Atay Ogonbayev

 

ATAЙ OГОНБАЕВ

KУУЛѲР ЖАНА ЫРЛАР

KYUS AND SONGS 

Melodiya, 1981, M30 43491-92

 Atay Ogonbaev was a famous singer and virtuoso komuz player who died in 1949. Here several players pay him a tribute by interprating some of his ''hits''.
Now, I got a copy of this album in the early 1980s when I used to go to a cultural center attached to the Soviet Union embassy. I didn't bother at the time with copying the covers but the texts only. So I had to get the covers for this LP which I found on http://records.su. But it seems that it is not the same edition because two tracks B1 and B2 are missing on my copy (Mash Botoy and Gul). Apart from that this is an excellent album.
Texts in Kyrgyz and Russian languages.

 

download.wav

ANTOLOXÍA DE LA CANCIÓN ALLERANA

 

ANTOLOXÍA DE LA CANCIÓN ALLERANA

ANTHOLOGY OF THE  ALLERAN SINGING

FonoAstur, 1988, FAL-8712

Aller (Ayer in Asturian) is a place in the Asturias near the border with the province of Castilla y Leon. There, people sing in a specific way with a powerful voice and a lot of melismas which evoke flamenco. But the origins of this kind of singing is still obscure. It is said that only Alleran people can sing that way.
The fact that Aller is in a mountainous area (the Esturbin is the highest peak at 2115 meters) has perhaps something to do with the use of a powerful voice. But other singers sing a bit like that elsewhere in Spain.

Here there are four singers (three men and one woman) considered as the best representatives of this style. They all took part in different sorts of singing contests and won at least once.
They sing three songs each without any accompaniment. If you like traditional Spanish singing in general you will love this album. Text in Asturian and partly in Castillan about two archeological artefacts.
FonoAstur was founded in 1987 in order to defend and promote the Asturian culture. 

download.wav

Macalla 2

 

MACALLA 2

Gael-Linn, 1987, CEF 122

This is the second and last album recorded by a big band of women called Macalla. The first one was issued in 1984 for International Women's Day.
Here there are 18 of them with 5 singers, 8 fiddle players, 2 flute players, one keyboard player, one concertina player, one harp player and one bodhran player. Some became quite well known later like Mary Mac Namara or Catherine Mac Evoy. There are 6 instrumental sets and  5 songs all in Irish coming from Ulster (Donegal) and Connaught. I find the use of the keyboard a bit too much sometimes but Patsy Broderick is good at it. The repertory includes one waltz from Donegal and a set of barn dances among the usual sets of jigs and reels. There are not much information but a short text in Irish. 

download.wav

Tradition de la Veuze

 

LA TRADITION DE LA VEUZE EN PAYS NANTAIS 

Chanteurs et musiciens de Bretagne N°2

TRADITION OF THE VEUZE IN THE NANTES REGION

Singers and musicians in Brittany N°2

Dastum, 1990, DAS-112 

I posted in August 2021 another tape released by Dastum. This is the second one of a series and focuses on the bagpipe called ''veuze'' (meaning bladder in the local dialect) which survived in the Pays Nantais and around until the revival in Brittany saved it from oblivion. This bagpipe is close to the Spanish gaita with one chanter equipped with a double reed and one drone (single reed). It probably appeared during the XIIIth century along with other types of bagpipes in Western Europe. According to some scholars the veuze was at some point played in a vast area in Western France. Now it is played again extensively thanks to pipe makers and pipers who were parts of the Breton revival. Here the veuze is played by several young musicians at the time : Thierry Moreau, Pierre-Yves Le Goff and Jean-Yves Séveno. With them are also present fiddle and diatonic accordion players as well as singers. The repertory is totally traditional except for one set (B3) which was composed by P.Y. Le Goff.
There is a booklet in French.
Dastum will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year (https://www.dastum.bzh/)

download.wav

booklet 

Festival of India

 

FESTIVAL OF INDIA PRESENTS

THE GREAT TRADITION

MASTERS OF MUSIC 

HMV, 1986, EALP-1453/54

Festival of India was a body which organised three exhibitions of painting, sculpture as well as series of concerts to international audiences until 1986. This double album is a compilation of the best singers and players in Hindustani and Karnatak musics. The aim was to allow young Indian people to rediscover that fantastic musical heritage.
There are 16 vocalists, among them Abdul Karim Khan, Gangubai Hangal or D.K. Pattammal and 9 instrumentists like Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan or T.R. Mahalingam.  The period covered goes from 1911 with Zohra Bai to 1982 with Doreswamy Iyengar. All the 78RPM are complete while recordings from the 1960s are excerpts of longer pieces. Some musicians were a discovery for me like the sarangi player Bundu khan (A2) or vocalist Krishnarao Shankar Pandit (A/6). One of the best tracks is the raag Nat Kamod sung by Kesar Bai Kerkar in 1946 (A5).
So this is an excellent way to discover old masters of the great Indian tradition.

 download.wav (1)

download.wav (2)

Kertalg 72

 

1er FESTIVAL POP' CELTIC 

KERTALG 72

1st POP CELTIC FESTIVAL 

Le Chant du Monde, 1972, LDX 74513

Four years after the festival of Wight, three years after Woodstock, and one year after the first Festival interceltique de Lorient  was held on the 13th of August a festival labelled ''celtic pop'' at Kertalg a mansion near Moelan-sur-Mer in South Finistère, Brittany. This festival lasted for three years between 1972 and 1974 but had to stop mainly because of the opposition coming from the municipality. Thus three records were released by the French famous label Le Chant du Monde.
The early 70s were a time of big changes after 1968 especially culturally when what was known as provinces or regions began to contest the position of Paris in the organization of the country. In Brittany the languages (Breton and Gallo languages) were another topic for a political evolution towards more acceptance of cultural diversity. Alan Stivell had really started his long career in February the same year at the Olympia in Paris. As he wrote himself this festival was ''an old dream that came true''. There was a ''international'' dimension to it with the participation of Irish and American singers.
On the French/Breton side were invited Les leprechauns playing Irish music, Ar Skloferien (Breton music), René Werneer on fiddle, the Goadec Sisters, traditonal singers, Alan Stivell, Katel ar Skanv and the bagad (or pipe band) Bleimor based in Lorient.
On the other side were invited Happy Traum and Doon a Moor.
Not everything is great musically but the goal of the festival was to bring on stage all sorts of  musical expressions. One the highlights is the singing of a lament by the Goadec Sisters with Stivell on the celtic harp. R. Werneer was Stivell's fiddler at the time but he performed on his own backed by H. Traum's guitar.
Texts in French only. 

download.wav

Ud Taksimleri

 UD TAKSİMLERİ (ERGİN KIZILAY)

IMPROVISATIONS ON THE UD BY  ERGİN KIZILAY

Kalite Plak, 1989, 257

 This cassette is part of a series about instrumental improvisations in classical Turkish modes or makam.
Here the ud is the only instrument played by E. Kızılay but he plays other instruments like the yaylı tanbur on another tape/album. Apart from the names of the makam no information are provided either about the player or the modes. Couldn't find anything on the net either.
Turkish ud is rare enough compared to Egyptian or Syrian production so I think this cassette is a good example of the greatness of Turkish ud playing. 

download.wav