Music – Page 7 – Frames of Reference

For Rachid Taha

One of the most memorable concerts I ever saw was by the French-Algerian singer Rachid Taha at the Barbican in 2007. It was loud and raucous and boisterous and energetic. It was fantastic! Halfway through the show the stage was invaded by a seemingly endless procession of girls from the audience who danced along with him. Then later Mick Jones of The Clash appeared on stage to accompany him in a performance of Rock el Casbah. It’s my favourite version. And then last week I heard he had died of a heart attack. He was not quite 60. I’ve been filling my workshop with his music ever since. Continue reading “For Rachid Taha”

Go To The River

I’ve always liked this song, and it just sprung to mind because of the thread of river related posts. It’s called Go To The River by French-Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naim, originally released in 2010.

Caetano Veloso & Gilberto Gil

I’ve been listening to the CD version of this concert all summer. My head is full of these songs. We saw Gilberto Gil in concert in June but missed Caetano Veloso. We could have seen them both together when they toured this show but I realised too late. I mentioned it to my daughter when she phoned from Brazil. Dad, she said, I’m in Salvador and I just saw them perform a free open-air concert! Now I imagine I was there too. This is my holiday video. I’m away from my computer right now. Back soon.

Andante

Andante (a musical term meaning ‘at walking pace’) follows the cellist Ruth Boden as she climbs 10,000 feet to a peak in Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains for a deeply personal, yet breathtakingly public solo performance. With her prized cello strapped to her back, Boden reflects on how she wants to do something with music that transcends the commonplace, and on the particular joy of playing from Bach’s cello suite at ‘the top of the world’.

Tita

Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet – Tita, the first song on their debut album Ladilikan.

‘Tita’ was one of a series of songs that emerged around the time of independence in Mali and Guinea, encouraging the youth to follow their hearts, rather than their elders’ wishes. In this version, the leaders of this movement are the griots themselves, who have ‘fallen in love with love’ – even if it leads to malicious gossip and beatings. The word tita and titawati represented the swish of cloth as a couple danced in ballroom style – a true sign of modernity in Mali of the 1950s!

Trio Da Kali & Kronos Quartet

Stems

Stop motion animation by Ainslie Henderson in collaboration with Poppy Ackroyd.

“Poppy would send separate ‘stems’ — that’s where the film got its name — of each track of music. I would make characters and instruments that looked like they might make each of the sounds she’d given me and we’d go from there.”

For Geri Allen

I first knew Geri Allen when she played with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian. She was referred to then as the new Keith Jarrett, a lazy comparison just because he also played with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian. But she always played her own piano. She and Charlie and Paul made some great albums together, all three of them now sadly departed, and then I discovered this performance with Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette from 1993. And I’m so glad it exists, she is absolutely radiant, she shines with confidence and generosity and beauty. Play it again and again. For Geri Allen, 1957-2017.

※

If you liked this you might also like to see – Perfection.

Standards

00:20 I Wish I Knew 08:50 If I Should Lose You / Late Lament 28:25 Rider 42:20 It’s Easy To Remember 50:10 So Tender 1:02:40 Prism 1:17:18 Stella By Starlight 1:27:50 God Bless The Child 1:44:50 Delaunay’s Dilemma – Koseinenkin Hall, Tokyo, 1985.

Prompted by the previous post, I was reminded of Keith Jarrett (there’s a live recording of him playing Still Life, Still Life, a lovely free-form ballad from 1973 at The Village Vanguard in New York with Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian) so I went searching for concert videos. I couldn’t find Still Life, Still Life but I found two beautiful recordings of the Standards trio. Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette first recorded together in 1977 for an album of compositions by Gary Peacock called Tales Of Another. Six years later they came together again to record a set of “standards”, which proved so successful that the trio went on to make another 21 albums, most of them recorded live in concert at venues all around the world. Continue reading “Standards”

Ouvrez Les Fenêtres De Votre Coeur

The Rowley Gallery has a new, hand-painted February window. It’s a vibrant cornucopia of visual delights. The notice reads Ouvrez Les Fenêtres De Votre Coeur: A Darktown Valentine’s Window by Jonny Hannah, and wherever you look you’ll find lovehearts on parade. Along the front lower edge of the window there’s a collection of found records, their sleeves lovingly repainted and still containing a vinyl disc, though not necessarily the one illustrated on the cover. Continue reading “Ouvrez Les Fenêtres De Votre Coeur”

When The Saints Go Marching In

This is a curiosity. I had hoped I might find the World Saxophone Quartet but instead I got the Salaya Saxophone Ensemble & the NAFA Saxophone Quintet. I have never seen such a choir of saxophones; three sopranos, eleven altos, five tenors, three baritones and one bass… I want to be in that number.