Music On The Couch This Monday

MUSIC ON THE COUCH 

MONDAY, JANUARY 31, 2011
10pm Eastern; 9pm Central; 8pm Mountain; 7pm Pacific

Archived on Tuesday morning and forever HERE

Subscribe Via

iTunes 

This week:
CHRISSIE O’DELL of
Chrissie O’Dell & One Hot Mess
and
Erin Harpe
of Erin Harpe & The Delta Swingers
sit on
THE COUCH

One day before the opening of the International Blues Challenge (IBC),
I get to sit with two females who have led their bands to Memphis this week.

Chrissie O'Dell & One Hot Mess will be representing the Long Island Blues Society in Memphis at the IBC. The band is based in upstate NY, but won over the LIBS members to earn their vote to the IBC.

Ms. O'Dell has an amazing story and a refreshingly new voice. We will journey with her through her ups and downs and talk about what she and the band expect here in Memphis. We will also hear music from their July 2010 debut release If I Had a Dime 

Then, Erin Harpe from Erin Harpe & the Delta Swingers will take a seat on The Couch.

The 2011 entry into the IBC from the Boston Blues Society, this band is hotter than Memphis in August. Erin and the gang give the music a new twist to create a genre they call “Charles River Delta Blues”.

What has it been like since they won their way to Memphis? What are they looking forward to doing and seeing while here? We will sit with Erin and discuss that and more, while listening to her music.

We will take your calls and questions for both guests at 1.347.633.9400. 

The live interactive chat room opens 20 minutes before show time. Follow this link HERE and click on the Chat Now icon. Come hang with the fans and musicians who visit each week.

Remember, unless you take the two minutes to register, you will not be able to participate in the chat room or send me questions to ask our guests, but you will still hear the show.

So tune in on Monday evening or remember, you can always listen anytime after the show ends from the player HERE or check out Music On The Couch for additional artist information, and show recaps. 

You can download to your iTunes and even subscribe to the show for weekly automatic downloads, from my iTunes page. 

Simply Six: Traum Diggs

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?

    I would say the first time I saw Run-DMC on TV I knew that I wanted to do whatever they were doing.  I couldn't be more than 5-6 but I knew that I wanted   to be just like them.

   

 

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?

I'm a real 70s and Early 80s soul music junkie! Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Jackson 5, Teddy Pendergrass, Donny Hathaway, The Stylistics, The O'Jays, The ChiLites, Earth, Wind and Fire, The Gap Band, The Spinners, Teena Marie, Rick James, Smokey, on and on! If I'm not listening to that it's classic hip-hop or reggae. 

 

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

   I recorded a tribute to Michael Jackson called "Mike Jackin' 4 Beats" which I believe is my greatest lyrical performance on record to date.  I also performed two shows in one night once.  A show with my band in Manhattan and then opened for Talib Kweli at a venue in Brooklyn.  That was the best feeling I have had as an artist thus far. 

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?

   Music has provided the backdrop to many a movement.  If you are unfamiliar with the state of the world in a particular time or place just listen to the music and you will know.  There is no question that music can change and influence the world. How many Vietnam War protesters do you think were influenced by Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On". 

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

     Technology has affected and will continue to affect the music industry.  From 45s and vinyl to 8 tracks to cassettes to CDs, to mp3s, the landscape of how music is packaged and delivered to the consumer has changed.  As far as the artist is concerned, the technology of today gives the unsigned or never before heard artist an almost even playing ground with the major label artist. If you have a clever or simply rediculous presentation you have a chance to "go viral" and reach millions of people online.  In my career specifically, technology has been essential.  The mere fact that I am doing this interview is the result of the technology that we now have at our disposal.  As a result of the Internet, I have been able to connect globally with folks who would never have access to me or my music 10 years ago.  So although it has created a great deal of absolutely horrible content, it is somewhat of a necessary evil.     

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

        I am definitely a pair of Gortex! Rugged, waterproof, dexterous and stylish all at the same time.  And very New York!

Spotlight: Geoff Berner

Vancouver’s Geoff Berner to make his Mint Records debut as he continues to expand his sound with his first release since completing the internationally celebrated “Whiskey Rabbi” trilogy.  Berner’s fifth full length studio album “Victory Party” is produced by mastermind, Josh Dolgen (Socalled) and will be released on March 8th, 2011 on Mint Records.

Listen to "Weathy Poet" now: http://bit.ly/eK2Far

"I know this sounds extreme, but with producer Josh Dolgin's help, and Mint Records' backing, I was finally able to realize my potential in the medium of recorded music."

After completing his highly-acclaimed "Whiskey Rabbi" trilogy, it was time for Geoff Berner to move on.

"I wanted to make an album that sounded bigger, more "klezmer-ey", and more transgressive, all at the same time. And I knew I couldn't do it alone. In fact, I knew that I couldn't do it without Josh."

Josh Dolgin, aka Socalled, is an acknowledged genius of modern Jewish music. He is famous for his own albums, which fuse hip-hop and klezmer. A feature film about him, "The Socalled Movie", was released internationally in 2010 by Canada's National Film Board.

"I had to swallow a great deal of anxiety to be able to hand the reigns of production over to someone else. And if anything, he exceeded my expectations. He had a new idea for making a song better every 3-5 minutes.

New musicians were also added to the mix. Benjy Fox-Rosen and Michael Winograd came up from Brooklyn to play bass and clarinet, respectively, as an addition to familiar brilliant members of the Berner posse -- Wayne Adams on percussion, Diona Davies and Brigitte Dajczer on violins.

What's really remarkable about Winograd and Fox-Rosen is that they are among the first true new klezmorim in 70 years. Since the 1970s, klezmer revivalists have always come to the music from other styles, like old-time country, classical, or jazz. Benjy and Michael learned to play their instruments by learning klezmer. That really hasn't happened since before the Holocaust. They represent the flowering of a reborn radical Jewish culture, what Berner's tourmate Daniel Kahn of Berlin band The Painted Bird calls the "Klezmer Bund".

"We're all trying to put out a vision of Jewish culture that's the opposite of the conservative, knee-jerk pro-Israel, judgmental bullshit that's emerged in recent decades."

That vision is evident at Berner's live shows, which tend to devolve into crazed, chaotic, drunken dancing and psychotic laughter. He has built a sizable cult following through extensive touring, and audiences of odd, bookish people who like to drink come out to pack bars in Berlin, Amsterdam, Oslo and Zurich, as well as in Canada. Look out for the Victory Party to hit your town this year!

What was the BEST of 2010?

A best of 2010 coming soon from us, but we'd like to know what you thought the BEST of 2010 was?

Tell us who your favorite singers was?  favorite song?  favorite album?  Let us know what you think.

Simply Six: Rausch

Rausch is a singer/songwriter from Pennsylvania.


1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer.  For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later.  Is there such a defining moment for you?

To be honest I really can't recall not knowing... 

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to?  Who are some of your favorites?

 To quote Ozzy Osbourne, "The only thing that Ozzy Osbourne is listening to right now is Ozzy Osbourne." Not that I'm listening to only Ozzy Osbourne. This is to say that I now relate 100% to the process of "passing the baton;" when you begin to really develop as an artist, you don't stop listening to all kinds of music, but there is a real changing of the guard. You are now the one contributing to the next chapter(s) of Music History - and while you never stop being influenced by new (and revisited) discoveries, any serious artist will tell you that all time and energy that used to be spent zoning out to the very music which would influence your artistry in the future, is now [by necessity] devoted to your own musical explorations. At the risk of appearing egotistical - which is not - the case, nor the intention, RAUSCH is listening to RAUSCH right now. Like the mad scientist experimenting away in his laboratory. However, I'm about to give Mahler my ear....

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

Having fans tell you that your music helped them. After all, is that not the ultimate goal?

4.  Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to?   How much can music influence current events?

Music is going to SAVE the world. Rather than copy/pasting the extensive Blogs of RAUSCH on this very subject, perhaps you might allow me to suggest diving in for yourself...

5. How has technology affected the music industry?  How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Technology is a blessing and a curse. As a musician, there is a way to explore un-chartered musical territory with it - using technology as a tool and not a crutch. For example, timbral manipulation at the computer, when combined with harmonic experimentation at the keyboard, offers a real meal in and of itself.  However, technology is also destroying music history. The slow and painful de-evolotuion of music which began approximately 20 years ago is now threatening the very core existence of music. There are those who would use technology to do some good; however, there is nothing good about bypassing the learning of an instrument altogether. Those who get by solely on the mere pushing of buttons are not doing themselves - or anyone else - any favors.

6.  Now for my Barbara Walters question:  If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?    I don't know  - but they would have some very old soles? Is that an answer

Spotlight: Sara Banleigh

Piano-based folk singer Sara Banleigh will be releasing her debut album The Folk EP (Self-Release; March 01, 2011), marking a unique and exciting addition to the world’s folk catalogue. Sara's riveting piano-based arrangements of traditional folk tunes from Ireland and the British Isles offer a rare and fascinating take on this beloved, age-old music, which has until now primarily been recorded on guitar and other stringed instruments. With intricate piano orchestration, compelling vocals, and a handful of other acoustic instruments, The Folk EP offers a fresh and spellbinding journey through this ancient genre of music.

The rich and captivating album offers Sara’s interpretation of 5 traditional English, Scottish, and Irish folk songs, each of them several hundred years old. The songs, which have survived through oral tradition in Northern Europe and in the United States, where they came over with English and Irish settlers, are centered around the most powerful and elemental themes of the human experience:  love, despair, beauty, longing, death, and betrayal. 

The Folk EP was recorded over two intensive days at Parkwest Studios in Brooklyn, NY, not very far from where the Brooklyn-born singer grew up. Sara’s conception of an album of traditional folk music supported by piano-based arrangements led her to Parkwest, where studio owner and engineer Jim Clouse maintains an excellent 20’ Kawai grand piano. “When I conceived of the idea for the album, I knew that I would have to spend some time really looking into which studios in NYC had the best piano for the project,” says Sara. “I wanted the piano to have as much of a singular voice on the album as I did, so it was important for me to find an instrument that sounded like it had some good stories to tell.”

Regarding her insistence on using a real piano for the project, Sara remarks, “I knew from the beginning that I wanted an all-acoustic album, so digital keyboards with all their fancy plug-ins were out. Many studios I contacted were like, ‘What’s the problem? Our plug-ins sound just like a real grand.’ Well, these are 500-year-old folk songs, and there was just no way I was going to lay down the piano arrangements on a digital controller. Blasphemy!” Sara continues, “When I played the grand at Jim’s studio, I knew this was the one that would help me tell the stories of the songs. It had just the right balance of bright and rich tones, and a nice heavy middle and bass.”

The mesmerizing album begins with the track “Railroad Boy,” an old English tune about unrequited love that is also sung in Ireland and the United States under various titles. Sara’s version beings with a haunting a cappella introduction that lays down the story of a young woman who loses her maidenhood to a young man - a ‘railroad boy’ - who has convincingly courted her. As the song progresses and piano and violin join the storytelling, we learn that her one true love has betrayed her, and her profound heartbreak leads her to take her own life, her parting words a warning to the world of love’s desolating power.

The album’s storytelling continues through themes of true love, murder, and death, with “Mary Hamilton” and “Geordie,” two fascinating semi-historical Scottish and English ballads, respectively, in which each title character gets a public hanging in the town square for committing a capital crime. Both songs have a long history not only in the British Isles, but also in the United States, where they have been sung by the Appalachian descendants of Scottish and English settlers for centuries. The Folk EP honors both the British origin and the American adaption of these songs by keeping the lyrics and melodic forms true to their roots, while infusing the musical delivery with a bit of country grease and swagger.

On her interpretation of the songs, Sara says, “Overall, I was intent on staying away from the extreme ‘prettiness’ that can sometimes characterize professional recordings of traditional British and Irish folk music. Because the melodies and chord progressions themselves are inherently so beautiful, there are many artists who play to the beauty of the tunes, while ignoring the feelings of pain, betrayal, madness, and vengeance that underly the songs. If you really stop and listen to these lyrics that have been passed down through centuries of oral tradition, it's some pretty ghastly stuff. I tried to make both the beauty and the pain of the material evident and accessible for the listener.” Sara encapsulates the result of her efforts: “There is still some sweetness and loveliness in there, but overall, it's a very dark and haunting album, with a little bit of grit.”

Elaborating on the feel of The Folk EP, Sara says: “My musicians knew that I was really going for something that would be a bit dirtier, and, above all, raw, and I think the unique characteristics, and training, of everyone on the album really brought that out. The album was very minimal in instrumentation, and each of us added our own unique style to the songs. Harrison Hollingsworth, a down-home fiddler from Texas with an elegant classical touch brought out both the beauty and the gritty back-wood country tones of his violin, while Greg Remigio, a rock-oriented guitarist, added that bit of strut and boldness to the two pieces he's on; and Patrick Dunn’s viola provided a kind of ghostly, haunting undergirding for ‘Geordie,’ which proved perfect for the piece.

The Folk EP also includes Sara’s arrangement of the folk anthem “All My Trials,” a song of uncertain origin said to have passed between the United States and the British colony of the Bahamas, traveling with the English and Scottish settlers and their slaves. Sara’s use of the introduction of Bach’s Prelude No.1 in C Major in her arrangement of “All My Trials” is an unexpected addition to the song and brings out the main melody’s stirring sadness while also evoking the song’s message of poignant triumph and salvation. The album is rounded out by “Fhear A Bhata” (The Boatman), an Irish tune about lost love, which Sara sings in a bare and riveting a cappella, mirroring the naked introduction to the EP’s first track, and so, bringing the listener full circle.

Although Sara has worked with different artists and styles, from indie pop to electronica, both on stage and in the studio, she has decided to make her debut EP a collection of melodic, highly narrative British and Irish folk tunes because these are the songs that lived most strongly in her heart. Regarding her clean, straightforward name for the album, Sara says the following: “I decided to call the album ‘The Folk EP’ because I know that I will go on to other genres and projects in my career, but I am so proud and so settled in myself to make my debut as an artist with a folk album such as this. I find the traditional music of Ireland and the British Isles to be among the most beautiful, haunting, and magical in the world, and the darkness and light in the material has helped me mature as a singer and artist - it's given me a way to anchor my soul while the world shook around me, and I am thankful to the songs for this. They suffered for me, so I didn't have to as much. No matter what I do, I'll always come back to British folk - and it's American offspring, the American folk tradition and good ol' country music  - because I connect with it so deeply and I view it to be truly complete music. Lyrically, musically, vocally, emotionally, and rhythmically, this music lacks nothing, and has everything to give.” 

Big-Band Blasts from the Funky Past: Chopteeth Unleashes the Live Power of Africa’s Golden Age

http://www.worldmusicwire.com

Bursting with old-school big band power, Afrobeat crew Chopteeth know how to turn skeptical foot-tappers into shirt-whirling, wolf-whistling believers. The group regularly fills DC’s dance floors with nostalgic African fans and American-born converts to the style exemplified by the now revered Fela Kuti. They’ve supported diverse acts from Aaron Neville to Gov’t Mule, from Konono No. 1 to Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars.

Chopteeth Live captures that full-on energy, with a heavy-hitting horn section, layers of irresistibly catchy interlocking percussion, and carefully crafted takes on African pop classics.

For Chopteeth, even a seeming straightforward live album became a deep exercise in tracing musical lineages. Over many sweaty gigs, the band honed a late Fela piece of fugue-like complexity (“Question Jam Answer”) and spent months calling Nigeria to find an unsung master of African funk. They dug through record store bins, trolled the internet, and mined the vinyl of die-hard African record buffs to find lo-fi and neglected gems.

These gems harken back to the golden age of African pop, the 1970s. In rough-and-ready studios, musicians laid down heady mixes of James Brown-inspired funk, complex chord changes, and local rhythms. They reacted to soul and rumba, to jazz and rock, to harsh political realities and deep roots. Though some musicians of this generation rose to international prominence, many languished, only recently rediscovered by dedicated African music fans, labels, and collectors.

Chopteeth’s discoveries, presented with passion on stage, point to several major figures, forgotten in the recent Fela craze on and off Broadway, who were instrumental in shaping what came to be known as Afrobeat. One striking example, Nigerian jazz player Peter King, had a show so hot back in the day that it rivaled even Fela’s own. Once celebrated, King receded from the international spotlight after his early 70s heyday.

Chopteeth loved King’s tune “Freedom Dance,” a funky vamp on a compelling jazz chord progression that was a blast to play live. When they captured a live version for the album, though, they knew they had to track King down. What began as a simple exercise in copyright clearance became a multi-continent hunt for the forgotten icon.

After a month’s worth of calls to Nigeria, Chopteeth bassist Robert Fox finally connected with King on the phone. “I told him who we were and that we wanted to do a version of his song, and to arrange permission and payment,” Fox recalls. “He was really cool about it. It was an honor for us, to get his blessing, and give him the due he deserves.”

The album gives many other artists their due, from Guinea (“Festival”) to Senegal (“Jiin Ma Jiin Ma”) to Congo (“Gagne Perdu”), showing the musical and geographic sweep that characterizes Chopteeth’s live shows. Their versatility and energy have won them a wildly devoted local fanbase—and garnered them six Wammies (the DC answer to the Grammies®), including Artist of the Year. Their debut studio CD Chopteeth helped build this following, thanks to trans-African originals that eclectically combined the wealth of African pop with upbeat lyrics in multiple languages.

Two years went by, and it was time to capture the band’s live vibe, the heavy-duty intensity of a good old big band, something increasingly rare in this age of mp3s and streaming files. “The truth is people don’t often hear big bands playing dance music live anymore,” muses Fox. “You hear a song like Fela’s ‘J.J.D.’ in person, and it just feels different. It’s a shocking experience for the audience.”

The audience at the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival, for example, barely knew what hit them. The band decided to tackle a little-known Ellington tune, “Didjeridoo,” after they were invited to play at the DC celebration of its iconic native son.

Chopteeth had a unique take on the composition, created after Ellington toured Africa in the 60s as a musical ambassador. They had a feel for the musical roots that inspired the elegant piece. Trombonist Craig Considine whipped out his circular breathing chops to simulate the drone of a didjeridoo, while the group’s baritone sax player Trevor Specht stalked the piece’s elusive final note.

“There’s a low A note that some saxes get and some don’t,” explains Michael Shereikis with a laugh. “If your horn doesn’t go there, you can stuff something in the bell. Mark Gilbert, our tenor sax player, stuffed his big fist into the horn of the baritone sax to get that low note. They practiced in the dressing room and it worked. It made quite the impression on stage.”

And, like all of Chopteeth’s prime live cuts, makes for an equally striking impression on record.

***

“A storming powerhouse of big-band African funk, Chopteeth is smart, tight and relentlessly driving. Their live shows have been known to make even the most motionless of concert-watchers flail their limbs and do something that resembles dancing. Only the most determined stoics will be able to resist the grooves conjured up by Chopteeth.”  —Washington Post

“Afrofunk with lunatic energy”—National Public Radio

“It’s as if Tower of Power resurrected as Afrofunk.” —The Albuquerque Journal

Music On The Couch This Monday

MUSIC ON THE COUCH 

MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 2011
10pm Eastern; 9pm Central; 8pm Mountain; 7pm Pacific
Archived on Tuesday morning and forever HERE

Subscribe Via

iTunes 

This week:
T.J. SULLIVAN
and
RON YAROSZ
of Ron Yarosz & The Vehicle
sit on
THE COUCH

Continuing our preview of the International Blues Challenge (IBC)
beginning February 2nd, two performers who will be competing for honors
sit with me on The Couch to discuss their journeys.

Over the last 30-years T.J. Sullivan has played guitar for the likes of Big Joe Turner, Delaney Bramlett and Paul Butterfield.

He is representing the Santa Clarita Valley Blues Society in the solo/duo category at this year's IBC in Memphis.

TJ is a self-described ‘guitar-junkie’ and we will talk about his ever growing collection, including some vintage axes.

What makes an artist like TJ tick? I hope to explore that and his about his road to success and get to listen to some of the music that earned him a trip to Memphis this year.

Ron Yarosz is leader of Ron Yarosz and The Vehicle out of Erie, PA representing the Blues Society of Western Pennsylvania in the band category.

Yarosz was referred to by the Beale Street Caravan as a “Harmonica and B3 maestro” (October 2010). He and his band, Eric Brewer on guitar Ron Sutton on drums and Ralph Reitinger on bass are all well-seasoned veterans.

They are making their way to Memphis,but will take some time to sit on The Couch, talk about their past and what they hope to achieve at the IBC.

We will take your calls and questions for both guests at 1.347.633.9400. 

The live interactive chat room opens 20 minutes before show time. Follow this link HERE and click on the Chat Now icon. Come hang with the fans and musicians who visit each week.

Remember, unless you take the two minutes to register, you will not be able to participate in the chat room or send me questions to ask our guests, but you will still hear the show.

So tune in on Monday evening or remember, you can always listen anytime after the show ends from the player HERE or check out Music On The Couch for additional artist information, and show recaps. 

You can download to your iTunes and even subscribe to the show for weekly automatic downloads, from my iTunes page. 

A Shipwreck, A Fight, A People: Aurelio Releases New Traditions on Laru Beya

http://www.worldmusicwire.com

After a shipwreck crossing the dreaded Middle Passage from West Africa, the human cargo wound up on an island intermingling with local residents, a mixture of Arawak and Carib groups. The resulting hybrid group known as the Garifuna fought British colonizers and were eventually deported en masse, deposited on the Caribbean coast of Central America and left for dead, as young Garifuna musician Aurelio recounts in his song “Yurumei” on his new album Laru Beya.

In Aurelio’s world, ocean currents flow from Africa past and present, from that long-ago shipwreck and lost island sanctuary, from a world now embracing the threatened sounds of his deeply creative people. Laru Beya is the second release on the label Next Ambiance, an imprint of Sub Pop. The Seattle-based Sub Pop label was the original home to such legendary bands as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, and has enjoyed more recent successes with such artists as The Postal Service, The Shins, Iron & Wine, Band of Horses, Flight of the Conchords, and Fleet Foxes.

With the sea as his constant companion, Aurelio makes music that spans tragic history and soulful ceremonies, music sparked by his childhood in an insolated coastal hamlet and channeled to honor his late friend and mentor, Garifuna musical icon, Andy Palacio. Aurelio is the tradition bearer for a unique culture with African, Caribbean Indian, and Latin influences, but also a thoroughly modern artist determined to break new ground for his centuries-old roots.

Aurelio came to love these roots, growing up in a tiny Honduran village far off the beaten track. He learned sacred drumming from family and performed at adults-only ceremonies at age six. Encouraged by a mother with a gorgeous voice and his widely admired troubadour father, the young Aurelio made tin-can guitars. Music was the only entertainment in a place with no electricity and little contact with the outside world.

Aurelio’s father was an expert in paranda, a street-friendly, Latin-inflected style that chronicles everything from social ills to humorous tales to aching love, all in a highly improvisatory and soulful mode. Aurelio has retained this musical flexibility, and in the sessions that became Laru Beya he revealed his tireless, playful love of making music on the fly—sometimes for hours at a time, lying in a hammock with his guitar, late into the night. Senegalese Afropop legend Youssou N’Dour selected Aurelio as his protégé in 2009 and encouraged Aurelio to channel his virtuosity, to balance his evanescent stage presence with reserve until just the right moment. N’Dour also contributed his unique vocal abilities to several songs on Laru Beya, including “Wamada.” Aurelio visited Dakar visiting clubs, where groups like Orchestra Baobab invited Martinez up on stage and later joined him in the studio, learning a verse of Garifuna lyrics phonetically, a first for non-Garifuna musicians. Baobab join Aurelio on two tracks.

While Aurelio has the gift of spontaneous creation, his compositions are solidly rooted in the traditions he grew up with. At the heart of every song on Laru Beya beats a traditional Garifuna rhythm, and not just the most widely known popularized rhythms of punta (“Ereba”) or paranda (“Ineweyu”) familiar to fans of Central American music. Aurelio uses rarely recorded rhythms such as the sacred ugulendu or the African-inflected abeimahani rhythm, connected with women’s singing. To deepen the sad tale of migration to the U.S., Aurelio concluded the song “Tio Sam” with part of a traditional female song set to the abeimahani beat, sung by a chorus of Garifuna women.

Many of the songs on Laru Beya draw on traditional refrains, little pieces of old melodies that intrigued Aurelio and his long-time friend, producer, and musical collaborator Ivan Duran, who was intimately involved in the album’s distinctive arrangements.

They also drew on family heirlooms, including songs Aurelio’s mother had written, such as the moving “Nuwaruguma,” about a mother’s star watching over her son. When recording his version, Aurelio couldn’t recall all the lyrics and called his mother, who lives in Brooklyn, New York. After giving him the missing words, she chided him for not inviting her to sing with him, an omission he corrected once she visited Honduras.

Beyond the beauties of Garifuna tradition and Aurelio’s striking interpretations lay the true guiding force behind the album: the loss of one of the Garifunas’ most eloquent and musically talented spokespeople, Andy Palacio.

Palacio, who passed away suddenly in 2008, can be credited with transforming the music of the Garifuna from local curiosity to global icon. He won regional popularity as the powerhouse behind punta rock, a Garifuna-rock synthesis that broke onto the Central American scene in the 1990s. Then in 2007 came his groundbreaking, chart-climbing, international award-winning album, Wátina (Cumbancha Records), a recording that truly put Garifuna music on the map and garnered Palacio global acclaim.

“The last time I was with Andy in Belize, he took me many places, like he had never done before. Every Garifuna community where we went, he would ask me to speak to the youth and sing Garifuna songs to them,” Aurelio remembers. “He also promised he would take me to his village of Barranco but we never got there. I was surprised by the humble way in which he lived. But at the same time he was very sophisticated.”

A mere month after Andy’s death, Aurelio, Duran, and the talented Garifuna musicians who joined them on Laru Beya headed for a small fishing village, where they set up a studio in a beachfront house. They were often joined by local singers and dancers, like the chorus of village women who stopped by to add their voices to the title track, “Laru Beya.” Recording and living by the sea for several weeks, they were still in grief and shock, yet they knew they had to do something amazing to honor Palacio’s life and work.

Yet Palacio’s impact was arguably even greater in his native land of Belize and in the surrounding Garifuna communities of Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, where his life inspired a new generation of Garifuna artists. “When we talked,” Aurelio explains, “we often discussed the rescue and preservation of the Garifuna culture and how to inspire the new generation to be proud of their culture.”

Musicians like Aurelio have been able to forge an innovative approach to Garifuna sounds thanks to Palacio’s willingness to try new arrangements while keeping true to Garifuna tradition, adding new instrumentation to the drums and vocals characteristic of most Garifuna music.

“When Aurelio and I were talking about how to approach the arrangements for the album, we became convinced that it had to be forward looking and tear down all the barriers,” Duran reflects. “Andy allowed Garifuna artists to break free and be as creative as they wanted, free to go in any direction they wished. They don’t have to be totally true to their roots, because Andy’s work was very far from traditional music, but still clearly Garifuna.”

Music On The Couch This Monday

MUSIC ON THE COUCH 

MONDAY, JANUARY 10, 2011
10pm Eastern; 9pm Central; 8pm Mountain; 7pm Pacific
Archived on Tuesday morning and forever HERE

Subscribe Via

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This week:
VALERIE JUNE
and
TONI DODD
sit on
THE COUCH

With only a few weeks until the blues world descends upon Memphis, TN,
for the International Blues Challenge (IBC) we bring you
two performers who will be competing for honors.

Ms. Valerie June is the Memphis Blues Society representative in the Solo/Duo category.

A wonderful vocalist and guitar player Valerie crafts what she calls “Organic Moonshine Roots Music.” With only about 5 years of playing experience, her talent seems endless.

A featured performer on the Emerging Artist Stage at this past Biscuit Festival, Valerie is on track to be a big name in the near future. We get to talk to Valerie and listen to her music.

Then Ms. Toni Dodd will join us. Front woman from the band Toni Dodd and Southbound Blues, they are the Santa Clarita Valley Blues Society entry into this years IBC, as they were back in 2004.

They play a well blended mix from time tested Blues, R&B. Swing, Jump Blues, Texas Boogie, and Second Line to their own brand of well-crafted original material.

We will talk to Toni about their upcoming trip and listen to music from their album God Loves The Blues.

We will take your calls and questions for both guests at 1.347.633.9400. 

The live interactive chat room opens 20 minutes before show time. Follow this link HERE and click on the Chat Now icon. Come hang with the fans and musicians who visit each week.

Remember, unless you take the two minutes to register, you will not be able to participate in the chat room or send me questions to ask our guests, but you will still hear the show.

So tune in on Monday evening or remember, you can always listen anytime after the show ends from the player HERE or check out Music On The Couch for additional artist information, and show recaps. 

You can download to your iTunes and even subscribe to the show for weekly automatic downloads, from my iTunes page. 

Video Wednesday

Music On The Couch This Monday

MUSIC ON THE COUCH 

MONDAY, JANUARY 10, 2010
10pm Eastern; 9pm Central; 8pm Mountain; 7pm Pacific
Archived on Tuesday morning and forever HERE

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This week:
HOLLY LONG
and
the band
IRONWOOD RAIN
sit on
THE COUCH

Silky vocals with a funky/soul sound and an acoustic pop sound from a quartet.

Holly Long is the complete package. The Venice, CA native is a songwriter, musician and giver. Her music consists of a pop/funk/soul hybrid style, that will catch your attention from the first note.

She is a survivor, who was almost kept from sharing her music with us.

Ms. Long also gives her time and talents working with many charitable and community support organizations.

We will sit with Holly and talk about her journey and the obstacles she encountered along the way and her current album, Frequency.

Then the band Ironwood Rain from Colorado will join us. This quartet have been described as "the bastard, yet comely lovechild of Crosby, Stills & Nash, the Eagles and Jethro Tull."

Their acoustic adult contemporary sound and mellifluous harmonies will give you cause to smile.

Longtime Coloradoans, the band shares with their audience strong mountain states sensibilities: a pioneering spirit and history, commitment to family, community, social justice and a loving connection to the natural beauty that surrounds them.

We will hear selected cuts from their self titled album.

We will take your calls and questions for both guests at 1.347.633.9400. 

The live interactive chat room opens 20 minutes before show time. Follow this link HERE and click on the Chat Now icon. Come hang with the fans and musicians who visit each week.

Remember, unless you take the two minutes to register, you will not be able to participate in the chat room or send me questions to ask our guests, but you will still hear the show.

So tune in on Monday evening or remember, you can always listen anytime after the show ends from the player HERE or check out Music On The Couch for additional artist information, and show recaps. 

You can download to your iTunes and even subscribe to the show for weekly automatic downloads, from my iTunes page. 

GRAMMY Nomination Shines Light on an Untold Story: Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon’s Soul Call Creates a Community “Totally Lost” in Song

http://www.worldmusicwire.com

When the GRAMMY nominations were announced earlier this month, a light shined on the untold story of a singer little-known in the music scene. This is the tale of a woman who scoured every corner of the planet in search of soulful music, while climbing the elite ranks of business circles. After years of intense study, she is taking an ancient song form normally sung on streets and in homes, and sharing them in service to others. Her name is Chandrika Krishnamurthy Tandon and her album, Om Namo Narayanaya: Soul Call has been nominated for a GRAMMY in the Best Contemporary World Music Album category, alongside musical greats like Béla Fleck, Bebel Gilberto, Angelique Kidjo, and Sergio Mendes.

Soul Call is more than music. The eight songs were composed around a single eight-syllable chant that is over six thousand years old. Chandrika composed each song to follow a different Indian raga. She recruited global sarod maestro Tejendra Narayan Majumdar to create arrangements using over 30 acoustic Indian classical, folk, and Western instruments including the vibraphone, acoustic guitar, and bass. It features renowned, master Indian musicians recorded in Calcutta and New York.

The eight syllables of this chant—Om Na Mo Na Ra Ya Na Ya—are believed to form a protective armor around the body. “These syllables are literally vibrations from the ancient Vedic tradition handed down from generation to generation,” explains Chandrika. “Many traditions have incredible healing mantras whether in Africa, Brazil or Tibet. I can’t tell you in detail how they work; some things are beyond explanation. You have to experience it yourself.”

“The beauty of Chandrika’s music comes from her focus on excellence in everything she does,” says Soul Call’s engineer John Kiehl, co-founder of NYC’s legendary Soundtrack Recording Studios, who has worked with Roberta Flack, LL Cool J, and Mariah Carey. “Soul Call is barrier-breaking. Of course, this album is rising to the top.”

For years, music was in Chandrika’s soul, but not in her cards. “As a child, I sang in school music choirs and won awards, but it was not ‘proper’ in my family to pursue a career in music. In business school in India, I would finish my coursework and go into a music room stocked with just a few albums,” Chandrika remembers. “My yearbook says ‘She killed us softly with her song,’ because I would listen to Roberta Flack, Neil Young, or Sergio Mendes albums ten times in a night, until three in the morning.”

Chandrika has come a long way since her arrival in New York 30 years ago. She showed up with only 24 dollars in her pocket, hired by McKinsey, America’s most prestigious management consulting firm. With her first paycheck, she went out and bought a Martin Guitar and a great hi-fi, so she could finally hear her favorite music in stereo, sleeping on the floor for six months till she could finally afford furniture.

But all that changed. Her career flourished, she was elected a company partner (the second woman to do so), and she formed her own company winning many accolades. She traveled the world constantly, from Australia to Amsterdam; from festive Brazil to war-torn Beirut. In each culture, Chandrika would seek out local musicians, learning the local language through music. In Salvador, Bahia, she followed Carnaval bands on the streets. In Beirut, she traveled miles to attend the Baalbeck International Festival, held among Roman ruins. In London and Paris, she pored over record stores' bins. Back home in New York, she attended her favorite concerts two or three days in a row. She worked in numbers and strategies; she dreamt in music.

The intense yearning for music was bursting to get to center stage in Chandrika’s life.  “I woke up one day when my daughter was starting high school and realized that, though I had reached many measures of business success, I had not connected with my deepest self, my life’s purpose,” says Chandrika. “I went on a journey going back to who I am. I asked myself what makes me happy. And it struck me that all of my happiest moments in life go back to music! I needed to pursue my passion for music and share it with everyone.”

Chandrika began seeking out extraordinary music teachers and performers; anyone that resonated that could give her a rigorous grounding in classical Indian music.  She’d travel to India for a week at a time to learn with a great maestro. One year she’d wake up at 4 am every weekend to drive from New York to Wesleyan for master classes with a Carnatic music professor, and be back by 10 am when her young daughter awoke. “I was a music seeker. I found ways to learn from the greats, whenever and wherever they would teach me.”

Even while she was getting a rigorous grounding in classical Indian music, Chandrika’s heart was always drawn to simple songs based on classical Indian scales; songs that made the joy of music reachable to more people. When she could not find what she wanted to sing, she started composing; hundreds of joyous compositions in classical scales, but with all the global music that was part of her spirit. “My soul is uplifted when I can sing with others.” Now she gets many calls to lead participatory singing events at yoga, meditation, and community service gatherings, and conducts musical choirs; all efforts to share music with love.

Chandrika has taken this mission of sharing one step further with her non-profit, deciding that all of the proceeds from her album are being donated to benefit organizations in the fields of community building, arts, and spirituality.

“This CD is about creating a circle of love,” says Chandrika “We are reaching out to each other; we are reaching each other’s hearts and souls through the beautiful sounds that the universe has given us a chance to create. Music breaks boundaries easier than words.”

Being a newcomer to the music industry, Chandrika extends this philosophy to her GRAMMY nomination. “This is about a shared celebration of music among musicians; I have met so many musicians that I now admire, they are such mind-blowing talents. I feel utter gratitude to those that took the time to listen, to share feedback, and to support an unknown like me.”

But it is not only musicians in the GRAMMY community listening to Chandrika’s voice. The Soul Chants Music fan page on Facebook which started with a trickle six weeks ago, is teeming with spontaneous testimonials from new fans worldwide—now over 12,000—each with their own story of listening to the album or how they integrate this music into their life.

“I am hearing your voice for the first time and am totally lost. Grammy or no Grammy your voice is like soothing balm on the soul,” wrote one fan. “I heard you sing last summer and was moved by the depth of your voice and what it evoked inside of me,” commented another. “This song has truly left me enchanted. I begin my day listening to this soulful song as it keeps me energized,” says a fan.

Where now? What next?  Chandrika says, “I live by a two-line quotation from a Sufi mystic: ‘When I was there, the divine was missing; When I left, the divine took over.’ My quest is to lose myself.”