|
|
EthnoBass
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
EthnoBass
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After fiveteen years recording in field word in the villages from Galicia,
Mercedes Peón finally released the first CD under her name, "Isué"
("that is", in Galego languaje). Isué is a wonderful mixture of
traditional and vanguard, an impressive exercise of virtuosity and creativity
by this voice that as soon is a caress as a moment after is a snatched
cry that seems to get out of the deeper of the earth. Mercedes also plays
the gaita (Galician pipe), the pandeireta (tambourine), dances traditional
"muñeiras", arranges and composes. In another hand, she is one of
the persons who know most about musical traditions from the northwest of
Spain.
She has been internationally awarded as singer and gaiteira. She also has
played with artists like Carlos Nuñez, Manu Chao, Xose Manuel Budiño,
or Os Diplomáticos do Monte Alto.
Year 2000 gave us one of the best albums in the frame of the renewed ethnic music from Galicia, and from the globe. |
|
| Pogues:
Shane MacGowan |
Pogues site, and Shane MacGowan site |
| The multitalented finnish, and extremely skilled, accordion player
Kimmi Pohjonen is hard to label. He has been into dance, theatre, folk,
rock and avant-garde. He is using state of the art sorround sound systems
and light systems at most of his concerts. His accordion is electrified,
but as he points out, it still is a accoustic instrument. Accoustic indeed,
it is breathing, and the pipes vibrates freely. It's almost like an untamed
animal.
Kimmo Pohjonen started as a kid in his fathers accordion club. There he learned his polka and the other basic finnish styles. He went on to the Sibelius accademy to become a classic accordionist. One day he realized that folk musicians where allowed to improvice. This freedom attracted him. He still is playfull like a child. In 1996 he started his solo project. A man and his instrument. He is taking his instrument to the limit, and perhaps further live loops and effects. This is recorded on the CD "Kielo" (1999). The project is growing. At the "Kluster" 2002 he brings in Samuli Kosminen, with accordion and voice samples, via electronic percussion. His latest project is Kalmuk, with percussionists Abdissa Assefa and
Kosminen and with the 15-piece Tapiola Sinfonietta (a great Finnish symphony
orchestra).
Pohjonen was in 2003 nommineed for the BBC Radio 3 World Music Award in the Europe categry. |
|
| Maria Amélia Proenca: | The Portugese Fado singer Maria Amélia Proenca attended the Førde Festival 2002. See our pictures and read our review here. |
Radio
Tarifa:
 |
There is no radio station at Tarifa, the southernmost point
of Spain. There are just a few miles across
the sea to Morocco. Tarifa is a part of the Andalusian region, but all
kinds of cultural influences has came by the winds, from all directions.
Going five hundred years back in history, these parts of Spain was a part
of the moorish world. Moorish (arabs), christians and jews where living
in a rather peaceful coexistence. Tarifa is still influenced by the breezes
from the south.
At first Radio Tarifa was no actual band. It was a studio concept, set up to dig the Mediterranean roots. Or, perhaps it was more a roots party, celebrating life. The core of the band is a trio, Faín S. Dueñas, founder of the group, and player various strings and percussion instruments, Vincent Molino, with all kinds of wind instruments, and Benjamín Escoriza who brings in the flamenco feeling with his smoky voice. The debut album, Rumba Argelina pointed in many directions. The next one, Temporal was slightly more focused at, a more "in the face", flamenco feeling. These two first albums are now world music classics. Now eight years later, Cruzando el Rio is taking things a bit further. Faín Dueñas has put some of his lute instruments at the shelf, replaced them with electric guitar. Ok, the lutes are not totally gone, but the distorted electric riffs gives a completely different atmosphere. In an interview Duenàs says "In the early 1970s I was a rock fan, like everybody else. I spent my days playing electric guitar and listening to Hendrix. After he died I tried to follow the new trends — Pink Floyd, Genesis, King Crimson — but when pop broke through, I hated it. I decided to trade my Gibson for a flamenco guitar and that was the beginning of the rest of my life." He is definitely not going back to the 70's, but it could look like he is using these "modern" influences, and making a completely new concept. A new version of Radio Tarifa. Radio Tarifa has collabotrated with many artists, here's a lokal link to one of them Joaquin Ruiz. |
| Raduza: | Have a look at:
Raduza (Czeck Republic) at Førde Internasjonal Folkemusikkfestival 2003 (pictures and review). |
 |
Susheela Raman got my attention when she was nominated for the "BBC
World Music, Newcomer Award". When she actually got the award I started
my researches. What did I find?
A very colorful new artist. Born in London in 1973 with Indian parents.
She was very young when they moved to Australia. So her background is very
mixed, and so is her music. It reflects her Tamil origins. She grew up
singing South Indian classical music. In 95 she moved to India to study
with the Hindustani vocalist Shruti Sadolikar. She settled in London in
97. She don't feel like a part of "the much hyped Asian underground movement"
(the quote is not her words). This so-called London based Asian underground
is rooted in Asia alone. Susheela Raman is in the middle of a triangle
of UK - India
- Australia.
|
| Ranarim
Homepage
See pictures from 2001 Førde Festival of the Swedish band Ranarim here. |
|
| Duo Rapsozii Botosanilor: | Have a look at:
Duo Rapsozii (Romania) at Førde Internasjonal Folkemusikkfestival 2003 (pictures and review). |
| The Portugese group Realejo visited the Førde Festival 2002, go here for a review and some pictures | |
| Esma Redzepova: | Esma Redzepova (Macedoinia). "Queen of the Gypsies" |
| Knut Reiersrud: | Guitarist (or almost anything with strings), singer, blues harpist,
stomper, and composer, born in Oslo, Norway,
in 1961. Started his career mainly as a blues and American roots musician.
In the later years he has proven to be an extremely open-minded musician,
picking up elements and rare tunings from around the world. Sometimes he
tunes his guitar as a hardingfele,
and like a langeleik. He sometimes
uses Hawaii guitar tuning, Joni Mitchell tuning, D'Gary
tuning and so on.
He's album Tramp (Footwork), is dedicated to the stumping feet' in music around the world. The idea came from a visit in Western Africa, watching the dust raising around musicians and dancers, here he found a link between different cultures. Featuring: Alagi M'Bye (Kora and vocal), Juldeh Camara (vocal and riti), Ivar Kleive (church and Hammond organ), Paolo Vinaccia (percussion), and Five Blind Boys of Alabama (vocal). At the follow up album Klapp, clap, the Norwegian brass quintet Brazz Brothers joins them. Reiersrud is one of the really big blues men in Europe. Junior Welsh/Buddy Guy once stated from the scene )at Molde International Jazzfestival) "there (in audience) is the man that proves it to be wrong that only black people can play the blues". |
| Django Reinhart: | "Gipsy" guitarist, and creator of the
"String Swing" tradition, a "gipsy" music influenced jazz style. Reinhart
was born in Belgium in 1910, but lived most of his life in France.
He learned to play banjo and guitar at the age of twelve. Performed at kafès and night clubs. Where he heard jazz music. Then he develloped his own style, a mix of jazz and European "gipsy" music.He lost the vigour of two fingers at his "grip board hand" in a fire. But this did not stop him, he just adapted his tecnique. In 1934 he recorded "Django Reinhart et le Quintette du Hot Club de France avec Stephen Grapelli". This started a new consept, jazz manouche, or "String Swing" in English. This record gave jazz a European voice, with three guitars, bass and violin. Reinhart died in 1953.
Go to http://www.hotclub.no/ this is a very informative site about "String Swing" and related topics. |
| Risa Zvejnieki: | Have a look at:
Risa Zvejnieki (Latvia) at Førde Internasjonal Folkemusikkfestival 2003 (pictures and review). |
| Rivero:
Helen Rivero  |
The Australian/Shepardic band Rivero was set up by Helen Rivero in
2000. While writing this (at late winter 2002) Helen Rivero is living in
Australia. She comes from a Spanish immigrant
family. She started as a jazz/avant-garde musician.
So far she has released one single album, Rivero.
Shepardic music is the music of the expelled Jews in Spain and Portugal. Some say the word Sepharad is the Jewish word for Spain, others say it is a general term for jewish people in exile. Becauce of the new political situation the jews had to leave Spain in 1492. Some of them went south to Morroco and Northern Africa, some to Balkan, some to Mediterranian countries, and some converted to the new religion and stayed in Spain and Portugal. This makes the sephardic music a blend of traditional jewish music, and of Spanish music. Traces of other parts of the world are easy to trace. Sephardic music is has strong solo song traditions. Four of the eleven tracks are signed Helen Rivero, the rest is traditional Sephardic or traditional Andalusian songs. The songs points in many direction. But as we already have sugested, it is done with good taste. Most of the melodies are in a melancholic, slightly longing mood. A longing for something distant, a distant country or a distant love. Rivero is a very convinsing debut. Her voice could make her a new world music star. Author: Tim Øsleby |
| Amalia Rodrigues: | Portugese fado star, perhaps the
greatest of them all. She is now retired, allmost.
Homepage (in Portugese, but with set of soundsamles streaming) |
| Javier Ruibal: | Ruibal is one of those artists that you can difficultly include in
just one label. He is a sensible composer of flamenco-songwriter
songs, with lyrics that talks about the beauty that still lyes in the rememberings,
the mortal passions, the passing of years, the lost of the dreams and the
innocence,...
From Cadiz (Andalucia - Southwest of Spain) he has not become famous, but he uses to play at clubs in Madrid and Andalucia very often, and he is thought to be as a very complete artists by the ones who know his work. He has already released six albums: Duna (Dune), Cuerpo Celeste (Celestial Body), La Piel de Sara (Sara´s skin), Pensión Triana (Boarding house Triana), Contrabando (Contraband) and Las Damas Primero (First the ladies). Ruibal joines influences from Andalusian, Arabic, Caribbean, Subsaharian and Flamenco, with a sincere guitar and a voice that fits perfectly the stories he tells. Stories of despair, of adolescent tenderness and the joy of the simple things. Maybe his art is too beautiful. In despite of his quality, he has not get to be very popular in Spain, but he has faithful and devoted fans. |
Joaquin Ruiz:
 |
This spanish Flamenco dancer, choregrapher and "creator visited the Førde Festival 2002. If you want to see our photes and read our review, then go here. |
| Pictures here. |
