Daily Journal (Johnson County, IN), Third-World Music Is Not Second Class >>
(Baka Beyond is the second to be reviewed)
Music from the Third World has a wonderfully paradoxical effect on industrialized Western ears.
Exotic instruments and rhythms remind us how large and diverse this planet is. But then a human voice reminds us that people are people, facing joy and pain regardless of where they live or what language they speak.
Some new CD releases that crossed our desk recently gave us that pleasurably odd combination of feelings, humbling and inspirational at the same time.
The real stunner among the bunch is Reves d'Oasis: Desert Blues 2, a double-disc collection of North African folk ballads scheduled for release Tuesday.
The music is not strictly blues as played in the American South, and many cuts reveal influences that sound Asian or Middle Eastern. The title is appropriate, however, as both the African and African-American forms developed in parallel fashion from the same roots. The two genres share stringed instruments, minimalist arrangements, vocals that convey raw human emotion and lyrics that, according to the provided translations, explore life's trials as well as any Delta bluesman can.
The 26 cuts -- more than two hours of music -- range from traditional music of nomadic Saharan cultures to more contemporary arrangements with electric guitar and other Western instruments. Featured native instruments include the kora, a harp-guitar hybrid with a gourd body; the ngoni, a lute; the djembe, a hand drum; and the balaphon, a sort of xylophone or marimba played with mallets.
The album's European producers spent two years compiling selections from artists in 11 countries. The album is a follow-up to their popular 1996 two-disc collection Ambiances du Sahara: Desert Blues. The double-sized case may not fit in your CD rack, but it looks great and includes a full-color booklet with information on the artists and their respective cultural traditions.
If you can't find Desert Blues 2 at your local record store, which is a distinct possibility, try online. Amazon.com, for example, is taking orders at $35.98. Find more information at www.networkmedien.de.
Another noteworthy release, due Feb. 11, is East to West, the fifth album by Baka Beyond. Led by U.K. artists Martin Cradick and Su Hart, this international collective of musicians blends African and Celtic music in a way that works a lot better than it sounds on paper.
Cradick and Hart have been at it since 1991, when they first visited the Baka people of the Cameroon-Congo border region. As the story goes, music plays a central role in the life of the Baka, who sing to attract game animals and communicate with each other in the rainforest. The latest album features a couple performances by Baka adults and children as well as other musicians from the United Kingdom, Brittany, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali and Sierra leone.
For most Hoosiers, Paul Simon's Graceland-era work is probably the closest reference point to the bubbling rhythms and exuberant call-and-response vocals of East to West. The twist comes from the decidedly non-African elements that float on top, including violins, uileann pipes and Hart's ethereal voice singing melodies from Scotland and Cornwall.
Learn more at www.bakabeyond.net or www.narada.com.
Oddly enough, both of these discs came to us from Bloomington, which seems to be vying for recognition as the world music capital of the Midwest. Not only does the city host the annual Lotus World Music & Arts Festival, but it also is the home of publicist Dmitri Vietze.
His company, Rock Paper Scissors, specializes in U.S. publicity and marketing for music by overseas artists. The company's Web site is an interesting resource in itself, with information on CD releases, concert tours, world music labels and related issues.
Information: www.rockpaperscissors.biz.
--Scott Hall
01/09/03
|
