Unga Dalaspelmän

 

Folkmusik i Sverige

UNGA DALASPELMÄN

Traditionsinspelningar 5 från Svenskt visarkiv/Dalarnas muséum

Folk music of Sweden

YOUNG MUSICIANS FROM DALARNA

Traditional recordings 5 from the Swedish archiv/Dalarna museum

Caprice Records, 1974, CAP 1096

 Sweden is known for its rich fiddling tradition. This tradition has been handed down over the seventies and the eighties to the younger generation. This is the point of this LP which focuses on 18 young fiddlers all from the region called Dalarna one of the strongholds of Swedish musical tradition.
These fiddlers play mostly in duets, trios and quartets without any backing; so they might be qualified as revivalists but they are as close as possible to the original versions. They were born between 1942 and 1956. Among the names mentionned in tune titles we find great fiddlers like B. Anders or L.Åhs.  Since the eighties this repertoire found its way to folk bands with swedish and european instruments.
Notes in Swedish and English.

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L'alouette/Zamfir

 GHEORGHE ZAMFIR ''L'ALOUETTE''

''THE LARK''

Philips, 1974, 6329 143

This is another very good album by G. Zamfir and a small band. Are playing along : the great fiddler Efta Botocă, Pantelimon Stîngă on cymbalum, Petru Vidrean on double bass for the rhythmic-harmonic section. Other soloists are Dorin Cuibariu on taragot, Ion Mihaescu on clarinet and Marin Chişăr with his great style on fluier. All the tracks have been given French names but the original Rumanian names are mentionned too.  We can listen to Chişăr 's unmistakable way of playing on the last track (B5) with one hora followed by a brîul. There is a good version of ''the Lark'' on B1 between Zamfir and Botocă.

 

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Rahmi Saltuk

 

RAHMİ SALTUK

PİR SULTAN ABDAL

DOSTTAN DOSTA : 1

no label, 1973, Pir 73001

This album recorded in mono was made in Sweden. I believe it was published at author's expense.
Dosttan Dosta means Friend to Friend and is the title of a series;  the LP is about Pir Sultan Abdal the famous poet, philosopher and leader of the Alevi in 16th century Anatolia.
R. Saltuk was born in 1945 to a peasant family in the area of Tunceli. He managed to go to school and became a teacher. He started to sing and play the saz when he was 15 years old. I don't know whether he stayed in Turkey or if he migrated to Sweden; maybe it was easier in 1973 to record some Pir Sultan Abdal's songs in Sweden rather than in Turkey ?
He has a warm voice and sings in a sober manner which suits that kind of repertoire.
I have to say that the last track on side A (A6) and B (B5) present the same flaw : a saturation on some notes. Although it's disturbing I kept them for those who understand the lyrics.
Notes in Turkish only

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Koma Rozerîn 1

 

KOMA ROZERÎN 1

KURDISH FOLK MUZIK

DELÎLO-ŞEMAMÊ-KOÇERI-KEÇIKÊ

KRAL MÜZIK

Another band of the type of Koma Dilan with singing and electric saz, zurna and keyboards. This tape was perhaps made in 1999. The group was formed in 1997 in Turkey and is by now a well known and active band. As usual with that kind of production made for dancing several songs are sung one after the other. So on side A, songs 1 to 4 are CD track 01, songs 5 to 8 are CD track 02; on side B songs 1 to 4 are CD track 03 and songs 5 to 7 are CD track 04. 

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Qing feng ting 清風 亭

 

SELECTED WORKS OF MA LIANLIANG' S FAMOUS DRAMAS (1 - 2)

BEIJING OPERA / QING FENG TING

马连良名剧选集(一、二)

京剧 / 清风亭 

China Records, 1988, ED - 131

 Recorded in 1962, these two tapes feature the great opera singer/actor Ma Lianliang who lived from 1901 to 1966. He was known for his old man roles and was considered one of Beijing opera ''four great beards''.
During the cultural revolution Mao criticized him which led to the assault on Ma by Red Guards in the street where he got his legs broken; Ma died soon after of his injuries.

The opera Qing Feng Ting (the clear breeze pavilion) is the story of Jibao who is separated from his mother immediately after his birth because of his father's jealousy. Zhang Yuanxiu (played by Ma) and his wife, a childless old couple who make a living by making tofu and straw sandals, find the baby boy. They name him Jibao and love him dearly as their own son. Thirteen years later, Jibao accidentally runs into his natural mother at the Clear Breeze Pavilion, who insists on having her son back.
Compelled by natural motherhood and hoping for a better future for the boy, old Zhang reluctantly lets Jibao go. The loss, however, deprives the old couple of their joy, hope and health. Everyday they pine for their boy, haunting the Clear Breeze Pavilion. Years go by, and finally good news comes: the young man wins the top place of the imperial examination, and will go by the Pavilion on his way to his new post. Overjoyed, the old couple hasten to meet him there. Jibao, however, vain and ungrateful, has always resented his humble background. Puffed up by his new government title, he openly renounces his foster parents, disdaining them as hoaxing beggars. When beseeched by his servant, he casts two hundred copper coins to be rid of them. Heartbroken, the old couple smash their heads into the column of the Pavilion. Showing no sign of remorse, the ungrateful son sneers at their “imposture” and resumes his journey. 

Information found in Vision and Revision of Filial Piety: Analogues and Adaptations of King Lear in
Chinese Opera by  Bi-qi Beatrice Lei, assistant Professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, National Taiwan University.

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des Andes aux Caraïbes

 

DES ANDES AUX CARAÏBES

FOLKLORE VIVANT RECUEILLI ET ENREGISTRE EN COLOMBIE
PAR GERARD KREMER

FROM THE ANDES TO THE  CARIBBEAN

LIVE FOLKLORE COLLECTED AND RECORDED IN  COLOMBIA
BY G. KREMER

Riviera,  no date, 521197C

Colombian traditional music was totally new to me thanks to this LP which was issued probably in the early seventies. Although Andean music from Argentina, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador was widely performed by many bands in France, Colombia was quite ignored at the time. This LP although more or less well recorded was a good way to have a glimpse of the various types of music with new instruments like the marimba, the bandola, the tiple, the chirimia or the gaita. Now it is easier to get good Colombian singers and musicians on CDs. So G. Kremer the ''sound hunter'' as he was dubbed on French Radio France had an important role in spreading those exotic musics. Black, Indian and metis styles are presented here from almost all the regions of the country.
Notes in French only.

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Bulgarian dining table songs

 

BULGARIAN DINING TABLE SONGS

 Българска Трапеза

 

Balkanton, 1981, BHA 10578 

This is a compilation from the huge Balkanton catalogue with ''Balkanton artists''. This is about what Bulgarians call ''table songs'' or slow airs. So every single track starts with such an air but most of the time it is followed by a dance tune. The solo instruments are the gadulka, the kaval, the gajda, the violin, the accordion and the saxophone. Some of the players are quite famous like Atanas Vulchev or Ibro Lolov; others are less known like Ivan Boichev on fiddle. The soloists are backed by  full folk orchestras with the arrangements so appreciated in Bulgarian national folklore during the Communist period. One band is smaller and closer to traditional bands : the Strandzha Group with kaval, gajda, tambura and tapan.

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Macedonian Folk Dances

 

MACEDONIAN FOLK DANCES VOL.1

Folkraft, no date, LP -15

 The American label Folkraft was founded in 1946 and published folk dances and square dances records. Here we have the first volume of a series of three about Macedonian dances. It is the result of a trip made by Dennis Boxell (''America's leading expert on Jugoslav folk dances'' says the back cover) in 1964. He and Ricky Holden then selected 36 recordings for this series.
The music is performed by traditional musicians on zurla, tapan, gajda and kaval as well as local folk orchestras. Nothing exceptional on this album except for the gajdas duets with tapan : they play in fact one after the other but never together, just keeping the drone on while the other gajda plays the tune. Something I rarely heard before.There is also one brass band.

 

 

 

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Afghanistan

 FOLKLORE ET MUSIQUES DE L'UNIVERS

FOLKLORE AND MUSICS OF THE UNIVERSE

AFGHANISTAN

BAM, 1957, LD 5337

Another album from that series ''Folklore et musiques de l'Univers'' with recordings made by Alain Delapraz from the Museum of Ethnography of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. He spent 5 months looking for musicians in different parts of the country. This album was first issued in 1957 with another cover and I think reissued with this cover but without a precise date. Like for the other albums of this kind information are sparse enough but Delapraz gives some descriptions about Afghan folk music in general in French.
Some tracks are familiar to the connoisseurs but track A1 (2) features one santoor and  two tablas. The santur/santoor is rare enough in Afghanistan. Track A4 has some sitar/cetar music and track A2 is a song showing the long hindustani influence. Note that track A1 is divided in two parts.
At the time all these LPs were the only way we could discover other sounds and cultures at a good price with a minimum of information. As a kid this LP hooked me by the ears and was the beginning of a long search for cultural diversity. 

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INEDIT 1 (Azerbaijan-Tuva-Bashkiria)

 

INEDIT 1 - ASIE CENTRALE

AZERBAIDJAN  TOUVA ET BACHKIRIE

UNPUBLISHED 1 - CENTRAL ASIA

Maison des Cultures du Monde, 1985

Based in Paris, this ''House of the World's Cultures'' was founded in 1982 by Cherif Khaznadar. It became a very important and worldwide institution through publications, concerts and festivals, studies in the field, lectures, etc... The label ''Inédit" was launched by Françoise Gründ in 1985 and this LP was the first one of a long series. 900 copies only were published and mine is n° 393. It has not been reissued yet.
Side A is dedicated to the Azeri mugam with the singer Talat Kassimov (with tar and kemanche); side B features the singer from Tuva Tumat who plays also the lute shamseh and Bashkir kuray player Ishmullah Dilmukhamedov. Kuray music is rare enough. These recordings were made in december 1983.

 Unfortunately, track B6 has a crack I couldn't get rid of but the LP is otherwise in good shape. 

The notes are in French only by Dr Habib Hassan Touma for the Azeri part and by F. Gründ for the Siberian part. 

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