24 February 2008
Carla Bley (with Paolo Fresu}
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For more than three decades Carla Bley has been one of the most consistently creative composer-arranger-bandleaders. Although best-known for large ensembles, she can make a very small one sound remarkably ‘orchestral’, yet intimate. On The Lost Chords find Paolo Fresu, her regular quartet becomes a quintet, via Carla’s wish to give her saxophonist a ‘present’. Aware that Andy Sheppard so admired and felt a real affinity with the Sardinian trumpeter, Carla recruited Paolo - even before she knew his abilities, directly. Her trust in Andy’s judgement was not misplaced! Carla so loved his and Paolo’s interactions that she remarked, ‘I couldn’t wait to get through my solo...so I could simply listen to them.’ As always with Carla, the music is beautiful, surprising ... and humorous.
A conversation with Carla Bley - about this CD - can be read here:
www.ecmrecords.com/Background/Watt/Bgr_W34.php
For general info on Carla Bley, a good place to start is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carla_Bley
Playlist
Playlist
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Details of each track are presented in the following order:
BROADCAST TIME
TRACK NUMBER AND TITLE
COMPOSER
PUBLISHING AND COPYRIGHT DETAILS
RECORDING COMPANY AND CD NUMBER
( distributor/ source details, in brackets like this, in lower-case)
ARTIST AND CD TITLE
Duration of track
Description of track, in lower-case.
Where relevant, further info links to information, gigs/events/related programs
’THE WEEKEND PLANET’ SUN 24 .2.08.
2205
THEME:
(details below, as per the original CD.. This cut is also on these compilations Ketama - ’Nuevos Medios Coleccion’ - Nuevos Medios NM 15 820
{ in Australia via MGM www.thegroovemerchants.com
worldwide, via: www.flamenco-world.com/noticias/nuevos.htm }
and ’Jarabi - the best of Toumani Diabate’ (Hannibal 334352 )
CD CUT 1, ’JARABI’
TRAD, ARR TOUMANI DIABATE
HAMILCAR MUSIC LTD
HANNIBAL HNCD 1323
( in Australia, some releases through Stomp Enquiries to: ben@stomp.com.au
worldwide: www.rykodisc.com )
KETAMA, TOUMANI DIABATE, DANNY THOMPSON - ’SONGHAI’
THIRTY SECONDS (EXCERPT)
(retains a stately-Manding air, whilst also embracing flamenco elements. Toumani Diabate’s kora, Danny Thompson’s beautiful double bass and Ketama’s flamenco guitars )
2208
CD CUT 8, ’DEATH OF SUPERMAN/ DREAM SEQUENCE #1 - FLYING’
CARLA BLEY
ALRAC MUSIC (BMI)
WATT/ 34 / 1737750
( in Australia through Fuse Music Group: www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
CARLA BLEY - ’THE LOST CHORDS FIND PAOLO FRESU’
7: 47
( Very intimate-introspective , yet also very rich. Composer-arranger Bley on piano, Steve Swallow’s elec. bass, drummer Billy Drummond and the two for whom this is primarily a feature. Their empathy is uncanny - Englishman, Andy Sheppard on tenor sax and Sardinian, Paolo Fresu on {muted} trumpet )
SEGUE
2216
CD CUT 9, ’THE SNIPER’S TALE’
STEVE TILSTON
MARKET SQUARE MUSIC LTD
MARKET SQUARE MSMCD 124
(no Australian distributor
worldwide: www.marketsquarerecords.com )
STEVE TILSTON - ’SUCH AND SUCH’
7: 24
(Dark, eerie song - a portrait of a terrorist assassin at work, and his motivations. Tilston’s English male voice and steel-string ac guitar, Andy Sheppard’s soprano sax, Martin Allcock’s ac bass and John Waterhouse’s synth )
2226
CD CUT 9, ’AD INFINITUM’
CARLA BLEY
ALRAC MUSIC (BMI)
WATT/ 34 / 1737750
( in Australia through Fuse Music Group: www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
CARLA BLEY - ’THE LOST CHORDS FIND PAOLO FRESU’
7: 35
( Genial, limber and elegant too. Composer-arranger Bley on piano, Steve Swallow’s elec. bass, drummer Billy Drummond , Andy Sheppard on tenor sax and trumpeter Paolo Fresu. New version of an old Bley piece, which this five-some tackled as a ’warm-up’, not intending to put it on the new CD. The way Andy and Paolo played together moved her to include it. Carla speaks of their ’..tossing the ball between them, without ever dropping it. It was so beautiful that I could not wait to get through my solo... so I could simply listen to them.’)
SEGUE
2234
CD CUT 6, ’IL PASSO E L’INCANTO’ ( THE STEP AND THE SPELL )
GIANMARIA TESTA
PUB IS UNCLEAR. I THINK IT’S PRODUZIONE FUORIVIA
LE CHANT DU MONDE 274 1442
( in Australia through Select Audio-Visual Distribution:
www.savd.com.au
worldwide: through Harmonia Mundi www.harmoniamundi.com )
GIANMARIA TESTA - ’DA QUESTA PARTE DEL MARE’
5: 00
(its Italian author’s gently-gravelled voice speak-sings in Italian, with ac guitars, plus ac bass, percussion. In second half accordionist Luciano Biondini and trumpeter Paolo Fresu step in/forward. In persona of a refugee, or one long parted from his homeland; he’s addressing the sea )
2241
CD CUT 2, ’EXALTATION/ RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE/ MAJOR’
(RESP) CARL RUGGLES/ CARLA BLEY/ CARLA BLEY. ALL, ARR BY CARLA BLEY
’EXALTATION’ PUB BY THEODORE PRESSER (ASCAP). CARLA BLEY’S COMPOSITIONS PUB BY ALRAC MUSIC (BMI )
WATT/ 27 / 78118-23127-2
( in Australia through Fuse Music Group: www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
9: 26
( Big band, ’live’, with a lot of quirk and humour. Begins reverently, with the organ playing a hymn that was Carl Ruggles’ requiem for his wife. Becomes progressively quirkier, wilder and more playful, with gospel, almost-calypso and other touches, including bent allusions to Handel’s ’Hallelujah’. The soloists are alto saxophonist Wolfgang Puschnig, drummer Dennis Mackrel and trumpeter Lew Soloff.
LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT CARL RUGGLES (1876-1971) ?
This is a good place to start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Ruggles )
SEGUE
2250
CD CUT 1, ’NOT ALONE FOR MIGHTY EMPIRE’
TRAD, ARR EL MCMEEN
PUB NOT SPEC
SHANACHIE 97012
( this may or may not still be available in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
available worldwide via www.elmcmeen.com )
EL MCMEEN - ’OF SOUL AND SPIRIT ’
2: 25
(fingerstyle steel-string ac guitars: suitably-stately instrumental treatment of the hymn)
2254
CD CUT 3, ’LONG TIME AGO’
PETER BRANDY
(PRESUMALY) APRA
Self-issued CD. No catalog number
( is available via www.78records.com.au
Peter Brandy’s site: www.peterbrandy.com )
PETER BRANDY - ’LONG TIME AGO’
4: 32 ( complete )
(AUSTRAL COMP: Male aboriginal voice in his first language - and English, too - with didgeridoo, guitars and slide guitar, various percussion. The song vividly remembers what happened when its indigenous Australian singer/author was seven: that year a big monsoon left his family stranded for three months on Dunham River Station, in the Kimberley in Western Australia’s tropical north. The song tells how they survived.
PETER BRANDY CD LAUNCH CONCERT ALERT ( Fremantle )
Friday March 7th, 8pm @ Kulcha ( doors open 7.30 pm )
1st Floor, 13 South Terrace ( above Dome Café ), Fremantle
Bookings via www.kulcha.com.au
tel (08) 9336 4544
Peter’s many guests will include his album’s producer and long time collaborator David Hyams (guitar, mandolin and harmonica) and singer-songwriter Lynn Hazelton. They are both on the album. The night will begin with a performance by David Hyams and cellist Jennifer Tingley.
LIKE TO SEE THE POWER OF THE DUNHAM RIVER IN FLOOD?
ABC Kimberley images from a more recent { 2002 } flood are here:
www.abc.net.au/kimberley/stories/s490206.htm )
------
11PM NEWS
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2305
CD CUT 2, ’KRISTALEN DEN FINA’ ( O BRIGHT CRYSTAL )
TRAD SWEDISH, ARR HELEN DAVIES
TUNE IS PUBLIC DOMAIN. ARR PUBLISHER NOT SPEC
RAINBOW RAINCD 8011
( in Australasia, through Australian Northern Europe Liaisons
www.henk.com.au
worldwide: www.exlibris.dk site is in Danish )
HELEN DAVIES - ’CHASING THE BREEZE’
2: 32
(solo Irish harp - delicate, instrumental setting of an ancient Swedish devotional song, in praise of the Virgin Mary )
2309
CD CUT 10, ’JESUS MARIA’
CARLA BLEY. ARR FOR GUITAR BY TIM SPARKS WITH WILLARD OLIVER’S ARRANGEMENT OF THE TROMBONES AND BASS
ALRAC MUSIC (BMI)
PRIVATE MUSIC 260 883
( I suspect this 1990 CD is no longer available)
LEO KOTTKE - ’THAT’S THAT’
4: 29
(spare and almost-serene: delicate ac guitar, plus discreet-but-crucial use of trombone ’choir’ and ac bass.
LEO KOTTKE 2008 AUSTRALIAN TOUR ALERT (Feb-March)
If you see this on the night of Sun Feb 24th, Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are still to come { Adelaide gig on Fri Feb 22nd and Perth on Sat 23rd }
For full details, go to www.abpresents.com.au/Leo_Kottke_2008.htm
AND:
YOU MISSED HEARING LEO KOTTKE ON ’THE MUSIC SHOW’?
He was on yesterday, Saturday Feb 24th .
As is true of ’The Weekend Planet’, ’The Music Show’ lives on for a further four weeks, as audio-on-demand from the program’s website.
’The Music Show’ with Andrew Ford - Saturdays10am-noon,
Repeat broadcast Sat night 8pm-10pm
Website (includes audio): www.abc.net.au/rn/musicshow )
SEGUE
2313
CD CUT 1, ’ONE BANANA’ ( PART ONE OF ’THE BANANA QUINTET ’)
CARLA BLEY
ALRAC MUSIC (BMI)
WATT/ 34 / 1737750
( in Australia through Fuse Music Group: www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
CARLA BLEY - ’THE LOST CHORDS FIND PAOLO FRESU’
8: 29
( Opening part features the Sardinian, Paolo Fresu’s very lyrical-balladic open trumpet/flugelhorn. Second section is also lyrical, but more limber. That includes a beautiful, guitar-istic solo by elec. bassist Steve Swallow. The regular quartet is composer-arranger Bley on piano, Steve Swallow’s elec. bass, drummer Billy Drummond and Englishman, Andy Sheppard on tenor sax. Fresu is their guest on this CD )
2325
CD CUT 9, ’THE GIRL THAT BROKE MY HEART’
TRAD, ARR MARTIN HAYES AND DENNIS CAHILL
PUB NOT SPEC
GREEN LINNET GLCD 1233
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
Worldwide: www.greenlinnet.com )
MARTIN HAYES AND DENIS CAHILL - ’WELCOME HERE AGAIN’
2: 40
(A reel, slowed down, with its melodic and melancholic aspects brought foreward. Hayes’ fiddle in duo with Cahill’s discreetly-superb ac guitar.
ABC RADIO NATIONAL HAYES/CAHILL ALERT
We explore the duo’s long-awaited new CD next Sunday night, March 2nd.
More details here: www.abc.net.au/rn/weekendplanet/comingup )
MARTIN HAYES/DENNIS CAHILL AUSTRALASIAN TOUR ALERT
{ any updates will be here: www.martinhayes.com/tour.htm }
February:
Sun 24th Perth International Arts Festival, Beck’s Music Box.
www.perthfestival.com.au Bocs Ticketing (08) 9484 1133
Thur 28th, Sydney, The Basement.
www.thebasement.com.au Ph:02 9251 2797
March:
Wellington International Arts Festival, Sat 1st Sun 2nd, Mon 3rd www.nzfestival.telecom.co.nz
Tue 4th Brisbane, Judith Wright Centre.
www.jwcoca.qld.gov.au
Wed 5th Canberra, The Folkus Room, Serbian Club,
Ph (02) 6262 7265
Thur 4th Melbourne, Brunswick Music Festival www.brunswickmusicfestival.com.au
Fri 7th & Sat 8th Womadelaide
www.womadelaide.com.au
Sun 9th & Mon 10th Port Fairy Folk Festival
www.portfairyfolkfestival.com
Thur 14th Melba Hall, University of Melbourne www.music.unimelb.edu.au/events
Sat 15th & sun 16th Blue Mountains Folk & Roots Festival www.info@bmff.org.au
Sun 16th Sydney Opera House
www.sydneyoperahouse.com
AND RADIO NATIONAL’S ’THE MUSIC SHOW’ WOMADELAIDE ALERT
Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill are among the guests when ’The Music Show’ broadcasts from WOMADelaide on the night of Saturday March 8th
’The Music Show’ with Andrew Ford - Saturdays10am-noon,
Repeat broadcast Sat night 8pm-10pm
NOTE: on Saturday March 8th, the night-time broadcast is NEW - not a repeat.
Website (includes audio): www.abc.net.au/rn/musicshow )
SEGUE
2328
CD CUT 8, ’SAOIL AN TILL MI CHAOIDH’ ( WILL I EVER RETURN? )
CALUM MACLEOD, ARR MARGARET STEWART, ALLAN HENDERSON
I THINK - UNDERLINE THINK - THE SONG IS NOW PUBLIC DOMAIN. THE ARR IS PUB GRIAN MUSIC
GREENTRAX CDTRAX311
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
Worldwide via: www.greentrax.com )
MARGARET STEWART - ’TOGAIDH MÌ MO SHÈOL’ (ALONG THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED )
4: 53
( Scots Gaelic song, in Scots Gaelic. Margaret sings with spare piano, only - played by Allan Henderson. In persona of a successful emigrant to the USA who has prospered, but still yearns for the Scottish Western isle of Lewis. It author did in fact return and is now buried there - as per the wish expressed in his song. The singer is a native of Lewis. )
2336
CD CUT 2, ’CREST’
PHIL SLATER
(PRESUMABLY) APRA
KIMNARA RECORDS NARA007
( available worldwide via www.kimnara.com.au )
PHIL SLATER QUARTET - ’THE THOUSANDS’
10: 12
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: impressionistic and decidedly ’European, post-ECM’ in sound and feel: elegant, spacious, ’nocturnal’ and lyrical, but edgy too. The leader’s trumpet, Lloyd Swanton’s ac bass, pianist Matt McMahon and drummer Simon Barker )
SEGUE
2346
CD CUT 5, ’FIVE BANANA’
CARLA BLEY
ALRAC MUSIC (BMI)
WATT/ 34 / 1737750
( in Australia through Fuse Music Group: www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
CARLA BLEY - ’THE LOST CHORDS FIND PAOLO FRESU’
7: 51
( sinuous and graceful-uplifting, melodious and nimble. Has truly sublime interplay between Fresu’s trumpet and Andy Sheppard’s tenor sax {and lovely solos, by each} . Bley - who is wont to denigrate her own pianism - plays very nicely here, and her crafting of the piece itself is brilliant. Steve Swallow’s elec. bass is a non-attention-seeking marvel and Billy Drummond a v attentive drummer )
2355
CD CUT 1, ’BLESSINGS’
BALUJI SHRIVASTAV
PUB NOT SPEC
ARC MUSIC EUCD 1982
( in Australia through Tempo www.tempo-music.com
worldwide: www.arcmusic.co.uk )
BALUJI SHRIVASTAV & RE-ORIENT - ’FEATURING HOSSAM RAMZY, ANDY SHEPPARD, GUY BARKER’
3 50 ( excerpt )
(very lyrical and warm - a devotional piece which celebrates music itself. The leader-composer’s sitar and tabla, with Andy Sheppard’s soprano sax, plus discreet synth from Chris Conway)
Presenter
Doug Spencer
Producer
Doug Spencer
