Кыргыз Күүлөрүнүн Антологиясы (1)

 

Кыргыз Күүлөрүнүн Антологиясы

Биринчи бөлүм

ANTHOLOGY OF KYRGYZ MELODIES (PART ONE)

Melodiya, 1974, M30 35579, 35580

This is the first album of a box set  of seven about different aspects of Kyrgyz traditional music. When I got access to these LPs during the eighties I didn't copy all the tracks leaving aside the spoken ones. Album one is dedicated to melodies played on the komuz by several players including Shekerbek Sherkulov.
Side A is divided between ''Kambarkandar'' and ''Botoylor'', side B between ''Kezberder'' and ''Shangyramalar'' corresponding to different types of tunes.
Each section is introduced by a presentation read in Kyrgyz; it is those tracks that are missing.

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the Badlands Singers

 THE BADLANDS SINGERS 

Assiniboine-Sioux Grass Dance

Indian House, 1974, IH 4101

The label Indian House was founded in 1966 in Taos New Mexico. Their catalogue has over 150 titles of authentic Native American musical cultures.
The Badlands Singers gathered in 1972 to revive the Badlands Celebration held at Brockton until the mid 50s. Eight singers were part of this band and they toured extensively during the two years between 1972 and 1974.
The Assiniboine are part of the big Sioux linguistic family. After migrating from the South-East they settled in the USA and in Canada. They call themselves ''Nakota'' and most of them live in reservations. The grass dance is relatively recent and comes probably from men's pow wow dancing originating in the warrior societies on the Northern Great Plains.
Although ''modern'' in style it is a kind of music that might be difficult to listen to but as for other traditions we must not try to compare it to things we know; listening a lot to it allows to understand a bit better and even to enjoy it ! Just listen to the dynamic of the voices and the feeling of power emanating from these performers.

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Bhimsen Joshi

 

BHIMSEN JOSHI 

ragas yaman-kalyan - multani 

EMI - The Gramophone Company of India Limited, 1967, EALP-1321

This is Joshi's fifth album (in mono) recorded for EMI-India. One of the greatest vocalists in the Hindustani classical music he died in January 2011 at the age of 88. Some of his recordings have been re-issued on CDs but I don't think it is the case for this one unless as part of a compilation.
He sings two poems on side A : Ay piya bin kaise taroge (bilampat-japtal) and Eeri ali piya bin (drut-teental). On side B : Gokul gaamka chhora (bilampat-ektal) and Kangan mundariya mori (drut-teental).
Accompaniment by Eknath Thakurdas on harmonium (very discreet) and Chandrakant Kamat on tabla.
In spite of a relatively poor sound quality it is easy to be taken by the Pandit's excellent rendition especially the way he mastered the taans sections.

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Fest noz Cadoudal

 

FEST-NOZ CADOUDAL

Document

Arion, 1975, ARN 33314 

As you certainly know, fest noz means ''night party'' in Breton but this translation doesn't give the real meaning of what it is really. Originally, peasants in different parts of Brittany used to get workers from the area in order to carry out big works like harvesting as quickly as possible. That could last for a few days or more depending on the size of the fields. Once the day's work done the head of the farm organised a kind of party for the workers and his own family with singing, dancing, games etc.. until late. All this disappeared after World War II with the mechanization of agriculture. But one man Loeiz Roparz (himself the son of farmers and traditional singing lover)) had the idea of setting up another kind of feast for local people in Central Brittany around 1955. Same dancing, story telling etc... but not linked anymore to the farm. It was so well recieved that very soon evenings were held in city halls or outside with paid singers and musicians (sonneurs) and the public had to pay a fee.
Here this fest-noz was held in the memory of Etienne Rivoallan a bombard player and teacher who died in a car accident in January 1961 at the age of 29. The recordings were made live on the 25th of November 1961 at Maël-Carhaix. Many traditional singers and only 3 couples of ''sonneurs'' were invited to this tribute to Rivoallan whose work to promote Breton culture and music was very important at that time before the revival of the 70s.
Great singers like the Morvan brothers, the Goadec sisters, Greunel and Bolloré shared the stage with other local singers from different parts of Brittany. The musicians were Daniel Phlippe, Pierre Guillou, Yann Péron. Was also present  Georges Cadoudal who was Rivoallan's partner on the highland bagpipe called biniou braz in Brittany. Hence the title of this album I suppose. Dance tunes and songs alternate with songs to listen to (like track B 3 with a Bigouden lullaby).
Text in French.

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Ma Lianliang

 

中国戏曲艺术家唱腔选(二): 京剧――马连良

            Chinese Opera Artists Singing Selections (II): Beijing Opera - Ma Lianliang 

 China Record Co., 1983, DM 6229

Ma Lianliang was famous for his roles as ''old men with a beard''; I already posted a double cassette about him in November 2021. Most of the actors used to specialize in certain characters; ''laosheng'' is the name of that character of the old man with a black or white beard in Beijing opera. It is said that Ma based his style of singing on Tan Xinpei's (1847-1917).
This is a compilation of recordings made in the 50s and 60s with extracts from 6 operas.

On side A :

track 1 : 借东风 (taking advantage of the East wind recorded in 1959)

tracks 2 and 3 : 四进士 (the four masters in 1963)

track 4 : 赵氏孤儿 (the orphan of the Zhao in 1961)

Side B : 

track 1 : 甘露寺 (Ganlu Temple in 1961)

tracks 2 and 3 : 打登州 (Playing Dengzhou in  1955)

tracks 4 and 5 : 空城计 (The  Empty City ruse in 1962)

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