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| Sandy Lopicic Orkestar: | Sandy Lopicic Orkestar Homepage |
| Sans: | Have a look at:
Sans (Denmark) at Førde Internasjonal Folkemusikkfestival 2003 (pictures and review). |
| Nitin Sawhney: | This "culture acitvist, mover and shaker" (from his homesite), Nitin
Sawhney is born by Indian parents, in the "whitest" areas of England, in
Rochester, Kent. It was tought growing up as the only Indian bloke at the
scool. But as he puts it himself, "from oppression comes expression".
Whether this is the case or not, Nitin Sawhney has a strong urge to express himself, and he sure knows how to do it. He soon became a part of the utra-hip underground jazz-dance scene. He has been an actor, a tv writer, he produces and he makes music. He still is rather hip, but he sure aint underground anymore. So far he has made five CD's, he has won the 2002 BBC World Music Award (boundry crossing) among other prizes and the critics has gone wild. He has remixed for Paul McCartney and Sting, and written for Sinead O'Connor. How do I describe his music without just saying, brilliant boundary
crossing world music?
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Schäl
Sich Brass Band: |
To put it simple: SSBB is more than regular German
"oompah" music, is musical madness. It is divine multicultural madnes.
Basically it is a extended brass band. The lineup is standard brass instruments,
plus saxophone, electric guitar, percussions, and voices. One of the voices
is the Bulgarian singer and folk music
researcher, Ivanka Ivanovo.
My guess is that the core members have their background in experimental
brass jazz (some of the grooves reminds me of Carla Bley).
A long guest list is one of their trademarks. We have listened to their
album Maza Meze, and to some sound samples from Majnoun (here
is one of my favorite jazz standards "African Market Place", by Abdullah
Ibrahim aka Dollar Brand). Let us focus at their latest, Maza Meze. Our
knowledge about German traditional brass music is minimal (at the moment).
But some of the beats sounds German in my ears. It is also tempting to
suggest a strong influences from Gipsy brass music (while I am at this
deep water, anyway). The concept is in many ways similar to the Norwegian
band Farmers Market. It is in a landscape of jazz meeting ethnic music.
Another similarity is the strong touch of Balkan music. This is logic,
considering Ivanka Ivanova nationality. She is a full member of SSBB at
this album. Most of the material at this CD are traditional. Raimund Kroboth's
guitar sound, and his ironic, but delicately arrangements is another element
that reminds me of Farkers Market.
Homepage Schäl Sich Brass Band (partly in German). |
| Secret Garden: | Norwegian/Irish project in a dreamy landscape between Celtic music, classical music and pop music. The core members are Fionnuala Sherry (Violin) and Rolf Løvland (Composer / producer / keyboardplayer). |
| Shine: | Have a look at:
Shine (Scotland) at Førde Internasjonal Folkemusikkfestival 2003 (pictures and review). |
| Anna Sidnina: | Have a look at:
Anna Sidnina (Russia) at Førde Internasjonal Folkemusikkfestival 2003 (pictures and review). |
| Swoja Droga: | Have a look at:
Swoja Droga (Poland) at Førde Internasjonal Folkemusikkfestival 2003 (pictures and review). |
 Spanish
Flamenco guitarist.
Pictures from a concert at Suristan 2002. |
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| Steeleye Span: | Steeleye Span was among the most important groups in the brittish folk-rock
movement in the 70's. They where formed in 1969, by bassist Ashley Hutchings.
Hutching was among the founding members of Fairport Convention. After a couple of years Hutch wanted to move on, go deeper into the folk roots. The rest of the band wanted to go to another direction, towards rock. The same thing happend again. Asley Hutchings left Steeleye Span in 1972 after Please To See The King, for the same reaons. The rest of the band went electric. Hutch formed the "Albion Band". Never the less, "Please To See The King" became a classic. The trademark of the new Steeleye Span was the soaring voice of Maddy Prior, and the electric guitars. Maddy Prior phoned her mother, telling about the electrification. She shall have replied "Oh, what are you going to do with that nice gas cooker I gave you?" The transformation was complete when they added Nigel Pegrum at drums. This was the start of a pretty large commersial sucsess. It lasted until 1976 or so. The band split up in 78, and Maddy Prior went solo. Since 1980 when Prior came back, Steeleye Span has been on and off. Touring and releasing some albums, but no real highlights like in the first periode. |
| Sukke: | Sukke Homepage
(partly in German).
Theres a very interesting article on "Klezmer in Germany/Germans and Klezmer" there (in English). "Klezmer music & new yiddish singing"
You can also hear Sukke live at Rootsworld
Free Reed Festival (a virtual online festival).
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| The English fiddler, Dave Swarbrick was an important member of Fairport Convention for about 15 years. He left them in 84 to make his own accoustic band, Whippersnapper. Swarb has also been a part of other important pjojects. | |
| Swoja Droga: | Have a look at:
Swoja Droga (Poland) at Førde Internasjonal Folkemusikkfestival 2003 (pictures and review). |
| Tactequeté is a percussion band from Catalonia (Northeast of Spain) that mix music with humor. All the six members are quite virtuosos musicians able to juggle while playing. Special attention deserves the wind player, that plays everything that arrive to his hands: a crutch, a tripod for a camera, every kind of tubes and pipes... They have played with some other artists in the frame of ethnic music, like Eliseo Parra. | |
| The Romanian gypsy band Taraf de Haïdouks was created by a Belgium
music promoter who was fascinated by ethnomusicologic recordings from the
village of Clejani near Bucharest in Romania.
Basically he went to the same village and made a band out of the best musicians
there, made a recording and set up a tour in Northern Europe.
I had the mind expanding experience to hear them at the Førde Festival. I believe it was in 93. I did not believe my ears and eyes. The visual impact was enormous. Absolutely no fuzz, just a bunch of men, more or less directly from the fields. Aged 20-70. With old warn out black suits, and gold in their teeth, and rusty shaving. The music was beyond words. They played so fast. And it was so virtuous. With their strange looking instruments. Clubbing at a frame with piano strings? Later I have found out what this things where. I have also discovered that cimbaloms are rather common in gipsy music. I and most of the audience sat there wondering. Are these people born musicians, with their instruments? In shorts, these concerts, at stage and in the streets and shops of Førde, was the thing that trigged my enormous interest of ethnic music. This is some time and 3-4 CD's ago. They where a part of the awarded film "Latcho Drom", and suddenly they became a central act at the world music stage. I have seen many translations of the bands name "Honorable Brigands" is one of them, "Band of Outlaws" is another. Band of Outlaws refers to the status of the Gipsy's. Romainia has the greatest gipsy population in Europe. Romania has been isolated for decades, so the music is rather "authentic". Whatever, Taraf's in general is wedding and funeral bands. In 2002 the Taraf's got the prestigious BBC3 award for World Music.
In an interview their violinist Caliu was asked why the western world responds
so strongly to gipsy music.
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| Omar Faruk Tekbilek: | Omar Faruk Tekbilek Homepage |
| Homepage of Hans Theessink. The Dutch "master of blues guitar". | |
| Ricard Thompson: | Ricard Thompson, born in 1941, is among the most respected artists
in Brittish folk-rock. So far, there has been made three tribute albums
to him. His was among the founding members of Fairport
Convention, the band that started the folk-rock movement in Britain.
He left them after four years, in 1971 (he rejoines them now and then at
concerts and at recordings, but his not a member anymore).
He released his first solo in 72, Henry The Human Fly. Thompson claims this to be the lowest selling album Warner Bros history! Then he started to make music with his wife, as "Linda & Ricard Thompson". The music was a combination of American roots music and Brittish folk, with a dash of rock. In 75 Thompson withdraw from music. He has become a muslim. He could not stay away for more than three years. In 78 Linda and Ricard gave out. A few months before his devorce from Linda, they released the bestselling (so far) album Shoot Out The Lights. He went solo again. The 91 album was Rumor & Sigh, his first album to reach the UK charts. Thompson is what you can call an "artists artist". His influance on other performer is important. Dispite the commercial sucsess with Rumour & Sigh, most people haven't heard about him. Thats a real shame. Ricard
Thompson artist profile at BBC2
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| Kathryn Tickell: | Have a look at:
Kathrin Tickell Band (Scotland) at Førde Internasjonal Folkemusikkfestival 2003 (pictures and review). Homepage of Kathryn Tickell - Northhumbrian Smallpipes Folk Musician |
| Transjoik Homepage | |
| Troka at hoedown.com |
