Between - Stille Über Der Zeit / Silence Beyond Time (expanded edition 2007, orig. rel. 1980)

The most high-profile entries in Between's compact discography are arguably And The Waters Opened (1973) and Dharana (1974).  Those two frequently crop up at the margins of krautrock 'must have' lists as prime examples of their jazz/kraut/world-fusion sound, with group mainstay Peter Michael Hamel also fairly well known in his own right.  I went for this one from the very end of their career for no other reason than it was more readily available than the others (almost all of these 2007 reissues seem to be out of print now), and it's an absolutely gorgeous album.

The sound of Silence Beyond Time has virtually nothing to do with krautrock of any shade, except maybe Popol Vuh at their most acoustic, and is based on piano, acoustic guitar and wind instruments (Robert Eliscu had played with Popol Vuh; Roger Janotta made some obscure appearances on ECM/Japo).  If anything, Between on this album sound more like a less jazzy/more classical-influenced Oregon, or Azimuth without the electronics.  After a brief opening track based on minimalist piano figures, the most atmospheric track Two Alone By The Waterphone is an early highlight.  Percussion when it appears is minimal, either bongos or, on the lengthy Indian-influenced Das Molekül, tabla from guest musician Pandit Sankha Chatterjee.  The baroque-inspired winds earned that track the working title "Telemann in India".  

 

On Side Two of the original album, the title track was written just before the death of Hamel's father, to whom the final track is also dedicated; it starts as a meditative tribute with wordless voice, before picking up speed with another minimalist piano part.  Peaceful Piece is a lengthy group improvisation; it's followed on the CD reissue by two further improvisatory tracks that didn't appear on the original LP, and are a fair bit looser and wilder than the LP tracks, so perhaps didn't make the cut for that reason.  The album proper concludes with another beautiful piano and voice based piece, and a sublime guitar/flute/bass trio that was the last ever Between recording.  Very highly recommended.

Original LP cover

link

pw: sgtg

Anoushka Shankar - Live at BBC Proms, with Manu Delago, Gold Panda, Britten Sinfonia (2020)

Another broadcast from this year's Proms, recorded on Friday 4 September.  In the centenary of Ravi Shankar's birth, this concert showcased how one of his daughters, Anoushka, has brought Indian music and the sound of the sitar into the 21st century.

First up is a half-hour-long collaboration between Anouskha Shankar and a friend of hers, the electronic musician Derwin Shlecker (who performs as Gold Panda).  Based on raga structure, the suite they perform together builds and flows beautifully.  The main part of the concert then introduces percussionist Manu Delago, a regular collaborator of Anoushka's, and also the strings of the Britten Sinfonia.  It was another inspired combination that expanded on Anoushka's compositions in fine style, with a good mix of material both propulsive and reflective (Flight made me think of the title track from Song For Everyone).  Recommended.

link
pw: sgtg

Egberto Gismonti & Nana Vasconcelos - Duas Vozes (1984)

ECM's two Brazilian masters came together for their second duo recording in June 1984, and started the album in a way that was certainly memorable.  It's probably one of the most avant-garde renderings of Ary Barroso's Aquarela Do Brasil ever attempted - see here for a more recognisable version.  This one only reveals itself about halfway through, and features a small amount of the lyrics at the end.

The rest of the material is mostly Gismonti's, and showcases his typically nimble multi-string guitar technique in both lightning fast runs and percussive attacks.  There's also a traditional tune, the atmospheric Tomarapeba, and the closing track is by Vasconcelos.  His percussive range is as striking as ever, adding up to an inspired collaboration.

link
pw:sgtg

Egberto Gismonti at SGTG: 
Academia Da Danças
Sol De Meio Dia 
Circense
Sanfona
Dança Dos Escravos
In Montreal (with Charlie Haden) 

Shankar, Garbarek, Hussain, Gurtu - Song For Everyone (1985)

As noted last week, Jan Garbarek and Zakir Hussain's first collaboration was back in September 1984 and the recording sessions for this album.  Song For Everyone was captained (and wholly written) by Tamil violinist Lakshminarayana Shankar, who was on his third outing with ECM (the first had featured Hussain, the second Garbarek).  Completing this lineup was percussionist Trilok Gurtu, who'd made appearances on the label back to the late 70s.

Album opener Paper Nut, which Garbarek would return to for several years afterwards, kicks into high gear with a flurry of Shankar's electrified strings and a drum machine backing.  The longest track, Watching You, is in a similar vein, with pieces based on more traditional percussion interspersed.  Garbarek is in fine form throughout, carrying a warm breeze through the lovely title track and proving an ideal melodic/harmonic sparring partner with Shankar elsewhere.  Drum machine tracks aside, the two percussionists are a wonderful base for a great album.

link
pw: sgtg

Zakir Hussain - Making Music (1987)

This post starts with a thankyou to commenter Doug who jogged my memory about this album, back when I posted the Hariprasad Chaurasia album.  Not sure why I'd let this gorgeous recording from December 1986 sit on the shelf for so long - perhaps it didn't catch my mood when I first picked it up.  In any case, here's one of the vast collection of ECM experiments when a handful of musicians came together and struck gold.

Indian percussionist Zakir Hussain had already worked with Jan Garbarek a couple of years prior to this session (that's coming next week), and Hussain and Chaurasia had also collaborated on more traditional Indian music.  Completing the lineup was John McLaughlin, playing understated acoustic guitar throughout.  After the lengthy title track introduces everyone, some tracks highlight the musicians in pairs or trios and Chaurasia's sublime flute sounds take a starring role almost everywhere they appear.  Garbarek gets a wonderful feature on Anisa, followed by a Hussain solo, and McLaughlin's fleet fingers are highlighted on the all too brief You And Me.  One of the most underrated ECM treasures, not least by me up until now.

link
pw: sgtg

Hariprasad Chaurasia - Fabulous Flute Of Hariprasad Chaurasia (1985)

Meditative, ultra-chilled ragas from bansuri (bamboo flute) master Hariprasad Chaurasia, who was born in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh in 1938.  I've had this on heavy rotation since chancing across it a month ago, and it's a beautifully relaxing 45 minutes that takes in two ragas and a folk tune as a brief closer.  Raga Chandra Kauns is "an evening melody of romantic mood", and the more uptempo Raga Manj Khamaj is "a melody of the night".  Enjoy at those or at any times of day and be transported.

link
pw: sgtg

Peeter Vähi - The Path To The Heart Of Asia (1992)

Superior New Age/world music/electronics suite from Estonian composer & musician Peeter Vähi, born 1955 in Tartu.  These ten 'Legends', plus a finale called Legend Zero, do pretty much what the album title suggests, in a continental tour taking in Cambodia, Vietnam, Taiwan and Turkey.

Vähi performs with several of the participants from the Orient 92 music festival that took place in Tallinn: a Cambodian flautist playing in circular breathing on the opener and vocalist on the Khmer folk tune of Legend Three, a Taiwanese group on Four, Tuvinian overtone singers on Five and Eight, and so on until the appearance of a South-Siberian shaman on Ten.  This might not have worked in lesser hands, and could've been a bit of a pretentious gloop, but it's all extremely well produced, in a spare, austere sound with additional keyboards and percussion from Vähi only when necessary.  Highly listenable and recommended.

link
pw: sgtg

Various Artists - Bali: Les Grands Gong Kebyar Des Années Soixante (1994 compi, rec. 1969-71)

Some pretty explosive stuff today, folks - because that's basically what 'kebyar' means.  One of the foremost styles of modern Balinese gamelan, kebyar originated in the early 20th century from a synthesis of devotional and royal court styles.  According to the liner notes for this compilation, "Gong kebyar music is music with strong, almost symphonic dynamics.  To appreciate all of its nuances, it is desirable to listen to it at rather high volume."  So yeah, crank it up.

Wikipedia also notes that, other than the very smallest ensembles, gamelan in general is never performed indoors as the percussive orchestras of gongs, drums and various metallophones would be physically painful to listen to in an enclosed space.  It's little wonder then that some of the early 80s post-industrialists (23 Skidoo in particular) latched on to gamelan for inspiration.  The intricate patterns and variations were also influential to the likes of Steve Reich.

The two hours of kebyar gamelan captured here by the Ocara label (I used to see their worldwide recordings in charity shops all the time - wish I'd grabbed more of them) puts the spotlight on four of the premier kebyar orchestras of the late 60s, with two or three tracks each.  The pieces range in length from three minutes to almost 27 (the opening track on Disc 2), and I think it's the second disc that edges it overall for me, with just four long tracks to really let the hypnotic magic of this sound work on you.

Disc 1 link
Disc 2 link
pw: sgtg

Om Kolthoum - Daleeli Ehtar (1974)

Mentioned this Egyptian singer in the Steve Hillage post the other week, so was very happy to subsequently find one of her albums randomly in a charity shop.  Oum Kalthoum, or apparently most correctly Umm Kulthum - there are in fact dozens of possible romanizations of the Arabic أم كلثوم‎, but I'll stick with Om Kolthoum for this post, as on the CD.  To add just one more name into the mix before moving on to the music, she was born Fāṭima ʾIbrāhīm as-Sayyid al-Baltāǧī just outside El Senbellawein, Egypt, either in December 1898 or possibly as late as 1904, and died in on 3rd February 1975 with around four million Egyptians coming out to see her funeral procession.

One thing I've learned is that it's near impossible for Westerners to conceive of the level of fame and national institution/household name status that Kolthoum achieved in Egypt; anything we can think of, eg Beatles, Elvis, just doesn't cut it.  Starting from state radio broadcasts in the 1930s, her phenomenal vocal range just grew in virtuosity and at her peak in the 1940s-50s was in peerless command of both secular and devotional songs from Egypt's premier composers & poets, at epic concerts where a single song could easily hit the hour mark.  She scaled back song length and her vocal range only slightly as they began to be limited by advancing age.

This CD I've picked up is a reissue from 2002, and the earliest matching release I could find was the LP shown below.  It was issued in 1974 as part of a series, perhaps some sort of career retrospective, so the actual recording may be quite a bit older - the song Daleeli Ehtar ("I am lost [when you are gone]") dates from 1955, and was composed by Riad El Soumbati with lyrics by Ahmed Rami.  Sounding here like it came from a radio broadcast, Daleeli Ehtar is, stylistically and tonally, a Maqam Kurd, a song of longing popular in Kurdish tradition; the Middle-Eastern maqam system is perhaps comparable to the Indian raga system if only in its range of modes and specific uses.

And what a performance.  Just listen to the rapturous applause between each verse of the 40-minute song, and you can get an inkling of how it must've been for Egyptian concert-goers to be in the presence of their greatest superstar.  The oud-led orchestra gets plenty of chances to shine, as the track rises, falls and builds back up again, but Kolthoum's voice is clearly leading the proceedings.  Spanning multiple octaves and capable of eighth-notes, the improvisations around the notes of the maqam just increase in intricacy, and you can see why she favoured such gargantuan song lengths.  It's stunning to think that this is actually a comparatively brief song of hers (or perhaps it was edited to fit on an LP).  Listen and be amazed.

Daleeli Ehtar, 1974 LP released by Sono Cairo

link
pw: sgtg

Les Troubadours Du Roi Baudouin - Missa Luba (1958)

Like a lot of people, my first encounter with this African choral album was watching Lindsay Anderson's if... (1968), and being captivated by the 'Sanctus' piece of music favoured by Malcolm McDowell's lead character.  Following the film's release, Philips released it as a single which entered the UK charts.  The original LP, however, dated back to 1958 when it received a limited release, and subsequent reissues throughout the 60s, and the 'Missa Luba' itself was arranged by a Belgian priest in 1957.

Father Guido Haazen (1921-2004) became director of a school in the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1953, and established a choir that same year, featuring 45 boys and 15 adults singing and playing percussion.  The first side of this album consists of seven traditional pieces, with the Missa Luba taking up side two.

Although structured like a traditional mass with the Latin text, each section is based on African folk forms.  The Kyrie is based on a Luba mourning song, the Sanctus and Benedictus on Bantu farewell songs, and so on.  It's beautiful stuff to listen to, with the Sanctus the definite highlight.

link
pw: sgtg

Ostad Elahi - Cascade - L'Art Du Luth Oriental Tanbur (rec. circa 1970, rel. 2002)

A unique synthesis of Persian and Kurdish musical traditions, from judge, metaphysical philosopher and musician Nur Ali Elahi (1895-1974; the 'Ostad' is honorific, like the 'Pandit' in Pran Nath).  Even the instrument this suite of pieces (with no track divisions) is played on is a synthesis of the two traditions, a five-string tanbur lute of Elahi's own design.

Ostad Elahi made a number of recordings in Iran towards the end of his life.  These lo-fi, mono tapes from informal gatherings (Elahi eschewed both live performance and studio recording) were gradually remastered and released on Le Chant Du Monde from the 90s onwards.  This one that I've found is a run through 20 pieces in tuning and tonal colours characteristic of the music of Qatar, hence the track title "Qatar Suite".

Like all of Elahi's music, its intended purpose is as contemplative, devotional music, and this combined with his mastery of his instrument far transcends the limitations of the recording quality.  Individual tracks might help make the Qatar Suite more accessible, but if intended as a suite it may as well be listened to as such, and I get more out of it with every listen.  Like any non-Western music, I enjoy stuff like this because it re-tunes my brain from what its used to hearing, and it's a journey well worth taking with something as transcendent as Elahi's musical talent.

link
pw: sgtg

Alan Stivell - Symphonie Celtique (Tir Na N-Og) (1980)

Whilst trying to pay attention in French class at school, I noticed a poster on my teacher's wall: a long haired, bearded bloke playing a harp, along with some other (presumably) musicians, and the word "Stivell" at the top in a Celtic-style font.  That image stuck with me, as I thought it could be something I might like if it was an artist/group.

A while later, I did indeed discover Breton harpist, singer, folklorist and composer Alan Stivell (born Alan Cochevelou, 1944), and got hold of an LP of the legendary Olympia concert.  Still don't have the Dublin concert, the source of Mr. Weir's poster, but now I do have this awesome "symphony" of Celtic prog-folk that Stivell wrote and recorded at the end of the 70s, which remains his most ambitious undertaking.

The Celtic Symphony is structured in three 'Circles' on sides 1-3 of the original double-vinyl, with the fourth side being a celebratory suite.  The circles represent the concentric structure of Tir Na N-Og, the island afterlife of Irish mythology also alluded to in one track on a recent post here, and break down into four tracks in each 'Circle'.  Missing from the CD is a minute-long reprise at the end of the Third Circle, but whatever the reason, that's no great loss.  What is here is wonderful.

I'm hearing some similarities to mid/late 70s Popol Vuh, albeit with a much more Celtic flavour, particularly in Ar Geoded Skedus and the stunning nine-minute Divodan.  Elsewhere there's organ drones, orchestrated pieces for strings, obvious spots for Stivell's beautiful harp playing and his vocals in Breton language/French/occasional English.  Intending the Celtic Symphony to be a more internationalist celebration of minority cultures, life, the universe and everything, there's also a reach beyond Stivell's traditional palate to more proto-World music sounds, hence bits of sitar and such.  An ambitious undertaking for sure, and one that pays off in spades.

Alternate cover, closer to original vinyl.  1988 French CD cover at top.

link
pw: sgtg

David Fanshawe - African Sanctus / Salaams (1989 compi, rec. 1973/77)

Nice little oddity today that very much reflects its late 60s-early 70s spirit of freewheeling experimentation.  African Sanctus is the most successful work by David Fanshawe (1942-2010), Devon-born ethnomusicologist and composer who was responsible for over thousands of recordings of indigenous music from around the world.  When I found this CD in a charity shop some time ago, I assumed it was another kind of Missa Luba - a gorgeous piece of music I must post some time - an African choral work.  Turns out African Sanctus is way much more eclectic and pleasingly strange than that.

Fanshawe's raw material for the work was the tapes he'd been accumulating in North and East Africa, as well as Arabia, in the late 60s.  He hit upon the idea of using these vocal, instrumental and percussive recordings as backing tapes to use in a Western-style Mass setting, and completed African Sanctus in 1972.  The work would undergo revisions over the years, but this June 1973 recording captures the original 54-minute version that was released as an LP that year.

Along with the indigenous recordings, African Sanctus uses bits of traditional choir and rock instrumentation of piano, electric guitar & bass and organ.  And frankly, it's all over the shop to listen to, in the most enjoyable way possible.  Far from watering down his source tapes into an insipid kind of world music, Fanshawe just let them burst into life in a kitchen sink approach of wildly varying tempi and dynamics.  It's an initially bewildering listen, but just about hangs together on its own internal logic, and not quite knowing what's coming next becomes part of the fun: whether that's African drumming, singing from both Christian and Islamic traditions, pop/rock music or environmental sounds (yep, there's frogs).  This multi-genre collage becomes something very likeable in its intention, and enduringly listenable.

Added on to this CD reissue is a 1977 recording of Fanshawe's 1970 piece Salaams, which again uses tapes (largely of pearl divers in Bahrain) against live instrumentation and singing.  It's a worthwhile inclusion, showing the development of the African Sanctus style on a smaller scale.

link

Ry Cooder & Vishwa Mohan Bhatt - A Meeting By The River (1993)

And an inspired and fruitful meeting it was.  Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, the Rajasthani master of the Mohan Vina - a modified slide guitar of his own creation, with eight sympathetic drone strings added; and Ry Cooder, the eternal journeyman, on regular slide, recorded these four tracks in a Santa Barbara church - shame they didn't record more.  My only minus point for this record is always that I wish it was twice as long, but what was captured, backed up by Bhatt's regular tabla player Sukhvinder Singh, and Cooder's son Joachim, is superb.  A pair of lengthy, exploratory tracks are followed up by a catchy, upbeat jam and then a gorgeous closing ballad, the only non-original, a Fijian folk song.  One for al fresco listening with a long cool drink.

link

Djivan Gasparyan - I Will Not Be Sad in This World (first rel. 1983)

Back in more relaxing, near-ambient territory today; but no electronic ambience here whatsoever, just one instrument in fact – the Armenian double-reed wood flute known as the duduk.  Played here by master of the instrument Djivan Gasparyan, backed up only by another duduk drone, 40 minutes of this stuff might on paper seem a bit monotonous, but the pure sound and hypnotic melodies draw you right in.

Original LP cover, 1983

Just the right side of unsettling to be truly mellow, these eight traditional duduk pieces were first released on the Soviet Melodiya label in 1983, and came to wider attention when Brian Eno gave the album its first international release under the ‘I Will Not Be Sad…’ title in 1989.  Having been thrust into the 80s/early 90s ‘world music’ limelight, Gasparyan toured widely and played with/influenced many musicians including Peter Gabriel, most famously on the ‘Passion’ soundtrack to Scorcese’s Last Tempation of Christ.

link

Original CD release, 1989 (picture at top is 2005 reissue)