The Weekend Planet

Infinity is the fourth studio album from Warsaw Village Band. The group began in 1997. Ever since, it has been surprising people at home and abroad. Vocally and instrumentally, these adjectives are equally apropos: novel, ancient, startling, beautiful, powerful, haunting. Before tonight’s featured artists were even born, a certain famous African-American ensemble coined a motto which also fits the young Polish sextet: ‘Ancient to the Future.’

To discover more, start at this very well-linked place:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Village_Band

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’ SAT 20.9. 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 4, ’SKIP FUNK’
MUSIC BY WOJTWEK KRZAK LYRIC IS TRAD POLISH
PUB NOT SPEC
JARO 4289-2
( No Australian distributor
www.jaro.de
Releases are available, direct, worldwide
Simply click ’English’ prompt to see the site in English )
WARSAW VILLAGE BAND - ’INFINITY’
3: 08
(A pleasingly-startling marriage of neo-disco/funk and Polish traditional folk! Pizzicato- plinking fiddles, hammered dulcimer, cello-as-bass, processed female voices (lead singer is the cellist ), male vocal chuckles, careening arco fiddles, plus special guest scratcher (turntables) Sebastian Filiks, alias DJ Feel-X. It actually works! )

SEGUE

2211
CD CUT 13, ’LAMENT’
TRAD POLISH, ARR MAJA KLESZCZ
SONG IS PUBLIC DOMAIN. ARR PUB NOT SPEC
WORLD VILLAGE/ JARO
( in Australia through Select Audio-Visual Distribution:
www.savd.com.au
worldwide: www.worldvillagemusic.com
and: www.jaro.de )
WARSAW VILLAGE BAND - ’UPROOTING’
2: 30
( Maja Kleszcz’s female Polish voice, quite solo. Stark plaint in persona of mortally wounded young soldier. He wishes his love would arrive, ’so my dying heart can live again.’ )

SEGUE

2214
CD CUT 6, ’HEARTBEAT ( MAJA AND NATU INCARNATED CHANT )’
MUSIC BY MAJA KLESZCZ, NATALIA PRZYBYSZ. LYRIC IS PARTLY TRAD POLISH AND PARTLY BY NATALIA PRZYBYSZ
PUB NOT SPEC
JARO 4289-2
( No Australian distributor
www.jaro.de
Releases are available, direct, worldwide
Simply click ’English’ prompt to see the site in English )
WARSAW VILLAGE BAND - ’INFINITY’
5: 05
( An extraordinary combination of soulful Polish folk-music and gospel/soul elements. One of the two female singers/moaners is the band’s cellist/vocalist Maja Kleszcz. The other is Natalia Przbysz, a noted Polish soul singer. The two went to music school together. Has real gravitas. )

2221
CD CUT 11, ’CELEBRATON’
BHEKI MSELEKU
P AND C WORLD CIRCUIT
SHEER SOUND
( some releases - this one included are distributed in
Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
Worldwide {all releases}: www.sheersound.co.za )
BHEKI MSELEKU `CELEBRATION’
7: 48
(African-chant-based jazz anthem for the leader’s male African voice, strong piano and his tenor sax, w ac bass, drums, flute. Jubilant and powerful, with a seriousness too. Bheki Mseleku died in London on Sept 8, aged 53, after a long battle with diabetes. He was a week or so away from moving back to South Africa. This piece was the title-piece of his debut CD, issued in 1992 on World Circuit - WCD 028.

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT BHEKI MSELEKU?

A South African obituary is here:
www.mg.co.za/article/2008-09-10-worldfamous-sa-jazz-musician-bheki-mseleku-dies

He died poor, widely-ignored. His death has prompted angry as well as admiring responses, as ’The Sowetan’ reported, here:
www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=840777 )

2231
CD CUT 9, ’POLKA STORY’
WOJTWEK KRZAK
PUB NOT SPEC
JARO 4289-2
( No Australian distributor
www.jaro.de
Releases are available, direct, worldwide
Simply click ’English’ prompt to see the site in English )
WARSAW VILLAGE BAND - ’INFINITY’
4: 31
( Polish polka triptych - firstly wild, in old-time-village style. Finally, it is wild in this sextet’s own style, with pounding drums and grinding strings. In the middle the polka is almost-chamber-music )

SEGUE

2236
CD CUT 1, ’WITHIN REACH’
BENNIE MAUPIN, MICHAL TOKAJ, MICHAL BARANSKI AND LUKASZ ZYTA
BENPIN MUSIC ( BMI )
CRYPTOGRAMOPHONE CG137
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
Worldwide: www.cryptogramophone.com )
BENNIE MAUPIN QUARTET - ’EARLY REFLECTIONS
2: 32
(lyrical, lucid, spacious. Spontaneously improvised too, I think. The 68-year-old American leader’s tenor sax with the piano, ac bass and drums of three very much younger Poles - respectively, Michal Tokaj, Michal Baranski And Lukasz Zyta. Recorded in Warsaw. Elsewhere, this album also involves a remarkable Polish singer.

ABC RADIO NATIONAL BENNIE MAUPIN ALERT

We explore his new album next Saturday night, September 27
More details here: www.abc.net.au/rn/weekendplanet/comingup )

2239
CD CUT 5, ’DEDROP’’
JIM KELLY
QUIRKY IDEAS 2008
NASHUA ROAD NRRS0108
( CD currently available via Jim, direct
Email: jimandjules@aapt.netau
Website: http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=177561619 )
JIM KELLY/ MATT SMITH GUITAR DUO - ’ONWARDS AND SIDEWAYS’
6: 10
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: Duet for steel-stringed ac guitar and elec guitar. The veteran - Jim - is playing an Australian-made, Jim Mills acoustic . Young guitar hero Matt is playing a vintage electric guitar - an Epiphone Casino )

SEGUE

2245
CD CUT 1, ’DON’T GIVE UP’
PETER GABRIEL
PUB NOT SPEC
ABC JAZZ 476 5977
( in Australia through Universal. Available at ABC shops
& online: www.abcshop.com.au )
STEPHEN MAGNUSSON - ’14 LITTLE CREATURES’
3: 34
(AUSTRAL PERF: acoustic steel-stringed guitar instrumental version of a famous Peter Gabriel song { the original also featured Kate Bush’s voice}

STEPHEN MAGNUSSON GIG ALERT

Sunday September 21 @ 8.30 pm
Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, 25 Bennetts Lane, Melbourne
Stephen Magnusson quartet {debut gig}
www.bennettslane.com )

SEGUE

2249
CD CUT 11, ’THOSE WHEELS ROLLING’
LIZ STRINGER
( PRESUMABLY) APRA
LSS 002
( In Australia through MGM: www.thegroovemerchants.com
Artist’s site: www.lizstringerom )
LIZ STRINGER - ’PENDULUM’
5:12
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: drum-thwack, then enter the author’s voice and ripe elec lap steel guitar (the banjo is also hers) on an anthemic, rocking, bittersweet song. It is about the need to - and the difficulty of - setting things right between those once-close but now-estranged, or ill at ease with each other.

LIZ STRINGER ON TOUR ALERT ( VIC/ NT/NSW, QLD, WA )

From mid-August through early October: many and various.
Full details -with live links - are here:
www.myspace.com/lizstringermusician )

2255
CD CUT 6, ’JONGO’
PAULO BELLINATI
PUB NOT SPEC
MOVE MD 3322
( CDs & info, worldwide: www.move.com.au )
JONATHAN PAGET - ’MIDSUMMER’S NIGHT’
3: 30 ( excerpt )
(AUSTRAL PERF: lively, rhythmic Brazilian piece for solo classical guitar. The guitar’s body is used as well as its strings.

’GUITARFEST: A PLUCKED STRING SPECTACULAR’ ALERT (Perth)
It includes Jonathan Paget

Wednesday 24 September at 7.30pm.
Music Auditorium, WAAPA, Edith Cowan University, 2 Bradford St, Mt Lawley.
Bookings through WAAPA Box Office on 08 9370 6636.

The combined talents of the Plectra Ensemble, the WAAPA Jazz Guitar Ensemble, jazz guitarist Freddie Grigson and classical guitarist Jonathon Paget and special guests in ’a one-off crossover event.’ )

----
11 PM NEWS
----

2305
CD CUT 13, ’DRUME NEGRITA’
ERNESTO GRENET
EMI ROBBINS CATALOG, INC
WORLD VILLAGE/MONTUNO MON 010
( in Australia through Select Audio-Visual Distribution:
www.savd.com.au
worldwide: www.worldvillagemusic.com )
OMARA PORTUONDO - ’GRACIAS’
3: 21
( Afro-Cuban lullaby - one long-popular throughout the Americas. The nearly-78-year-old Omara sings lead. Her next birthday is on October 29. Richard Bona is her duo-cum-backing vocalist. He also plays bass and some percussion. Andrés Coayo plays the bata drums, which drive this.

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT/SEE BATA DRUMS?

Start here: www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/world/onyourstreet/bata.shtml

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE SONG AND SEE AN ENGLISH LYRIC?

Go to: www.kalamu.com/bol/2008/01/21/andy-bey-%E2%80%9Cdrume-negrita%E2%80%9D/

ABC RADIO NATIONAL OMARO POROTUONDO ALERT

Her new CD will be explored on ’The Daily Planet’, on Thursday 23rd October.
That is just days before her 78th birthday, On October 29th.

’The Daily Planet’ with Lucky Oceans airs Monday to Friday at 2.20pm
Except on Fridays, it has a second airing at 11.20 pm
website {includes audio} : www.abc.net.au/rn/dailyplanet )

2311
CD CUT 11, ’LITTLE BABY BLUES’
MUSIC BY MAJA KLESZCZ. LYRIC IS PARTLY TRAD POLISH AND PARTLY BY NATALIA PRZYBYSZ
PUB NOT SPEC
JARO 4289-2
( No Australian distributor
www.jaro.de
Releases are available, direct, worldwide
Simply click ’English’ prompt to see the site in English )
WARSAW VILLAGE BAND - ’INFINITY’
6: 23
( Startling marriage of rockin’ blues and Polish folk. Maja Kleszcz -
this band’s cellist and lead singer - is the female singer. She plays cello. Her bandmate Wotjek Krzak is the violinist. Playing the viola - and providing the male Pole/soul vocal - is the guest, Jan Trebunia Tutka. He’s a celebrated Polish folk musician... and a big fan of James Brown )

SEGUE

2317
CD CUT 4, ’DIAMONDS AND PEARLS’
PRINCE ROGERS NELSON
PUB NOT SPEC
ECM 2019/ 1737345
( in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
MARCIN WASILESKI TRIO - ’JANUARY’
5: 46
( very lyrical/loving, with particularly gorgeous bass-playing by Slawomir Kurkiewicz . Marcin is the pianist. The trio’s drummer is Michal Miskiewicz. The original was title-piece of the purple one’s 1991 album. Yes, that Prince - the artist formerly known as ’the artist formerly known as Prince’ )

2326
CD CUT 7, ’POLSKA FRAN POLSKA’
TRAD/ WOJTWEK KRZAK
PUB NOT SPEC
JARO 4289-2
( No Australian distributor
www.jaro.de
Releases are available, direct, worldwide
Simply click ’English’ prompt to see the site in English )
WARSAW VILLAGE BAND - ’INFINITY’
6: 01
( The most common form of Swedish folk dance/ folk-based tune is the ’polska’. Here, an actually-Polish dance, with which these young Poles seek to demonstrate just how much Swedish folk music must have drawn on Polish folk music. To make the point even clearer, the band’s violinist plays a Swedish key-fiddle - nyckelharpa - in addition to his conventional fiddle )

SEGUE

2331
CD CUT 4, ’KVÄLLTRÄSK’
TRAD POLSKA VIA JANNE MARTENSSON, ARR DANIEL PETTERSSON AND DANIEL FREDRIKSSON
PUB NOT SPEC
DRONE MUSIC DROCD039
( no Australian distributor.
The label’s site: www.drone.se
The disc can be obtained via www.cuberoots.com )
PETTERSSON/ FREDRIKSSON - ’VIREK’
4: 45
(duo from Sweden’s deep north, playing a polska medley. {singular: ’polska’; strictly, the plural is ’polskor’} Their CD’s title means ’someone who has travelled far’. Dramatic, nicely-varied, very imaginatively arranged and superbly played. A Swedish polska is very definitely NOT a polka. Daniel Fredriksson is the lutenist and Daniel Pettersson the fiddler, playing the nyckelharpa - a Swedish key fiddle which looks as ’unlikely’ as it sounds!

LIKE TO SEE A NYCKELHARPA AND KNOW MORE ABOUT IT?

Go to: www.nyckelharpa.org

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE POLSKA?
{ in the Scandinavian-dance sense )

This is a good place to start:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polska_(dance) )

2340
CD CUT 12, ’ÇIRCLE NO 1’.
MAGDALENA SOBCZAK-KOTNAROWSKA/ SYLWIA SWIATKOWSKA
PUB NOT SPEC
JARO 4289-2
( No Australian distributor
www.jaro.de
Releases are available, direct, worldwide
Simply click ’English’ prompt to see the site in English )
WARSAW VILLAGE BAND - ’INFINITY’
4: 38
(hammered dulcimer (a descendant of the santur and related Asian hammered zithers} , suka {upright Polish fiddle - a descendant of Asian upright fiddles) and violin. A mesmeric, eastern-accented unrushed swirl.

LIKE TO SEE A SUKA AND KNOW MORE ABOUT POLISH FIDDLES?

Go to:
www.fiddlingaround.co.uk/poland/index.html )

2345
CD CUT 2, ’MEERA-MA’ (DIVINE MOTHER)
BHEKI MSELEKU
POLYGRAM MUSIC SARL FRANCE
VERVE 521 337-2 (through Universal)
BHEKI MSELEKU - ’MEDITATIONS’
THIRTEEN MINUTES (not quite complete)
(’Live’ in 1992, truly solo, genuinely amazing and very beautiful. Rhapsodic, improvisatory, meditative, and in places obviously African. Piano, wordless male vocal, tenor saxophone - often, two of those three at once. After a long battle with diabetes, Bheki Mseleku died in London on Sept 8, 2008, aged 53. He was a week or so away from moving back to South Africa.

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT BHEKI MSELEKU?

A South African obituary is here:
www.mg.co.za/article/2008-09-10-worldfamous-sa-jazz-musician-bheki-mseleku-dies

He died poor, widely-ignored. His death has prompted angry as well as admiring responses, as ’The Sowetan’ reported, here:
www.sowetan.co.za/News/Article.aspx?id=840777 )

Presenter

Doug Spencer

Producer

Doug Spencer