Absolutely Clear
Don't surrender your loneliness
So quickly.
Let it cut more deep.
Let it ferment and season you
As few human
Or even divine ingredients can.
Something missing in my heart tonight
Has made my eyes so soft,
My voice
So tender,
My need of God
Absolutely
Clear.
--Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky
Out of everything I've done, everything I've lost,
everything I've gotten unexpectedly,
I can give you a little in leaves, in sour iron...
here I am with the thing that loses stars,
like a vegetable, alone.
-- Pablo Neruda, translated by Robert Bly
I am too alone in the world, and not alone enough to make every moment holy.
I am too tiny in this world, and not tiny enough just to lie before you like a thing,
shrewd and secretive.
I want my own will, and I want simply to be with my will,
as it goes toward action,
and in the silent, sometimes hardly moving times
when something is coming near,
I want to be with those who know secret things
or else alone.
-- Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Robert Bly
Sometimes I go about pitying myself,
and all the time
I am being carried on great winds across the sky.
-- a Chippewa wild woman
Beneath my chest there is a room
with two chairs and a fewtherbed.
On the table, a solitary candle burns
and the curtains are drawn open to the garden and its moon.
Your place is set, my love
with sweet wine, soup and spoon.
But no grace was spoken
over my ravaged plate.
The candle flickers and the curtains are pulled in.
It is late and my bed beckons.
As I turn from your chair I ask the night
who I will lay with 'till morning.
The wind comes in with a birdsong
But not the one I waited for--
It's the bird who sings at night
In a garden beneath my chest.
- Oct.5, 2008
We sense there is some sort of spirit that loves birds and the animals and the ants--
Perhaps the same one who gave a radiance to you in your mother's womb.
Is it logical you would be walking around entirely orphaned now?
The truth is you turned away yourself,
and decided to go into the dark alone.
--Kabir
February 13, 2009
For all you splendid singles...
Updates
I hope you all check my blogroll from time to time. I'm always updating it as I discover new cool places. I've now divided it into two: on top there's the blogs that I regularly visit (Partners in Piracy), and the links are automatically sorted by most-recently-updated. Our favorite blind-cat-screaming-banjo-man is back with a number of beautifully crafted vengeances, for instance.
Below that there's other assorted good blogs that I come upon from time to time; but just because they're not as much like this one as the upper echelon, they've got some amazing gems hidden within. Like this Robbie Basho post, or this young guitar soli (or this one). Or this crazy free folk, or kentucky mountain throat-singing-yodeling, or more oud music than you could shake a stick at. Or the most hair-raising collection of Native American music, or poetry from prison, or a crap-ton of bluegrass at 128kbps (yes, the crap-ton is a standard unit of measurement), or another fine Rev. Gary Davis album.
Oh, and I also re-upload files and replace the links, without making mention of it. So if there was something you wanted to download but found it dead, check back once in a while. Speaking of which, if anyone downloaded disks 2 and 4 of the Great Clarence White Bootleg Tapes, would you be a sweetheart and upload them, since shareonall has been long-dead. Thanks!
February 12, 2009
Micho Russell: Ireland's Whistling Ambassador
Our theme of religious vocal music will continue (much to the chagrin of some of you, no doubt), but for an interlude, here's something different:
Micho Russell was born in 1915 in Doolin, Co. Clare. The area is rugged and windswept and looks straight across to the Aran Islands. Both his parents were native Irish speakers but spoke English to their children. The people of the area grew their own potatoes, kept a few animals and cut turf for winter warmth.
Practically every house had a cheap German concertina played usually by the woman of the house. The people gathered in designated houses for a ‘cuaird’ or ‘soiree’ - a night of storytelling, singing and dancing. The youngsters would be listening and gradually become absorbed in the culture. As they got older they were allowed to join and eventually provided the music. Micho heard a tin whistle being played, thought it sounded lovely and got his first Clarke at age 11 from his father. Patrick Flanagan, a concertina player in the neighbourhood, showed Micho the scale and he took it from there. Later he got a wooden flute and in time played for those house dances in the company of his brother Pakie (concertina) and Gus (flute). Up until the 1960’s Micho with his brothers worked the land and played music for pastime and enjoyment. Gradually the house dances waned and music moved into pubs like O’ Connors and McGanns.
Tony McMahon persuaded Micho to do a ‘spot’ in Slattery’s, Capel Street, Dublin in the mid 60’s - Pakie and Gus were just not interested in leaving the homestead. The uniqueness and simplicity of the man and his music astounded his audience and more and more engagements followed. Apart from his music, his listeners were enthralled by his folklore, intros to his pieces and singing of local songs. He did radio and TV broadcasts and became Ireland’s ambassador as he was invited all over Europe and USA. When he was back in Clare, Doolin became a major tourist attraction and a mecca for musicians all the year round. Sadly, he was killed in a motoring accident on the 19th of February 1994.
- http://comhaltas.ie/blog/post/micho_russell/
mustrad has this to say:
This is a delightful compilation though the relatively poignant immediacy of its release after Micho's death in 1994 may have been lost. Perhaps, conversely, the CD offers a glimpse of the essential long-term appeal of Micho's music.
At any rate, it consists of twenty-two tracks, recorded by Edward Haber and Bill Ochs at various locations during the years 1990-1993 and is sensitively spliced together: my one quibble on this score might be that the sprinkling of applause now and then, though it indicates the kind of venue, is not, somehow, convincing. The recordings are otherwise absolutely clean; and yet that presence ' call it audience ' does indicate that this music is social whether as dance-music or as listening-music and Micho's own comments throughout reveal something of how he communicated, in asides, in personal reminiscence, in mini-histories and in observations on fellow-musicians. There is a whole cultural hinterland evoked, its locally-based nature nonetheless indicative of precisely how building blocks went to the making of wider traditions - which are, of course, still evolving in this way. The local aspect and the convolutions of dissemination are attested by some half a dozen such tracks, one (track twenty-one) a rare tune, a single jig which Micho knew as Christmas Day in the Morning and got from his mother and at least two, with local versions of the reels The Mason's Apron (track two) and The Ladies' Pantalettes (track nine), both got from a concertina-playing neighbour, Patrick Flanagan, and the latter by Patrick again from another concertina-player, Johnny Kilmartin, and named for Johnny's mother as Johnny Sally's Reel.
Characteristic of the style of playing here are the frequent use of an 'up' note at the ends of measures; a mixture of tonguing ' Josie MacDermott's playing is another clear example - and legato; the employment of spaces between notes; and, paramount, rhythmical impulse (Lucy Farr always evinces 'timing' as the mark of a good musician). Most of this is apparent in the opening track, a reel that Micho called The Rising Sun, got from a John Berth, 'a traveling (sic) carpenter and tin whistle player from Kilfenora', born in 1849 and the oldest musician from whom Micho learned … which connection, at once, perfectly illustrates that local but potentially wider-spreading transmission (you can hear this also on a record put out in Ireland in 1982 by, as far as I can gather, Skin Music which, at the least, adds to the sum of Micho's recorded output). Again, the full range of style can be heard to effect in, say, track ten, another reel, The Milliner's Daughter.
Such playing, evidently simple in conception but full of subtleties, was, apparently, based on concertina-playing (which seemed clear enough in the Free-Reed/Topic issue of the Russell family in 1975) and, in one sense, is halting as compared to, say, that of Mary Bergin where the impulse appears to be fluid and onward-moving (listen to Mary on, say, her Gael-Linn record of 1979); or, more recently, say, to Lawrence Nugent (Shanachie, 1996). Thus, variants tend to be introduced by way of a different attack on notes rather than simply a change in actual phrasing: the articulation achieved through tonguing encapsulates this (as in track three, Winnie Hayes' Jig). In some tunes there is a definite concentration on a 'pippitty' effect … the sort of thing that the late Andy Conroy was noted for in his tightest of tight piping ' Willie Clancy opined that the best kind of chanter for Andy would have been one without any holes at all! The contrast between a legato run and a more choppy effect can be heard in the set dance, The Retreat (track four), where Micho follows with a surge to the top note of the octave. That kind of deliberate surge is clearly evident in The Milliner's Daughter in the B part of the tune. It is a distinct, personal idea. Micho also sways through notes (track six, for instance, The Four Posts of the Bed ' a single jig) which must, perforce, in conventional musical terms, imply the presence of sharps and flats (tracks six or seventeen, for example). He constantly uses a rolled as opposed to staccato triplet (interestingly, again, a device that Lucy Farr uses), often found on the first note of any three in jigs or single jigs. The reel Boil the Breakfast Early (track seventeen) has a suggestion of how breathing itself helps to shape a tune, the sort of thing that a melodion or concertina player might do with the operation of the bellows.
Nor is Micho afraid of starkness. The jig I Saw a Hawk in Dundalk where Micho's introduction indicates unfettered pleasure in nonsense as a genesis, offers examples of the isolation of notes to great effect. I have a tape that I made myself in 1974 in Miltown where Micho's version of The Boy in the Gap, in two parts there as opposed to the three here (Paddy Taylor's third part included) began on the top D with a quaver run, DEDC, followed by a crochet A before a more familiar pattern emerged but where the isolated note at the beginning of the B part once more helped the tune resume a distinctive poise. (Incidentally, Micho's Free Reed record of 1976 has both playings of the tune, the familiar one and the one with a different musical progress as noted above and which came from a neighbour, John Darcy - another concertina player - and from the lilting of Micho's mother; and it would be worth getting hold of a copy of this both for its extension of Micho's recorded repertoire and for the notes which, I believe, came from Comhaltas' magazine, Treoir, and help to supplement those here. Micho himself contributed information on how he got hold of songs and tunes).
Continuing in respect to kind and quality, less specifically but with as much invitation, in track nine, two polkas known as The Steamroller and MacTeige's Polka have, as a point of comparison, much of the jaunty feel of the tunes played by John Kennedy on his recent CD, The Girls Along the Road (Veteran 1999). The second of the two polkas on track thirteen, Gan ainm (without a name), has, even more, the stamp of a march as played by Kennedy. The march measure was certainly a popular one, as Lucy Farr attests ' is it a generational thing, perhaps?
Above all there is that wonderful pace which is, in fact, varied a little in different tracks ' which stands to reason when different occasions are involved but has something to do, as well, with how the tune appears to be conceived on this or that occasion. If dancing is brought to mind it might be at a fractionally slower pace ' perhaps in track eight, Johnny Sally's Reel - than one gets used to and it would have been interesting to hear if Micho thought that, in his younger days, the slower pace might have been more of a norm. Certainly, in contrast, Sylvie Fox, in Miltown, in his pomp as a dancer and, as it were, a near-enough neighbour and contemporary, would urge a greater pace from musicians (but that may just have been the divil in him). If a faster pace is adopted, in reels especially, then some of the subtlety of approach as described above may well be lost to the listener whilst the dancer might not be so bothered. Spelling it out in this way, of course, is hardly handy but might provoke a bit of thought.
On the other hand, oddly (again), The Boys of Bluehill is played with the same rhythm as the reel Cloichini Beaga na Farraige (tracks sixteen and fifteen) -- which, of course, throws to the wind any notions that an observer might have of the boundaries and conventions of traditions as we have them (when will we learn?)
All told, the twenty-two tracks have a fair spread of tune-type, and they include eleven reels, two double jigs, three single jigs ' the distinction is not absolute: perhaps surprisingly, since single jigs imply one major step per bar ' a set dance, a hornpipe (The Boys of Bluehill, as noted above, common enough but it's worth listening to Micho's distinctive phrasing such as the 'dah-de' instead of a 'dah' at the end of the first four-bar strain in each playing of the first part of the tune) four polkas -- one a 'slow' one where its usage is indicated as a substitute for a hornpipe in the last movement of a set in much the same way that Lucy Farr has a 'round polka' for the same last movement (see Heart and Home, 1992) -- which isn't the same thing as playing 'slow' reels (should you care to follow a continuing debate); and then some songs, one specifically for children: pretty eclectic, I'd say.
For the Russell family album already mentioned Micho, apparently, sang his songs there simply for the asking (one, The Poor Little Fisherman, according to the sleeve notes, came to him via a neighbour, Thomas Canole, but goodness only knows how Thomas got hold of it except that it can be found in numbers of English broadside printings: I don't know of an English singer who had it in repertoire) and here, too, the songs are relatively light. Indeed, here we have the same When Mursheen Went to Bunnan that appeared on the earlier album. Apart from anything else, the songs exhibit a great vitality and a very individual treatment … Micho wouldn't, I reckon, be thought to have a 'grand' voice but it abounds with character and he exploits his words - he milks them - wonderfully sympathetically both for the integrity of the songs themselves and for the delectation of listeners. Of particular note is his easy way of slipping in and out of Irish, supported by remarks he makes himself about the place and fortune of the language in Clare (and elsewhere). The same ease generally keeps him on the up-side of social performance: the songs take precedence over any facile accumulation ' perhaps bestowal is a better word - of hero-worship.
The Flip Flop Song (track seven) rides a fine line here with the tremendous burst of the word 'bloom' in one line and a suspicion of manipulation of text in favour of outrageous humour: snatches, almost, of speech (in the way that Fred Jordan can use them) and a strong sense of the virtual physicality of the occasion of singing. The best ' the most successful - illustration is, I think, in track four, a curious tour-de-force involving the two-for-one A Song on the Galway and Cliffs of Moher Races. Here, as Bill Ochs notes, 'The verses in English describe the famous Galway races. The verses in Irish refer to preparation for horse racing on the Cliffs of Moher, circa 1837. The refrain in Irish is an old "health" or toast that is appended to a number of songs.' Here, then, the course of tradition is mapped; in the singing there is obvious delight (Micho is heard laughing at one point) ' perhaps another juncture where the presence of others is felt but not quite experienced. I mention all this as a way of recommending Bill Ochs' notes: a very model of information and comment with Micho most properly as the focus and Bill himself very much the modest mediator. I'd add just a tad to one story offered here as got from Mick Moloney, the man at the heart of it, concerning a visit that Micho made to Mick in London. You must buy the CD for the full works but the telephone call mentioned, back to Doolin in order to get hold of a London address for Micho to visit, was remarkable because nobody (it seems) knew that Micho was in London and nobody in Doolin believed Mick when he said that he had Micho with him. Nothing would do to convince the good people at Doolin Post Office until Micho was persuaded to play the whistle down the telephone. Well: that's how I heard it many years ago.
I'd say that this is typical of the stories surrounding Micho ' the 1976 trip to the Smithsonian Institute gave rise to many more ' but the point is that Bill Ochs never makes the mistake of offering Micho up on a plate as some naïve country boy even though he was, certainly, the stuff of legends. I'm not too sure, though, in this respect, about the title of the CD. Generally, though the affection, admiration (perhaps, occasionally, an unconscious patronising) and the fun that Micho sparked in people are recalled this is never overdone and he comes across here as a vastly intelligent, civilised and knowledgeable man (why wouldn't he be?) with a gift for music and, quite clearly, a gift for communication. Over a number of years his warm and open-hearted embrace of all comers was palpable and touching and the CD is an almost unerring tribute.
In only one part does the halo slip, perhaps, and that forgiveably. Micho, presumably in deference to his hosts and audience, begins the final track with Amazing Grace. It isn't the choice but the rather peculiar treatment that lacks authority: but it would be mean-spirited to dwell on that.
Oh, and I'd draw attention to Micho's feet which beat most bodrhans. Lucy Farr told me the story of how another whistle-player, Michael Dwyer, a very neat-looking man who played neatly, used dance with his (neat) feet as he played. It stayed in her memory.
I'm quite sure that this CD will stay in the memory: a joy forever.
- Roly Brown - 14.12.99
Micho Russell - Ireland's Whistling Ambassador
Year: 1995
Label: Pennywhistler's Press
from the Pennywhistler's Press:
Micho Russell (1915-1994) was an Irish national treasure. A farmer who became a performer during the folk music revival of the 1960s, Micho was as at home on stage as he was in front of his own turf fire. His vast repertoire of beautiful old tunes, personal warmth and utterly unique approach to playing the tin whistle won him a loyal and enthusiastic following wherever he went. These remarkable recordings capture the magic of Micho's music and take the listener on a journey to the very roots of Irish music.
"Easily the best of Micho's recordings" — The Rough Guide to Irish Music
"One of the essential traditional albums of the year...a masterclass in the true values enshrined in traditional music...[the tracks] are consistently warmed by an intimacy that takes them off the stage and into the cottages, parlors and back-bar snugs where they belong." — Hot Press
"Consummately played traditional music. Moving and exhilirating." — Mojo
"In a tradition which produces many originals, Micho Russell was inimitable...These 22 tracks of whistle playing, singing and speech introductions stand as a radiant, vital memorial to one of the most joyful musicians in the Irish pantheon." — Irish Times
"[No other recording was] as successful at conveying [Micho's] personality and music...Ireland's Whistling Ambassador is the last testament from one of the giants of Irish music in this century." — Irish Voice
Tracks
1. The Rising Sun, reel 2:05
2. The Mason’s Apron, Gan Ainm, reels 2:57
3. Winnie Hayes’s Jig 1:48
4. A Song on the Galway and Cliffs of Moher Races 2:59
5. The Retreat, set dance 1:55
6. The Four Posts of the Bed, single jig 1:43
7. The Flip-Flop Song 3:15
8. Johnny Sally’s Reel 1:39
9. The Steamroller MacTeigue’s Polka 1:38
10. The Milliner’s Daughter, reel 2:11
11. When Mursheen Went To Bunnan, song 2:23
12. Come Into The Town My Fair Lady, single jig 1:41
13. The Road To Galway, Gan Ainm, polkas 2:45
14. Napoleon Crossing The Rhine, song air 2:14
15. CloichÃnà Beaga na Farraige, reel 1:02
16. The Boys of Bluehill, hornpipe 1:22
17. Boil the Breakfast Early, reel 2:25
18. I Saw a Hawk in Dundalk, double jig 1:50
19. Seán sa Cheo, The Boy in the Gap, reels 2:14
20. Tá Dhá Ghabhairín Bhuí Agam, children’s song 2:40
21. Christmas Day in the Morning, single jig 2:11
22. Amazing Grace, St. Anne’s Reel, Sporting Nellie, hymn and reels 3:55
you get 3 options this time:
http://www.mediafire.com/?cg1dyutldyb
http://www.zshare.net/download/1027460801ca570f/
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ULT57J1P
mp3 >192kbps vbr | w/ cover | 75mb
if you look closely, you'll notice that the album cover is actually a painting.
February 11, 2009
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Zibuyinhlazane
“The curious beauty of African music is that it uplifts even as it tells a sad tale. You may be poor, you may have only a ramshackle house, you may have lost your job, but that song gives you hope. African music is often about the aspirations of the A.” - Nelson Mandela
Well after Sweet Honey and Krishna Das, I figured I was on a roll with uplifting group song, so why not post an album from the masters of that genre? They're probably no strangers to you, having won two grammy's and toured the world, lauded as "South Africa's Cultural Ambassadors" by none other than former South African President Nelson Mandela Himself.
And yet again we have god-praising going on (sans preaching, however). Seems to be a thing about vocal music embodying the holiest (or most human? or is it the same?) of our musical aspiration. As I write this, I realize that maybe I oughta post Arvo Pärt next, for yet another take on the subject. Anyway, I won't say too much about them, since you probably already know enough. This album is fairly standard among their repertoire, and though it features a song in english (Homeless, co-written by Paul Simon), it is gratefully devoid of obnoxious western production detriments.
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” - Nelson Mandela
Ladysmith Black Mambazo was founded by Joseph Shabalala in 1974. They've cut well over 30 albums since, but the group did not become well known outside of South Africa until Paul Simon asked them to perform on Graceland. Shabalala was born into a poor family that lived on a white man's farm near the town of Ladysmith. There were eight children in the Shabalala family, and, as the oldest boy, it was Joseph's duty to take care of the family after his father died.
Shabalala's first musical experience, save for a bit of fooling around on the guitar, came with a choral group called the Blacks. Shabalala eventually took over leadership of the group and became its main composer. The Blacks won most of the local vocal competitions and became the most popular Zulu vocal group, but Shabalala felt that something was missing. "I had been hearing a voice inside me," Shabalala said. "I didn't know it, but it was the voice of God." When the voice told him to fast, Shabalala obeyed, and on his fast, he had a vision of a new kind of vocal music. Shortly thereafter he became a Christian. Taking the choral music he heard in the Christian church, he combined it with the Zulu tradition to create his own style.
When the Blacks refused to take part in Shabalala's experiments, he formed Ladysmith Black Mambazo. The group consists of seven bass voices, an alto, a tenor, and Shabalala singing lead. The combo immediately began releasing albums at a staggering rate, offering a massive catalog of vocal music. Even if you don't speak Zulu, when they hit a low rumbling note, you can literally feel the power of their voices in your body.
"In Zulu singing there are three major sounds," Shabalala explains. "A high keening ululation; a grunting, puffing sound that we make when we stomp our feet; and a certain way of singing melody. Before Black Mambazo you didn't hear these three sounds in the same songs. So it is new to combine them, although it is still done in a traditional style. We are just asking God to allow us to polish it, to help keep our voices in order so we can praise Him and uplift the people."
Ladysmith Black Mambazo - Zibuyinhlazane
Year: 1991
Label: Rhino
Tracks:
1. Homeless - 3:37
2. Inhle Lentombi - 3:20
3. Nomathemba - 3:30
4. Isigcino - 3:40
5. Nkosi Yama Khosi - 3:17
6. Isitimela - 3:58
7. Zintombi - 3:37
8. Amabutho - 3:22
9. Baleka Mfana - 3:22
10. Vulan' Amasango - 3:15
lift me up.
mp3 >192kbps vbr | w/o cover | 59mb
February 10, 2009
Krishna Das - Live on Earth
Place your burden
at the feet of the Lord of the Universe
who accomplishes everything.
Remain all the time steadfast in the heart,
in the Transcendental Absolute.
God knows the past, present and future.
He will determine the future for you
and accomplish the work.
What is to be done will be done
at the proper time. Don’t worry.
Abide in the heart and surrender your acts
to the divine.
- Ramana Maharshi
Do you notice how similar that passage is to the gospel song "Take your burden to the lord and leave it there"? Maybe there's more common ground between Christianity and Hinduism than meets the eye. Similarly, if you look for a modern-day version of those ecstatic gospel services that I've served up this past week, you may find yourself in the practice of Kirtan Yoga, attending a chanting concert by Krishna Das.
In college, some friends I used to gather a couple nights a month in an outdoor enclave that provided cave-like resonance. We would sing together. Simple songs, mostly: spirituals, ancient English tunes in the round, and plenty of hippie-pagan-goddess songs. This may come as a surprise to those of you who see me as a cynical paleo-hipster; I donned that persona on other nights with other friends. I tended to oscillate between the warm waters of spiritual, loving grace, the consuming fires of artistic drive, and the dry fields of intellectual wit. It was a good way to balance life. One of my singing friends taught us all a bhajan (hindu devotional song) called Radhe Shyam. It was the most incredible thing I had heard, steadily building speed and intensity until we were singing with every bit of breath we had, nearly collapsing from the sheer joy of it. I remembered that song for years, until I happened to hear it at an Irish farm I was working at this summer. Needless to say, my host (who specialized in sound-healing) was surprised to hear me burst into singing along with this bit of background music over the dinnertable. Afterwards, I investigated and found this cd.
Now, if any of you have ever browsed a new-age bookstore or the new-age section of a record shop, you're likely to have seen Krishna Das cds. And that mere fact would rightly make you suspicious of their quality, expecting overly-soothing tempos and entirely unevocative synthesized soundscapes. And while sometimes Krishna Das falls prey of those wicked producer-tactics, for the most part he's the bright light for the whole genre. Especially on a live cd like this, the production is stripped to a minimum, so the instruments and voice can shine uninhibited.
But still, especially if you have prejudices against anything newagey or hare-krishnaey, you should give this a listen. But if you merely listen, you'll miss half the point. The best way to enjoy this cd is with a group of people all singing along to it. As example, take the following story:
A Holy Night With Krishna Das
May 14, 2004 | 4:32 p.m.
I'm a big fan of Middle Eastern and Asiatic music precisely because it's completely pure for me--I don’t understand a word of those languages. But I knew nothing of Krishna Das until I read Amy Cunningham's riveting interview with him in Beliefnet.-from belief.net
The story in brief: Long Island Jew meets Ram Das, learns about a guru in India. Goes there, gets knocked upside the head by the power of the guru’s love, starts chanting. He has a modestly pleasant voice, but man, does he have conviction to burn. The combination makes him a kind of star on the chanting circuit.
The promise of a magic experience is why, at the low point of our week, my wife and I found ourselves trying to sit cross-legged on the floor of a recycled church on New York’s Lower East Side. It was hot and sticky, and the room was full, and they were serving vegan dinners and selling meditation clothes, and to say I had some attitude about all this is to understate --- the prospect of group chanting took me back to teenage beach parties when kids sat around and sang "Kumbaya."
"Welcome to Bombay Weight Loss and Kirtan," Krishna Das began. "Here you can sing and lose weight at the same time."
So he was funny. A good sign. And he looked amused: close-cropped hair, wire rim glasses, a junior version of a Wilfred Brimley moustache. He picked up the harmonium. “Shree Raam Jaya Raam Jaya Jaya Raam,” he sang, then we sang with him, and I wish I could build some drama here, but the thing of it was: Liftoff was immediate.
That's partly because the music is in a lower register, so it works as directly on the spine as a great bass guitar riff. It's also because the music forms an instantaneous community--500 people singing together, in praise of God and the god in themselves. And, as Krishna Das pointed out, "The repetition of the holy names reveals a presence hidden within the heart. Something begins to happen that's very disturbing--we get happy."
With Krishna Das, time bends, then stops. As it did, the room cooled a bit. Babies fell asleep, babies were carried out. As for vain, sophisticated, oh-so-clever me --- your Swami shucked his brittle shell and felt his heart beat with a roomful of strangers. And in that moment, peace prevailed. It was tangible. I mean, you could feel it.
You don't want to miss Krishna Das if he comes to your town.
About Chanting:Chanting (Kirtan) is a part of the path of Devotional Yoga.
"Chanting is a way of getting in touch with yourself. It's an opening of the heart and letting go of the mind and thoughts. It deepens the channel of grace, and it's a way of being present in the moment." - Krishna Das
When we see the beauty of our own being we are seeing the beauty of the Being that is the One of which we are all a part. And when we turn towards that One, love is the natural reaction of the heart.
God or Guru is an endless ocean of love truth and presence. First we may hear the distant roar of the crashing waves of the ocean and we're drawn to that sound. As we get closer, we can smell the ocean air and taste the sweet moisture. When we reach the beach and see the ocean for the first time, we're transfixed by the vastness and Beauty. We run and we dive in and enjoy the freedom that comes from this ecstasy. Finally we merge with that ocean of love and somehow find ourselves back on the shore, returning to ourselves so that we can share the experience with others.
Those that have returned have given us these Names of God. These Names are the sound of the surf of that Ocean of Love. They hold the power to help us find our way back to that ocean. We don't have to create anything; we don't have to manufacture any emotions or feelings. We can't make it happen. It already is. All we have to do is Remember. Everyone has their own path to this beach, to the Ocean, but we all wind up in the same place. There is only one...One.
The following is an excerpt from 'Pilgrim of the Heart' audio series by Krishna Das:
"The words of these chants are called the divine names and they come from a place that's deeper than our hearts and our thoughts, deeper than the mind. And so as we sing them they turn us towards ourselves, into ourselves. They bring us in, and as we offer ourselves into the experience, the experience changes us. These chants have no meaning other than the experience that we have by doing them. They come from the Hindu tradition, but it's not about being a Hindu, or believing anything in advance. It's just about doing it, and experiencing. Nothing to join, you just sit down and sing."Satsang is where people gather together to remember, to turn within and find their own inner path to the One. When we gather together to sing like this we are helping each other find our own paths. We all must travel this path by ourselves because each of us is our own path. All these paths wander on in their own way, but in truth we are all travelling together and until the last of us arrives we will all keep travelling. So let's sing!
-from KrishnaDas.com
'And when he sees me in all and sees all in me,
Then I never leave him and he never leaves me.
And he, who in this oneness of love
Loves me in whatever he sees,
Wherever this man may live,
In truth, he lives in me...'
Bhagavad Gita, VI:30,31
Krishna Das's Guru, Maharaj-ji.How can you not love a guy who embodies a monkey-god?
"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."
- Albert Einstein
or this crazy guy:
“I salute the light within your eyes where the whole universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you and I am at that place within me, we shall be one.”
- Chief Crazy Horse, Oglala Sioux, 1877
But by all means, don't take my word for it. Give it a try. But don't hold back!
Krishna Das - Live on Earth (For a Limited Time Only)
Year: 2002
Label: Karuna
Track:
DISC ONE
1. Radhe Shyam (10:02)
2. Samadhi Sita Ram (11:32)
3. Shri Guru Charanam (5:59)
4. Three Rivers Hare Krishna (15:11)
5. Hanuman Puja (3:48)
6. Hanuman Chaleesa (8:33)
7. Sita Ram (7:25)
8. Jaya Bhagavan (6:43)
DISC TWO
9. Devi Puja (10:10)
10. Jaya Jagatambe (12:21)
11. Mountain Hare Krishna (15:00)
12. Namah Shivaya (11:56)
13. Rama Bolo (10:21)
14. Shri Krishna Govinda/Gopala (13:47)
Disc 1 | Disc 2, pt.1 | Disc 2, pt.2
mp3 192+vbr | w/ covers | 3 parts
Lyrics, credits and notes about the songs
and check out his tour schedule
February 9, 2009
Sweet Honey in the Rock
IncaRoads gave me this album to post a month ago... but I wanted to post the gospel albums first to put it into context. When I first listened to this album, I thought it was a lot more restrained than those wild church gospels of the 30's and 40's. And, in a sense, it is. But remember, this was 1976, not 1936, and America was a much different place, facing much different issues. Sweet Honey in the Rock emerged out of a growing group of people who were trying to construct a new paradigm (feminism, black nationalism, peace & ecology movements, etc.). And Sweet Honey emerged to answer the need of those people for a connection to their roots and a new sense of identity. So, in a sense, they served the same purpose as the black churches half a century earlier -- to give people a sense of meaning and purpose, born out of their struggles and turbulent emotions. It is no surprise, then, that Sweet Honey in the Rock drew upon the traditions of Black Gospel, African chants, and Negro Spirituals and Work Songs to form their own unique musical vehicle. The music is restrained, but there's a mountain of energy contained behind the soft exterior, which unfolds upon repeated listenings.
The Info:
Now moving well into it fourth decade, Sweet Honey In The Rock was organized by Bernice Johnson Reagon as an African American women a cappella ensemble in 1973 in Washington, DC. This African American women communal song and singing ensemble has built an international following of music lovers pulled to the strong harmony singer, a wide range of genres including spirituals, lined hymns, children songs, blues, jazz, and original compositions. The group is known for her unapologetic stand for justice, respect and equality.
From Psalm 81:16 comes the promise to a people of being fed by honey out of the rock. Honey – an ancient substance, sweet and nurturing. Rock – an elemental strength, enduring the winds of time. The metaphor of sweet honey in the rock captures completely these African American women whose repertoire is steeped in the sacred music of the Black church, the clarion calls of the civil rights movement, and songs of the struggle for justice everywhere.
Rooted in a deeply held commitment to create music out of the rich textures of African American legacy and traditions, Sweet Honey In The Rock possesses a stunning vocal prowess that captures the complex sounds of
Blues, spirituals, traditional gospel hymns, rap, reggae, African chants, Hip Hop, ancient lullabies, and jazz improvisation. Sweet Honey’s collective voice, occasionally accompanied by hand percussion instruments, produces a sound filled with soulful harmonies and intricate rhythms.
In the best and in the hardest of times, Sweet Honey In The Rock has come in song to communities across the U.S., and around the world raising her voice in hope, love, justice, peace, and resistance. Sweet Honey invites her audiences to open their minds and hearts and think about who we are and how we treat each other, our fellow creatures who share this planet, and of course, the planet itself.
-from http://www.sweethoney.com/
Recorded less than three years after their first rehearsal, this disc spotlights the building blocks of the group's later sound: sustained vocal harmony chords sung at full throttle. It begins with the group's namesake song and includes Reagon's tribute to Joanne Little, a couple of bluesy love songs, an adapted Langston Hughes poem, several hymns, and even a little piano. --Geoffrey Himes
Biography by Laura Post:These days, the voice as a dominant instrument is finding new favor among music lovers. The group that has been central to this development within the contemporary music scene is a quintet of electrifying vocalists based in Washington, D.C., Sweet Honey in the Rock.
Singing unaccompanied, except for body and hand percussion instruments, this ensemble of African-American women singers has, in 17 years, built an solid international reputation and following. The strength of Sweet Honey lies within her repertoire rooted in the tradition of African congregational choral style and its many extensions. One hears the moan of blues, the power of early 20th century gospel, echoes of the community quartet, and jazz choral vocalizations freshly tinged with church melodic and harmonic runs. A Sweet Honey in the Rock concert is a transforming experience, drenching audiences with harmonies. The rhythms change, leads change, and women dance: breathtaking music.
The women of Sweet Honey sing fiercely of being fighters, tenderly of being in love, and knowingly of being women. They take their evergrowing audiences through a complex journey of celebration and struggle rooted in the history of the African-American legacy.
Sweet Honey in the Rock - Sweet Honey in the RockYear: 1976
Label: Flying Fish
Tracks
1. Sweet Honey in the Rock - 0:51
2. The Sun Will Never Go Down - 2:23
3. Dream Variations - 3:43
4. Let Us All Come Together - 4:03
5. Joanne Little - 3:22
6. Jesus is My Only Friend - 3:04
7. Are There Any Rights I'm Entitled To? - 6:29
8. Going to See My Baby - 2:06
9. You Make My Day Pretty - 4:35
10. Hey Mann - 5:29
11. Doing Things Together - 5:59
12. Traveling Shoes - 3:24
Salvation coming down the pike...
mp3 320kbps | w/o cover | 98mb
thanks IncaRoads
Get Right With God: Hot Gospel
More crazed ecstatic holy-ruckus-making choirs, preachers, and guitar/piano-slingers from our beloved southern states. And a handful of harmonic eerie doom-fortelling quartet recordings to round things out. Isn't it great what happens when state religion goes through the folk process? It's worth noting that the principal activity in these performances is neither entertainment nor sermonization; it is exorcism, the drawing-out of both holy and unholy vigors from the body, that their energy might be released to serve life rather than held within, suffocating. This was not the conservative, repressive Christianity adopted by so many white folks; this was a Christianity that treated redemption as a continuing process of transforming tribulation into jubilation, and the music served as the revelation of this rapture. I'm not sure to what extent it still exists, but though the music has changed, I have a feeling you can still find church communities of this kind nestled deep within the blind spots of America.
VA. Get Right With God Hot Gospel (Heritage 01)
Tracks:
1 - Prophet Powers - The Tree Of Life Is Waiting For Me.mp3
2 - Radio Four - Blood Done Signed My Name.mp3
3 - Rev. Chambers - Me And The Devil.mp3
4 - Rev. Anderson Johnson - God Don't Like It.mp3
5 - National Independent Gospel Singers - I Met My Elder This Morning.mp3
6 - National Independent Gospel Singers - I Got Good Religion.mp3
7 - Otis Jackson - Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt (Part 1).mp3
8 - Otis Jackson - Tell Me Why You Like Roosevelt (Part 2).mp3
9 - Rev. B Campbell - Sweepin' Through Thru The Gate.mp3
10 - Five Blind Boys - When God Dips His Pen Of Love.mp3
11 - Five Blind Boys - Never Turn Back.mp3
12 - Sister O.M. Terrell - I'm Going To That City.mp3
13 - Radio Four - What'Cha Gonna Do_.mp3
14 - Echoes Of Zion - Atlanta's Tragic Monday.mp3
15 - Southern Harmonaires - Who Will Your Captain Be_.mp3
16 - Southern Harmonaires - I'm So Glad.mp3
17 - Southern Revivalists Of N.O - Get Right With God.mp3
18 - Southern Revivalists Of N.O - I'm Bound For Higher Ground.mp3
19 - Evening Light Singers - Walking Around Me.mp3
20 - Gospel Travelers - God's Chariot (Part 1).mp3
21 - Gospel Travelers - God's Chariot (Part 2).mp3
22 - Rev. Charlie Jackson - Morning Train.mp3
23 - Rev. Charlie Jackson - Wrapped Up And Tangled Up.mp3
24 - Violinaires - Joy In The Beulah Land.mp3
power in the blood
192kbs mp3, full scans
thanks again to LemmyCaution
February 4, 2009
Sanctified Country Girls 1927-31
Another delicacy from Lemmy Caution:
Here we have some more early ecstatic religious music: a fascinating collection of Pentecostal-style gospel performances by wonderful (though obscure) artists: Jessie Mae Hill, Cally Fancy, and Rev. Sister Mary Nelson -- rural Pentacostal women. Hallelujah! This is the raw stuff, as would be found on Harry Smith's Anthology or Revenant's American Primitive.
When Obama was in the early stages of running for president, a significant amount of bad press was drawn to his involvement in a black church. But when you consider the difference between black church music and white church music, can you really blame him? I'm no Christian, but you can bet I'd get up at the crack of dawn if one of these services was going to be within 10 miles of me. The speaking-in-tongues would be an added bonus...
Some wiki-info for you:
Pentecostalism is a renewalist religious movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on the direct personal experience of God through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, Greek for the Jewish Feast of Weeks, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the followers of Jesus Christ as described in the Book of Acts, Chapter 2.
Pentecostal theology was shaped by the two movements it grew out of, the Wesleyan Holiness and the Higher Life revival movements. Participants in these movements believed that after the conversion experience (the first blessing) there was a “crisis experience of sanctification” or the second blessing. Wesleyan Holiness preachers taught that this experience would immediately eliminate sin in the Christian life, achieving “sinless perfection.” Higher Life Christians shared the belief in a second blessing. They understood it not as the total elimination of sin, but as “full consecration’ that empowered them for evangelism.” Early Pentecostals, therefore, understood Holy Spirit baptism as this second blessing and speaking in tongues as the physical evidence for this blessing.
Historians generally consider the 1906 Azusa Street Revival as marking the start of the modern Pentecostal renewal.
Today's Pentecostal movement traces its community's growth to a prayer meeting at Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas on January 1, 1901. Here, through careful study of scripture, many came to the conclusion that speaking in tongues was the biblical sign of the Holy Spirit's baptism. Charles Parham, the founder of this school would later move to Houston, Texas, where in spite of segregation, William J. Seymour, a (literally) one-eyed African-American preacher was allowed to listen in to the Bible classes. Seymour traveled to Los Angeles, where his preaching sparked the Azusa Street Revival. According to Pentecostals, this was one of the first newsworthy outpourings of the Holy Spirit, despite records of earlier occurrences, and attracted people from all around the world. Consequently, this event is regarded as the actual beginning of the Pentecostal renewal because of the impact it had on the world. The Los Angeles Press gave close attention to the Azusa Street Revival, which helped fuel its growth. A number of new smaller groups started up, inspired by the events of this revival. International visitors and Pentecostal missionaries would eventually bring these teachings to other nations. Almost all classical Pentecostal denominations today trace their historical roots to the Azusa Street Revival.
The early adherents of Pentecostalism were fueled by their understanding that all God’s people would prophesy in the last days before Christ’s second coming. They looked to the biblical passage of the Pentecost in Acts, in which Peter cited the prophecy in Joel 2, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”(NIV) Thus, when the experience of speaking in tongues spread among the men and women of Azusa Street, a sense of immediacy took hold as they began to look to the time when Christ would come again. Early Pentecostals also saw themselves as outsiders from mainstream society, dedicated solely to preparing the way for Christ’s return.
Pentecostalism, like any other major movement, has given birth to a large number of organizations and denominations with political, social and theological differences. The early movement was countercultural, and African-Americans and women were important leaders in the Azusa Revival and helped spread the Pentecostal message beyond Los Angeles. As the Azusa Revival began to wane, however, doctrinal differences began to surface as pressure from social, cultural and political developments from the time began to affect the church. As a result, major divisions, isolationism, sectarianism and even the increase of extremism were apparent.
African-Americans played an important role in the early Pentecostal movement. The first decade of Pentecostalism was marked by interracial assemblies, "…Whites and blacks mix in a religious frenzy, …" according to a local newspaper account, at a time when government facilities were racially separate, and the Jim Crow laws were about to be codified. While the interracial assemblies that characterized Azusa Street continued for a number of years even in the segregated South, the enthusiasm and support for such assemblies eventually waned. After a while, the interracial assemblies were nearly non-existent in many Pentecostal churches.
Women were the catalyst of the early Pentecostal movement. Since they believed in the presence and interaction of the Holy Spirit in their assemblies, and since these gifts came to men and women, the use of spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, the laying on of hands and healing were encouraged in everyone. The unconventionally intense and emotional environment dually promoted and was itself created by other forms of participation, such as personal testimony and spontaneous prayer and singing. Women did not shy away from engaging in this setting and in the early movement the majority of converts and church-goers were female. Since the movement relied on the efforts and participation of lay members, both in the church and outside, women gained great cultural influence and helped shape Pentecostalism. Women wrote religious songs, edited Pentecostal papers and taught and ran Bible schools. The availability of these opportunities to women from the start of the movement may explain the preponderance of female adherents in the movement.
VA - Sanctified Country Girls 1927-31
The Complete Recordings in Chronological order of Jessie Mae Hill, Rev. Sister Mary Nelson, and Sister Cally Fancy
Label: Wolf (WSE 119)
Tracks:
01 Jessie Mae Hill - Earth is no resting place.mp3
02 Jessie Mae Hill - The crucifixion of Christ.mp3
03 Jessie Mae Hill - God rode in the windstorm.mp3
04 Jessie Mae Hill - This world is not my home.mp3
05 Jessie Mae Hill - Sunshine in the shadows.mp3
06 Jessie Mae Hill - I'm going to lift up a standard for my king.mp3
07 Reverend Sister Mary Nelson - The royal telephone.mp3
08 Reverend Sister Mary Nelson - Judgment.mp3
09 Reverend Sister Mary Nelson - The seal of God.mp3
10 Reverend Sister Mary Nelson - Isaiah-LV.mp3
11 Sister Cally Fancy - Everybody get your business right.mp3
12 Sister Cally Fancy - Goin' on to heaven in the sanctified way.mp3
13 Sister Cally Fancy - Hold on to God's unchanging hand.mp3
14 Sister Cally Fancy - I'm gonna tell my Jesus howdy.mp3
15 Sister Cally Fancy's Sanctified Singers - Death is riding through the land, part I.mp3
16 Sister Cally Fancy's Sanctified Singers - Death is riding through the land, part II.mp3
Tell My Jesus | Howdy for Me.
mp3 320kbps | w/ cover | 2 parts: 100mb & 16mb
thanks again Lemmy Caution!
God's mighty hand: Gospel evangelists
I love it when people request things that I was about to post anyway. This album is the first in a run of several religious/gospel posts, again thanks to the venerable Lemmy Caution.
More hair-raising, slide-wielding, resurrection-invoking, fret-bending, hellfire-and-brimstone-sermonizing, hand-clapping, uber-righteous mothers and fathers of flocks from long ago and far away. This is wild, blazing stuff. I defy you to listen and not find yourself clapping, jumping up and down, and screaming out loud in a torrentuous, repentuous, unconventuous frenzy!
The picture above is Guitar Evangelist Cora Fluker, photographed by Bill Steber in Marion, Mississippi, 1996. Cora Fluker lives at the end of a dirt cul-de-sac in Marion, MS surrounded by her children and their families. She built herself a small church with scrap building materials next door to her home where on Sundays, she still sometimes preaches using her guitar to play repeating riffs beneath emotional, spontaneously-created songs that preach the word of God. She is equally adept at the traditional vocal technique she calls "moaning" which mixes heartfelt testifying with a hummed and moaned melody. This type of singing was common in African-American churches in the South until modern hymns began replacing it starting in the 1940's. Fluker said she also sang blues when she was a girl, until her mother told her to quit singing the devil's music and get saved. So she went into the woods and prayed on her knees until the Lord saved her, and she's been singing for him ever since.
And no, she's not featured in the compilation, but she's the inheritor of the tradition pioneered by those who are presented here. The material here was gathered from rare 78s issued in the 1940's and 50's.
VA - God's Mighty Hand: Gospel Evangelists
Label: Interstate Music (Heritage 09)
Year: 1992 (comp)
Tracks:
1 - Rev Utah Smith - God's Mighty Hand.mp3
2 - Sister O.M. Terrell - The Gambling Man.mp3
3 - Rev. Anderson Johnson - Let That Liar Pass On By.mp3
4 - Mary Deloatch - The Lord's Gospel Train.mp3
5 - Lottie Bracy - I Had A Dream.mp3
6 - Henry Green - Strange Things.mp3
7 - Rev Utah Smith - I Want Two Wings.mp3
8 - Rev. Anderson Johnson - If I Could Only Hear My Mother Pray Again.mp3
9 - Willie Mae Williams - Where The Sun Never Goes Down.mp3
10 - Willie Mae Williams - Don't Want To Go There.mp3
11 - Evangelist Sister Winn - Building On The Good Place.mp3
12 - Evangelist Sister Winn - Higher & Higher.mp3
13 - Sister Mathews - Stand By Me.mp3
14 - Rev Charles White - How Long.mp3
15 - Henry Green - Storm Through Mississippi.mp3
16 - Elder R Wilson And Family - This Train.mp3
17 - Elder R Wilson And Family - Gonna Wait Till A Change Comes.mp3
18 - Sister O.M. Terrell - Life Is A Problem.mp3
19 - Rev. Anderson Johnson - God Don't Like It.mp3
20 - Brother Willie Eason - There'll Be No Grumblers There.mp3
21 - Brother Willie Eason - I Want To Live (So God Can Use Me).mp3
22 - Joe Townsend - If I Could Not Say A Word.mp3
23 - Joe Townsend - Going Over The Hill.mp3
24 - McEnnis Jones - Do Lord.mp3
25 - McEnnis Jones - Will The Circle Be Unbroken.mp3
higher and higher!
192 kbps mp3 | full scans
thanks Lemmy
February 3, 2009
Harmonicas, Washboards, Fiddles & Jugs
It has been too long since we've had a jug band post here. Therefore, with thanks to the astounding collection of Lemmy Caution, I present the following, to remedy all your maladies. As Homer Simpson said, "Alcohol: the cause of and solution to all our problems." And of course, when the corn liquor is all gone, you can take out that jug by the light of a clear moon shining and blow, baby, blow! It'll cure what ails ya, and what's better, it'll oil what shakes your shimmy's brakes, if you know what I mean.
For jug band enthusiasts, there's an official society for the likes a' ya. And don't forget to drop by the Corner Jug Store and top up on supplies.
VA - Harmonicas, Washboards, Fiddles & Jugs
Label: Roots RL-311
Vinyl. Out of print.
01 Bobby Leecan's Need-More Band - Apaloosa blues.mp3
02 Memphis Jug Band - Peaches in the springtime.mp3
03 Memphis Jug Band - Feed your friend.mp3
04 Memphis Jug Band - I whipped my woman.mp3
05 Memphis Jug Band - I packed my suitcase.mp3
06 Jack Kelly's Jug Band - Believe I'll go back home.mp3
07 Jack Kelly's Jug Band - Ko-ko-mo blues.mp3
08 Banjo Joe (Cannon & Blake) - Jazz gypsy blues.mp3
09 Tommie Bradley - Nobody's business if I do.mp3
10 James Cole - Mistreated the only friend you had.mp3
11 King David's Jug Band - I can deal worry.mp3
12 King David's Jug Band - Sweet potato blues.mp3
13 Kansas City Blues Strummers - String band blues.mp3
14 Whistler's Jug Band - Pig meat blues.mp3
15 Leecan & Cooksey - Black cat bone blues.mp3
16 Leecan & Cooksey - Dirty guitar blues.mp3
washtubs and | kazoos too
320kbs mp3 | with cover | 2 parts: 100mb & 21mb
thanks Lemmy Caution!