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baptizum

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Posts posted by baptizum

  1. African Music

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted · Edited by baptizum

    I have more than a sneaking suspicion that "the Hendrix of the kora" quote is taken directly from the press release that the record label sent out with review copies, but it's been a few years, and I long ago trashed the paper that came with the disc... ;)

    Serisouly, Ba Cissoko and band are good, but I think there are more interesting outfits around.

    i don't think he can manipulate the kora like hendrix could maipulate the guitar, but it's no understatement to say that his in the top of his class as a kora player. from the record company or not, it's fairly accurate

    edit: and "the hendrix of the kora" is just a paraphrase of this:

    it's little wonder he's been called the Jimi Hendrix of the instrument.

    from a review posted at allmusic.com

  2. African Music

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    Ba Cissoko - Sabolan

    folder.jpg

    Given his reputation in Europe and his native Guinea, as well as his pedigree, the debut from kora player Ba Cissoko and his group arrives with plenty to live up to. For once, though, all the hype is more than justified. There's plenty of dance music on hand here; all of it from the Manding tradition, but given a healthy, and sometimes daring edge that makes it contemporary without being deliberately modern. Cissoko himself plays acoustic kora, and his skill is quite breathtaking. But things take a tilt into the unknown when the band's other kora player, Sekou Kouyate amplifies his instrument. While you know it's still a kora, the things he does with it turn it on its head — it's little wonder he's been called the Jimi Hendrix of the instrument. The sound becomes totally new, exciting waterfalls of notes that are palpably thrilling. The rhythm section of bass and percussion anchor it all, and keep the groove going quite effortlessly. This is trail-blazing, purely West African music of a kind not heard in far too long, and completely irresistible

    the hendrix of the kora

    the hendrix of the kora

    the hendrix of the kora

    the hendrix of the kora

  3. African Music

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    Konono N° 1 - Congotronics

    congotronics.jpg

    Congotronics is the sound of an urban junkyard band simultaneously weaving the past and the future into one amazingly coherent structure, and not only that, you can dance to it.

    This amazing record is the product of utility, coincidence, and accidental discovery as much as it is a product of academic deliberation, and it manages to sound old and traditional even as it is refreshingly (even radically) new and avant-garde. they took a DIY and utilitarian approach by building their own amplification systems out of junked car parts, magnets, and other flotsam. Once assembled, the system produced a huge hum that Konono No. 1 embraced as part of the sound of the group. At the center of everything were three amped-up thumb pianos tuned to three different registers, and coupled with all manner of pots, pans, whistles, and brake drum snares for percussion and with the vocals blasting through megaphones, all embedded in the huge buzz and hum of the homemade PA system, the group accidentally created a sound that was at once both ancient and traditional and yet eerily akin to experimental 21st century electronica. Congotronics is Konono's second album, and while it was ostensibly recorded in a studio setting, it sounds wonderfully live and immediate, as if the dozen members of the group were standing on a busy street corner like some Congolese version of a second-line Mardi Gras band, only with thumb pianos instead of horns.

  4. Ahmed Abdul-Malik

    in Artists

    Posted

    just picked up East Meets West. this is essential to anyone who hasn't heard it. the title is a pretty accurate description of the music. it's western jazz meets the eastern music. it effortlessly sways from a more western melodic bop to a heavier eastern influence and back, all the while maintaining elements of both. pretty accessible, so it's recommended to anyone just interested in checking out eastern music or those who already enjoy it, but haven't heard this release. and above all, it's just a great bop album, so i think anyone on this board would enjoy it. and i know that amg review says that the "piercing vocals" on takseem are hard to digest, but just ignore that cos it was one of the tracks that stood out the most when i first heard it. highly rewarding listen for any music fan

    folder.jpg

    The late Ahmed Abdul-Malik was one of the first musicians to integrate non-Western musical elements into jazz. Best known to jazz listeners as a bassist with Thelonious Monk, Randy Weston, Coleman Hawkins, and many others, he made a few records as a leader, with this one being his most exotic and also the hardest to find. The Brooklyn native was of Sudanese descent; in addition to playing bass on this interesting blend of Middle Eastern instruments with those from the world of jazz, he also plays oud, the forerunner to the lute. The musicians on Malik's eight originals vary from track to track. On the mournful "La Ibky (Don't Cry)," Malik's oud shares the spotlight with a tenor sax (either Benny Golson or Johnny Griffin) plus trumpeter Lee Morgan. "Rooh (The Soul)" features the 72-string kanoon (which is sort of a brittle sounding and much smaller harp) played by Ahmed Yetman, along with Malik's arco bass and the droning violin of Naim Karacand. The Middle Eastern instruments are absent during "Searchin'," which is sort of a hard bop vehicle featuring trombonist Curtis Fuller and Jerome Richardson on flute, along with the tenor sax. "Takseem (Solo)" omits the jazz instruments; the slowness of the variations of the music and rather piercing vocal make it harder for Western ears to comprehend. Not a release of interest to everyone but, for the most part, this fusion of vastly different styles of music is quite enjoyable; it's obvious from the start that the musicians were enjoying themselves as it was recorded. This long out print LP will be difficult to locate

  8. African Music

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    for some reason afrobeat is one genre that wore thin a lot more quickly than i expected. i never need to hear another kuti cut again.

    i saw an afrobeat band a few weeks ago-a jewish guy and a latino guy on keyboards and another jewish guy DJing sort of in the back and two african-american women backup singing and doing call and response with the keyboardists. it was incredibly inauthentic in every way but very amusing. others disliked it.

    honestly, fela is only second to coltrane on my all-time best artists list. but, that's not to say that all african music is afrobeat. afrobeat is really a pretty narrow genre that only houses the kutis, the various members of afrika 70 (namely tony allen) and a few odds and ends bands like the daktaris.

    if you're not at all interested in anything funk or jazz related then definitely check ali farka toure. his music is slightly more western sounding than the other guys in the first post. he plays a very john lee hooker-esque style blues. standouts would be his debut self titled album and his '06 (i think) release Savane.

    Along somewhat similar lines, though not blues-ish (more akin to singer-songwriter "folk" if I was forced to make a comparison) I'd recommend checking out Geoffrey Oryema. He has written some of the most haunting, ethereal songs that I've ever heard.

    thanks, i'll check it out

    Nice idea for a thread.

    I have a very specific question:

    I got heavily into African music in the 1980s, but became less interested as a number of my favorite artists started giving up their distinctive regional styles in favor of a more generic "World Music" style (i.e. Soukous, Makossa, Afro-Beat), usually for financial reasons.

    On the other hand, I am sure that a lot of great African music was made in the last 15 years. What is the consensus among people who still follow African music closely? What are some of the best records made in the last 15 years, in particular by newer younger artists who would not be on my radar screen? (I still pick up a few newer albums from people I know well like Salif Keita.)

    here's a couple pretty good ones to check out

    isnebo and faadah kawtal - divine (2002)

    majid bekkas - africa gnaoua blues (2001)

  9. African Music

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted · Edited by baptizum

    for some reason afrobeat is one genre that wore thin a lot more quickly than i expected. i never need to hear another kuti cut again.

    i saw an afrobeat band a few weeks ago-a jewish guy and a latino guy on keyboards and another jewish guy DJing sort of in the back and two african-american women backup singing and doing call and response with the keyboardists. it was incredibly inauthentic in every way but very amusing. others disliked it.

    honestly, fela is only second to coltrane on my all-time best artists list. but, that's not to say that all african music is afrobeat. afrobeat is really a pretty narrow genre that only houses the kutis, the various members of afrika 70 (namely tony allen) and a few odds and ends bands like the daktaris.

    if you're not at all interested in anything funk or jazz related then definitely check ali farka toure. his music is slightly more western sounding than the other guys in the first post. he plays a very john lee hooker-esque style blues. standouts would be his debut self titled album and his '06 (i think) release Savane.

  13. Which Coltrane are you enjoying right now?

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    The "play down" reference could well be to the length of the performances, not the content.

    thats kinda the way i took it. not necessarily just length. i mean its easily the wankiest trane album ive heard. what with some of the tracks starting out with just like 10 min of just bass. i mean you get to almost the 15 min mark with some of the tracks before you hear trane come in. and i can totally see why a record company would speak out against that sorta thing

  14. Which Coltrane are you enjoying right now?

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    Originally recorded for Japanese radio only, later released in Japan on vinyl and later rereleased/remastered in America. This upload is a vinyl rip of the rare Japanese release, which is now out of print.

    This collection of two shows is notable because Coltrane was not aware that it was being recorded. He tended to play down the experimental side of his music at the behest of record labels when recording live. Disc 4 is a 57 minute interpretation of Hammerstein's "My Favorite Things"

    These sets are Coltrane at his best and most daring. Featuring the quintet of Coltrane, his wife Alice, Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison and Rashied Ali.

    this is what i got. no source though, so who knows

    Thank god you have a free download and not the 4 cd commercial release (4 hours +), with complete notes and remuneration to the Coltrane family.

    "no source though, so who knows".

    Time to grow up.

    lol my copy is 4+ hours too.

    and this vengeance is pretty cute, btw

  20. Which Coltrane are you enjoying right now?

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    Originally recorded for Japanese radio only, later released in Japan on vinyl and later rereleased/remastered in America. This upload is a vinyl rip of the rare Japanese release, which is now out of print.

    This collection of two shows is notable because Coltrane was not aware that it was being recorded. He tended to play down the experimental side of his music at the behest of record labels when recording live. Disc 4 is a 57 minute interpretation of Hammerstein's "My Favorite Things"

    These sets are Coltrane at his best and most daring. Featuring the quintet of Coltrane, his wife Alice, Pharoah Sanders, Jimmy Garrison and Rashied Ali.

    this is what i got. no source though, so who knows

  21. Which Coltrane are you enjoying right now?

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted · Edited by baptizum

    you mustve missed the part where i made blatantly obvious it was a joke

    So he didn't down play his avant side? You left off the smile, so we would know. :blink:

    uh i dunno. that was the impression i was under. live in japan is the most avantwanky coltrane ive ever heard, so it fit with that theory. but no, i was just trying to laugh my way out of a making a claim i couldnt back up.

    i obviously dont think that because somebody on the internet says it its true. i thought the quote came from a wiki article but i couldnt find it. who knows, its not all that important anyway.

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