|
| |
      |
| | AV Pages Index | |
|
News
2010/07/21 Arriving here hot of the presses in the last couple of weeks has been drum and jazz fusion genius Asaf Sirkis' latest and much anticipated album with his Asaf Sirkis Trio, Letting Go, to be released on 23rd September. We have an early review of it, and advance copies are also available now on Sirkis' web site and from Jazz CDs UK. Be sure not to miss the Asaf Sirkis Trio's exciting launch gig at The Spice of Life in London on 23rd September! For more details go straight to the Jazz page. The same line-up as the Asaf Sirkis Trio can of course also be heard as the Tassos Spiliotopoulos Trio, consisting of guitar wizard Tassos Spiliotopoulos, foremost drummer of our time Asaf Sirkis, and that finest of young bass masters Yaron Stavi. Tassos Spiliotopoulos' recently released album with his trio, Archipelagos, is also reviewed at last. Go to the Jazz page for more. (The Tassos Spiliotopoulos Quartet's earlier release from 2006, Wait For Dusk, will also be reviewed very shortly.) The review of Dennis Burton's epic two-volume novel Lagan River, Black Mountain will also come up very soon now. At some thirteen hundred pages this is an extremely beefy work to get through, especially as my time is very constrained presently. Exploring "The Troubles" of Northern Ireland, it is also a riveting read that I just hate to have to put down. More on the Literary page.
Rainlore's World of Music © 2010 Rainlore's World of Music/Rainlore. All rights reserved.
2010/07/04 A quick album review today - Breslov Bar Band's newly released debut album Have No Fear, as infectious as anything and with wide appeal across genres. Go to the Other World Music or Jewish Music pages for more on this fabulous release. Coming up soon, a review of a veritable modern 'War And Peace', a substantial two-volume epic novel exploring "The Troubles" of Northern Ireland spanning five decades from 1941 to 1996 by Dennis Burton, to be published shortly. More on the Literary page. Regrettably won't be fully up-and-running again for a while yet.
Rainlore's World of Music © 2010 Rainlore's World of Music/Rainlore. All rights reserved.
2010/05/02 At last caught up with reviews of two outstanding albums by sensational Latin (amongst others) singer Guillermo Rozenthuler - already familiar on this site through his association with Gilad Atzmon And The Orient House Ensemble and reviews of one of their gigs at the Pizza in Soho, London, and their outstanding album Musik. Guillermo Rozenthuler & Rioplatenses' A Route To The Roots is their fabulous live debut album of traditional songs from Argentina and Uruguay released in 2008, while the equally fabulous Guillermo's The Blue Hour - Songs From Argentina is a superb collection of traditional Argentine songs and originals recorded in Buenos Aires and released in 2004. This extraordinary singer, a kind of João Gilberto and Carlos Gardel rolled into one, really is not to be missed. Go to the Other World Music, Other Music, Jazz, or Jewish Music pages for more. I expect to likely have to take a break from updating the site for about six to eight weeks due to surgery shortly, but more will follow ASAP.
Rainlore's World of Music © 2010 Rainlore's World of Music/Rainlore. All rights reserved.
2010/03/28 The world of music, and world music in particular, lost one of its greatest advocates and champions with the death of Charlie Gillett at the age of a mere 68 following a long illness on 17th March. Gillett's many achievements include the seminal book The Sound of the City, the first comprehensive history of popular music, the discovery of, among others, Dire Straits and Ian Dury's first band Kilburn and the High Roads (the latter of whom he also managed), several long-running radio shows including The Sound of the City on BBC London 94.9 from 1995 to 2006 when he sadly had to relinquish it due to health issues and Charlie Gillett's World of Music on BBC World Service since 1999. In the 1980s, he was also the first DJ to play Montserratan soca singer Arrow's perennial monster hit Hot Hot Hot on British radio, and Charlie Gillett was also one of the influential group of people who - reluctantly - coined the term "world music". Gillett's enthusiasm for world music was as tireless as his efforts to promote it, both in the UK and internationally. Many international world music artists acknowledge owing their career to Gillett. In 1991, Charlie Gillett was awarded the Sony Gold Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2006 The John Peel Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music Radio by the Radio Academy. Gillett's weekly half hour BBC World Service show, Charlie Gillett's World of Music, was compulsive listening for anybody with half an interest in any kind of world music. Charlie Gillett will be sorely missed by all whose lives he touched. Our thoughts at this sad time are with Gillett's wife Buffy, daughters Suzy and Jody and son Ivan, and two grandchildren. RIP, Charlie Gillett.
A special feature in the form of a television review may serve to further draw attention to the plight of the British brass band. BBC2's A Band For Britain, broadcast on consecutive Mondays this month, focused on one of the many of the remaining brass bands that are failing, the Dinnington Colliery Band, and, with the more than capable help of the unstoppable and irrepressible Sue Perkins at its helm, attempted to revive this band with a proud 100-plus year history. The programme also served as a last-minute wake up call to the peril the glorious brass band movement faces, and maybe it can serve as a rallying cry to save our glorious British brass band heritage before it's too late!
Rainlore's World of Music © 2010 Rainlore's World of Music/Rainlore. All rights reserved.
2010/03/14 One album review and an article this week hope to draw attention to two - almost - "cause celebres". The album in question is the magnificent The Music Lives On: Now The Mines Have Gone, featuring The Best Of Colliery Bands, while the article, Double Zed Music - Everything Accordion! explores one of the finest accordion resources on the web. The Music Lives On: Now The Mines Have Gone is a compilation album featuring some of the greatest British colliery brass bands surviving today, as well as some of the finest brass band music selections. The album was released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the end of the last great miners' strike on 3rd March 1985, as well as to celebrate the survival of the colliery bands and the brass band movement. Go to the Classical, Other World Music or Other Music pages for more. Sadly, however, it seems to me that celebrating the survival of the brass band movement may be a little premature when so many former colliery and other brass bands have perished since the 1980s, and many more are struggling to survive today - both financially and in attracting new membership. When even a quite well-known band from a basically fairly prosperous corner of southern England so very nearly faced extinction a few years ago, it certainly became very obvious that the whole brass band movement was facing problems. And it's not only the demise of the mining industry and its support for the colliery bands that's been at the root of these problems. Far more, and more seriously, it is changing public tastes and attitudes. Sadly, the glory days of the height of the most widespread popularity of British brass bands of the 1970s and early 80s have long gone. The days when brass band was televised regularly by the BBC, when brass band even penetrated the pop charts, when in 1977 the Brighouse & Rastrick Band scored a massive and unprecedented singles hit with The Floral Dance and were only prevented from reaching the No. 1 spot by the release of Paul McCartney's Mull of Kintyre, or when new-wave pop star Jona Lewie had a monster hit with brass band accompaniment in Stop The Cavalry that was only stopped from reaching the No. 1 spot by the sad death of John Lennon and the speedy re-release of some of his records. And who could possibly forget the 1970s Hovis Bread TV commercial with Shaftesbury's Gold Hill standing in for a road somewhere in what we were supposed to believe to be Yorkshire, with a young lad carrying a loaf up the steep hill to the unforgettable strains of the second movement of Dvorak's Symphony From The New World played by a brass band (if memory serves, the Black Dyke Mills Band?)! Despite the occasional flashes of brilliance since those days (such as 1995's Brassed Off movie), somehow the braas band movement never quite captured the wider public imagination to anything like the same extent again. In the 1970s, there were some 20-30,000 brass bands in Britain, yet today we are left with a mere 500-1,000 perhaps, and many of those are struggling. And this is a very sad state of affairs indeed. Brass band music is not only absolutely glorious music, it's as quintessentially British as Yorkshire pudding, cheddar cheese, pork pie, the great British banger, a sense of fair play and tolerance, the glorious British landscape, excentricity, the Last Night of the Proms, the British sense of humour, jellied eel, pie and mash, fish and chips, 'warm' beer, panto, the boat race, Ascot, the Grand National, Mrs. Beeton, curry and chips, the institution of the monarchy, wippets and greyhounds, cream teas, and whatever else you might care to think of. The brass band is a British tradition and heritage to be immensely proud of and that ought to be cherished and nurtured. Isn't it time we all in Britain took more of an interest and pride in some of the best and finest traditions of the land and kept our heritage alive and well? Before it's too late? One really has to hope that The Music Lives On: Now The Mines Have Gone, as well as the currently running BBC 2 television series A Band For Britain (about the struggles and revival of the Dinnington Brass Band, aided by irrepressable TV presenter Sue Perkins) will go some way in helping to widen popular interest in brass band music and the heritage as a whole.
Again, accordion music, especially in the UK, tends to be rather neglected and/or ignored. All too often, the accordion is still regarded as either something somewhat old-fashioned or "humble". Yet, neither could be further from the truth. The accordion is one of the most versatile instruments around and finds a place in just about any type of music you could think of, from folk right up to jazz and classical music - concertos have even been written for it, including a contemporary one in the last ten years by accordion maestro extraordinaire Romano Viazzani (three of his solo accordion albums were recently reviewed on this site). If you labour under the very much misguided impression that the accordion is simple or "humble", then you really ought to have a look at - and more importantly, a listen to some of the finest accordions around as played by some of its finest exponents. Even the accordion's still more "humble" cousing, the concertina, is anything but. Not only could a good quality instrument cost you enough to have to extend your mortgage, but again it has found its way into all manner of musical styles including classical - indeed, many a folk concertina player is classically trained on the instrument. The accordion is at least very much alive, but it certainly is deserving of much wider popular interest in this country especially. Maybe you'd like to explore a little further?
Rainlore's World of Music © 2010 Rainlore's World of Music/Rainlore. All rights reserved.
2010/03/07 At last catching up with amazing jazz piano virtuoso Frank Harrison's first leader albums, we have two reviews. First, the Frank Harrison Trio's First Light, and then Louis Stewart and the Frank Harrison Trio's You've Changed. Although dating from 2006 and 2007 respectively, these albums are as fresh as the day they first hit the streets and are just breathtaking. Delicious sample tracks with the reviews to bowl you over as well. There's more on the Jazz page. The 2008/09 version of the "Home" page has now been archived, along with all other relevant section pages. Finally, it has come to our attention that there appear to be a few minor problems with our web forms, specifically with radio buttons and check boxes, with some browsers. This is continuing to be checked out, but as everything seems to work just fine in Internet Explorer, it seems likely that the problem lies with the other browsers in that they may not have fully implemented this aspect of forms. In which case there appears little that can be done about it other than to suggest you temporarily switch to Internet Explorer in order to use our forms, if you are affected. Flash based forms might be another option longer term.
Rainlore's World of Music © 2010 Rainlore's World of Music/Rainlore. All rights reserved.
2010/02/28 To end the month, three reviews of more outstanding albums. There's more from guitar virtuoso Nicolas Meier in the shape of his 2004 album Vivaldi - Four Seasons, with a multi-tracked Meier forming the Modern Guitar Orchestra. As fresh as the day it was released, this album is more than worth another look - Vivaldi as you've never heard before! Go straight to the Classical, Jazz or Other Music pages for more on this electrifying sensation. You'll find an irresistable teaser in the form of a sample track with the review. There's more for guitar aficionados - Eyal Maoz & Asaf Sirkis' Elementary Dialogues album from last year is another thriller. The review's also complete with a mouth-watering sample track. Maoz will be more familiar to those on the other side of the Atlantic, where he has become a mainstay of the Downtown scene in NYC. You'll find more on the Jazz, Jewish Music, and Other Music pages. Last but by no means least, and still more from near-ubiquitous traps icon Asaf Sirkis with the SGS Group, Inc.'s SGS Group, Inc. presents... The "SGS" here stands for Simcock-Goloubev-Sirkis, a jointly-led trio with bassist Yuri Goloubev and pianist Gwilym Simcock. Dating from 2008, it's great to catch up with this exciting album of 'new standards' from the previous generation of jazz masters such as Allan Holdsworth, Bobby Watson, John Taylor, Buster Williams and others, and there's a sample track as well to tempt you. More on the Jazz page.
Rainlore's World of Music © 2010 Rainlore's World of Music/Rainlore. All rights reserved.
2010/02/15 A sad loss to not just the jazz but the whole music world is the death of altoist Sir John Dankworth on 6th February at the age of 82 following an illness of several months. The finest British jazzman of his era, Johnny Dankworth introduced bebop onto the British scene, having played with Bird. He also first brought one of the finest jazz singers of all time, later his wife, Dame Cleo Laine, to public attention. Sir John was often said to have selflessly held back on his own career in order to promote and support Dame Cleo's. They have two children following in their footsteps, bassist Alec Dankworth and singer Jacqui Dankworth. Sir John also formed The Dankworth Generation Band with son Alec in the 1990s. Not only a great musician but also a great human being, Sir John lives on in his music and in the legend that he became long ago. At this sad time, our thoughts are with his wife and family. Rest in piece, Sir John.
Out this month are three outstanding new jazz releases, reviewed here. Released on 9th February is jazz flute and Latin jazz /Afro-Cuban jazz giant Mark Weinstein's latest album, Timbasa. Sizzlingly hot! Even if you just like to groove, this sensational album is a must! Also released this month are two new, long-awaited albums by guitar phenomenon Nicolas Meier, Breeze with The Meier Group and Journey with the Nicolas Meier Trios, one acoustic, the other electric. Don't miss! All three reviews are accompanied by mouth-watering tasters in the form of sample tracks. And there'll be another stunning Nicolas Meier album reviewed next time. More on all three of these fabulous albums on the Jazz and Other World Music pages.
A month after the quake, and the world's media have more or less forgotten about Haiti. The distribution of aid still seems somewhat sporadic, and there still doesn't appear to have been any positive action on temporary resettlement and reconstruction. With the rainy season not far away and the Hurricane season starting quite soon after that, one can only shudder in horror at how much more suffering the people of Haiti will still have to endure. It is the collective shame of the so-called "civilised world" and its leadership.
Rainlore's World of Music © 2010 Rainlore's World of Music/Rainlore. All rights reserved.
2010/01/31 Some more "catch-up" album reviews today, and a retrospective literary one. From 2006, there is exquisite Yiddish singer Fraidy Katz's remarkable and adventurous album The Eternal Question - Di Alte Kashe. Yiddish song with a twist! There's a fab sample track to go with the review, of course. For more on this please see the Jewish Music page. Accordion maestro Romano Viazzani, one of the very finest exponents of his instrument of the younger generations and already familiar on this site through his association with contemporary jazz legend Gilad Atzmon's extended Orient House Ensemble, released a trio of superlative solo accordion albums in 2007. Titled Piazzolla - Ángel Suite / Bobiç - Liturgical Suite, Encore, and Viazzani takes Stok respectively, they could and probably should be regarded as a boxed set but work just as well individually. Together, they span a huge variety of genres and styles. A gourmet feast for every accordion lover! And just to wet everyone's appetite, there's a glorious sample track accompanying each review. Go straight to the Classical, Other World Music or Other Music pages for more. The retrospective litarary review covers bestselling master storyteller W. A. Harbinson's fantastical 1991 novel Dream Maker. This seemed especially warranted in view of the fact that most reviews and descriptions of this previously encountered were factually inaccurate and fairly obviously seemed to indicate that their authors had not even bothered to actually read this novel as their plot summaries do not bear much resemblance to the actual plot. Please visit the Literary page for more.
A Happy 2010? Hardly an auspicious beginning to the New Year when almost three weeks after the initial quake, most of the people of Haiti are still waiting for the aid they so desperately need. In fact, the whole situation is an utter disgrace and surely must outrage any caring and righteous person. Whoever is supposedly organising this aid effort evidently couldn't organise a piss-up (a boozing session) in a brewery! From where I stand it looks more like a cynical exercise in self-promotion by the various aid agencies and governments involved. Strange how aid efforts in similar circumstances, sometimes in almost inaccessible areas with disrupted or destroyed infrastructure, have been much more rapid and successful in the past. Oh, silly me, perhaps I forget that these involved situations where Western tourists, Western economic or strategic interests or any two or all three were involved? After all, what's little Haiti? Of no economic or strategic value, and hardly a typical holiday destination. Just another pain-in-the-neck third world country, and one of the poorest at that. I have always been more than a little cynical when pop and/or film "stars" have become involved in fundraising efforts for one disaster or another. Another golden opportunity for self-promotion. Sure enough, there very quickly came a fundraising "Telethon" for Haiti on US TV. Some of the "stars" involved even actually gave the odd million or so dollars themselves. Wow - am I supposed to be impressed? Well, I'm not. What's the odd million or so to these people - it's like the odd ten bucks for the average Joe. Not to mention the PR value! If they'd really just wanted to do something useful for disaster relief and the like, they'd just open their wallets generously and keep shtumm about it. And the total that this "telethon" raised is hardly impressive either, given the size of the American population and the American economy. Little Britain (with a lower case "l" - not the comedy series of that title!) managed to raise more than twice the amount in the same period, and without any kind of "telethon". Still, in any event, what's the use of any donations by the general public when so little aid is actually reaching the people who need it the most? But then, it's "just Haiti" anyway... Same old same old, really.
Finally, a huge thank you for a few more recent donations to this site. These now make it possible to send out all remaining CDs of photographs of gigs reviewed that are still owed to various artists. Unfortunately, a lot of my contact information has been temporarily lost, but I'll endeavour to catch up with everybody concerned ASAP.
Rainlore's World of Music © 2010 Rainlore's World of Music/Rainlore. All rights reserved.
Reviews
Reviews added 2010/07/21: Asaf Sirkis Trio : Letting Go (2010/07/18) Tassos Spiliotopoulos : Archipelagos (2010/07/20)
Reviews added 2010/07/04: Breslov Bar Band : Have No Fear (2010/06/24)
Reviews added 2010/05/02: Guillermo : The Blue Hour - Songs From Argentina (La Hora Azul) (2010/04/29) Guillermo Rozenthuler & Rioplatenses : A Route To The Roots (2010/04/29)
Reviews added 2010/03/28: Television Review: A Band For Britain (March 2010, BBC2) (2010/03/23)
Reviews added 2010/03/14: The Best Of Colliery Bands : The Music Lives On: Now The Mines Have Gone (2010/03/09)
Reviews added 2010/03/07: Louis Stewart and the Frank Harrison Trio : You've Changed (2010/03/07) Frank Harrison Trio : First Light (2010/03/07)
Reviews added 2010/02/28: Eyal Maoz & Asaf Sirkis : Elementary Dialogues (2010/02/28) Nicolas Meier - Modern Guitar Orchestra : Vivaldi - Four Seasons (2010/02/16) Simcock-Goloubev-Sirkis - SGS Group, Inc. presents... (2010/02/28)
Reviews added 2010/02/15: Nicolas Meier : Journey (2010/02/14) Nicolas Meier Trios : Breeze (2010/02/14) Mark Weinstein : Timbasa (2010/02/14)
Reviews added 2010/01/31: Fraidy Katz : The Eternal Question - Di Alte Kashe (2010/01/24) Romano Viazzani : Encore (2010/01/28) Romano Viazzani : Piazzolla - Ángel Suite, Bobiç - Liturgical Suite (2010/01/28) Romano Viazzani : Viazzani takes Stok (2010/01/28) Lit. Review:
Artists' Profiles
Profiles added:
Articles & Features
Features/Articles added 2010/03/28: Television Review: A Band For Britain (March 2010, BBC2) (2010/03/23) Three-part series that focused on the plight of the failing Dinnington Colliery Band and, 'under the baton' of Sue Perkins, aided the band's revival.
Features/Articles added 2010/03/14: Double Zed Music - Everything Accordion! Article exploring what is probably the greatest single accordion music resource on the web, ZZ Music. Everything from accordion albums by a huge variety of artists, accordion sheet music, books and more to accordions of the highest pedigree from Claudio Beltrami.
Features/Articles added 2009/07/26: Composing and Arranging for the Steel Pan - Part I : Basics / An Overview of the Special Issues in Writing and Arranging for the Steel Pan By Richard A. Sharma
Info
Please note that the old Guzikow Archives have been moved to the Archived Pages section.
|
|
|
|
All rights reserved.  . All rights reserved.
|
