music in previous decades to the point where there are probably plenty of listeners whose idea of Cajun music might not encompass the wild and raw performances on this compilation. The instrumental combinations are deliciously sparse, removing the entire elephantine nature of drum set and electric amplification. A stomping foot is what listeners have instead of electric bass on the duos by "Bois Sec" Ardoin and Canray Fontenot. The latter man's fiddle is a hearty thing; the vocals by these guys make Tony Joe White sound like a prepubescent choir boy. The sensitivity and split tones in their singing bring to mind the recordings of Native American medicine men. Guitarist Preston Manuel, another important figure in this genre, performs "La Bataille dans le Petit Abre" in a trio with Isom Fontenot on harmonica and Aubrey DeVille on fiddle; the piece is gorgeous, pretty as any ever recorded and certainly a high point in tracks featuring harmonica. Producer and editor Ralph Rinzler gets credit for the fadeout, for which he should be punished by a forced bath in a stinky bayou. DeVille and Manuel get together for a duet which is charming, the accompaniment dropping so far back in volume behind the hilariously over-recorded vocal that it starts to feel like a tickle. The second side is devoted to tracks by the duo of Adam and Cyprien Landreneau, both singing and wailing on violin and accordion, respectively. The group is rounded out by Dewey Balfa, whose presence on triangle fills out an important part of the rhythmic component in a symbolic way, the younger man's presence respectively acknowledging the way this music has been passed on from generation to generation. This side is a romper-stomper, the amusing interludes of studio chatter almost a relief from the musical intensity. Landreneau the fiddler has a tone so sharp that it would send avant-garde jazz violinists such as Billy Bang or Leroy Jenkins running for cover. The way he plays the melody on "La Prairie Ronde" is astounding. On "Les Pinieres" he almost sounds like an alien life form, and that's not the first time an outsider has felt this way about things Cajun. It must be admitted certain listeners may express displeasure at the sound of the vocals on these tracks, even after seeing pictures of what these guys look like (they are a couple of old men and they sing like a couple of old men). Voices crack, yet carefully timed hoots seem to be pitched in a sophisticated relation to the fiddle and accordion harmony. Cajun fans looking for a collection of pieces from some of the music's founding fathers can't do better than this. The label left consumers in a state of insecurity about how much printed material would be provided about the music, however. At one point pressings came with a tiny inserted card indicating that a booklet for the project was still unfinished and purchasers could send in for a copy when it was ready. "Au plu tard," as the Cajuns would say.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Tracks</span>:<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />1 Hack a 'Tit Moreau - Ardoin, Alphonse "Bois Sec", Canray Fontenot - 3:41<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />2 Untitled Dance Tune - Ardoin, Alphonse "Bois Sec", Canray Fontenot - :58<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />3 Eunice Two Step - Ardoin, Alphonse "Bois Sec", Canray Fontenot - 2:20<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />4 Quo Fa're "Bois Sec" - Ardoin, Alphonse "Bois Sec", Canray Fontenot - 2:21<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />5 Jug au Plombeau - Ardoin, Alphonse "Bois Sec", Canray Fontenot - 2:31<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />6 La Bataille Dans le Petit Arbre - Isom Fontenot, Aubrey Deville, Preston Manuel - 2:42<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />7 Le Vieux Boeuf et le Vieux Charriot - Isom Fontenot, Aubrey Deville, Preston Manuel - 2:50<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />8 La Robe de Rosalie - Adam Landreneau, Cyprien Landreneau - 3:12<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />9 La Prairie Ronde - Adam Landreneau, Cyprien Landreneau - 3:01<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />10 La Talle des Ronces - Adam Landreneau, Cyprien Landreneau - 1:48<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />11 Les Pinieres - Adam Landreneau, Cyprien Landreneau - 3:02<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />12 Treville N'Est Pas Pecheur - Adam Landreneau, Cyprien Landreneau - 1:43<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />13 Danse de Limonade - Adam Landreneau, Cyprien Landreneau - 2:01</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/104203130/03b5690/LouCajFreMus2.zip.html">danse le Two Step</a>! & <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?wxwor1yxudn">track 10</a><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />mp3 >192kbps vbr | w/ cover</span>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-4092544602262582312011-02-12T21:44:00.001-07:002011-02-12T21:48:25.902-07:00Marc Savoy with Dewey Balfa and D.L. Menard: Made in Louisiana - Cajun Accordion Music<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUvA0Ghf4gpCqW2tnzxFkmWKPui1yRoxEKmmpD21vJtifSHf3KFDQcDlDbZfpj1dwaOqETYuy2a2NpMDiwiFmjRP473TCE0uNCoi9dShWbF4Cenb_3M1w-oM3v0zZq4Quc04mjaLR7Py4/s1600/tlc_les_blank_balfa_savoy_menard.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUvA0Ghf4gpCqW2tnzxFkmWKPui1yRoxEKmmpD21vJtifSHf3KFDQcDlDbZfpj1dwaOqETYuy2a2NpMDiwiFmjRP473TCE0uNCoi9dShWbF4Cenb_3M1w-oM3v0zZq4Quc04mjaLR7Py4/s400/tlc_les_blank_balfa_savoy_menard.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">One of the all-time great Cajun jam-sessions, by three masters of the genre.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> Listen & dance!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Marc Savoy - accordion, Dewey Balfa - fiddle, D. L. Menard - guitar<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;"></span></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Lotsa hype below, in case you needed any hints…</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">In the 1970s, Marc Savoy, who had made several visits to the Pacific Northwest, decided it was time to make a recording featuring his incomparable Cajun accordion styling on accordions he made in his shop in Eunice, LA. We shipped studio recording equipment to Mr. Savoy, and this recording was made in his house on a Revox HS77 by John Watt. This is some of the best traditional Cajun dance music ever recorded, played in the traditional, acoustic, manner by three masters of this music.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Recorded in Marc Savoy's home in Eunice, Louisiana, by John Watt on a Revox HS77 recorder using three AKG D190 mikes, mixed to stereo with a Sony mixer. CD made from original session analog tapes, transferred to Tascam DA30 MkII DAT from an Otari 5050B recorder, using a Digitech VTP-1 preamp with A/D conversion. Transferred to PC computer using DAL CardD Plus. Edited with Cool Edit Pro. CD master done with Samplitude CD to HP 6020 CD burner.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Marc Savoy is a native of Eunice, Louisiana who began playing Cajun-style accordion at the age of 12 and now builds the "Acadian" - the most sought-after accordion in the music world today. This collection of instrumentals, recorded in Eunice in 1976 and reissued on the Voyager label, runs through waltzes, one-steps, two-steps, and other traditional dance tunes with the great Dewey Balfa on fiddle and D.L. Menard on guitar. This trio makes the genuine, rooted Cajun music that has the feeling of a shady porch by the bayou. You can almost hear the bare feet slapping on the floor and the wind whistling softly in the Spanish moss. (Trenton Times)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />*****<br />
<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Savoy is a brilliant cajun accordion player using here mostly the ten button German accordion, an instrument of great fullness and in the hands of this expert, an instrument of endless variety from the fleet notes of "Eunice One Step" to the oompah of "Chere Petite" with its laconic melody. A special treat is the marvelous back-up guitar work of D.L. Menard here, particularly "La Valse A Macareau" where he pulses the movement of the song. Any guitarist can learn a great deal from hearing his timing, building and pulse. This is Marc's album and a very strong statement of the Cajun-Louisiana sound. He switches to the three-row diatonic accordion to do a couple of Zydeco tunes like "J'suis Parti a Lafayette." Good album recorded in Louisiana where Marc lives. (Victory Review)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />*****<br />
<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />The next gem in our Cajun music crown is Voyager's release of a 1976 recording featuring accordionist (and squeeze-box maker) Marc Savoy backed by two other stalwarts of Louisiana music, Dewey Balfa on fiddle and D. L. Menard on guitar.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Made in Louisiana is an all-acoustic session with a real down-home barn dance feel; it sounds like it was recorded live in the studio. Most of the 13 tracks (12 instrumentals, one vocal) follow a similar pattern in that Savoy takes the lead much of the time, but he steps aside once or twice on each tune to allow Balfa to carry the melody for a while. Menard's role is basically a supporting one, but his guitar is recorded at a level that allows you to hear and enjoy what he's playing.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Voyager Recordings should be commended for making this session available. Made in Louisiana is a perfect example of simple and spirited music performed by artists whose love and enthusiasm for their heritage shine through on every note. (Dirty Linen)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />*****<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Savoy is widely known for his recordings with Michael Doucet. These sessions, which were recorded at Savoy's home in 1976, have been digitally remastered and consist mostly of little-known Cajun gems from the repertoire of Doc Guidry, Chuck Guillory, Dennis McGee, Iry LeJune, and other masters. All of the selections feature fiddle and guitar accompaniment and, except for Balfa's heartfelt vocals of "La Branche du Mûrier," all are instrumental. The last two tracks are zydeco tunes that Savoy plays on the three-row accordion. It's a little unusual these days to listen to a predominately instrumental collection of Cajun tunes, but Savoy plays them as well as anybody could. This is Cajun music in as pure a state as one is likely to hear these days. (Dirty Linen)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />*****<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Seattle's own John Watt journeyed to the Savoy homeplace in Eunice, LA in 1976 to record Marc's neo-baroque Cajun accordion along with his pals, the late Dewey Balfa on fiddle, and D. L. Menard on guitar, for a wonderful set of rousing instrumental (Dewey sings "La Branche du Mûrier" as the only vocal). This represents some of the finest Cajun music ever put on a recording device. It is Louisiana music at its traditional best, including a couple of pieces with Marc on a 3-row diatonic box, laying down some zydeco rhythms. It's a wonderful recording, the only drawback being its meager 33 and a half minute playing time. (Victory Music Review)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />*****<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />This is a timely release of some recordings made in Eunice, Louisiana in 1976, featuring accordionist Mark Savoy, accompanied by D.L. Menard and the late Dewey Balfa. "Timely" because much of the cajun and zydeco music being played and recorded today is buried beneath layers of drums and electric instruments, and it's good to be reminded how soulful the combination of fiddle, accordion and rhythm guitar can be. Savoy builds and plays his own accordions, and the selections here reflect his deep roots in the culture and music of Louisiana. "Viens Me Chercher," "Eunice One-Step," and "La Branche du Murier" are among my favorites. (Dirty Linen)<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />*****<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />In March 1976, Seattle Folklore activist John Watt journeyed to Eunice, Louisiana to record what would be one of the decade's most significant Cajun albums. At center stage in the production was accordionist Marc Savoy, a highly respected instrument maker and player who had accompanied several of his peers on their own album projects. Backing him on the session were guitarist D.L. Menard, long regarded as a music legend in Cajun country, and fiddler Dewey Balfa, whose 1964 appearance at the Newport Folk Festival had sparked nationwide interest in his people's music. Savoy's album, originally released in 1976, has just been reissued on compact disc by Voyager Recordings, a largely fiddle-oriented label operated by Seattle musicians Phil and Vivian Williams.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Although John Watt had been interested in folk music for many years, he had contented himself with listening rather than playing until Marc Savoy introduced him to the Cajun "button" accordion. "I got to the three-or-four-chord stage in the early parts of the Folk Scare in the Sixties," he explains, "and then fell in with a bunch of people who played music much better than I could, so I went back to running PA systems and tape recorders. Savoy came through in 1975 with Mike Seeger's Oldtime Music Festival, in which Seeger got together a bunch of interesting ethnic musicians and toured with them. That year the Cajun contingent was Marc Savoy, who was very much the youngest, and Sadie Courville and Dennis McGee. That was when I first heard a Cajun accordion played, and I basically fell in love with the thing."<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />During the few days Savoy spent in Seattle at the home of Phil and Vivian Williams, Watt got some valuable time with his new musical mentor, but his best chance to immerse himself in Cajun culture came later that year in a disastrously unexpected way. "I was building the overhead wire on the streetcar museum outside of Portland," he explains. "Just a hobby thing. The tower I was working on fell out from under me. I had about eighteen feet to learn how to fly, and I wasn't a very quick study. I wound up with a pelvic fracture, and I was out of work and on crutches for about six weeks. Toward the end of that period I was convalescing, Continental Airlines had some pretty good flight deals, and Marc said, "Why don't you come down and hang out around here for a week or two?" I got on the airplane and hung around with a bunch of Cajuns for about a week."<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />In March of the following year, Watt got another irresistible opportunity to go to Louisiana when a co-worker moving to Texas offered to pay his plane fare home if he would help with the driving. Since he had already discussed the idea of a Voyager album with Phil Williams and Savoy, the accordionist proposed a visit to Eunice with some recording equipment. "The basic stuff was a Revox and three or four microphones," Watt recalls. "For the actual recording, we set up a studio in the unfinished part of Marc's living room: he was living over the music store then. We recorded it to two-track stereo. The recording is just Dewey Balfa, D.L. Menard, and Marc, and we were doing it specifically as an accordion piece. The material is what Marc and Dewey primarily chose. That's basically how it got done."<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />The album, entitled MADE IN LOUISIANA, was released by Voyager soon after it was recorded in 1976. "It was moderately successful, as these things go," Phil Williams remembers, estimating sales at about a thousand copies. It was reissued about a decade later on cassette and remains available in that format. With its release this year on compact disc, Voyager faces a substantially different marketplace than the one that greeted the album twenty years ago. Interest in all things Cajun has grown exponentially, and then there's another small factor to consider: the dawning of the Information Age. "We actually have been marketing on the Internet through the web site," says Williams. "That's one of our better sources for orders right now. In fact, we've had inquiries from some of the national chains: Tower Records is interested. Of course, that's encouraging, to say the least!"<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />The reason for the enthusiasm is obvious. In an era when Cajun music has nearly been modernized out of existence by the use of electric instruments and pop-rock production strategies, this album is a breath of fresh air. Produced simply in the live "field recording" tradition of the early Sixties, it places Savoy's exuberant accordion at the center of the stereo mix, flanked by D.L. Menard's solid guitar accompaniment and Dewey Balfa's singularly expressive fiddling. "It's just soulful playing all the way around," Williams summarizes. "The Back-up can hardly be beat!" (Heritage Music Review) <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><div style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><img alt="Image" src="http://i38.tinypic.com/aym2pt.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; cursor: move; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span></div></div><div style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Marc Savoy with Dewey Balfa and D.L. Menard: Made in Louisiana - Cajun Accordion Music</span></span></div><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Liner Notes</span> - VRCD 325<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Marc Savoy from Eunice, Louisiana has played the accordion since he was twelve years old. He builds his own "Acadian" brand accordions, which are sold throughout the U.S., Canada, and France, and are prized for their responsiveness, volume, and careful craftsmanship. Marc is joined on this recording by his good friends the late Dewey Balfa, renowned traditional fiddle player, and D. L. Menard, one of Louisiana's finest backup guitarists and songwriters.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Recorded at Eunice, Louisiana, March 1976 by John Watt, assisted by Michéle DeLaurenti. Mixdown and digital remastering by Phil Williams. Liner notes and photo by Ann Savoy. Cover design by Virginia Hand.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Tracks</span><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />1. Eunice One-Step (3:12) - Marc learned this song as a boy from an old black man named Joya Guidry who was a relative of the late Amédée Ardoin, the most famous early accordion player.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />2. Tolan Waltz (1:54) - Tolan McCullough was a popular blacksmith, rice mill operator and saloon owner in Eunice. Chuck Guillory and Jimmy Newman composed this song in his honor.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />3. Old Crowley Two-Step (2:40) - Recorded by Doc Guidry on fiddle and later by Walter Mouton as "Scott Playboy Special."<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />4. Chère Petite (2:42) - Marc thinks this haunting melody was written by Leo Soileau. It was first made popular by Cajun "country-western" fiddler Chuck Guillory.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />5. Church Point Breakdown (2:45) - Named after a tiny town near Eunice, this was originally recorded by Amédée Ardoin.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />6. La Branche du Mûrier (3:32) - The original words to this popular melody were written by the late Dennis McGee, who lived in Eunice. The story goes that a young girl cut a branch off of a mulberry tree so she could see her fiancé's brother ride by. It was this brother whom she really loved.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />7. Perrodin Two-Step (3:37) - This was first recorded by Dennis McGee, Angelus LeJeune, and Ernest Frugé. It is named after two brothers who often requested it at dances.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />8. La Valse À Macareau (2:52) - Written by a black midwife named Macareau who helped deliver Joel Savoy, Marc's father.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />9. Cajun Flop-Eared Mule (2:04) - An old Cajun song resembling the American traditional song "Flop-Eared Mule". The title is unknown so Marc calls it "Cajun Flop-Eared Mule."<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />10. Viens Me Chercher (Come and Get Me) (2:50) - This is an old song recorded by Iry LeJeune, who brought the accordion back to popularity in the 1950's after it had been neglected in the 1940's. He is felt by many to truly sing the soul of the prairie with his lonely cries and powerful accordion playing. The story tells of a young man lamenting that his "catin" won't come back since her old father dragged her back home. Every night he kisses his pillow making believe it is she beside him.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />11. La Valse de Pont D'Amour (Lovebridge Waltz) (2:05) - In this song a woman told a man she didn't want him any more and he took it so hard that he took to the big roads.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />12. J'Suis Parti à Lafayette (1:39) - Marc learned this Zydeco song from Clifton Chenier. He plays it and the next tune on the three-row accordion commonly used in Zydeco music, rather than the Cajun accordion which he plays on the other tunes.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />13. Les Haricots Sont Pas Salés (1:10) - The old song "Zydeco N'est Pas Salés" (the snap beans aren't salty) gave the name to this style of music.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">support Voyager Records by buying directly from <a href="http://www.voyagerrecords.com/">their website</a>!</span>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-85310116991899970322011-02-12T21:06:00.001-07:002011-02-12T21:08:47.928-07:00Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard - Who's that Knocking?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">The venerable Ron Thomason has said in describing Hazel Dickens, "She never let questions of pitch or timing get in the way of the music." He's also said that "She brought back the chill, the feeling of excitement and power" that he'd first felt upon hearing original bluegrass music. Hazel walked into a men's music and made all the men sit down and listen. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br />
</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">In many senses, this music is primitive. It is far less sophisticated than all the 'progressive' bluegrass and new acoustic music that you've come to expect from this blog. But this primitive, direct, and unadorned quality gives the music its unearthly power to cut straight to the bone. Entirely devoid of pretention, presumption, prediction, or predication. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">And that's the way it should be. These songs are real songs, about real feelings and real people in real hard situations. It would be an insult to pretty-up the music. Sometimes music has to hurt to work. And this music hurts, oh it hurts so good. It hurts like the hard earth, and it also carries a redemption like the sun shining for just a minute into the deep black depths of a choking coal mine.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: small; line-height: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0QAoVg_W-CwoO4i6XjbdJ9kndjW_1pEwVkKSnLfcuesB0a79qqvTvWL55A42ski-Kmm-SYFctGuONfGGetQRgRPoln8H4mzgj4UQ9Q63m-oyfjUxPSnEtmFE6K8SYP3ArDbE7oKTngU/s1600/hazelweb.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0QAoVg_W-CwoO4i6XjbdJ9kndjW_1pEwVkKSnLfcuesB0a79qqvTvWL55A42ski-Kmm-SYFctGuONfGGetQRgRPoln8H4mzgj4UQ9Q63m-oyfjUxPSnEtmFE6K8SYP3ArDbE7oKTngU/s320/hazelweb.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" width="220" /></a></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><span style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Hazel Dickens - Biography</span>by John Bush<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Protest and folksinger Hazel Dickens grew up the eighth of 11 children in a large, poor mining family in West Virginia, and she has since used elements of country and bluegrass to spread truth about two causes close to her heart: the plight of non-unionized mineworkers and feminism, born not of the '60s movement but traditional values. Born June 1, 1935, in Mercer County, WV, Dickens learned about music from her father, an occasional banjo player and Baptist minister who drove trucks for a mining company to make a living. She was early influenced by country traditionalists such as Uncle Dave Macon, the Monroe Brothers, and the Carter Family. When she was 19, her family's dire poverty forced Dickens to move to Baltimore, where she worked in factories with her sister and two brothers. <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />The four displaced siblings often attended old-timey festivals and gatherings, watching others and performing themselves. At one of these festivals, Hazel Dickens met Mike Seeger (younger brother of folk legend Pete Seeger), and the two formed a band with her brothers. Over the ensuing decade, Dickens became active in the folk/bluegrass movement around the Baltimore/Washington, D.C., area, playing bass and singing with several bands, including the Greenbriar Boys, who toured with Joan Baez in the '60s. <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Around this time she met Mike Seeger's wife, Alice Gerrard, a classically trained singer also interested in old-timey music. At the nearby Library of Congress, the two began researching early feminist songs and then incorporated them into their own repertoire. The duo performed throughout the country -- particularly the South -- and recorded two albums for Folkways, Who's That Knocking (And Other Bluegrass Country Music) (1965) and Won't You Come & Sing for Me (1973). <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />The two separated in 1973 -- two later albums were compiled from previous recordings -- and Dickens began her solo career with a flourish. She recorded four songs for the soundtrack to the Academy Award-winning documentary about coalmining, Harlan County, USA. Three years later, she contributed to the soundtrack for With Babies and Banners and began a solo career five years later. Her three solo albums for Rounder, Hard Hitting Songs for the Hard Hit (1981), By the Sweat of My Brow (1983), and It's Hard to Tell the Singer From the Song (1987), include old-timey country alongside protest songs and songs in a more contemporary country style. Rounder's A Few Old Memories distills the best of the three albums onto one disc.<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><img alt="Image" src="http://i52.tinypic.com/2vvumog.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="clear: right; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Alice Gerard - Biography</span>by Craig Harris<br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />The daughter of trained classical musicians, Alice Gerrard didn't grow up with bluegrass or folk music. Her earliest musical memories are of singing along with family members and friends around the living room piano. Gerrard's albums with West Virginia-born folksinger Hazel Dickens, however, rank among the most influential recordings in folk music history. <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Gerrard's first exposure to folk music came while she was attending Antioch College in Ohio. Inspired by the folk songs played by dorm-mates, Gerrard abandoned the piano and became absorbed with the more rural sounds that she heard on such albums as The Anthology of American Folk Music. <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Moving to Washington, D.C., to complete her college co-op experience, Gerrard encountered a thriving bluegrass scene. Hanging out in her spare time at the Famous Restaurant in Washington, D.C., Gerrard met numerous bluegrass and old-timey musicians, including Mike Seeger of the New Lost City Ramblers, who introduced her to Dickens. With their mutual love of traditional American music, Gerrard and Dickens became close friends. Developing a unique harmony style that combined the alto-below-lead of the Carter Family and the tenor-above-lead of Bill Monroe, the two vocalists soon became frequent performers in the folk clubs and coffeehouses of the Capitol region. Their repertoire continued to expand as they studied sheet music at the Library of Congress and taped old-timey musicians at folk festivals. <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Gerrard and Dickens' debut album, Who's That Knocking, released in 1965, was recorded for 75 dollars at the First Unitarian Church in Washington and featured accompaniment by David Grisman (mandolin), Lamar Grier (banjo), and Chubby Wise and Billy Baker (fiddles). Although their second album, Won't You Come and Sing?, featuring the same musicians, was recorded the same year, it wasn't released until 1973. Gerrard and Dickens' first two albums were later combined and released as Pioneering Women of Bluegrass in 1996. The 26 tunes on the reissued album include six Carter Family songs, five Monroe tunes, three original songs by Dickens, and Gerrard's hard-hitting satire of sexist attitudes towards women, "Custom Made Woman Blues." <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Gerrard and Dickens' Get Acquainted Waltz was released in 1975 and featured accompaniment by Seeger, who was at the time Gerrard's husband, and his New Lost City Ramblers bandmate Tracy Schwartz. <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Gerrard subsequently recorded two albums with Seeger -- Mike and Alice Seeger in Concert in 1970 and Mike Seeger and Alice Gerrard in 1980 -- and one solo collection, Pieces of My Heart in 1994. Since 1987, Gerrard has published The Old Time Herald, a quarterly magazine devoted to the preservation of old-timey music.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Image" src="http://i55.tinypic.com/2qiwwhw.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></div><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard - Who's that Knocking?</span><br />
<br />
Year: 1965<br />
Label: Folkways<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>with David Grisman, Lamar Grier, Chubby Wise & Billy Baker!<br />
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<span style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: underline;">Tracks:</span><br />
<ol style="list-style-type: decimal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 3em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Walkin in My Sleep</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Can't you Hear me Calling</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Darling Nellie Across the Sea</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Difficult Run</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Coal Miner's Blues</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Gabriel's Call</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Just Another Broken Heart</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Take Me Back to Tulsa</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Who's that Knocking?</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Cowboy Jim</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Long Black Veil</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Lee Highway Blues</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Lover's Return</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Gonna Lay Down my Old Guitar</li>
<li style="list-style-type: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">I Hear a Sweet Voice Calling</li>
</ol><a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/95634214/ae7c76e/HazDickAlGer-WhoDatKnockin.zip.html">open the door</a>.<br />
vinyl, cleaned | mp3 >256kbps vbr | w/ scans<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU680fOgc_ftZSkK1RhBQpSrE8T_UKuamC-K5BQYPdWjgvsWZ3AbSBFzdnoTKy2dQv9VCqw9phMeZSEJ6YpISxBRduhjeAvG_Z8O19hBc7TGWXVCuq_OBBX08cxjAGp152y4iWJbqxBvE/s1600/Hazel+%2526+Alice+-+Who%2527s+that+Knocking+-+back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU680fOgc_ftZSkK1RhBQpSrE8T_UKuamC-K5BQYPdWjgvsWZ3AbSBFzdnoTKy2dQv9VCqw9phMeZSEJ6YpISxBRduhjeAvG_Z8O19hBc7TGWXVCuq_OBBX08cxjAGp152y4iWJbqxBvE/s400/Hazel+%2526+Alice+-+Who%2527s+that+Knocking+-+back.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></div>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-78911218259824081302011-01-17T01:09:00.004-07:002011-01-17T01:35:51.488-07:00A Jukebox of Ghosts<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkk3JP8W293Ecnq0NobPNzezGbjGYyA5sBR1YxGcQ-g-RSwTYOUCqPjYaat7om8TIfyx7dHPOAnTPuyGnnsg728Tv9cJ2IHGTo5YVEknmLePtrAwVqPLXntk1BkzDGVcMUscDrrMv1DdA/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-01-17+at+12.31.59+AM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkk3JP8W293Ecnq0NobPNzezGbjGYyA5sBR1YxGcQ-g-RSwTYOUCqPjYaat7om8TIfyx7dHPOAnTPuyGnnsg728Tv9cJ2IHGTo5YVEknmLePtrAwVqPLXntk1BkzDGVcMUscDrrMv1DdA/s400/Screen+shot+2011-01-17+at+12.31.59+AM.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563070379508739058" /></a><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" >Hello,
<br />
<br />I've been enjoying your blog for a while so I thought I'd give you a holler. The collection of music you present is awesomely eclectic and esoteric, and your descriptions are fantastic: "It's like when you're a baby, laying in your crib, and the voice of the mighty one comes to you, and tells you you're going to live to see the death of all the world." Damn! Thank you for the endless hours of musical exploration (laced with the occasional Borges reference) you've made possible.
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<br />I started my own blog, The Vanished Hand (<a href="http://vanishedhand.blogspot.com/">http://vanishedhand.blogspot.com/</a>), back in May to explore my interest in the old, weird, and macabre, including music, poetry, photography, and anything else that strikes me. I'm just trying to let it take its own course. It is still quite young, but I thought you might be interested.</span></blockquote>
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<br /><div>Dude. That's a fantastic new blog. I really like how you mix it up with the poetry, photography, etc, and then link these historical events to contemporary performances from a wide variety of styles. Any place that brings together sea monsters and Dock Boggs, Sigur Rós, Tim Eriksen, Mark Twain (in animated stereographic format), and boys with their heads thrown back in pangs of agonecstasy (a new word as of now) is worth my time. I haven't even read what you've written yet, and already I like it.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>In fact, I've been wanting to expand a little bit from music and the occasional bit of poetry, and do some posts on art, cinema, etc. So I think I just might, spurred by your anthropoarchaic interperipheral excursions.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>So perk your heads up readers: this one's a keeper.</div><div>
<br /></div><div><a href="http://vanishedhand.blogspot.com/">The Vanished Hand</a></div>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6395909822324046048.post-29860806318655245582011-01-13T16:21:00.008-07:002011-01-13T17:27:51.102-07:00Andrew Manze - Tartini: The Devil's Sonata<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkhinKtVit1ZpyuBDpSE9Ve426vVBKNBhDHARl8oF-UgVEVZFcWWtJbQdZDB92WlhJQJrrmOA3k22fb3Nqyk5VxyPX9AaG0QXGU80X-MErHkYO1eEg0bsidnhI75DxBKhYUZGxR3PnBis/s1600/comp10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 319px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkhinKtVit1ZpyuBDpSE9Ve426vVBKNBhDHARl8oF-UgVEVZFcWWtJbQdZDB92WlhJQJrrmOA3k22fb3Nqyk5VxyPX9AaG0QXGU80X-MErHkYO1eEg0bsidnhI75DxBKhYUZGxR3PnBis/s400/comp10.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561828387546335746" /></a>
<br /><meta charset="utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; ">There are very few solo violin recordings. Sometimes it seems as though guitars, banjos, basses, etc were all invented for the sole purpose of backing up the violin. This is of course not true, but it illustrates my point. Having such a high range, it's difficult to make the violin produce a full listening experience. And those pieces that do so tend to require an exacting amount of virtuosity to play. Which is basically the story with these ones.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; ">But something more is at work here than mere bravura. This is devilmusic. 18th Century devilmusic, but devilmusic all the same. Scotty Stoneman was talking to the same cloven-hoofed fiddler as Tartini. And that Prince of Darkness showed both men the same thing. He showed them that if you play two notes at the same time on the fiddle, and you play them both HARD, demons are released, in the form of bastard notes that spring from the soundboard and hover in the air, unresting, part of no melody, teasing their way into the listener's soul. And this is how the devil converts souls to his purposes. He recruits fiddlers to play music that gets people FEELING and then maybe even DANCING and before you know it, they've cast aside their harps and are enjoying this Garden of Earthly Delights, drunk on the soup of inspiration.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; ">And Andrew Manze is probably the only classical violinist in the world that understands this, which is why he plays it like this.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; ">
<br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; ">So remember, it may be old, but it's still just as evil.</span></div>
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjey8JYyDfrdI2exx34UHiTPfr_UuXgeEdAWHEA_uG8OiHb0Z5Bfxkcqw5pYJDlAZTcaSwbyW9-hNCeFtYsrJg0MqYbe8IzVrbdUdGDYvYSVkg4c-ucyl8N9FapUUoeyMH6x3LbMgrkahs/s1600/piran-tartini-tartini.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 276px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjey8JYyDfrdI2exx34UHiTPfr_UuXgeEdAWHEA_uG8OiHb0Z5Bfxkcqw5pYJDlAZTcaSwbyW9-hNCeFtYsrJg0MqYbe8IzVrbdUdGDYvYSVkg4c-ucyl8N9FapUUoeyMH6x3LbMgrkahs/s400/piran-tartini-tartini.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561827099638814994" /></a>
<br /><b>Tartini: Biography
<br /></b>by Blair Johnston
<br />Despite Italian composer Giuseppe Tartini's important place in musical history, he remains known to most musicians only as the composer of the "Devil's Trill" violin sonata. Born on the Istrian peninsula in 1692, Tartini was the son of a minor government official in the city of Pirano (now Piran, Slovenia). Although his parents had selected a monastic life for Tartini when he was very young, in 1708 he rejected his clerical training to pursue a course of instruction in music. Soon, however, he seems to have enrolled at the University of Padua as a student of law, and was more famed during his younger days as a dueler and swordsman than as a trained musician. Despite still officially being a candidate for the priesthood, Tartini married in 1710, and, having thereby incurred the wrath of the Paduan bishop, found it necessary to hide out in the monastery at Assisi for a time. He put his time to good use: apparently he made a rigorous study of music, and by 1714 he seems to have found employment with the opera orchestra at Ancona.
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<br />Reunited with his wife in 1715, Tartini spent the next several years trying to perfect his violin technique. The legend is that he heard the virtuoso Francesco Veracini perform and resolved to live in isolation until he could accomplish the same amazing feats of dexterity. By 1720, he was engaged as soloist and leader of the orchestra at St. Anthony's in Padua. Until an arm injury in 1740 seriously limited his career, Tartini fulfilled his duties at St. Anthony's even as he built a widespread reputation as the leading violinist of his day. He made an extended visit to Prague between 1723 and 1726. Officially retiring from St. Anthony's in 1765, Tartini remained active as a teacher until a mild stroke, which he suffered in 1768, incapacitated him even further. Tartini died in 1770, the year of Beethoven's birth.
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<br />Tartini was the founder of an important school of violin playing, subsequently disseminated by such noteworthy pupils as Pietro Nardini and Johann Gottlieb Naumann. Because he did not seek fame as a composer, very little of Tartini's music was published during his lifetime. Some 135 violin concerti and over 200 violin sonatas (some of which, however, are spurious) still survive in manuscript form. A smattering of sacred vocal works (such as the Stabat Mater composed during the final year of his life) and a few sinfonias, trio sonatas, and four-part sonatas round off Tartini's considerable output. In addition to his activities as a violinist and composer, Tartini became increasingly interested in theories of acoustics and harmony as the years went by, and his 1754 theoretical treatise Trattato di musica secondo la vera scienza dell'armonia attempts to account for contemporary harmonic thinking in terms of the overtone series and to promote Tartini's own discovery of "sub-tones" in that series. Despite its lofty intentions (or perhaps because of them) the Trattato is not a particularly accurate or informative text; it does, however, provide great insight into the mind of this remarkable musician.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRUVddD5K796R2M8pBu8t7FQ7_Vwjc4BQQXcAMuMt6hx89Ifss16MAodECE5qVFYmeglF1nOR4mHw6axBx3OzdeGYsHfCzBFW3nEqAiVpO0YtTPBMKKC9c6yv-s5qEODhUDT6XHpHxvY0/s1600/Tartini.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 154px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRUVddD5K796R2M8pBu8t7FQ7_Vwjc4BQQXcAMuMt6hx89Ifss16MAodECE5qVFYmeglF1nOR4mHw6axBx3OzdeGYsHfCzBFW3nEqAiVpO0YtTPBMKKC9c6yv-s5qEODhUDT6XHpHxvY0/s200/Tartini.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561829325231067762" /></a>Some More interesting info on Tartini:
<br />Italian violinist, composer and musical theorist, was born at Tirano in Istria on the 12th of April 1692. In early life he studied, with equal want of success, for the church, the law courts, and the profession of arms. As a young man he was wild and irregular, and he crowned his improprieties by clandestinely marrying the niece of Cardinal Cornaro, Archbishop of Padua. The cardinal resented the marriage as a disgraceful mésalliance, and denounced it so violently that the unhappy bridegroom, thinking his life in danger, fled for safety to a monastery at Assisi, where his character underwent a complete change. He studied the theory of music under Padre Boemo, the organist of the monastery, and, without any assistance whatever, taught himself to play the violin in so masterly a style that his performances in the church became the wonder of the neighborhood. For more than two years his identity remained undiscovered, but one day the wind blew aside a curtain behind which he was playing, and one of his hearers recognized him and betrayed his retreat to the cardinal, who, hearing of his changed character, readmitted him to favor and restored him to his wife.
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<br />Tartini next removed to Venice, where the fine violin-playing of Veracini excited his admiration and prompted him to repeir, by the aid of good instruction, the shortcomings of his own self-taught method. He left his wife with relations and returned to Ancona, where he studied for a time. In 1721 he returned to Padua, where he was appointed solo violinist at the church of San Antonio. From 1723 to 1725 he acted as conductor of Count Kinsky's private band in Prague. In 1728 he founded a school for violin in Padua. The date of his presence in Rome does not seem to be clearly established, but he was in Bologna in 1739. Afterwards he returned to his old post in Padua, where he died on the 16th of February 1770.
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<br />Tartini's compositions are very numerous, and faithfully illustrate his passionate and masterly styie of execution, which surpassed in brilliancy and refined taste that of all his contemporaries. He frequently headed his pieces with an explanatory poetical motto, such as "Ombra cara", or "Volgete il riso in pianto o mie pupille." Concerning that known as Il Trillo del Diavolo, or The Devil's Sonata, he told a curious story to Lalande, in 1766. He dreamed that the devil had become his slave, and that he one day asked him if he could play the violin. The devil replied that he believed he could pick out a tune, and thereupon he played a sonata so exquisite that Tartini thought he had never heard any music to equal it. On awaking he tried to note down the composition, but succeeded very imperfectly, though the Devil's Sonata is one of his best productions.
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<br />Tartini is historically important as having contributed to the science of acoustics as well as to musical art by his discovery (independently of Sorge, 1740, to whom the primary credit is now given) of what are still called "Tartini's tones", or differential tones.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYZyazkZHWTbuwW8HIaB1-Qd9Od8_Ey5aNIZQjO42sEY9iZVoiCPtcxPatFOkHkNTDsT00g2ry3OW6uWt3tVAsEqkcFgFKtr50VNVDqirsSsBp_kxB4L7v2WAQwXdWDb08-EQ-iwWYoc/s1600/images.jpeg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 159px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsYZyazkZHWTbuwW8HIaB1-Qd9Od8_Ey5aNIZQjO42sEY9iZVoiCPtcxPatFOkHkNTDsT00g2ry3OW6uWt3tVAsEqkcFgFKtr50VNVDqirsSsBp_kxB4L7v2WAQwXdWDb08-EQ-iwWYoc/s200/images.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561831276862964130" /></a>The phenomenon is this: when any two notes are produced steadily and with great intensity, a third note is heard, whose vibration number is the difference of those of the two primary notes. It follows from this that any two consecutive members of a harmonic series have the fundamental of that series for their difference tone -- thus, (E/C), the fourth and fifth harmonic, produce (C), the prime or generator, at the interval of two octaves under the lower of those two notes; (E/G), the third and fifth harmonic, produce (C), the second harmonic, at the interval of a 5th under the lower of those two notes. The discoverer was wont to tell his pupils that their double-stopping was not in tune unless they could hear the third note; and Henry Blagrove (1811-1872) gave the same admonition. The phenomenon has other than technical significance; an experiment by Sir F. A. G. Ouseley showed that two pipes, tuned by measurement to so acute a pitch as to render the notes of both inaudible by human ears, when blown together produce the difference of tone of the inaudible primaries, and this verifies the fact of the infinite upward range of sound which transcends the perceptive power of human organs. The obverse of this fact is that of any sound being deepened by an 8th if the length of the string or pipe which produces it be doubled. The law is without exception throughout the compass in which our ears can distinguish pitch, and so, of necessity, a string of twice the length of that whose vibrations induce the deepest perceivable sound must stir the air at such a rate as to cause a tone at an 8th below that lowest audible note. It is hence manifest that, however limited our sense of the range of musical sound, this range extends upward and downward to infinity. Tartini made his observations the basis of a theoretical system which he set forth in his Trattato di Musica, Secondo la Vera Scienzia dell'Armonia (Padua, 1754) and Dei Principij dell'Armonia Musicale (Padua, 1767). He also wrote a Trattato delle Appogiature, posthumously printed in French, and an unpublished work, Delle Ragioni e delle Proporzioni, the manuscript of which has been lost.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjXkDCWaksLFR0MOGKjioG0LXj6RMuunU3JFkAszDiJ0_RzgNisJ-4KfcrUn85vEAen6LQNSSLbHcvB_ABVtuCsIS_i8liCdjVqR6OE90jdbrRecZtVjzlz2DKskihepv28rMCB2yWa-w/s1600/Andrew_Manze.sized.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 322px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjXkDCWaksLFR0MOGKjioG0LXj6RMuunU3JFkAszDiJ0_RzgNisJ-4KfcrUn85vEAen6LQNSSLbHcvB_ABVtuCsIS_i8liCdjVqR6OE90jdbrRecZtVjzlz2DKskihepv28rMCB2yWa-w/s400/Andrew_Manze.sized.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561828391951886642" /></a>
<br /><b>Andrew Manze - Biography
<br /></b>by Joseph Stevenson
<br />Andrew Manze has emerged as one of the leading violinists in the early music movement. He specializes in music from between 1610 and 1830. His education began at Cambridge, where he studied Classics. He then moved on to music studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London and at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, studying with both Simon Standage and Marie Leonhardt. Manze then joined the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, remaining there until 1993. The following year he began collaborating with harpsichordist Richard Egarr. One of their major releases presented a 1712 collection of violin sonatas by the French composer Jean-Féry Rebel. Meanwhile, Manze formed the group Romanesca, with harpsichordist John Tell and lutenist Nigel North; the trio specialized in music of the seventeenth century. In 1996 Manze was appointed associate director and concertmaster of the London-based Baroque group The Academy of Ancient Music. In the 2003-2004 season, he became music director of The English Concert.
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<br />Manze is well-known in Britain for his broadcast work. He has become a popular "presenter" on BBC radio, and made his debut with the BBC Promenade Concert in 1998. That concert was televised nationally, with Manze playing concertos by Pergolesi, Bach, Vivaldi, and Mozart, and introducing the public to the enthusiasm and directness of the new ways of performing Baroque and Classic music.
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<br />Recording for the French Harmonia Mundi label, Manze won Gramophone, Edison, and Cannes Classical awards for his recording with Romanesca of Biber's flashy and mystical violin sonatas. His playing of Vivaldi's newly discovered "Manchester" sonatas won the Premio Internazionale del Disco Vivaldi Antica Italiana. His album Phantasticus won the Cannes Classical Award and a Diapason D'Or. The later award was also given to his recording of Schmelzer's violin sonatas. Manze was named the 1998 Classical Artist of the Year.
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<br />Manze is in demand as an expert in Baroque music interpretation. He serves as a performance advisor and director for the European Community Baroque Orchestra, gives master classes, and has been visiting professor at the Royal College of Music in London. He is also a busy soloist on the international concert scene, appearing in one season with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Canadian early music group Tafelmusik, and the Berlin Philharmonic.
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<br />He is known for his freedom of ornamentation, bringing an improvisatory excitement to his concerts. Manze lives with his wife (also a violinist) in England's Cotswolds region.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSDb1wAwWvHG_ohl6o-meqm9zbJS79qex-NT2R5IyfE07Fav_Q0wQHC4o8y7PfLlrESAYXWsRZ0h-WoAa0oKHdkQKPDKT6PduBoh6yEcS2JIVXBCzc1xQq-Ec-JFV7I1OJ0OBaU3T0HeU/s1600/Andrew_Manze.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSDb1wAwWvHG_ohl6o-meqm9zbJS79qex-NT2R5IyfE07Fav_Q0wQHC4o8y7PfLlrESAYXWsRZ0h-WoAa0oKHdkQKPDKT6PduBoh6yEcS2JIVXBCzc1xQq-Ec-JFV7I1OJ0OBaU3T0HeU/s400/Andrew_Manze.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561828392221015234" /></a>
<br /><b>More on Manze:
<br /></b>Andrew Manze is an internationally known English violinist whom The New York Times has called "the Grappelli of the baroque." Manze is not only a highly accomplished chamber player but associate director of the prestigious Academy of Ancient Music based in London. He shared his contagious enthusiasm with us in a break between rehearsals.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCp1HimP3yvPC6IPFEzmhz5zQFozdWMFMEBQRP49Madk141tBwCl3ivuvo_MFV1wHeNyaF8vAzU3okAH4uQpNRbf_z6xSM8It579wmBw5L_kHNDdnsjFHdOzC35GkPGW2nZZr1eIEvYPo/s1600/ManzeDevil007.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 194px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCp1HimP3yvPC6IPFEzmhz5zQFozdWMFMEBQRP49Madk141tBwCl3ivuvo_MFV1wHeNyaF8vAzU3okAH4uQpNRbf_z6xSM8It579wmBw5L_kHNDdnsjFHdOzC35GkPGW2nZZr1eIEvYPo/s200/ManzeDevil007.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561829317967876626" /></a>Andrew Manze mastered the violin gradually, almost as a dilettante. At the age of ten, after he had been playing the recorder for a few years, someone suggested that he should study a "real" instrument. His spontaneous choice was the oboe, but the orthodontist thought otherwise. He then opted for the practical solution of studying the violin - "the instrument in the house" (his father played it as a youngster). The school music program provided an admirable start. "By the time I was 11, I was already playing in an orchestra. I've played in orchestras ever since! At 14, I did my first international tour. When I was 18 years old, I was quite well travelled. It was a fantastic opportunity to learn orchestral technique on the spot."
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<br />His love of baroque music developed during his studies at Cambridge. Even though he was studying classics (Greek and Latin), he continued to play the violin. His friend Richard Egarr had just discovered the harpsichord. He organized a baroque ensemble and persuaded Manze to try his hand. "It was a struggle at first but I'm glad now I discovered that repertoire. Richard is still talking to me and I'm still talking to him!" he chuckles.
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<br />Other youthful encounters also transformed his life. The wife of the great harpsichordist, Gustav Leonhardt, took him under her wing. Mrs. Leonhardt, a musician herself, was "a wonderful guide," says Manze. In 1988 he met Ton Koopman, conductor of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. "It clicked right away. We appealed to one another," Manze remembers. Koopman hired Manze then and there. He made his debut with the orchestra in the second violin section, but moved quickly to concertmaster.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooyFv4tofKa7ChjmGGKop0dVc7yKotAeUCooaHDA5HzsDZlpXgL0_4UspzzM3l-PHB6W7Fe48uzPnrt0vCE83ZqfX6FIQ1NYFhFMpTp15RjK3kfkM91bNZUmdO1EF7YGzWXGiBltct7g/s1600/f2bbca09-010b-45b3-b6f0-af37d8d24cef.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 194px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiooyFv4tofKa7ChjmGGKop0dVc7yKotAeUCooaHDA5HzsDZlpXgL0_4UspzzM3l-PHB6W7Fe48uzPnrt0vCE83ZqfX6FIQ1NYFhFMpTp15RjK3kfkM91bNZUmdO1EF7YGzWXGiBltct7g/s200/f2bbca09-010b-45b3-b6f0-af37d8d24cef.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561829316407687826" /></a>Manze left Amsterdam in 1993 to devote his time to conducting. He feels that freedom is a must for interpreting baroque music. "After all, when you are the first to play that repertoire, you can't ask anyone for input. The music was very much alive then and it still should be today. If a listener goes to hear a concert, we owe it to him to give a one-of-a-kind experience. If I were to play one piece the same way I did two months ago, it would be missing a key ingredient: flexibility. The performance obviously varies depending on how the musician is feeling. It should also depend on the venue you are playing in, its acoustics. It can be strongly affected by the character of the audience, how they react to the experience. For example, the German public take their baroque music very seriously, listening with great concentration. I look forward to playing in Canada, a nation I don't know very well. It's always interesting to feel, to experience an audience and find out what happens to the music as a result."
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<br />Paradoxically, the essence of baroque music is somewhat defeated by its mass popularity, Manze outlines the irony of the situation. "We're asked to play in rooms way too big for the instruments, originally designed to be played in churches or small domestic venues." He remembers the Domaine Forget concert hall in great detail, and considers it an ideal venue.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnGetSWqoqJX2h38RLain7o-Z7Od-1NfXgZaaQkQUZqUV5a97klWduyUo0DbjwX88ddJ9_GBV8Cy6Nvmm6jAu2Wx2wzatW16fN-Ds42VPhkq2HkLmxDkKiZZMw5_vIalvCEoUamIaNrZA/s1600/Andrew%252BManze+%25281%2529.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 186px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnGetSWqoqJX2h38RLain7o-Z7Od-1NfXgZaaQkQUZqUV5a97klWduyUo0DbjwX88ddJ9_GBV8Cy6Nvmm6jAu2Wx2wzatW16fN-Ds42VPhkq2HkLmxDkKiZZMw5_vIalvCEoUamIaNrZA/s200/Andrew%252BManze+%25281%2529.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561829310672213714" /></a>Asked why baroque music has become so popular in recent years, Manze suggested several reasons. "If the music is well chosen and presented in the right spirit, it is extremely good quality music. Bach can stand comparison to any of the major composers. The music is also extremely well structured, very melodic, entertaining and it has got drama to it." He draws a parallel with the attraction western civilization feels for novelty. "Music lovers are interested in new repertoire but they've been burnt by some contemporary music. They become wary of it. Maybe baroque music benefited from the fact that a lot of contemporary music is not accessible. It must be possible to write contemporary music which says all the things you want to say but doesn't provoke the 'yuck' feeling!"
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<br />Manze doesn't entirely reject contemporary repertoire: on the contrary, his wife is actually a specialist in this rarefied field, and the Academy of Ancient Music has interpreted John Tavener's Eternity's Sunrise (in 1998) and Total Eclipse (June 20, 2000). Tavener is one of the most popular English composers of the day, and Manze appreciated being able to ask him about specific details of interpretation. In the process, he learned that composers are generally not dogmatic. "It's cowardly to justify oneself with an 'I ought to do this.' It's like hiding on stage behind a corpse. I always imagine what the composer would say if he were there. He probably wouldn't be concentrating on my question; he probably would be amazed by the technological progress. His music would be the last thing he would want to talk about."
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlEE5Gd5rf2S0nvr0RiS1ea9AfQOqggI94f5UIQYsOmgolqI0TSYTsmsmO8wzwI0EEDJ0Phi5xqVAtOctLZ5IiJox_K8JjN30eceN2p-iY-RpvMPtw3soEl1jTvt3L1LHbxDB_A_hDSzM/s1600/Manze_1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 194px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlEE5Gd5rf2S0nvr0RiS1ea9AfQOqggI94f5UIQYsOmgolqI0TSYTsmsmO8wzwI0EEDJ0Phi5xqVAtOctLZ5IiJox_K8JjN30eceN2p-iY-RpvMPtw3soEl1jTvt3L1LHbxDB_A_hDSzM/s200/Manze_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561830347052269922" /></a>Manze's crowded schedule doesn't give him time for regular pupils. He enjoys master classes, however. "The questions asked by students are often the same questions I ask myself." Some of his former students have become fellow musicians at the Academy of Ancient Music, something he feels is a natural development. He speaks with great pride of "his" orchestra, which recently celebrated its 26th birthday. "The Academy of Ancient Music has achieved a great momentum. It is filled with great experience collectively. It took time to build the trust but now the musicians trust me completely. I don't quite know moment to moment what will be happening." Manze usually conducts from his position as concert master and seems becomingly modest about his personal prestige. He is looking forward to the orchestra's North American tour in November 2000.
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<br />Chamber music remains an important part of his life as a musician. He spent 10 years with harpsichordist John Toll and lutist Nigel North in the Romanesca Trio. A number of award-winning recordings came from this collaboration. Manze had to give it up in 1999, when Nigel North accepted a post at the renowned Indiana University School of Music. His friendship with harpsichordist Richard Egarr reflects a similar meeting of minds on the artistic and intuitive level. Egarr will accompany Manze in August in Bach sonatas for harpsichord obligato and violin. Manze and Egarr have been exploring the rich baroque repertoire for 16 years now. "We love to surprise one another. It keeps the experience fresh and interesting," says Manze.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSlwYNyb1h8syUbLNO6fSERaL2xY97660GXVrEjVRpHtmKUskkfGgHZ-V0f3fJmz7T18GA1udNzWN6Xk1epL5a8VN5DgaU1I1G5qxbbmNFQY9fc0n4ZHlGpdcAfqcujgCu7KvVfx-OqU/s1600/k3ktig.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaSlwYNyb1h8syUbLNO6fSERaL2xY97660GXVrEjVRpHtmKUskkfGgHZ-V0f3fJmz7T18GA1udNzWN6Xk1epL5a8VN5DgaU1I1G5qxbbmNFQY9fc0n4ZHlGpdcAfqcujgCu7KvVfx-OqU/s400/k3ktig.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561827100529628994" /></a>
<br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Andrew Manze - Tartini: The Devil's Sonata</span>
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<br />Year: 1998
<br />Label: Harmonia Mundi
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<br />Amazon's Best of 1998
<br />Violinist Andrew Manze did something truly breathtaking in 1998--he transformed the way we hear Giuseppe Tartini's The Devil's Sonata by playing it solo, without accompaniment. And we'll never hear it the same way again. It's a riveting performance, filled with as much improvisation as many jazz compositions, and yet it remains thoroughly faithful to Tartini's vision (Manze was inspired to play the work solo by the composer's own correspondence). Hands down, one of the best Baroque performances ever. --Jason Verlinde
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<br />Amazon essential recording
<br />This is one of the craziest classical CDs you will ever hear, but the madness is inspired. Andrew Manze, following a suggestion in one of Tartini's letters, gets rid of the published accompaniment and plays these pieces on the solo violin. In the other three works he takes plenty of liberties, but in the famous Devil's Trill Sonata he embellishes, improvises, departs from the text and comes back again. The verbal description sounds like my idea of a nightmare, but the execution is so inspired that this is one of the most compelling Baroque performances ever. Whether it is "authentic" or not, I have no idea, and Manze probably doesn't either. But this is a recording you will remember. --Leslie Gerber
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<br />REVIEWS:
<br />BBC Music (5/98, p.63) - Performance: 5 (out of 5), Sound: 5 (out of 5) - "...In the hands of Andrew Manze, ['The Devil's Sonata'] transcends its complexities to become a beautiful and compelling piece of music, closely followed by the Pastorale, with its fantastical Grave, and the other works here..."
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<br />A customer said:
<br />If I wish to demonstrate to someone why the 'Baroque Violin' is special, this is the album I play to them. There is no 'modern' rendering that approaches it. The dynamic range, intimacy and passion inherent in this CD are incomparable. Though I am sure the adherents of Josh Bell, Sarah Chang and Vanessa Mae would hoot me down, I will assert that in musicianship and technical ability Manze is the finest violinist living. Period.
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<br />In over 20 years of pursuing the 'ideal' solo violin recording this would be my choice.
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<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxp8NCOTJcqwOU5hek3apCnj82QzJFqcgEbzgDJN33RgxqpSt-TEUM80ftrBz6CMZLOwRqsxckv4hFZsCwwW-1-lfOMdeLe7VV8BG-UB31ns1zTdXUGSZXFHOXmr_pHO75vgKJa6lFQUQ/s1600/images+%25281%2529.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 143px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxp8NCOTJcqwOU5hek3apCnj82QzJFqcgEbzgDJN33RgxqpSt-TEUM80ftrBz6CMZLOwRqsxckv4hFZsCwwW-1-lfOMdeLe7VV8BG-UB31ns1zTdXUGSZXFHOXmr_pHO75vgKJa6lFQUQ/s200/images+%25281%2529.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561830668785814706" /></a>Tracks:
<br />1. "La Sonata del Diavolo" in G minor: [Largo] - 6:40
<br />2. "La Sonata del Diavolo" in G minor: Allegro - 6:09
<br />3. "La Sonata del Diavolo" in G minor: Andante-Allegro-Adagio - 6:24
<br />4. from "L'arte del arco": Theme and variation I - 1:00
<br />5. from "L'arte del arco": Variations 2 and 4 - 1:08
<br />6. from "L'arte del arco": Variations 9, 15 and 12 - 1:28
<br />7. from "L'arte del arco": Variations 10 and 20 - 1:51
<br />8. from "L'arte del arco": Variation 29 0:46
<br />9. from "L'arte del arco": Variation 30 0:37
<br />10. from "L'arte del arco": Variation 33 - 2:04
<br />11. from "L'arte del arco": Variation 34 - 1:11
<br />12. from "L'arte del arco": Variation 23 0:53
<br />13. from "L'arte del arco": Variation 38 - 1:14
<br />14. Sonata in A minor: Cantabile - 1:56
<br />15. Sonata in A minor: Allegro - 1:56
<br />16. Sonata in A minor: [Andante] - 4:53
<br />17. Sonata in A minor: Giga - 2:35
<br />18. Sonata in A minor: Aria [with variations] - 1:40
<br />19. Sonata in A minor: Variation I - 1:18
<br />20. Sonata in A minor: Variation II - 3:51
<br />21. Sonata in A minor: Variation III - 1:32
<br />22. Sonata in A minor: Variation IV - 2:42
<br />23. Sonata in A minor: Variation V - 1:24
<br />24. "Pastorale" for violin in scordatura: Grave - 5:02
<br />25. "Pastorale" for violin in scordatura: Allegro - 3:30
<br />26. "Pastorale" for violin in scordatura: Largo-Presto-Andante - 4:59
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<br /></div><div><a href="http://hotfile.com/dl/96591094/419fdea/AndManz-TartDevlSont.zip.html">devil music</a> </div><div>or <a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ONEXYHHQ">in FLAC</a>
<br />mr | mp3 >256vbr / FLAC | full booklet scans
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<br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm3TSYMW934y7p0oc-u8i7zqgYWPJ65zW4v_-mqCGPO74yg34ll2B_UjMeUZnAV85sUL0gdHxGQP9kMhXZXD8FtQpzzi2Vp3tQzdEb5eYMwaYMSHIU34z1zYxHHYWG3bk72hmHkF-p9c/s1600/Trill_devil_sonata_by_PoisonOnYourLips.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXm3TSYMW934y7p0oc-u8i7zqgYWPJ65zW4v_-mqCGPO74yg34ll2B_UjMeUZnAV85sUL0gdHxGQP9kMhXZXD8FtQpzzi2Vp3tQzdEb5eYMwaYMSHIU34z1zYxHHYWG3bk72hmHkF-p9c/s400/Trill_devil_sonata_by_PoisonOnYourLips.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5561828398303149538" /></a>The Irate Piratehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11424429160753219350noreply@blogger.com0