nameabledays Archive One

Somewhere in our youth or childhood we must have listened to something good: The glee club teacher who introduced us to Broadway and classical, the church choir priest who introduced us to Gregorian and classical, the literature teacher who introduced us to reading well and reading reviews of everything—pop and classical, books and albums (LPs then), and taught us to read and appreciate liner notes, and who in effect helped us save money by letting us read reviews before buying records or books (thus preventing us to buy records we don’t know about or which would turn out to be a disappointment, threfore a waste of money). And, of course, to have minds of our own. And tastes of our own.

So here’s an eclectic set of music (not in any order) I’ve been listening to for a long time now, or which I recently dug out from my CD shelves and listened to again with newer surprises, newer delight, or newer ways to listening again, leading to musings and contemplations seldom visited by the stray thought. And because this is an indulgence let this be the last—let me share some of the things I like for this last time, because we will always be liking different things for different reasons. If we happen to like to like something in common, good. If not, we can maybe explore a bit or you can write me for imposing on you my taste. Anyway the notes here are not critical reviews but mostly vignettes of when they were bought.

TOOTS THIELEMANS: "THE BRASIL PROJECT" Among the oldest in my collection. Gil Amador, high school and college friend, introduced me to Toots Thielemans, the great Belgian (?) master of the harmonica and the whistle, who gave us the ever lithe and happy "Bluesette," and the version here can only be equalled by that of Quincy Jones or Sarah Vaughn. The Brasil Project is a special one—a tribute to and jam with Toots by the best of Brasil after Jobim: the likes of Ivan Lins, Djavan, Milton Nascimiento, Dori Caymmi, Eliane Elias, Oscar Castro Neves (Sergio Mendes' guitarist), and Luis Bonfa, who gave us "Manha de Carnaval." There's a Volume 2 with the same great artists and Toots but I can't find the CD in my shelves.

LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO: "SHAKA ZULU" I forget now how they gave themselves such a name but it is well known that Paul Simon's latter experimenting with new rhythms helped introduce to the world this fascinationg group of South African musicians—they provided an extraordinary backup to some numbers in Simon's groundbreaking "Graceland" album, specifically (the only one I recall) "Diamonds in the Soles of Her Shoes." As I said, the label "world music" is for anything not recorded in Universal or Warner, and here these ambassadors of African (Zulu) music make grunts, whistles, lip-smacks, bodytaps and hand-clapping, etc., all in rhythmic and melodious unison, part of pop mainstream. Vignette: I bought this during a trip to San Francisco in 1995. I presume they were quite popular after the launch of "Graceland" and asked for their CD by name, to which the white sales girl said "Never heard," and when I glanced at the display just in front of the cashier, the Ladysmith CD was there (reminds you of some SM salesladies?—who brought you to the Math section because you were looking for Ricky de Ungria's poetry collection titled "Decimal Points," or who led you to the Medicine section because you were looking for "Love in the Time of Cholera").



PAOLO NULA: Here's a sample of the so-called "New Flamenco," flamenco with touches of jazz, electronica, heavy or no percussion, or simply pure Gypsy guitar-playing. Earlier popular names such as Strunz and Farah and Ottmar Liebert (an Argentine or Chilean) signal the culture mix. This is a "repro" CD, if you look closely, it says "Audiophile, 24-bit remastering."
Probably less than half the price of the real thing.

JACQUES LOUSSIERE TRIO: "THE BEST OF PLAY BACH" Nice play on the last two words there. Trademark French reworking of the classical into jazz cafe numbers that can make you sip your cup and tap your toes to a light version of "Tocatta & Fugue in D MInor," or such a brush-drum and cymbal tempoes for "Gavotte in B Minor," my favorite. Again if you look closer, the CD is a "repro" of an SACD, bringing with it all the clarity and fidelity of the new audio technology.

NOON JAZZ: "TAKE A BREAK" brilliantly surpasses what seems to be the original intent of its producers, a background muzak for people lunching. The crystal piano, the wit and twists, again through the transposition into jazz vocabulary the classical originals of the well-selected pieces, will make you forget that this is a half-prized copy of an SACD.

YO-YO MA: "VIVALDI'S CELLO," "JAPANESE MELODIES," & "OBRIGADO BRAZIL" showcase the quite fearless spirit of the music-making of this acknowledge genius of the cello. "Vivald's" features the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, emphasis on "Baroque" because it's not just the music of the era but the instruments of the era that Ma and the orchestra are using. In the second CD, hear Ma duel and harmonize with traditional Japanese instruments and music. "Sakura, Sakura" is the expected favorite. Snobbish friends refused to buy "Obrigado..." because Philippine Airlines made it a giveaway. I never got a copy but bought it as soon as I saw it on the store shelves. Those friends missed the most poignant and charming Brazilian tunes in cello in this CD which is Ma's way of saying "Thank You, Brasil." (Only Morelenbaum's cello can compare with Ma's when it comes to Brazilian music.)

CAFE DEL MAR: "ARIA" Not for the purist Opera buff. If you don't like the sacred "Un Bel Di" to be sampled, this is not for you. But you might yet change your mind when you hear world and electronica versions of "Una Furtiva Lagrima," "Pamina Blue" from Mozart's "Magic Flute" and a most percussive and Andalusian "Habanera." Cafe del Mar acquits itself here, despite sometimes passing through the doldrums in its musical voyages.

EVELYN GLENNIE: "WIND IIN THE BAMBOO GROVE" Listen to her marimba hum through this most Zen-like setting, Japanese watercolors of forest and reeds... Too bad, this CD comes from a bargain bin and would perhaps need a re-ordering from Amazon if you want a copy.

PHOTO OF INSTRUMENTS from the Sakamoto-Morelenbaum "Casa" CD.