LUCID CULTURE



CD Review: Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara – Soul Science
July 30, 2008

Feel-good story: a friend of British guitarist Justin Adams gives a copy of one of his albums to renowned Gambian singer and ritti (one-string fiddle) player Juldeh Camara. Camara promptly calls Adams, hoping to collaborate. Adams is flattered and immediately agrees. It turns out that Adams has known Camara’s playing for a long time, having heard him, uncredited, on an album of traditional music. Within a half-hour of meeting, the chemistry between the two musicians is electric, and they starting writing songs. Fortuitously, they made an album out of it.

What it sounds like is Ali Farka Toure on speed. Adams has gone on record as saying that he eschews flashy playing, but that’s not exactly true. As the lead guitarist in Jah Wobble’s band in the late 80s and early 90s, Adams dazzled with his ability to play an astonishing number of different styles, and wasn’t exactly averse to setting the crowd ablaze with a solo or two. But having come up during the punk movement, Adams also plays with a remarkable terseness, preferring to bring an idea or emotion to life rather than indulging in any kind of overt ostentation. For the most part here, it’s Camara who gets to show off his blazing speed and love of rapid runs punctuated by double stops, or hammer-ons as the stylistic device would be called in guitar terminology. This album is syncretism raised to a power: the melodies may be mostly hypnotic, African desert blues, but intermingled with tunes and motifs from literally all over the map. One of the tracks on the album begins with languid, expressive blues guitar straight out of the Junior Kimbrough songbook – and then Camara comes in with his fiddle, playing an Irish jig melody. Another song is set to a straight-up Bo Diddley beat. They also do a one-chord boogie that could be proto-John Lee Hooker. Musicologists will have their hands full with plenty of chicken-or-the-egg questions here, but regardless of whether it was the African or the westerner who brought it to the party, it’s all good. This culminates as the album goes along, particularly when the two players lay down a trip-hop beat. Except that there’s no drum machine: it’s just a swinging 4/4 beat, emphasis on the one and the three. To call this psychedelic is a vast understatement... (full article)

A World of Music
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
WOMAD Charlton Park 2008



"Justin Adams has gone a considerable way towards filling the Strummer-sized hole that exists in the area where contemporary British rock music meets its past American influences and the music of the world today, and he’s found his Tymon Dogg in Gambian riti (single-string fiddle) player Juldeh Camara. They rocked the Radio 3 stage on Sunday with their Bo Diddley-meets-buzzsaw-violin" (full article)

Aruna Sairam: Divine Inspiration • World Village 468074

Performance:
Sound:

There's no better way to gain perspective than to listen to the real thing. For Westerners accustomed to thinking that the vocal avatar ofthe New Age is an air brushed young woman with blue eyes, pink skin, and a limited harmonic vocabulary (which perviously reviewed artist Lara Jai is not), this album is a revelation.

Aruna Sairam is a renowned exponent of the Karnatic tradition of south Indian spiritual song, a style less known in the West than northern Indian classical music. Sairam invokes love with a vibrato-less, slightly hoarse, nasal style of Sanskrit vocalization that bespeaks a life of devotion. An amazing artist, whose virtuosity inspires wonder, her low-pitched instrument seems to possess infinite flexibility. She not only traverses microtonal runs at the same impossibly fast tempi that the amazing J. Vaidyanathan plays the double-headed mridanagam (drum), but does so with a vitality that reflects her unshakable faith in the spiritual tradition at the heart of hersong.

"When you trust reason to me," says Arjuna, "I soon arise to rescue you from the ocean of death and rebirth. Focus your mind on me, let your understanding enter me; then you will dwell in me without doubt." For those raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the notion of meditative surrender resonates. So does the voice of Aruna Sairam, whose singing encompasses repertoire thatdates back to the 8th century AD. - Jason Victor Serinus (link)

Afrofunk Forum Interview with Justin Adams!



By Kenny Eaton

This installment of the Afrofunk Forum holds a special treat. I got the chance to conduct an interview with Justin Adams and discuss his new album, the state of world music and what it means to be a culturally eclectic musician. Justin Adams’ career has been extremely successful- playing alongside former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant and many of the finest musicians in Africa and Europe for decades.

Justin Adams’ latest release, Soul Science, is an exhilarating look at this intrepid artist. Working alongside Juldeh Camara and Salah Dawson Miller, the group creates a sound blending Europe, Africa, and America into a provocative, wholly unique style.


KE: Where would you place Soul Science in the scope of your personal career and development as a musician?

JA: The past five or six years I 've been working with Robert Plant, studying Delta blues and developing strength and a Rock and Roll edge in my playing, and also with Tinariwen, really getting deep into that Sahara groove- so this was a perfect project to go further in those directions.

KE: What was it like working with Juldeh Camara and Salah Dawson Miller? How did the three of you end up collaborating on this album?

JA: To work with a West African Griot and Master Musician with deep roots and effortless creativity like Juldeh is to play with a force of Nature. Salah is like a brother, we have been playing together on and off for 20 years he has taught me a lot.

KE: Soul Science sounds like it was the product of a more raw, roots-oriented approach to the recording process. Was this a conscious decision to achieve a certain sound, and if so, why? Did this factor into the title of the album?

JA: I get really bored with pristine, clean recordings. I'm a big fan of raw African cassettes, of distorted Sun Blues, Studio One Dub, the Clash, and of the sound when you hear African musicians playing in the street or in nightclubs with PA systems under stress. I find it more exciting . The title of the album refers to the ancient Science of rhythm and melody that we dip into- only the outward forms of our music are new, the architecture was figured out thousand years ago by unnamed minstrels , who knew how to get under your skin... (link)

Beata Söderberg's Bailata on Soundroots.org

"Beata's Tango No. 3"



CD REVIEW

Beata Soderberg & Justango: Bailata (World Village)

Of all the boats in the world, one I previously had not cruised on is the steamship Swedish Tango. But if this wonderful release is any indication, I've been missing out. This is the third such cruise for Swedish cellist Soderberg and her talented Argentine crew, and these sparkling originals show that even Northern Europeans can have a South American soul.

In a Setting Sun interview, Soderberg explained how she came to tango.

"I went to New York to study for my Master of Music degree, I am a classically trained cellist.There I discovered a tango club called La Belle epoque, and I started to hang out there since I love dancing. I got really interested in tango music, both traditional and Piazzolla and other new things, and after a few years I began to write my own tangos for quintet. ... I think my music has elements from tango, jazz and classical, romantic music."

"Vamos Animales" from the album Bailata - S.A. Stevens (link)


Indie rock faves The Hold Steady cite Tinariwen in New York Times

"Inspiration in the Melody, at Home or on the Road

Before going on the road, amid their tattoo and pacing sessions, Mr. Kubler and Mr. Finn spoke to Winter Miller by phone about what they’re listening to now.

Tinariwen

FINN They’re Tuareg, and they’re nomadic musicians who settled in France and play African music using electric instruments. I listen to “Aman Iman: Water Is Life” (World Village) more than anything else now. I don’t love instrumental music, but it’s perfect when I’m on the train and reading. It has vocals, but since I don’t understand the language, I can just listen. The songs are drones and chants, but they end up being very melodic and memorable. This album is a good contrast to life in the city.

KUBLER Their approach to the electric guitar is radically different from anything else I’ve ever thought of before. It sometimes makes me feel like I’m not exposing myself to things that might make me become a better player or enjoy music on a different level. It’s a reminder that there’s inspiration in all different places." (full article)

This year's WOMAD Festival features World Village artists Son de la Frontera and Justin Adams with Juldeh Camara!

Embracing fusion and juxtaposition this year, the festival includes popular acts as well as traditional, with a star-studded line-up, consisting of Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Orchestra Baobab, Dengue Fever, Martha Wainwright, Toumani Diabaté, and Eddy Grant & The Frontline Orchestra, among many others.

Both Son de la Frontera and Justin Adams perform on Sunday July 27th, at the Siam Tent and the BBC Radio 3 Stage, respectively. For the rest of the line-up, go here.

GOING SOLO

Lee Hildebrand
Friday, July 18, 2008



"During her more than two decades as one of the most in-demand backup singers in the pop music business, Catherine Russell has on occasion been afforded the opportunity to "step out," a term that refers to a harmony vocalist being given a brief solo, usually at the end of a tune. Donald Fagan asked her do it on his second CD. Cyndi Lauper and David Bowie not only allowed her to step out during tours but also had her play piano, guitar and mandolin with their bands.

"There's a misconception that backup singers are chomping at the bit to be out front, but really it's two different skills," Russell says by phone from Boston. "There are many of my peers who are very happy having backup singing as a career. It's not like we are in the background saying, 'God, just let me sing that tune and I'll show 'em.' "

Russell, the daughter of onetime Louis Armstrong orchestra leader Luis Russell and bassist-singer Carline Ray, had no intention of stepping out on her own as a solo artist until booking agent Paul Kahn, her husband of four years, talked her into it. She has released two CDs, "Cat" in 2006 and "Sentimental Streak" earlier this year, both on the World Village label, that skirt the jazz, blues and cabaret genres. Her repertoire draws heavily on old, little-known songs associated with such singers as Armstrong, Pearl Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Alberta Hunter, Nellie Lutcher and Bessie Smith. Both discs include tunes written by her late father and utilize mandolin, guitar, violin, accordion and other acoustic instruments. The CD booklet for "Sentimental Streak" contains four color snapshots of Russell, at age 4, being held in Armstrong's arms.

"I found 50 zillion reasons not to do that, but Paul said, 'Let's do it,' " the Manhattan singer says of making her own CD. "I was turning 49 at the time, and I said, 'Well, it's really the only thing I haven't done. Let's try this.' "

The variety of things Russell has done during her 51 years is mind-boggling, and that's something of an understatement...." (full article)

All her jazz
Catherine Russell builds her future on music from the past
By Jim Carnes



"Catherine Russell comes from another time.

Her voice, smoky, sexy and smooth, is perfect for old-time swing and jazz tunes. She's got the affection – and the pedigree – for the music.

Russell, 51 (and "proud of it – I'm happy that I made it this far"), is the daughter of the late Luis Russell, a pioneering pianist, composer, bandleader and longtime musical director for Louis Armstrong; and Carline Ray, a graduate of Juilliard and an outstanding bassist and vocalist who was a member of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, a 1940s all-woman jazz band.

It's not unexpected that Russell, who performs Sunday at Harlow's, would become a singer. And since some of her earliest memories include going with her parents to Louis Armstrong's house, maybe her choice of music isn't unexpected, either.

"My taste is vintage," Russell said recently in a telephone interview from her New York home.

"I really start from the pre-1920s and come forward … not too far." (full article)

This month on World Village, Swedish cellist Beata Söderberg makes her debut with Bailata, an exciting collaboration between Söderberg and Argentinian group JusTango. Swedish-born Söderberg fell in love with Argentinian tango during her studies at the Manhattan School of Music, when she discovered the world of New York's "milongas" (tango clubs). Bailata is her third album and World Village debut, her first album already earning her a nomination for the Carlos Gardel Prize, the Argentinian equivalent of the Grammy Awards.

Vieux Farka Touré: Of Bamako And Banjos

Listen Now: Vieux Farka Touré on Mountain Stage



"Vieux Farka Toure learned to play guitar by jamming along to recordings of his father, renowned Malian musician Ali Farka Toure. But his music isn't always like the "desert trance" blues for which his father became known.

West Africa also plays a small but important role in the history of country music — specifically, regarding the banjo. In Vieux Farka Toure's set at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol Tenn./Va., he features Mama Sissoko on ngoni, the earliest predecessor to the modern banjo...." (full article)

The Afrobeat Blog: Vieux Farka Touré Interview



My first question is as an African musician, do you find it difficult to reach a mainstream audience? Do you ever get frustrated by being categorized into an "exotic other" category such as "world music"?

I GUESS I HAVE BEEN PRETTY LUCKY BECAUSE THE KIND OF MUSIC I AM DOING SEEMS TO BE REACHING A PRETTY WIDE AUDIENCE – AT LEAST FROM WHAT I CAN SEE FROM THE STAGE ! LAST WEEKEND I PLAYED ON THE ROCK STAGE AT THE ROSKILDE FESTIVAL IN DENMARK WITH BANDS LIKE BATTLES AND COCOROSIE ...AND THE AUDIENCE JUST SEEMED TO BE THERE TO HEAR AND DANCE TO GOOD ROCK, AND DIDN’T STOP ROCKING WHEN I PLAYED – THEY SEEMED TO GET EVEN CRAZIER ! THEN WE PLAYED A MORE TRADITIONAL AFRICAN FESTIVAL IN HOLLAND. NEXT WEEKEND WE’LL BE PLAYING A HUGE FESTIVAL IN SPAIN WHERE I’VE INVITED IDAN RAICHEL (WHOM I’VE MET IN AIRPORTS AROUND THE WORLD BUT HAVEN’T MANAGED TO ACTUALLY PLAY WITH YET!) TO SIT IN. I DID A RADIO SHOW LAST SUMMER WITH COUNTRY MUSICIANS (I REALLY LIKED DIERKS BENTLEY) AND ALSO AN AFRICA EXPRESS SHOW IN LIVERPOOL , PLAYING WITH OTHER AFRICANS LIKE AMADOU AND MIRIAM,BAABA MAAL, RACHID TAHA AND COLLABORATING WITH ALL THE NEW ENGLIGH ROCK MUSICIANS LIKE DAMON ALBARN AND FRANZ FERDINAND . AND I’LL BE DOING A US TOUR THIS AUGUST IN A TRIBUTE TO JAMES BROWN WITH PEE WEE ELLIS AND FRED WESLEY. SO I’D HAVE TO SAY I’M NOT FEELING TOO BOXED IN ! (full interview)

"[Soul Science] has the rough, flourishing energy of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll: pent energy finally unpent, everything bursting into the foreground. The beginning of the second track had me thinking of a riff that I realised later belonged to Bo Diddley and had come to me originally through the Strangeloves and “I Want Candy”. The songs leap out at you in spikes and chunks. There’s technique involved, in that both Adams and his collaborator Juldeh Camara are skilled musicians, but the music they’ve made together sounds spontaneous rather than studied...the closeness of the partnership is remarkable. The amity between the two instruments comes across as the sort of ideal friendship that any artist would want to have with another. They’re united but they challenge one another, they’re competitive but in a fruitful way...Cross-cultural fusion albums are sometimes criticised for their falseness, but there’s no sense of falseness here, no condescension, simply a set of songs that couldn’t be made in any other way. Soul Science is an album of high points. By track two I was excited, by track eleven I thought it was one of the best things I’d heard all year. Call it what you like, it’s excellent." - 8/10 STARS, Deanna Sole (full review)

Rockers With Soul
Steely Dan's Donald Fagen looks back to shared roots and finds jazz, r 'n' b, and something even deeper
BERNARD PERUSSE, The Gazette
Published: Saturday, June 28

"A bit of love for the opening act: Catherine Russell had the unenviable task of opening for Steely Dan at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts, which meant she had to get 3,000-plus Dan fans --- as weirdly obsessed with their heroes as Deadheads --- on her side...In a highly-energetic set of jazz and blues, heavy on material from the 1920s and 1930s, Russell pretty much played to the back rows and pulled it off. And how can you not love someone who seems equally at home with Fats Waller's The Joint is Jumpin' and the Grateful Dead's New Speedway Boogie?" (full article)

Ana Moura's "O Fado da Procura" is a featured track on NPR's fado-themed Morning Edition today.



Portuguese Fado and a Few Dirty Tables
By Jerome Socolovsky

Fado Today
Ana Moura: 'O Fado da Procura' (2007)
[1 min 44 sec] add

Morning Edition, June 23, 2008 - In recent years, the melancholic Portuguese folk music known as fado has gotten a lot of play around the world. Many of the singers have stylized their songs to suit the tastes of an international audience. But in Lisbon, traditional performers still sing in cramped bars, accompanied by a guitarist or two.

It's a weekday night, and Sao Miguel de Alfama is hopping.

There are about half a dozen tables under the low brick arches. The club is on the ground floor of a 10th-century Moorish building in the Alfama, the old waterfront district where the fado was born. No one is sure how it started, but some believe the fado began when Portuguese sailors sang about their yearning for home using African slave melodies...

Read the full story and listen to the featured tracks here.