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George Robinson's list of "Best Recordings of 2003"
- From: Klezcorner <Klezcorner...>
- Subject: George Robinson's list of "Best Recordings of 2003"
- Date: Thu 01 Jan 2004 01.50 (GMT)
The current issue of The Jewish Week features our own George Robinson's list
of the "The Best of 2003" as well as other recommended titles.
Happily, Hatikvah distributes 7 of these recordings.
Simon
The actual article...with picture is available on the Jewish Week site atiew
Last Week's Issu
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=8895
Wednesday, December 31, 2003 / 6 Tevet 5764 Arts and Culture Calendar
Arts Directory
A Five-Star Year
The best of 2003
George Robinson - Special To The Jewish Week
This year produced 16 five-star recordings, and you can?t go wrong with any
of them. However, because of space limitations, I am forced to choose a 10-best
list. That doesn?t mean the rest are anything less than wonderful, and I have
listed them all here.
?Abayudaya: Music from the Jewish People of Uganda? (Smithsonian Folkways)
In more than five years of writing this column, I have reviewed Jewish
reggae, Jewish salsa, Jewish punk and who knows what else. This is the first
(and I
suspect the only) time I have ever encountered Jewish Afro-pop. Unless we are
talking about the ill-fated attempt to reroute Zionist aspirations to the then
English colony there, Jews and Uganda don?t turn up in the same sentence too
often. But there is a tribe, called the Abayudaya, who have openly embraced a
Jewish identity for a century, and this recording of their musical traditions
is the nicest surprise I can imagine, a lively, melodic collection of settings
of Jewish texts unlike any other. Ranging from hand-drum-driven ?Hiwumbe
Awumba? through a sweetly harmonized children?s choir version of ?Mi Khamokha,?
this CD is pure joy from start to finish. If you like King Sunny Ade, you?ll
definitely get this. Available from Hatikvah Music (www.hatikvahmusic.com or
(323) 655-7083.
Francoise Atlan and L?Orchestre Arabo-Andalou de Fes: ?Andalussyat? (Buna
Musique).
A superb collection of Ladino and Arab-Andalusian classics. If you listen to
this music much you will probably have recordings of many of the tunes on this
set, but I doubt it you will have better renditions than Atlan?s. Classically
trained and originally a specialist in avante-gardists like Ligeti and Nono,
she turned to her own Jewish-Berber roots and the result is one of the most
beautiful recordings of the year. Available from Hatikvah Music
(www.hatikvahmusic.com or (323) 655-7083.
David Chevan and the Afro-Semitic Experience: ?Days of Awe? (Reckless DC
Music).
David Chevan began his explorations of Jewish music in a series of superb
duet recordings with pianist Warren Byrd. The duo expanded to a full band, the
Afro-Semitic Experience. Now, with guest Frank London on trumpet and
flugelhorn,
Chevan and the Experience have ventured into their most difficult project
yet, jazz improvisations based on Yossele Rosenblatt?s settings for Yamim
Noraim.
As might be expected, this is a darker, more melancholy record than their
previous CD, which fizzed with the effervescent wit of another bassist-leader,
Charles Mingus. Intriguingly, the star of this set is neither Chevan, Byrd or
London but, to my ears, lap steel guitarist Stacy Phillips. Phillips makes
great
use of the vocalistic qualities of his instrument and also plays some mean
fiddle. The band still swings hard, but with a somber edge. A great recording.
(Also available at Hatikvah Music...Simon)
The Fig Tree (The Boite). Available from www.boite.asn.au.
Here?s what I love about the Internet. Arnold Zable wrote a book, ?The Fig
Tree,? about the immigrant experience in Australia, a society as multiculti as
our own. Then he assembled a CD of musicians who reflect that experience. And
because I?m on a Jewish music e-mail list, I found out about the recording and
can tell you to go buy it, because it is a lovely and evocative collection of
Jewish, Greek and Italian music that illuminates a place not unlike New York.
The second selection is an excerpt from Theodorakis?s monumental ?Mathausen
Cantata,? sung by Maria Farandouri. You would expect everything that follows to
be an anti-climax, but Klezmania, Klemzeritis, Kavisha Mazzella and others are
more than up to the challenge. A wonderfully smart and moving CD.
The Golden Dove: ?Masterpieces from the Jewish Folk Music Society? (4Tay).
Chamber music for piano and violin, featuring Zina Schiff and Cameron Grant,
respectively, with Cherina Carmel filling in at the keyboard on two
selections. The Jewish Folk Music Society was founded in St. Petersburg in 1908
at a
time when the then-Russian capital was also a center of musical genius.
Encouraged by Rimsky-Korsakov, who died before the organization was officially
inaugurated, the Society drew from many of his students and was responsible for
some
truly magnificent music, including the 19 brief pieces recorded here. Schiff is
a wonderfully expressive player, and Grant (and Carmel) offer sympathetic and
subtle accompaniment. A very beautiful recording.
Historic Music of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in the City of New
York (Shearith Israel League)
A three-CD set, handsomely packaged, using recordings made in 1956, 1959 and
1960 to recapture the spirit of music written for and performed in the oldest
synagogue in New York, one of the first on North American soil. Abraham Lopes
Cardozo and the choir on display here are deeply stirring and the three CDs,
which range from Shabbat music on the first and third sets and High Holy Day
and festival music on the second and third, are a powerful and inspirational
collection as well as an excellent introduction to one branch of American
Sephardic liturgical music. Available from Shearith Israel League, 8 W. 70th
St.,
(212) 873-0300.
Richard Locker: ?Jewish Cello Masterpieces? (Leggiero).
This CD arrived the same day as the Lasker-Wallfisch and shortly after I
first heard Maya Beiser?s ?Kinship,? which was released last year. Why the
sudden
spate of great Jewish cello recordings? Who knows. But this is powerful, dark
and brooding music, superbly played by Locker. He draws from some obvious
sources ? Ernst Bloch, Ravel, Bruch ? but also plays music by Zavel Zilberts,
David Meyerowitz and Jacob Wasilovsky to great effect.
Maftirim: ?Judeo-Sufi Connection? (Kalan).
There is a musical tradition specific to Turkey called maftirim, a
collaboration between Jewish mystics and members of a Sufi sect called Mevlani,
and this
recording is a stunning introduction to it. Haunting, even eerie at times,
this is music built around long, complex melismatic phrases, ominous modes and
strikingly simple instrumentation. Not to all tastes, perhaps, but
unforgettable. The CD is part of a handsome package with a colorful
multilingual book with
lyrics and historical background. Available from Hatikvah Music,
www.hatikvahmusic.com or (323) 655-7083.
Nigun: ?KlezJazz? (Etnofon)
Impressive klezmer-inflected jazz set from a Hungarian band with some serious
chops. Alto player Janos Vazsonyi reminds me of Lee Konitz at his fiery best,
while clarinetist Daniel Vaezi has a lot of Perry Robinson going on. Great
rhythm section work and inventive approach to oft-recorded pieces like
?Shnirele
Perele.?Available from www.passiondiscs.co.uk.
Hadass Pal-Yarden: ?Yahudice? (Kalan)
Pal-Yarden is an Israeli singer and ethnomusicologist who has been exploring
Ladino song for several years. This collection of urban songs from Ottoman
Jewry, mostly secular. Pal-Yarden has a pretty, almost pop voice but brings a
gravitas to this material, an uncompromising concern for the integrity of the
presentation that is impressive, with variant texts represented on most
selections. The Greek material is particularly delightful. Like the other Kalan
recording reviewed here, the CD is packaged with an elaborate little hardcover
book.
A recording that is not only historically important but great listening.
Available from Hatikvah Music, www.hatikvahmusic.com or (323) 655-7083.
And don?t forget these excellent recordings.
Conservatoire de Musique de Geneve: ?Les Psaumes? (Les Amis de Musique
Juive). Available from www.club-association.ch/amj.
Samy Elmaghribi: ?Haggadah de Pessah? (Azoulay Bros.) available from
www.hatikvahmusic.com or (323) 655-7083.
Anita Lasker-Wallfisch: ?Testament? (Our World).
New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars: ?Borvis? (Stretchy). Available from
www.klezmers.com.
Ben Perowsky: ?Camp Songs? (Tzadik).
Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman: ?Af di Gasn fun der Shtot? (Yiddishland).
Available from www.yiddishlandrecords.com. n
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- George Robinson's list of "Best Recordings of 2003",
Klezcorner