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EthnoBass
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EthnoBass
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| A.
Erica Azim |
B.
Susana Baca The Band Cyro Batista Keola Beamer Beausoleil Black 47 Buena Vista Social Club |
C.
Captain Beefheart Cherish the Ladies Ry Cooder Cubanismo |
| EthnoBass saw and heard Lucy Acevedo at Førde Festival 2002, se some pictures and read the review here. | |
| Africa Sogaye: | US based African dance and theatre troup.
Homepage
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| Californian artist and teacher, dedicated to the Zimbabwean Mbira instrument and Shona culture. Azim at Mbira.org She contributes at Forward Kwendas CD Svikiro - Meditations From An Mbira Master |
| A.
Erica Azim |
B.
Susana Baca The Band Cyro Batista Keola Beamer Beausoleil Black 47 Buena Vista Social Club |
C.
Captain Beefheart Cherish the Ladies Ry Cooder Cubanismo |
Susana
Baca:
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Singer, composer, arranger, culture personality, teacher
and reasearcher with her own institute in Afro-Peruvian
style. This institute she and her husband, Ricardo Pereira, founded. The
subject for the institute is "black peruvian culture". Her music and culture
is partly African rooted, brought to Southern America by the African slave
trade routes. It is also strongly influenced by European and Andean traditions.
Baca grew up in a small village outside Lima, "populated with cats and fishermen". Her life is dedicated to diging in the roots and the history of her area. "In Spanish, recuperar means to recover the past, to rescue from the ravages of time. It means to shepherd together that which has drifted apart; it also carries the more obvious meaning of recovery, healing, getting better". This word, recuperar describes Baca's project in life. In 1995 she got the attention from the world stage when David Byrne with his Luaka Bop company discovered her and published her at a sampler CD with Afro-Peruvian music. Her singing is like a cool breeze, she is in absolute controll of her voice. But underneath the surface, there is a burning pasion. Music journalists describes her as a "Cesaria Evora on high heals" or as a latin, articulated Billie Hollyday. Listening to her my mind goes to flamenco music, it is "softer", but the attitude is similar in many ways (I guess that what's I'm really talking about is the latin way of thinking). |
| The Band:
The Hawks Robbie Robertson Ricard Manuel Garth Hudson Rick Danko Levon Helm Bob Dylan |
The Band is a rare bird in the history of American rock.
It all started in the mid 60's as the new electric backingband of Bob
Dylan. First under the name the Hawks, then as The Band. The fact that
Dylan turned electric was hard to swallow for the "folkie purists". It
all started at the Newport Folk Festival. The audience booed. It was like
a warfare against the traditional folk concept. Between the battles they
sheltered in a "big pink house". There they found the space and the quietnes
they needed to create what Danko describes as "homemade music" ("The Basement
Tapes", "Planet Wawes" and "Before the Flood").
The core members of The Band are: Robbie Robertson (guitar), Ricard Manuel (Piano), Garth Hudson (organ), Rick Danko (bass) and Levon Helm (drums). The slow, bumpy off-beat music surtainly was something completely different. They dressed like mountain men in old fashioned suits. It was based at American Folk, country and in the blues. It was the voice of the rural America. Nowaday it is popular to label this kind of music as roots music. But still, in the end , it is rock & roll. As The Band they released "Music From the Big Pink" and the brilliant album "The Band". The next peak was "Northern Lights - Southern Cross". At this album they picked up new instruments like the accordiaon , horns and fiddle, adding a cajun and a New Orleans feeling. Officially they desides to break up in 1976. In fact they have desided to stop touring, but continue as a recording band. This leads to one of the bigest farewell partyes in the history of rock & roll. A gigantic dinnerparty for friends. What makes this fantastic, is the list of friend. Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Paul Butterfield, Bobby Charles, Dr. John, Ringo Starr, Ronnie Hawkins, and Neil Diamond. I would gladly have given away my arm to join that party. This event results in tripple album and a film titled "The Last Waltz". Unfortunatly they never managed to keep on as a quintet. Robbie Robertson refused to keep up. Personally I enjoy the album "High on the Hog" with Danko, Helm and Hudson. It sure has a deep groove. As a Norwegian I also must mention a project with Rick Danko, the 60's folk singer Erik Andersen and the Norwegian roots artist Jonas Fjeld. "Danko/Fjeld/Andersen". They recorded another album titled "Ridin on the Blinds". Both titles are worth listening to (typical Norwegian understatement). Link: The BandDescription: Welcome to the home page of The Band web site, the definitive Internet resource on one of the greatest ensembles in the history of rock music. |
| Cyro Batista: | Cyro Batista, Brazilian drummer.
He has worket with several of the stars in western pop music. Cyro is mainly
a Brazilian pop musician, - his beats are influenced by lokal beats.
His 2002 project (read CD) has the title "Beat the Monkey", this project has a manifesto: "Sometimes we are gladiators of sound Sometimes we come from the jungle Sometimes we walk concrete streets Sometimes we roar and Sometimes we can only mumble - meet Beat the Donkey ...." Cyro Batista Homepage |
| Hawaiian slack key guitarist. Homepage | |
| The American band Beausoleil is one of the most popular Cajun bands.
They are Grammy awarded several times (nine), in 97 they even got the price.
Beausoleil was formed in 76 by fidler, singer and songwriter, Michael Doucet.
The name means a lot to Cajun people. It is the name of one of their heroes.
The story goes back to 1755 when Joseph Brussard dit Beausoleil lead the
Acadian resistance against the englishmen in Canada.
The recipe is simple, the main ingredience is old french Cajun songs, some blues, some New Orleans jazz, a bit of country music and a dash of Carribien rhythms. The lead instruments are Michael's fiddle and the accordion by Jimmy Breaux. Now and then a Irish reel or other Celtic elements turns up out of the blue. The purpose is even simper, to have a good time. The music grows out of a need to relax, eat, talk and dance. |
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| The New York based band,
Black 47 was founded in 1989 by Larry Kirwan, composer, singer and guitarist
and the piper Chris Byrne. Larry Kirwan tells:
"I walked into Paddy Reilly's, a dilapidated saloon. Chris Byrne was playing uilleann pipes with a local folk group, Beyond the Pale. I sat in for a few numbers and afterwards we got to talking about the lack of content in contemporary music. He told me he was a cop and loved The Clash and rap music. I have no idea what I said to him but six hours and some gallons later, we formed Black 47." The result was something new. Rooted in traditional Irish traditions, with the energy and the "fuck-them-all attitude" from punk rock. The audience at Paddys pub looked up from their brown Irish bears, shouting, play Irish music! Kirwan replyed "I'm from Ireland. I wrote the song, that makes it Irish. So shut the fuck up!". Kirwan's lyrics are a very talented mix of traditional rock lyrics, and what you might call "free-the-Irish-or-we'll-really-bang-on-the-bodhráns" songs (bodhráns is an Irish framedrum). Black 47 are really dedicated to the "Irish struggle", the name refers to the famine winter in Ireland in 1847 (half of the Irish population starwed to death). After some time Black 47 set up a tight playing, swinging brass line, important to the sound. Brass and pipes together created a totally new sound. (We are now refering to the Rock/Folk-Rock stage in US). Black 47 sets the hall "on fire"
Solo from Kirwan, "Kilroy was here" This solo album is not what we usually review in EthnoBass. It is not very ethnic or "folksy". But never the less, Larry Kilroy (sorry, Kirwan) is the leader of Black 47, and this CD is good. So here it is, a short review. This is much more "mature rock" than the Black 47. First, most of the irish elements are gone. The tempo is more laid back, the vibrating "lets have a ball" atmosphere is also gone. But don't get me wrong. This is definatly not easy listening. It has a very intence underlaying nerve. The lyrics is still political. I have no idea if Kirwan would define himself as a revolutionary, it doesnt matter. It is obvious that Kirwan has spent a lot of time listening to many of the great american rock poets, I have listed some above, let me add Bob Dylan. Ah, there it came to me, the word I have been looking for. "Kilroy was here" is poetry. The images Kirwan paints in my head are more detailed, with more texture. The arrangements are more sophisticated than Black 47's. They are important, underlining the athmosphere in Kirwan's poetry. |
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| Buena Vista Social Club Homepage |
| A.
Erica Azim |
B.
Susana Baca The Band Cyro Batista Keola Beamer Beausoleil Black 47 Buena Vista Social Club |
C.
Captain Beefheart Cherish the Ladies Ry Cooder Cubanismo |
| Captain
Beefheart:
Magic Band |
The Captain does not really belong at this site, his not very ethnic
(but he is a bit bluesy now and them). Never the less, he simply the Captain,
one of the most innovative artists, ever.
Captain Beefheart Homepage |
| Cherish the Ladies Homepage | |
| Ry Cooder: | The guitar player, singer, producer, and songwriter, Ry Cooder is impossibel
to label. His roots are in the traditional blues and roots. But he knows,
and uses with good taste, allmost all tricks of the trade, slide, bottleneck,
fingerpicking style and so on. Now and then he even picks up the mandolin
or other instruments.
Cooder is a highly respected sesion musician, maker of soundtracks, producer, and ethnomusicologist. He has received two World music Grammiess so far. In 93 for his collaborations with V. M. Bhatt at Meeting Across The River, and then in 94 for his contributions at Ali Farka ToureTalking Timbuktu. The Timbuktu recording can be described as a reasearch of the contemtorary African blues, rooted in african traditions. The Meeting Across the River is east meeting west, havaii/slide guitar meeting Bhatts invention, Mohan Vina a hybrid guitar. Unlike at many similar projects the culteres really melts together. His greatest sucsess at the world music sky is the discowery and production of Buena Vista Social Club. Cooder has also worked with: Chieftains, Taj Mahal, Captain Beefheart, Little Feat, Rolling Stones, Gordon Lightfoot, David Lindley and others. |
| Homepage |
