General Comments for all Naweedna cds
Positive Friction – Donna The Buffalo Positive Friction (2000)
Download 247.48 Kb.
|
- Navigate this page:
- 11 Queen Bee - Taj Mahal, Ramatou Diakite Toumani Diabate Kulanjan (1999)
- 12 Mercy Mercy Mercy - Cannonball Adderley At The Club (1965)
- 13 How Can I Miss You When You Wont Go Away - Dan Hicks His Hot Licks Original Recordings (1969)
10 Positive Friction – Donna The Buffalo Positive Friction (2000) I first heard Donna The Buffalo on a Sheldon compilation. Later, I got the whole CD from Spollen. I like their stuff, but this is my favorite – it kinda sticks in your head. Rootsy folk-rock sextet Donna the Buffalo formed in 1987 in Ithaca, NY. The group's three vocalists — Tara Nevins, who also plays fiddle, guitar, and accordion; guitarist Jeb Puryear; and keyboardist Joe Thrift — add another layer of diversity to the group's eclectic and often socially conscious sound. Guitarist Jim Miller, drummer Tom Gilbert, and bassist Jed Greenberg complete the ensemble. Almost immediately after forming the band, Donna the Buffalo started touring, which they continue to do extensively. Not only is Donna the Buffalo a regular attraction at festivals like Merlefest and Telluride, the group has also shared the stage with like-minded artists such as 10,000 Maniacs, Los Lobos, and Rusted Root. Almost as soon as the band started touring, Donna the Buffalo began releasing albums. Their debut, 1989's The White Tape, was recorded and released by the band themselves; for their following album, The Red Tape, they enlisted their friend Mitch Easter to produce. Finding time to record when their busy touring schedule allowed, Donna the Buffalo released a self-titled album in 1993, following it with 1996's The Ones You Love, 1998's Rockin' in the Weary Land, and 2000's Positive Friction. Nevins also released a solo album, Mule to Ride, in 1999. Donna the Buffalo Positive Friction Rating 3 * Jun 20, 2000 Rock Bluegrass
1 No Place Like the Right Time Nevins 4:22 2 Movin' On Puryear 2:54 3 Yonder Nevins 4:00 4 Riddle of the Universe Puryear 4:58 5 Front Porch Nevins 3:47 6 In Another World Puryear 6:26 7 Revolution Puryear 2:31 8 Family Picture Nevins 3:43 9 Positive Friction Puryear 4:06 10 Man of Constant Sorrow Traditional 4:45 11 I Wish You Love Nevins 4:35 12 Arrows Pointing Sideways Puryear 3:58 13 Your Way Home Nevins, Puryear 3:18 11 Queen Bee - Taj Mahal, Ramatou Diakite & Toumani Diabate Kulanjan (1999) Okay, I expect everyone has a version of Taj’s Queen Bee. However, I don’t think the Kulajan CD was especially popular, so maybe you haven’t heard this version with Toumani Diabate & Ramatou Diakite. In this version, Ramatou improvises her own lyrics around the theme of love & singing, in Wasulunke: “We love each other I’m going to see my lover When I go to sleep at night, I think of you … To which Taj replies: “Sweeter than a honey bee, baby been sweet on me Sweeter than a honey bee, my queen bee Rock me to my soul, love me to my soul, my soul …” I’m a fool for Ramatou’s sweet, clearly ethnic female vocal – I’ve sought others like it. Toumani Diabate A master of the kora (21 string West African harp), Diabate has brought the traditional music of his native Mali to the attention of an international audience with a series of well received solo albums, and some unlikely, but acclaimed, collaborations. Although he came from a family of musicians, Diabate (born August 10, 1965) taught himself to play the kora from an early age, as his father, who also played the instrument, was often away, touring. He developed a style of playing which, whilst being strongly rooted in the Malian tradition, is also open to a wide range of other influences, such as jazz and flamenco. He has subsequently sought out other musicians from around the world who are willing to experiment with him, even performing a concert in Amsterdam with a classical harpist. His 1989 debut, Kaira, made history as the first ever solo kora album to be released. Stark, haunting, and full of breath-taking improvisational flourishes, it made him a star in his home land and an in demand performer internationally. In the same year Songhai, a highly acclaimed collaboration between Diabate, the Spanish flamenco group Ketama, and British jazz-folk bassist Danny Thompson, also released their acclaimed debut. Over the next six years Diabate performed at festivals and concerts all over the globe, doing much to broaden the appeal of the music of Mali, in general, and the kora, in particular. In 1995, a second Songhai album was released, as well as Djelika, on which he led a group of musicians featuring Keletigui Diabate, (a veteran master of the xylophone-like balafon and no relation to Toumani) and ngoni (a miniature guitar-like stringed instrument) player Basekou Kouyate. He concentrated on performing in Mali over the next few years, before releasing New Ancient Strings, his 1999 collaboration with fellow new generation kora master Ballake Sissoko. The album was a tribute to their fathers who, nearly 30 years earlier, had released an album of kora duets called Ancient Strings. In the same year, the very highly acclaimed Kulanjan was released. This featured Diabate, Sissoko, and other fellow Malians, including singer Kasse Mady Diabate in a 'West Africa meets the blues' collaboration with US guitarist Taj Mahal. To promote the album, these musicians toured internationally at the end of 1999. In 2000, Diabate performed and recorded with Blur frontman Damon Albarn, when the latter visited Mali as part of an OXFAM project. Ramatou Diakite With her solo release “Artistes” in 1996, Ramatou showcased her modernized Wassoulou style and was a huge success in Mali. She made frequent appearances on Malian TV, and as a result, Salif Keita invited her to join his band with which she toured in 1997. Unlike most Wassoulou singers, Ramatou is able to sing in many different styles, and is a student of music fro all over the world. She has been singing with Toumani Diabate’s ground informally for the past year and a half. Taj Mahal Since the mid-'60s, Taj Mahal has played a vital role in the preservation of traditional blues and African-American roots music. He is a singer, songwriter, composer and noted musicologist who through intensive research creates authentic, rootsy compositions that, while remaining true to tradition, are still relevant to modern audiences and always bear his own unique stamp. Although he frequently ventures into different genres, Mahal's heart and soul belongs to the old-time country blues. Born Henry Saint Clair Fredericks in New York City (but raised in Springfield, MA) to a gospel-singing South Carolina schoolteacher and a piano-playing West Indian jazz arranger, his passion for the blues began while he was attending the University of Massachusetts in the early '60s. He fell in love with the music of such performers as T-Bone Walker, in which he saw an important African musical tradition that represented for every aspect of life. By keeping the music alive, he would be preserving the African heritage he cherished. In addition to his regular studies, Mahal began to delve into blues history, which led him to explore other forms of Black folk music as well, including West African music, Caribbean, and zydeco, in addition to R&B, rock and jazz. He already knew how to play the bass, but soon also learned to play the instruments used by old-time musicians, including piano, acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, harmonica and assorted flutes. Armed with new knowledge, he began playing the Boston folk circuit. Following graduation with a BA in Agriculture in 1964, Mahal went to Los Angeles and teamed up with guitarist Ry Cooder to form the Rising Sons, but the band released just one single before breaking up, although more than 20 tracks recorded by the group surfaced on CD in the 1990s. Mahal made his own recording debut for Columbia in 1968 with a self-titled album. He recorded several more albums for the label through the early '70s and at the same time established himself as a popular, charismatic, yet laidback performer, known for his adventurousness, gentle wit and intelligence. As the years have passed, Mahal has become known as a musical chameleon, changing and mixing up genres to suit his current interests. He has even recorded children's albums that are anything but childish in their content. Many albums, such as Like Never Before (1991) contain an eclectic assortment of styles covering both old songs and his new compositions. In addition to performing and album work, Mahal has also composed movie soundtracks (Sounder and Sounder II) and television scores for such shows as The Man Who Broke a Thousand Chains and Brer Rabbit. In 1991, he composed authentic music for the Broadway production of Mule Bone, a Langston Hughes/Zora Neale Hurston play that had been lost since the mid-'30s. As the '90s progressed, Mahal continued to contribute and add to his discography; in 1998 he was honored with a three-CD box set, In Progress & In Motion 1965-1998. The '90s compilation Blue Light Boogie appeared a year later. Kulanjan Artist Taj Mahal & Toumani Diabate Album Title Kulanjan Date of Release Aug 3, 1999 inprint AMG Rating 4 * Genre Blues Tones Reverent, Spiritual, Organic, Amiable/Good-Natured, Sophisticated Styles Contemporary Blues, Kora Time 58:43 Library View Click here to see this album in MARC format Product Purchase Click here to buy this album This informal collaboration between veteran American bluesman Mahal and Malian kora (it's a 21-stringed lute-like instrument) master Diabate was recorded in an Athens, GA, studio with a sextet of West African string instrumentalists and vocalists. It sounds like a half a world away, with the two mixed cultures merging to create traditional blues based on non-traditional musical values. Mahal's gruff, weary voice is soothed by the Malian crew's sweet tones; conversely, the leaders' picking styles sound as if they were harvested from the same land. Natural, unpretentious, and occasionally sensual, Kulanjan is classy world music without the stuffy undertones. — Michael Gallucci 1. Queen Bee (Mahal) - 5:04 2. Tunkaranke (Diabate/Mahal) - 6:31 3. Ol' Georgie Buck (Mahal) - 4:13 4. Kulanjan (Diabate) - 4:35 5. Fanta (Diabate/Mahal) - 4:41 6. Guede Man Na (Diabate) - 6:09 7. Catfish Blues (Mahal) - 5:29 8. K'an Ben (Diabate) - 4:59 9. Take This Hammer (Mahal) - 5:01 10. Atlanta Kaira (Diabate/Mahal) - 4:59 11. Mississippi-Mali Blues (Diabate/Mahal) - 3:17 12. Sahara (Mahal) - 3:58 12 Mercy Mercy Mercy - Cannonball Adderley At The Club (1965) Mercy Mercy Mercy was written by Joe Zawinul and this is a tribute to his contributions. Joe frequently played with the Adderley brothers, and it is his piano you hear in this track, which I downloaded before retiring. Joe just happens to be one of Mahoney’s favorite artists and I agree with him. Little did I know he played such an instrumental (no pun) role with the Adderley’s, who happen to be among my favorites. Joe Zawinul - Piano Joe Zawinul belongs in a category unto himself -- a European from the heartland of the classical music tradition (Vienna) who learned to swing as freely as any American jazzer, and whose appetite for growth and change remains insatiable. Zawinul's curiosity and openness to all kinds of sounds made him one of the driving forces behind the electronic jazz-rock revolution of the late '60s and '70s -- and later, he would be almost alone in exploring fusions between jazz-rock and ethnic music from all over the globe. He is one of a bare handful of synthesizer players who actually learned how to play the instrument, to make it an expressive, swinging part of his arsenal. Prior to the invention of the portable synthesizer, Zawinul's example helped bring the Wurlitzer and Fender Rhodes electric pianos into the jazz mainstream. Zawinul also has became a significant composer, ranging (like his idol Duke Ellington) from soulful hit tunes to large-scale symphonic jazz canvases. Yet despite his classical background, he now prefers to improvise compositions spontaneously onto tape, not write them out on paper. At six, Josef Erich Zawinul started to play the accordion in his native Austria, and studies in classical piano and composition at the Vienna Conservatory soon followed. His interest in jazz piano, initially influenced by George Shearing and Erroll Garner, led to jobs with Austrian saxophonist Hans Koller in 1952 and gigs with his own trio in France and Germany. He emigrated to the United States in late 1958 after winning a scholarship to Berklee, yet after just one week in class, he left to join Maynard Ferguson's band for eight months, where Miles Davis first took notice of him. Following a brief stay with Slide Hampton, Zawinul became Dinah Washington's pianist from 1959 to 1961, and then spent a month with Harry "Sweets" Edison before Cannonball Adderley picked him to fill the piano chair in his quintet. There Zawinul stayed and blossomed for nine years, contributing several compositions to the Adderley band book -- among them the major pop hit "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," "Walk Tall," and "Country Preacher" -- and ultimately helping to steer the Adderley group into the electronic era. While with Adderley, Zawinul evolved from a hard bop pianist to a soul-jazz performer heavily steeped in the blues, and ultimately a jazz-rock explorer on the electric piano. Toward the end of his Adderley gig (1969-1970), he was right in the thick of the new jazz-rock scene, recording several pioneering records with Miles Davis, contributing the title tune of Davis' In a Silent Way album. After recording a self-titled solo album, Zawinul left Adderley to form Weather Report with Wayne Shorter and Czech bassist Miroslav Vitous in November 1970. Weather Report gave the increasingly self-confident Zawinul a platform to evolve even further as his interest in propulsive grooves and music from Africa and the Middle East ignited and developed. He gradually dropped the electric piano in favor of a series of ever more sophisticated synthesizers, which he mastered to levels never thought possible by those who derided the instruments as sterile, unfeeling machines. Weather Report eventually became a popular group that appealed to audiences beyond jazz and progressive rock, thanks in no small part to Zawinul's hit song "Birdland." When Zawinul and Shorter finally came to a parting of ways in 1985, Zawinul started to tour all by himself, surrounded by keyboards and rhythm machines, but resurfaced the following year with a short-lived extension of Weather Report called Weather Update (which did not leave any recordings). Weather Update quickly evolved into another group, the Zawinul Syndicate, which over the span of a decade tilted increasingly toward groove-oriented world music influences. Zawinul has showed renewed interest in his European roots, collaborating with fellow Viennese classical pianist Friedrich Gulda from 1987 to 1994, producing a full-blown classically based symphony, Stories of the Danube, in 1993, and following the near-disastrous Malibu fires of 1994, moving from California to New York City in order to be closer to Europe. In 2002 he released Faces & Places, his first studio album in several years and one that boasted an international roster of supporting musicians. Since that time he has released a handful of albums including Midnight Jam in 2005 and Brown Street in 2007. Though he continues to explore new musical paths at an age when most jazzers are long set in their ways, Zawinul's influence upon jazz has waned in recent years due to the jazz mainstream's retreat from electronics back to acoustic post-bop. But Zawinul's uplifting, still-invigorating later music may make him a prophet again if global music infiltrates the jazz world. Cannonball Adderley One of the great alto saxophonists, Cannonball Adderley had an exuberant and happy sound (as opposed to many of the more serious stylists of his generation) that communicated immediately to listeners. His intelligent presentation of his music (often explaining what he and his musicians were going to play) helped make him one of the most popular of all jazzmen. Adderley already had an established career as a high school band director in Florida when, during a 1955 visit to New York, he was persuaded to sit in with Oscar Pettiford's group at the Cafe Bohemia. His playing created such a sensation that he was soon signed to Savoy and persuaded to play jazz full-time in New York. With his younger brother, cornetist Nat, Cannonball formed a quintet that struggled until its breakup in 1957. Adderley then joined Miles Davis, forming part of his super sextet with John Coltrane and participating on such classic recordings as Milestones and Kind of Blue. Adderley's second attempt to form a quintet with his brother was much more successful for, in 1959, with pianist Bobby Timmons, he had a hit recording of "This Here." From then on, Cannonball always was able to work steadily with his band. During its Riverside years (1959-1963), the Adderley Quintet primarily played soulful renditions of hard bop and Cannonball really excelled in the straight-ahead settings. During 1962-1963, Yusef Lateef made the group a sextet and pianist Joe Zawinul was an important new member. The collapse of Riverside resulted in Adderley signing with Capitol and his recordings became gradually more commercial. Charles Lloyd was in Lateef's place for a year (with less success) and then with his departure the group went back to being a quintet. Zawinul's 1966 composition "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" was a huge hit for the group, Adderley started doubling on soprano, and the quintet's later recordings emphasized long melody statements, funky rhythms, and electronics. However, during his last year, Cannonball Adderley was revisiting the past a bit and on Phenix he recorded new versions of many of his earlier numbers. But before he could evolve his music any further, Cannonball Adderley died suddenly from a stroke. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at 'The Club' Rating
5 Stars Recording Date Oct 20, 1966 Time 41:07
2 Games Adderley 7:19 3 Mercy, Mercy, Mercy Zawinul 5:10 4 Sticks Adderley 3:54 5 Hippodelphia Zawinul 5:49 6 Sack O' Woe Adderley 10:29 13 How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away - Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks Original Recordings (1969) I’ve been wanting to include more Hicks. So far I’ve only included Garden In The Rain (Naweedna 2002 A), which really isn’t typical Hicks. How Can I Miss You … is much more typical of his almost jazzy, humorous style. I’ve got several more Hicks tracks in the hopper: I Scare Myself, Boogaloo Plays Guitar, Collard Blues & Vinnie’s Looking Good. Yep, they will be sprinkled throughout future Naweedna CDs. Hope you like ‘em as much as we do. How Can I Miss You … is taken from our Original Recordings CDs. Throughout his decades-long career, Dan Hicks stood as one of contemporary music's true eccentrics. While steeped in folk, his acoustic sound knew few musical boundaries, drawing on country, call-and-response vocals, jazz phrasing and no small amount of humor to create a distinctive, albeit sporadic, body of work which earned him a devoted cult following. Hicks was born December 9, 1941 to a military family then living in Arkansas, and grew up in California, where he was a drummer in a number of high school bands. He attended college in San Francisco, where he switched to guitar and began playing folk music. He returned to the drums, however, when he joined the Charlatans, one of the Bay City's first psychedelic bands. Although the Charlatans were short-lived - they issued only one single during their existence - they proved influential throughout the San Francisco musical community, and were one of the first acts the play the legendary Family Dog. Hicks had formed the acoustic group Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks in 1968 as an opener for the Charlatans, but soon the new band became his primary project. After adding a pair of female backing vocalists - "the Lickettes" - the group issued its debut LP Original Recordings in 1969. After a pair of 1971 records, Where's the Money? and Striking It Rich, they issued 1973's Last Train to Hicksville, which proved to be the Hot Licks most successful album yet. At the peak of the group's popularity, however, Hicks dissolved the band, and did not resurface until 1978, releasing the solo LP It Happened One Bite, the soundtrack to an uncompleted feature by animator Ralph Bakshi. He then phased in and out of the music industry for more than a decade, and did not issue another major recording until 1994's Shootin' Straight, a live recording cut with a new band, the Acoustic Warriors In 2000, over two decades after the group's dissolution, Hicks reformed the Hot Licks and issued Beatin' The Heat. Alive and Lickin' arrived a year later. Original Recordings Rating
4 Stars Release Date 1991 Recording Date Jan 20, 1969 - Jan 1969 Time 40:58 Sometimes this sextet spreads their sound so thin that they sound like the world's largest populated duo, and not every aspect of what made for an exotic, intriguing, or just plain freaky band in the late '60s still holds one's undivided attention years down the line. Nonetheless, leader Dan Hicks, later to dub himself an "acoustic music warrior," made a good case for himself on this, his debut recording as a bandleader and one that certainly helped put this band on the map, although at the time part of their popularity had to do with the wispy appearance of vocalists Sherry Snow and Christina Viola Gancher. Their contributions tend to sound weak upon repeated listening. Sometimes they are just plain out of tune with each other, a trait that one might forgive if their Western swing gambits paid off a little better. Violinist Sid Page plays just great on this record, though, and the efforts of bassist Jaime Leopold are in the right spot. The five-minute "I Scare Myself" is here in all its glory, one of this outfit's definite triumphs. The string players make a huge addition, but inevitably this is Hicks' show, with the leader often taking over half the rhythm section by overdubbing himself on drums. The presence of a dozen original tunes, all witty and stylistically expressive, and a few downright classics, speaks well for Hicks. Still, he doesn't seem to have figured out a good way to use his vocal sidekicks all the time, other than as scenery. 1 Canned Music Hicks 4:03 2 How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away? Hicks 2:37 3 I Scare Myself Hicks 5:17 4 Shorty Takes a Dive Hicks 3:09 5 Evenin' Breeze Hicks 3:53 6 Waiting for the 103 Hicks 3:42 7 Shorty Falls in Love Hicks 3:21 8 Milk Shakin' Mama Hicks 4:07 9 Slow Movin' Hicks 3:08 10 It's Bad Grammar, Baby Hicks 2:30 11 Jukies' Ball Hicks 5:11 Directory: ~boger -> SaturdayAM -> Saturday%20AM%20Downloads -> music music -> General Comments for all Naweedna cds Download 247.48 Kb. Share with your friends:
|