Perceptive Travel World Music Reviews
October 2015 - By Laurence Mitchell

In this issue: multiple hybrids of east and west, north and south create a Pangea of world music that knows no borders.





Musique de Nuit
Ballaké Sissoko & Vincent Segal

We say: Beautiful, elegant music from after-hours Bamako.

This musical pairing from Mali and France has worked together before, producing the highly regarded Chamber Music back in 2010. Musique de Nuit is effectively more of the same, and all the hallmark musical ingredients of their earlier work — gorgeous, cascading melodies and joyous multi-string workouts — can be found here too.

There's stylistic variety aplenty. "Prelude" is a slow elegiac blues, while "Samba Tomora" is more up-tempo and energetic. "Passa Quatro" has a vaguely Spanish vibe about it, while "Balazando" builds slowly, with the plucked strings of the cello resembling the sound produced by a Moroccan gimbri. Musical mimicry is a common strategy throughout as, rather than using additional musicians, Sissoko and Segal get their own instruments to provide additional color by imitating traditional instruments like flute, ngoni and takamba. The only guest musician to appear is Babani Koné, who sings on "Diaboro". Otherwise it is just Sisokko and Segal weaving their special kind of empathic magic. What is probably most appealing about these two musicians is the way they work seamlessly together: constantly swapping leads and trading lines without there ever being a clearly defined lead or accompanist role. The result is smooth, organic, uninhibited.

As the title suggests, this is music that celebrates the spirit of the African night. Recorded outdoors in Bamako, live with no overdubs, this is more spontaneous and rougher edged that their earlier studio album. As a result Musique de Nuit is more free-ranging, drawing in all manner of influences. Neither African nor European, east or west, this is music that evokes its own particular geography.






Resistance
The Soul Jazz Orchestra

We say: A hot Afro-beat party all the way from cool Francophone Canada.

Given the influences on show here you might be forgiven for not guessing that The Soul Jazz Orchestra, led by keyboardist Pierre Chrétien, hail from Canada. Somewhat at odds with the cool climate of its geographical base, this band plays a hard-hitting blend of West African, Soul, Jazz, and Funk, together with an extra-large portion of Afro-beat. There are French Caribbean influences too, most notably zouk on "Courage," which is sung in French.

Resistance starts as it means to continue with the very funky "Greet the Dawn," which has rasping saxophones and passionate vocals backed by Afro-beat drumming that wouldn't sound out of place in a sweaty Lagos nightclub. This goes straight into the more frenetic "Shock and Awe," a song that wryly alludes to G. W. Bush's controversial military campaign of a decade or so ago. "As the World Turns" maintains the intense pace with a relentless and joyful Afro-beat groove. "Life is What You Make It" sounds like the sort of funk that was coming out of New York in the 1970s, while on the mainly instrumental "Bull's Eye" you almost expect Fela Kuti to come in on vocals at any moment. In contrast, but still sourcing West African influences, the penultimate track "Kossa Kossa" channels the Soul Makossa style of Camerounian sax-player Manu Dibango.

All in all, this is hard-driving, fun music performed with energy and great respect for authenticity. It is very danceable too. Put it on the player and you've got yourself a 40-minute party.

Souljazz






Tales of Pangea — Gotrasawala Ensemble
Ana Alcaide

We say: Indonesia meets Spain to create an intriguing fusion.

I have reviewed CDs by Toledo, Spain-based Ana Alcaide here before but this is a departure from the singer's usual folkloric output. Tales of Pangea is a collaboration with Indonesian musicians that combines Alcaide's compositions with lyrics sung in the Sundanese language and uses both western and Indonesian instrumentation. This assembled group of Spanish and Indonesian musicians calls itself the Gotrasawala ('global gathering') Ensemble, a named coined from an annual Bandung festival that showcases west Javan culture.

The Indonesian input is actually fairly understated so don't expect the full gamelan experience here. In fact the result does not sound a million miles away from Alcaide's usual output with its clear-voiced singing, rippling guitars and its sense of medieval music re-imagined for modern-day tastes. In addition to the Spanish guitar of Ray Sandoval, there is Alcaida's own favored instrument, the Swedish nyckelharpa, as well as subtle kendang (an Indonesian percussion instrument) and kepaci (a traditional string instrument like a zither). Additional Indonesian vocals are supplied by Novi Aksmiranti.

The title of the album Tales of Pangea refers to the landmass of Earth back when it was a single entity more than 200 million years ago — a fused world without division. Standout tracks include "Madenda," "Geber — Geber," and "Pajajaran," all of which contain a strong hint of dreamy gamelan melodies and the mysterious atmosphere of sultry tropical nights. The hypnotic last track "Goyong" is probably the most alien and "eastern" sounding to western ears. Overall though, this work is very much a concept piece that should be listened to as a whole to allow the developing musical atmosphere to draw the listener into its own imagined world.






New York Boogaloo
Spanglish Fly

We say: Boogaloo and bicycling from Brooklyn.

The band name's may be a bit clichéd, as is the CD cover — a kittenish cartoon latina in sexy leather outfit riding a bicycle — but there's nothing corny about this music: slick Afro-Latin percussion, groovy organ, swinging brass and spirited female vocals. New York Boogaloo is revivalist in the sense that it celebrates a musical style that was actually a precursor of salsa, but to spend too much time agonizing about what precise genre this belongs to would be to do the music a disservice. It's sufficient to say that it's all pretty good, and this ten-piece band from New York mashes up all manner of Latin, Soul and pop styles to create a fun, dance-friendly album.

Sung in both English and Spanish, New York Boogaloo is respectful to boogaloo's multicultural roots but contains a few quirky twists along the way. Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" — perhaps an unusual choice — is presented in Spanish ("Esta Tierra"), while bandleader Jonathan Goldman's "Love Graffiti Me" contains a musical quote or two from Little Eva's 60s hit "Loco-Motion." Listen carefully and you'll also hear the iconic "A Love Supreme" riff too on "Bump (and Let it Slide)."

As with all Latin music there's a certain amount of recycling. And even cycling... the chorus of "Mi Gusta Mi Bicicleta," a Spanish-language song extolling the joys of bicycle-riding (remember the cover), isn't so very different from "La Bamba" to begin with but it concludes by exhorting the English-speaking listener to "get up off your butt and ride a bike" — sound advice. "Cuidate Hermana," which follows, is slower and sultrier, more a city stroll than a bike ride, and comes with a nice trombone solo and slow-simmering brass chorus. "Brooklyn Boogaloo," the final track, works as a sort of musical mission statement — a more extended workout that is worthy conclusion for this enjoyable recording.






Laurence Mitchell is a British travel writer and photographer with a special interest in transition zones, cultural frontiers and forgotten places that are firmly off the beaten track. He is author of the Bradt Travel Guides to Serbia, Belgrade and Kyrgyzstan, Slow Norfolk & Suffolk and a regular contributor to hidden europe magazine. His website can be seen at www.laurencemitchell.com and his blog at eastofelveden.wordpress.com.

See the last round of music reviews from Laurence Mitchell.



Also in this issue:

Musique de Nuit

Buy Musique de Nuit online here:
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Amazon UK



Resistance

Buy Resistance online here:
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Amazon UK





Tales of Pangea

Buy Tales of Pangea online here:
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Amazon UK



New York Boogaloo

Buy New York Boogaloo online here:
Amazon US
Amazon UK



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