URI GURVICH ''BabEl'' (ISRAEL,2013) @ [320k]

URI GURVICH  
''BabEl''  
(ISRAEL,2013) @

CONVERSAMOS CON URI GURVICH, SAXOFONISTA ISRAELÍ (CONVERSAJAZZ Nº 32)
Escrito por Álex García en la sección: ConversaJazz · 22/09/2012

Entrevista número 32 de nuestra sección Conversajazz, con Uri Gurvich, saxofonista israelí que tuvimos hace poco por JazzTK Revista digital de jazz con la crónica de su concierto Uri Gurvich Quartet en Nitzz Elx Jazz Festival.

Uri Gurvich: mirada; © Álex García
El músico: Uri Gurvich
Uri Gurvich es un joven saxofonista nacido en Israel, con ascendencias argentinas que ha estudiado en la Berklee de Boston, que reside actualmente en Nueva York y que ha actuado en lugares tan dispares como Rusia, Ecuador, Dinamarca, Serbia, Japón, Portugal o el Blue Note de Nueva York. Un ejemplo de globalidad.

Ha tocado con gente como Esperanza Spalding, John Zorn, Chris Potter, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Francisco Mela, Ben Monder, George Garzone, Alon Yavnai, Avishai Cohen, Jorge Rossy, Doug Weiss, Anat Cohen, Chris Cheek, Django Bates entre otros.

Como te comentaba en el artículo del concierto, su primer disco The Storyteller está cosechando mucho éxito (por ejemplo la magnífica guía de música All Music lo califica como “brilliantly auspicious debut by a major new voice in jazz”).

Y sabemos que está a punto de publicar el segundo, porque la entrevista la contestó en tiempos muertos en la grabación, lo cual le agradecemos.

El cuestionario de Conversajazz
Empezamos con tu pasión por el jazz…

¿A quién has visto en directo que te ha parecido colosal? ¿A quién te hubiera gustado ver?

Ornette Coleman Quartet y Wayne Shorter/Herbie Hancock/Dave Holland/Brian Blade en Newport Jazz Festival, 2004. Pharoah Sanders en el Regatta Bar en Boston, que fue un concierto mágico. Y siempre Joe Lovano.
Me hubiese encantado ver al John Coltrane Quartet que es mi más grande inspiración.

¿Qué le dirías a alguien que no sabe nada de jazz, a quién le recomendarías que escuchara?

Que escuchara a Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis y John Coltrane.
Y después, bueno, la lista es muy larga..

Dime un libro que te recuerde a jazz.

El Bible.

Y ahora, ayúdame con la sección de jazz y cine: ¿qué película te gustaría que comentara?

Cinema Paradiso.

Sé que es muy difícil elegir uno, pero ¿cuál tu estándar de jazz favorito?

Lush Life de Billy Strayhorn y otro muchos también.

Seguimos con tu aportación a la música de jazz. Ahora completa la frase…

Del primer concierto de jazz que diste lo que recuerdas es…

Era en un restaurante de pescados en Israel. Me acuerdo que fue más o menos bien, porque no sabíamos todavía tanto del jazz, pero lo pasamos muy bien, y sentí después que es algo que quería seguir haciendo, y afortunadamente todavía lo hago.

Todos tenemos motivos. Canta Sabina que “nos sobran los motivos”. Los tuyos para ser músico de jazz son…

Soy adicto a la búsqueda que tenemos como músicos, y a las sorpresas que nos están  esperando en todos los momentos. El Jazz es la música del momento, y trato vivir así también.

Me imagino que llega un momento, o varios si eres afortunado, que hacen que digas “cuánto me alegro de dedicarme a esto”. Los momentos en los que piensas “sólo por esto merece la pena” son…

¡Tocando en el escenario! Y ver que los otros músicos y el publico lo están pasando bien.

Y de vez en cuando giras la vista a los comienzos de tu carrera y te ves ahora, y piensas…

Qué difícil es lograr la cosas que quieres… ¡¡pero merece la pena!! Y ojala lo pueda seguir haciendo mucho años.

Supongamos que se te acerca un chaval o chavala por la calle, o te remite un mail que para el caso es lo mismo, y te dice “oye te admiro, conozco tu trabajo y a mí me encantaría ser músico de jazz” y tú le contestas…

¡Muchísimas gracias! Lo agradezco y charlamos de la vida y la música…

Y por último…

¿Qué música estás escuchando mientras respondes a la entrevista?

Saahha una banda de Nueva York, que tocan una mezcla buenísima de música de Marruecos con elementos de jazz.

Siempre nos queda algo en el tintero. Concretamente te gustaría añadir…

Gracias a todos por leer esta entrevista, y ¡nos vemos pronto por España!

Fuente

*****
Born and raised in Israel, Uri Gurvich won the Jazz Player of the Year competition in Israel before relocating to Boston to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music studying under Joe Lovano. He has played at prestigious jazz festivals and venues in Europe, Japan and the US, including Lincoln Center and the Blue Note. Gurvich is an indemand saxophonist who won great acclaim as a bandleader with his debut, The
Storyteller, which was released on John Zorn’s label - TZADIK records and features some of the most prominent voices on the contemporary New York jazz scene, Leonardo Genovese, Peter Slavov, Francisco Mela and special guest Chris Cheek. The music places Israeli, Yemenite, East European and North African music into a progressive jazz context. On April 23rd, 2013 Uri will release his second album for
TZADIK records, BabEl, featuring his long time touring quartet and special guest multiinstrumentalist from Morocco, Brahim Fribgane on Oud and Percussion. The group will celebrate their release in a weeklong engagement at The Stone in New York, and will follow with a U.S. tour including shows at the Atlanta Jazz Festival and the Burlington Jazz Festival.

“A major new voice in Jazz” Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
“A compelling and strikingly original program that is imbued with beautiful,
soulful melodies and brimming with ecstatic improvisation”
Bill Milkowski, Jazz Times
“It’s meta-world Jazz and it’s breathtaking” Washington City Paper
Source

DEBASHISH BHATTACHARYA ''BEYOND THE RAGASPHERE'' (INDIA,2013) @ [320k]

DEBASHISH BHATTACHARYA  
''BEYOND THE RAGASPHERE'' 
(INDIA,2013) @ 

Dos maestros de las cuerdas como son John McLaughlin y Jerry Douglas colaboran con el maestro de la slide guitar Debashish Bhattacharya a explorar en este estupendo disco dedicado a la leyenda de dos grandes teóricos, El bengalí Rabindranath Tagore y al líder espiritual Swami Vivekananda. El resultado es delicadeza, belleza y viajes interiores.

*************
Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya’s latest album Beyond The Ragasphere is his meteoric shower of Indian classical music that redefines traditional raga form exploring new cosmic collaborations.
With a stellar line-up of international musicians in this album he is joined by jazz guitarist John McLaughlin and Bluegrass Dobro legend Jerry Douglas. The Spanish guitarist, Adam Del Monte peps up flamenco flavours over several tracks and Jeff Sipe, an American jazz-funk drummer, also joins Debashish on his kit as also Tabla maestros Bickram Ghosh and Tanmoy Bose. The album introduces Debashish’s brilliant teenage daughter Anandi Bhattacharya who mesmerizes with her dexterous vocals and also features his brother Subhasis who creates fireworks on the Tabla
Beyond The Ragasphere is dedicated to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and the spiritual leader Swami Vivekananda. During the late 19th and early 20th century Tagore crafted some of India’s most beloved music, art and poetry. Vivekananda worked tirelessly to introduce the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the West in the late 19th century and is credited with helping to elevate Hinduism to the recognised status of a major world religion.
All tracks composed, arranged and edited by Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya.

Debashish's Biography ( Brief version )  
 
Kolkata, India’s Debashish Bhattacharya started learning Indian music from his parents before he learned the alphabet. In his childhood he mastered many Indian classical instrumental styles as well as vocal music from different musical teachers in Calcutta. He became a disciple and student of Brij Bhushan Khabra, the father of Indian classical guitar, for 10 years, and also trained under Ajoy Chakraborty, the eminent Indian vocalist. He has also studied with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.

As a performer, Debashish gave his first guitar recital at the age of four on the All India Radio, and in a public concert. In his twenties, he evolved a unique style of playing guitar, synthesizing selected features of various other instruments such as the Veena, Sitar, Sarod and Sarangi. He has given to the world a new schooling of Guitar…Kolkata Gharana.

Debashish developed his innovative Hindustani slide guitars after years of research and experience. It consists of three self designed and patented guitars named as Chaturangui, Gandharvi and Anandi. Debashish plays these guitars while sitting cross legged, with the guitar held on the lap and played with a small steel bar, metal picks and a celluloid thumb pick.

Debashish is one of the greatest slide guitarists of the world who has contributed to the guitar world a new standard and style of playing the guitar. Over more than 30 years he has cut a niche in the world of music.

He has been featured in bill-board top 10, Song Line Magazine top 10, Central Asia and Asia pacific world music top 10, Amazon top 100 albums, National Geography and world’s who’s who enlisted artiste. 2009 Grammy Nominee, 2007 BBC Planet Award, 2005 Asiatic society Gold medal, 1984 President of India Gold Medal, worth mentioning.

He has received numerous aficionados, his compositions, his music, and his philosophy of teaching has changed the life of many. His has also given to the world of music, the actual design of the instrument, and through his incredible talent and discipline, elevated the Hindustani slide guitar to be the highest evolution of slide guitar anywhere. To develop his playing, he has undergone decades of disciplined study of Indian vocal technique combined with his instrumental work. Debashish can sing perfectly in parallel with every blindingly fast melody he plays. Possessed of a very open musical mind, Debashish is eager and more than qualified to collaborate and truly blend with musicians from any other country.

As a humble student of Indian Music (HIndustani) he has redefined Indian Classical Music on Slide Guitar. More than 3000 concerts all around the world, having trained over 1000 students, he has designed 19 guitars and out of his 15 albums, 3 have been internationally awarded. He has played with Ustad Zakir Hussain, John McLaughlin, Jerry Douglas, Dereck Trucks and many other world renowned musicians. Back in India, he has played for Pandit Ravi Shankar. He has extensively performed and performing in many Indian music festivals.
Source

Reviews :

Debashish Bhattacharya Goes into the Thrilling World of Fusion
By ARomero - April 23, 2013 Posted in: CD Reviews

Beyond The Ragasphere (World Music Network , 2013)
Indian slide guitar maestro Debashish Bhattacharya steps away from traditional Indian classical music on his latest album Beyond The Ragasphere. He is joined by three guitarists representing various music traditions. The stellar lineup includes jazz and fusion guitarist John McLaughlin and bluegrass dobro virtuoso Jerry Douglas. Classical guitar professor and performer Adam del Monte provides the Flamenco component.
Overall, the album explores world fusion with a mix of Indian classical, traditional bluegrass, flamenco and jazz. It’s hard to point out a highlight in the album because Debashish Bhattacharya always provides high quality musical works. The strongest material, however, is the Indian flavored pieces, the edgy jazz fusion with John McLaughlin and the bluegrass inspired pieces.

The flamenco cuts are pretty decent, but I think Debashish Bhattacharya could have benefited from having as guests any of the numerous Flamenco guitar masters from Spain: Paco de Lucia, Gerardo Núñez, Vicente Amigo, Niño Josele and a long etcetera.
In addition to world class guitarists, the album also features American jazz-funk drummer Jeff Sipe; table players Pandit Bickram Ghosh and Pandit Tanmoy Bose; Mainak Nag Chowdhury, aka ‘Bumpy’ on bass. Other collaborators include nylon-string guitarist Nishad , keyboard player Raja Raj Narayan and flutist Soumya Jyoti. The album also includes the engaging vocals of Debashish’s teenage daughter, Anandi Bhattacharya, and his younger brother Subhasis on percussion. Anandi is a ‘born musician’, says Debashish Bhattacharya.
Debashish Bhattacharya was born in 1963 in Kolkata (Calcutta). He experimented on his first Hawaiian lap steel guitar from the age of three. Today he is still based in Kolkata, tours internationally and has received numerous awards and accolades. His discography includes: O Shakuntala!, Calcutta Chronicles: Indian Slide Guitar Odyssey, Calcutta Slide Guitar - 3, Mahima, Call of the Desert, Reflection of Love, Hindustani Slide Guitar, Calcutta To California, Sunrise - Delightful meeting of Slide Guitars, and Remember Shakti.
With Beyond The Ragasphere, guitar virtuoso what Debashish Bhattacharya shows his dazzling ability at making world fusion. Hopefully there will more to come in the next years.

TRACK details:

Track 01 : Kirwani One.5+8.five 

Debashish Bhattacharya - Chaturangui, Jeff Sipe - Drums, Anandi - Vocals, Bickram Ghosh - Tabla, Nishad -Guitar, Soumyajyoti- flute, Bumpy - Bass Guitar, Raja Narayan Deb - key board The passionate harmonic minor meets the nuance of Indian Raga Kirwani. With the smooth bends of interplay between mellow and power of rhythm in twist and twang of Afro-Indian- European colours, Debashish takes off with Anandi in dizzy melodic pattern. Jeff and Bickram deftly decorate this neo-classical composition in 10 beat cycles.

Track 02 : Reflections Remain 

Adam Del Monte- Flamenco guitar, Debashish Bhattacharya - Gandharvi. Anandi Voice and claps, Subhasis Bhattacharjee- percussion, Bumpy and Nishad claps. Debashish paints the picture of a father holding his child’s hand looking at the rising sun on the sea shore while the child’s song echoes. With the joyous trance grooves by Subhasis and great solos of Adam’s guitar, along with the Indian vocals of Debashish and Anandi, Reflections Remain is a reminder of the haunting good times of human relationships.

Track 03 : A Mystical Morning

John McLaughlin-Guitar, Debashish Bhattacharya Chaturangui, Jeff Sipe - Drums, Subhasis Bhattacharjee - Tabla, Raja Narayan Deb - Keyboard, Mainak (Bumpy) Chowdhury-Bass guitar Composed in Raga Charukeshi, vibrant morning energy with beautiful solos by Debashish and John Mc Laughlin infuses in the different grooves of eleven beat cycles that are supplemented with gorgeous melodic phrases and playing of John McLaughlin.

Track 04 : Rasam Samba 

Debashish Bhattacharya- Chaturangui, Anandi Bhattacharya- Vocals and syllable chant, Tanmoy Bose-percussion and syllable chant, Raja Narayan Deb- Keyboard and Mainak Nag Chowdhury-Bass guitar

The track opens with Anandi’s vocals rolling out atop the sound of undulating waves, and a gentle guitar, before she sings a fast-moving syllabic chant. The result is a quirky dancing number that forges bonds between the sound worlds of Latin America and India.

Track 05 : Khamaj Tarana

Anandi Bhattacharya- Vocal, Subhasis Bhattacharjee - Tabla, Debashish Bhattacharya - Chaturangui, Nishad - Nylon string guitar Khamaj is an evening Raga. Tarana is vocal composition using instrumental syllables. This pure traditional fast tempo composition sang in a contemporary style by Anandi.

Track 06 : Indospaniola 

Adam del Monte (flamenco guitar) and Debashish Bhattacharya (Gandharvi). The E major open tuning of Gandharvi meets Phrygian mode of Flamenco and has an interactive melodic dialogue between Indian Raga and Spanish flamenco style. A feel of free dialogue between two is the feel good factor

Track 07 : JD2 Pillusion

Jerry Douglas- Beard Jerry Douglas model guitar, Debashish Bhattacharya-Chaturangui, Jeff Sipe - Drums, Bickram Ghosh -Tabla Two brothers Jerry Douglas from blue Grass and Debashish Bhattacharya from Indian Classical (JD2) have come up to create a new mix of Guitars in a very happy fun dance number after the seductive Pilu alap by Debashish, one can identify the bond of sharing with delight in each movement.

Track 08 : Ode to Love

Debashish Bhattacharya- Anandi (slide Ukulele) 

Nishad - Classical Guitar

This song was created at Kilkenny - a beautiful small city of Ireland. Composed on the day of performance, the little Anandi- the slide ukulele which was named after Anandi, his daughter, is a bluesy melody in G-minor with a soft touch accompaniment on classical guitar by disciple Nishad .

THE NEW GARY BURTON QUARTET ''GUIDED TOUR'' (USA,2013) @ [320k]

THE NEW GARY BURTON QUARTET  
''GUIDED TOUR'' 
(USA,2013) @

Gary Burton (1943) sigue en plena forma a pesar de su edad. Buena muestra de ello es Guided Tour, la nueva grabación a nombre de The New Gary Burton Quartet, grupo con el que a pesar de su nombre ya había grabado anteriormente. Sin cambios en su formación, sus tres compañeros son unos músicos de calidad más que contrastada: Antonio Sanchez se encarga de la batería, Scott Colley del contrabajo, y Julian Lage (compañero del vibrafonista en un buen número de proyectos) de la guitarra. La fórmula para el buen resultado del disco son la suma de esos músicos y unas melodías consistentes y variadas. Entre ellas hay hard-bop, aproximaciones al tango, un divertimento monkiano, unas cuantas baladas y tiempos medios, e incluso una versión -”Jackalope”- de Fred Hersch.
© Pachi Tapiz, 2013

Fuente
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A popular phrase in years past was “Life Begins at 60,” but Gary Burton—as he has done so often throughout his career—is rewriting the book on retirement. Having turned 70 in January, an age when most artists begin to solely look back, Burton forges ahead with his new Mack Avenue Records album, Guided Tour, which solidifies the reputation of his next great band, The New Gary Burton Quartet. In addition, Burton has literally written the book on his life, saving those backward glances for his upcoming autobiography, Learning To Listen, due on Berklee Press in September 2013.

His stature as the former Executive Vice President at the famed Berklee College of Music caps a three-decade life in jazz education, which coincided with his already busy career as a performer and recording artist. Known for reintroducing and expanding the technique of four-mallet playing while crafting one of the jazz world’s signature sounds, he is also celebrating the 40th anniversary of his ongoing collaboration with pianist Chick Corea (winning yet another GRAMMY® Award in 2013 for their most recent project, Hot House). And having established the first on-line courses for Berklee, Burton has recently expanded his web presence to create a course in improvisation for Coursera (the massive online education platform), which, as of two months before its launch, had already enrolled 25,000 students.

On Guided Tour, jazz’s most innovative and accomplished vibraphonist proves that The New Gary Burton Quartet—which he premiered last summer on his Mack Avenue debut, Common Ground—was no one-trick pony. Featuring the prodigal guitar genius Julian Lage as well as two veterans, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Antonio Sanchez, Guided Tour provides a road map to one of the most dynamic bands on the scene today.

Apart from their own playing, many of jazz’s greatest figures—Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis—are also known for the handful of indisputably great bands they led throughout their careers. Like them, Burton has assembled a few such Olympian groups of his own: his first quartet, which pioneered the fusion of jazz and rock in 1967; his quintet with Pat Metheny in the 1970s; and now this band, which achieves a rare synergy.

“It’s the difference between playing with some excellent musicians, and finding a group chemistry that goes beyond that—a coming together of ‘sympatico’ creative minds,” says Burton. “In my five decades of playing in various bands, mostly my own groups, I have only experienced this a handful of times; if even one player is not an equal part of the combination, it doesn't achieve that magical state. But from the first recording of this band, everything just clicked perfectly.”

If that’s how this band started out, you can imagine how they sound now, with a year’s growth and a world tour on their resume. “I'm happy to report that our second album is every bit as strong a statement of group identity as before,” Burton affirms. “If anything, we have evolved as an ensemble—which is the dream of every band leader.”

As he recounts in the upcoming autobiography, Burton was already a steadily working musician in rural Indiana in his high school years, before heading for Nashville, recording the very first jazz-and-country album (with guitarist Hank Garland), and scoring a major-label record contract—all before entering the Berklee College of Music at the age of 17, in 1960.

Throughout his career, Burton has “paid it forward,” introducing other precocious young artists to the jazz world—Larry Coryell, Pat Metheny, Donny McCaslin, Makoto Ozone—and Lage, who made his first recording with Burton in 2004 at the age of 15, has continued as the next recruit to that echelon. Lage further develops as a front-line collaborator on this new album, able to match the virtuosity of Burton himself.

On Guided Tour, Burton sought out original material from all the group’s members (as he did with Common Ground), illuminating their wide range of cross-cultural musical styles. “They outdid themselves this time,” he says. The program includes “Legacy”—a haunting ballad written by Scott Colley to honor his recently deceased father—and the two Antonio Sanchez pieces that bookend the disc: the splashy Latin-themed opener, “Caminos,” featuring solos from only the percussion instruments (drums and vibes); and “Monk Fish,” a romp on familiar chords infused with the wry humor found in the music of bop-era pianist Thelonious Monk.

Three pieces from Lage demonstrate the unusually mature sense of composition that also marks his solos. In “The Lookout,” he cleverly recasts “Careful,” written by the influential guitarist Jim Hall (and one that Burton has recorded, with Hall himself, in the past). On “Sunday’s Uncle,” we find Lage playing what Burton calls “one of his own devilishly challenging melody themes with apparent ease, in counterpoint to my own part—which is considerably less difficult I’m happy to say”—before easing into a particularly memorably solo. And “Helena” exploits the guitar’s Iberian heritage while updating that tradition with complex rhythms and jazz harmonies.

What’s more, Burton—a famously reticent composer, who has always relied primarily on others’ compositions for his repertoire—contributed two new songs of his own. He describes the first, a jazz waltz entitled “Jane Fonda Called Again,” as “whimsical and Bill Evans-ish (intentionally so).” He might have added that it subtly recalls some of the legendary composers whose music has dovetailed with Burton’s own throughout his career, such as Steve Swallow, Carla Bley and Pat Metheny; Lage’s solo especially stands out. And Burton’s “Remembering Tano” pays tribute to his “tango mentor,” the master composer and bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla (nicknamed “Tano,” for his Italian heritage); their 1986 collaboration The New Tango opened up a fresh avenue of world-music exploration for the vibist.

Two songs from outside the band complete the set list: the stately Michel Legrand ballad “Once Upon A Summertime” and pianist Fred Hersch’s “Jackalope,” written (mostly) in 7/4 time and delightfully unpredictable in its phrasing.

For Burton, the proof of this album’s success came several weeks after the musicians had left the studio. “I can't judge an album very well right after I record it, having gone over and over the tracks in editing, mastering, etc.,” he says. “So I always put a new project aside for a month or so, then come back to it and listen with fresh ears—as I imagine a listener might hear it for the first time. And when I did that with Guided Tour, I was struck by the richness of the content, the range of the compositions, and how well the group captured each piece.

“And, of course, the superb musicianship, but with players like these, that's a given.” Add in a tour guide like Burton, and the path is clear, on an album likely to rank among the year’s best. At 70, having already led one of the most remarkable careers in music history, Gary Burton seems to be just warming up, with a landmark year in 2013.
Source

Tracks:

01 Caminos

02 The Lookout

03 Jane Fonda Called Again

04 Jackalope

05 Once Upon a Summertime

06 Sunday's Uncle

07 Remembering Tano

08 Helena

09 Legacy

10 Monk Fish

Gary Burton (vibraphone)

Julian Lage (guitar)

Scott Colley (bass)

Antonio Sanchez (drums)

KARL HECTOR & THE MALCOUNS ''NGUNGA YETI FOFA'' (EP) (USA,2013) @ [320k]

KARL HECTOR & THE MALCOUNS  
''NGUNGA YETI FOFA'' (EP) 
(USA,2013) @

Karl Hector + The Malcouns
Biografía actualizada

Karl Hector + The Malcouns es un conjunto formado por Karl Hector, Jan Whitefield (productor de The Poets Of Rhythm y The Whitefield Brothers), Thomas Myland y Zdenko Curulija (estos últimos fundadores de The Malcouns). Aunque el sello que ha edita su único álbum, Now-Again (filial del estadounidense Stones Throw Records), no lo ha confirmado, existen fundadas sospechas de que Karl Hector es una invención, un personaje que sirve para dar nombre al proyecto, pero nada más. En la nota de prensa se habla de él como un músico misterioso, antiguo líder de los Funk Pilots. Lo primero que llama la atención es que, antes del 2008, su única aparición discográfica consistía en un siete pulgadas titulado Free I Wanna Be / Funky Sex-Machine Live, que editó el sello Medicine Men Rec. en 1996. Sin embargo, este single está firmado como Karl Hector & The Funk Pilots, que está ampliamente considerado como uno de los muchos alias que ha adoptado, a lo largo de su carrera, The Poets Of Rhythm. Si investigamos por la red, descubrimos que Karl Hector posee un MySpace, pero claro, a no ser que se trate de un octogenario etiope, confirmamos que no existe. Sí ponen a nuestra disposición un correo electrónico, karl.hector@hotmail.com, pero sospecho que, si le escribís, no será Karl Hector quien responda. Finalmente, si entramos en el MySpace del grupo, aparecen tres personas en la foto oficial (los tres que sí existen: Jan Whitefield, Thomas Myland y Zdenko Curulija). En fin, parece que no hace falta darle más vueltas porque está muy claro.

El conjunto propone una fusión de jazz, afrobeat y música etiope y ha sido comparado con propuestas contemporáneas como Sharon Jones, The Heliocentrics, The Budos Band o El Michel Affair. Su sonido es descrito, por Now-Again, como funk con sabor africano, lo que no es del todo exacto, pero sí, al menos, clarificador. En efecto, el funk es uno de los principales elementos de su música, pero también está muy influida por el jazz espiritual de los 60/70 y por el afro-jazz desarrollado en diversos países africanos a partir de los 70. En cualquier caso, si disfrutas con The Poets Of Rhythm y con cualquiera de sus múltiples encarnaciones, seguramente te gustará descubrir la música de este proyecto. Su debut discográfico se produjo en Julio del 2008, con la edición del álbum Sahara swing, de la mano de Now-Again.
Fuente
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ANNOUNCING: KARL HECTOR “NGUNGA YETI FOFA” EP

Exclusive vinyl-only EP by the world-psych-funk ensemble; original artwork by Kevin Lyons, screenprinted by Anti Designs.

For all intents and purposes, Karl Hector might as well be another nom-de-plume of Jay Whitefield (producer and guitarist for the Poets of Rhythm and the Whitefield Brothers) who, along with Thomas Myland and Zdenko Curlija, founded Karl Hector and The Malcouns in the early 2000s. Alongside Bo Baral, other members of the Poets of Rhythm and crack Munich-based session musicians, Whitefield, Myland and Curlija crafted nearly twenty tracks for their debut, Sahara Swing, an album that swung with influences from across the African diaspora.

The trio are release a series of vinyl-only EPs – Tamanrasset was the first; Ngunga Yeti Fofa is the second – that will culminate in their second album. Ngunga Yeti Fofa’s five songs demonstrate The Malcouns’ deft handling of musics from both Eastern and Western Africa alongside Western psychedelia, jazz and funk; the title track- a swinging horn-lead highlife jam that would sound perfect next to the Ghanaian classics by the likes of K.Frimpong and Ebo Taylor- is a great representation.
Source

JOHN MADOF ''ZION80'' (USA,2013) @ [320k]

JOHN MADOF  
''ZION80'' 
(USA,2013) @

DE SHLOMO CARLEBACH A FELA KUTI CON LA ALEGRÍA ORQUESTADA DE ZION80

Jon Madof es un guitarrista y compositor dentro de la vasta escena musical en Nueva York, su contribución radica en participar desde hace una década junto a John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Frank London, junto con Rashanim (Matraca en español) su power trío junto a Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz y Mathias Kunzli, combina una poderosa vertiente de complejas composiciones de rock/metal/funk junto con patrones de libre improvisación, además de profundizar en las raíces musicales judías místicas de medio oriente.

ZION, ya revisábamos aquel concepto con “New Zion Trio” con Jamie Saft, es un estilo dentro del movimiento Rastafari, el cual se define como un lugar utópico para la unidad y la paz, de hecho Zion es un lugar físico, una fortaleza Jesusa en Jerusalén, pero para el movimiento este lugar se encuentra en Etiopía, es un hecho que muchos rastas se sienten auténticos hijos de Israel, y su música está plagada de referencias a Sión.

Zion80 explora la música y vida del rabino Shlomo Carlebach (1925-1994), o mejor conocido como Reb Shlomo fue un rabino, profesor y conocido por ser a la vez compositor, ganándose el apodo de “The Singing Rabbi”, reproduciendo las raíces del judaísmo ortodoxo, para crear un estilo único dentro de la corriente jasidica, junto a la mezcla de Fela Kuti (1938-1997) un músico multi-instrumentalista y cantautor nigeriano, uno de los más importantes compositores del siglo XX en el continente africano, creador del fenómeno afrobeat, un género que mezcla el jazz, funk y cantos tradicionales africanos.


Es allí lo interesante del proyecto, cuando diferentes estilos musicales se unen en un solo punto de intersección, eso es Zion80, es muy importante de visualizar y sentir tan profundamente la particularidad de aquellas culturas encontradas por Kuti y Carlebach, personas que han aprendido de su historia musico-cultural, en modo de aleccionar a generaciones, sonidos que perduran hasta el día de hoy en muchas formas, una épica continuidad y legado para la humanidad, en diferentes ángulos y perspectivas, pero con un mismo propósito.

Toda la historia ha sido recopilada por Zion80 y su líder Jon Madof ha sido el encargado de impregnar en su colorido ensamble de músicos, 13 bellas obras de intensa actividad polirrítmica de la música jasídica, el afrobeat y la música experimental del downtown neoyorkino, siendo hoy por hoy una interesante apuesta llena de color y sabor, un punto aparte ante la melancolía de las vertientes musicales judías.

El álbum es sencillamente fantástico, hay solemnidad y raíces por todos sus flancos, un gran ensamble con atronadores bronces en un dream team que pocas veces podríamos ver juntos, por ejemplo en el tema Nygun, se comienza con un intro espectacular, solemne, para luego pasar a toda una fiesta. Las opiniones para el conjunto en vivo son formidables, es una pachanga mística en el sentido de darle mayor protagonismo a las trompetas y percusión, en Asher Bara podemos sentir los constantes sonidos del bajo, estos sonidos de bajo pasan a ser una constante rítmica muy interesante, estos ritmos se verifican en el tema Yehi Shalom, a lo que nos referimos es en el uso sincopado del ritmo, fiel a los sonidos afro-americanos entre el jazz y la música jaranera la fiesta en su totalidad está asegurada.

Zion80 está compuesto por Frank London, Matt Darriau, Greg Wall, Jessica Lurie, Zach Mayer, Brian Marsella, Aram Bajakian, Yoshie Fruchter, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz, Marlon Sobol, Rich Stein, Yuval Lion, entre otros quienes se inviten a participar o reemplazar dentro de esta carismática banda como ha pasado con Marc Ribot o Cyro Baptista.
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"Madof is a powerhouse...both a delicate and a hard-rocking player"
All About Jazz

"He essays with Jim Hall-like sensitivity alternated with a Hendrixian abandon."
Guitar One

Guitarist and composer Jon Madof's musical collaborations cover the spectrum of the vibrant New York City music scene, from recordings and sold-out shows with John Zorn and Marc Ribot to genre-busting work alongside Frank London, Matisyahu and others.

With his 'Jewish power trio' Rashanim, Jon has recorded four full-length CDs for John Zorn's Tzadik Records. Rashanim ('noisemakers' in Hebrew) combines the power of rock with the spontaneity of improvisation, deep Middle Eastern grooves, and mystical Jewish melodies. The band also includes Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz (Cyro Baptista, Anthony Braxton) on bass and Mathias Künzli (Lauryn Hill, Yo-Yo Ma) on drums and percussion. Rashanim performs extensively throughout the US and Europe.

Jon's recent film and television work includes a collaboration with John Zorn on 'Notes on Marie Menken,' (TriBeCa Film Festival 2006), a film for the Documentary Channel entitled 'Space Trip', corporate/commercial projects and several short films.

Jon lives in New York with his wife and three children.
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Tracks:

Ein K’elokeinu

Tov L’hodot

Asher Bara

Holy Brother

Yehi Shalom

Pischu Li

Nygun

Dovid Melech

Nygun – Reprise

VV.AA. ''KENYA SPECIAL SELECTED EAST AFRICAN RECORDINGS FROM 1970s & ‘80s'' (KENYA,2013) @ [320k]

VV.AA.  
''KENYA SPECIAL SELECTED EAST AFRICAN RECORDINGS FROM 1970s & ‘80s'' (KENYA,2013) @

Después de “Ghana Soundz” o “Nigeria Special”, Soundway Records planea poner en circulación otra fantástica recopilación de material venido del continente africano. En esta ocasión, abandonan la parte occidental del continente y se trasladan al Este, concretamente a Kenia: “Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings from the 1970s and ‘80s” recoge más de una treintena de cortes de diferentes bandas y proyectos, todos circulando en dirección a influencias como el Funk, el Afro Funk, los matices psicodélicos o el más puro Afrobeat. Esta compilación llegará a tiendas el próximo 29 de Abril (formato 2xCD) y el 20 de Mayo para el formato vinilo, compuesto por un triple LP. Abajo el video promocional, seguido del tracklist completo!
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Soundway Records present Kenya Special: Selected East African Recordings from the 1970s & ‘80s - a treasure-trove of rare and unusual recordings from East Africa. Spread out over two CDs and one triple LP, Kenya Special is accompanied by detailed liner notes, original artwork and photographs.It follows on from Soundway’s much acclaimed African ‘Special’ series that to date has focused on the highlife and afrobeat output from 1970s Nigeria and Ghana.

Kenya Special is a collection of 32 recordings (most of which were only ever released on small-run 45rpm 7" singles) that stand out as being different or unique as well as some classic genre standards. From Kikuyu language ‘liquid soul’, Luo benga and Swahili afrobeat to genre-bending Congolese and Tanzanian tracks recorded in Nairobi, Kenya Special sees Soundway yet again taking the less trodden path. Many of the tracks featured here are peppered with innovation and experimentation highlighting how diverse the music scene in Kenya was at the time.

In 1970s Kenya the two threads of rumba and benga loosely dominated the music scene. Benga quickly became Kenya’s unique contribution to afro-pop; spreading like wildfire through the interior countryside with it’s fast, 4/4 machine-gun beat and intricate electric guitar layers.

The Congolese take on Afro-Cuban rumba was introduced by touring bands many of whom settled in East Africa - influencing bands from Kenya and Tanzania to come up with their own take on this popular style. Alongside these styles were small ensembles and hotel-sponsored bands, playing a blend of music that often included rock ‘n’ roll riffs, elements of ‘afro’ music (influenced by West African musicians like Fela Kuti), and multiple other combinations from South African and Zambian guitar styles to disco, funk and Swahili coastal rhythms like chakacha.

Painstakingly compiled, assembled and researched over two years by a team of five people from five countries (Kenya included), Kenya Special is a collection that looks beyond the mainstream and brings new life and recognition to some little known gems and forgotten classics of Kenya’s past.
Source

Kenya Special tracklist:

01. The Loi-Toki-Tok Band - Ware Wa

02. The Rift Valley Brothers - Mu Africa

03. Slim Ali & The Famous Hodi Boys - Watoto Nyara

04. The Mombasa Vikings - Mama Matotoya

05. The Lulus Band - Ngwendeire Guita

06. Mbiri Young Stars - Ndiri Ndanogio Niwe

07. Gatanga Boys Band - Wendo Ti Mbia

08. Orchestre Vévé Star - Nitarudia

09. Hafusa Abasi & Slim Ali with The Yahoos Band - Sina Raha

10. DO 7 Band - H.O. Ongili

11. New Gatanga Sound - Thoni Na Caki

12. The Lulus Band - Nana

13. Nashil Pichen & The Eagles Lupopo - Ng’ong’a Wa Mwanjalo

14. Orchestre Baba National - Sweet Sweet Mbombo

15. Afro 70 - Cha-Umheja

16. Peter Tsotsi Juma & The Eagles Lupopo - Kajo Golo - Weka

17. The Lulus Band - Mutumia Muriu

18. Sophia Ben & The Eagles Lupopo - See Serere

19. The Loi-Toki-Tok Band - Leta Ngoma

20. Orchestre Super Volcano - Mngeni Mali Yare Yore

21. The Rift Valley Brothers - Tiga Kurira

22. Kalambya Boys - Kivelenge

23. Huruma Boys Band - Teresia

24. Gatanga Boys Band - Keep Change Kairitu

25. The Famous Nyahururu Boys - Mwendwa

26. The Eagles Lupopo - Pelekani

27. Ndalani 77 Brothers - Nzaumi

28. Afro 70 - Afrousa (Move On)

29. Nairobi Matata Jazz - Tamba Tamba

30. Kiratu And His Group - Yanagiria Kayo

31. Afro 70 - Week End

32. The Mombasa Vikings - Kibe Kibe

ITACA BAND ''REMA'' (ESPAÑA,2013) @ [320k]

ITACA BAND  
''REMA'' 
(ESPAÑA,2013) @

El grupo de Montcada y Reixac confirma su sitio en el panorama musical de Catalunya con la presentación de su nuevo videoclip de la canción Rema, incluida en su segundo trabajo discográfico homónimo.

El vídeo producido por Joan Riera (At Versaris) se grabó en el Port de la Selva y muestra la cara más amable y sincera de los  jóvenes componentes. El clip fue publicado el lunes 6 de mayo en exclusiva por Enderrock y registró más de 2.500 visitas en menos de 24 horas, evidenciando que Itaca Band quiere remar con mucha fuerza para avanzar hacia su establecimiento en el panorama musical nacional.

Aunque la canción es en catalán, la banda no tiene ningún complejo por lo que a los idiomas se refiere y también utiliza el castellano para transmitir su mensaje de optimismo y energía positiva.

Con las 12 canciones que forman su segundo LP, la banda nos muestra la madurez musical adquirida a lo largo de todo su recorrido musical y de los más de 150 conciertos realizados alrededor de Catalunya, Euskal Herria, Galiza y Aragón. Con un sonido más sólido y contundente y unas letras cargadas de mensaje, aunque conservando la sutileza, el disco Rema, editado por Propaganda pel fet! y grabado en los estudios La Atlántida (Bongo Botrako, La Pegatina) por Mario Patiño y Edgar Beltri, marca el inicio de una nueva temporada repleta de conciertos alrededor de la Península. El martes 14 de mayo el disco estará disponible en descarga de manera gratuita, lo podréis encontrar en su web.

En su nuevo sitio web podemos constatar la evolución del conjunto musical y como la profesionalidad de la experiencia se mezcla con la energía de la juventud. Si queréis comprobar como arden en el escenario podéis hacerlo próximamente en Castelldefels el 8 de mayo, en Lleida el 9 de mayo y el 29 de mayo en la sala Apolo (Barcelona), entre otras fechas que podéis consultar en su portal.

¡REMA hasta el infinito, donde empieza la vida!
Publicado el 8 mayo, 2013 por Miquel
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