I have been absent from these pages these last few weeks as I have been travelling in those oh so exotic regions that are the suburbs of Toronto. I have not, however, returned empty handed. While I didn’t make it as far as India I did stop by my local Indian media store. Amongst other CDs that I randomly picked up I purchased the highly recommended (by some guy who worked in the store) album “Fusion mosaic” compiled by our friends at Rhythm House [see the three random Indian guys awkwardly displayed on the bridge of the paper cover].
Well despite some problems with repetition it turned out be a fairly interesting find. The music is performed by a variety of artists on both Indian and western instruments and has a clear jazz influence. According to my brother, Matthew A. Rubel, (who is believed to be an authority on the subject by at least two of his friends) the introduction of Indian instruments into Jazz in “Jazz Fusion” was made first by Miles Davis in such albums as Bitches Brew.
I would especially like to point out where about four minutes into “Motherland”, after a fairly sweet solo, the strings battles it out against some unconventional (at least along the western front) scatting.
All in all the music makes for a nice background or a relaxed listening. Most of all it serves for a good step in the right direction if you’re looking to expand your music collection.
“mp3s”:
Tandav
Motherland
It didn’t take me very long to like this album. In fact I only heard it for the first time today. My wonderful older sister sent it to me along with five other CDs of music she recommends. The album is of Ali Farka Toure with Ry Cooder on the guitar and is named for Toure’s home Timbuktu, Mali, West Africa. I was informed that Ry Cooder is a westerner, and Toure sings in 11 different languages, however only four are heard in this particular album.
In the beginning it sounds like your average (though very good) African music with maybe some slightly more liberal guitar work. There’s a good background of hand drums and different international sounds, including some that I’d usually think to be Indian. Certainly something very nice to chill to. Then on their track Amandrai, Ry Cooder seems to break loose and we’re introduced to the song with this sweet guitar solo which descends into what feels like your classic blues except in a language you don’t know but really don’t need to. After listening to this track I’ve gone back and noticed the clear Jazz influence I’d missed before because it fit in so well. As the music continues the guitar and all the other soft noises in the background seem to draw you around as though you were floating along some misty swamp. Each track is unique in some way but fits in with the rest. All in all they’ve mixed at least two of my favourite sounds to create something I highly recommend you go and retrieve immediately, then spend an hour just listening to.
mp3:
Bonde
Amandrai
Now I can’t keep you up to date with all sorts of new music. Hell, I don’t think I even heard of Radiohead until the 10th grade. No, instead I’d like to bring you back, way back to the 1920’s and the beginning of the music career of a truly great blues artist: Skip James.
Inspired by his hard work in road construction, Levee building and bootleg whiskey, he would write simple beautiful songs, learn to play the piano and develop a three finger picking technique entirely his own. His high, slightly raspy voice, would waver slightly over the plucked tunes on his guitar drawing us back to those hard days. His song “Devil Got My Woman” was well featured in the 2001 movie “Ghost World”, which showed the main character captivated, playing the song over and over again. This is entirely the natural reaction that this song provokes. I sit in awe of the beauty of these songs, enjoying even the fuzz of the old recording equipment, as though it seemed to reflect the songs themselves.
When I recently found work which he [after a 30 yr period of nothing] recorded in the early 60s I was happy to find more of the same. If I had found him sporting funky electronic sounds and a whammy bar [though awesome] I think I would be somewhat disappointed. It’s just his old world feel that I love. Thanks to improvements in recording techniques here the tunes are slightly clearer and the listener can enjoy more fully his wonderful guitar playing. Anyways without further ado I offer two you to of my favourite songs, his early “Devil Got My Woman”, and “Hard Times Killing Floor Blues” as recorded in the 60’s.
mp3:
Devil Got My Woman
Hard Times Killing Floor Blues
Recent Retaliations.