Kan ha diskan en Pays vannetais

 

KAN HA DISKAN EN PAYS VANNETAIS

KAN HA DISKAN IN THE  COUNTRY  OF VANNES

Arfolk, ?, TH 704

Kan ha diskan is a Breton expression to designate the action of singing in pair. It could translate as ''call/singing and respond''. When two singers are involved the second singer (the diskaner) sings the end of a line with the leading singer; then the leading singer the kaner) sings the end of the line with the diskaner and so on. It is called ''tuilage'' in French (tiling) This is the way it is done generally in Brittany except in the country of Vannes. There that technique is not used; the two singers never sing together. Another characteristic of traditional way of singing around Vannes is that several singers repond to the leading singer as it is the case here.
The area where the local dialect is spoken( gwenedeg in Breton) is quite large. The repertoire perfomed here comes from the Southern part near the Bay of Quiberon (Carnac, Plouharnel).
These singers formed a band called An Trouzerion (meaning ''the noise-makers'') and recorded three albums, this one being the first. Five singers (all males) lead the dances each in turn. The oldest of them was Job Kerlagad. Others were quite young at the time. There were seven of them all together.
The dances are : laride, en dro (an dro), trikott which is a mix between en dro and hanter-dro, hanter-dro and kas-abarh another form of en dro. All were traditionally danced in circle with everybody who would like to join in. Now it is quite different in modern festoù-noz.
There is one song to listen to performed in the same way (A4).
Jorj Belz, one of the diskanerion, wrote the introductory text in Gwenedeg and French and he insisted on the fact that this language is in danger since nothing is done at state level to organize courses in primary schools and the fact that of course all the big media are in French. He says that a dance song sung in Breton in a non-Breton environment (meaning that doesn't understand it) is a dead song even though it is possible to dance to it. So he urged the young generation to pick it up before it is too late.  Gwenedeg is still alive but for how long ? (the same question applies to the other Breton dialects).
Arfolk was created in Lorient in 1967 but was bought by the Coop Breizh in 1985.

Lyrics in Breton with translation available.

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TZIGANE !

 

TZIGANE !

Songs and dances of the Balkan Gypsies

Monitor,  1972, MSF 747

 Monitor, American label, issued this LP with the Bulgarian label Balkanton. This is a good example of what was the mainstream Gypsy culture in Bulgaria before what is called ''wedding music" changed the musical scene in Bulgaria at the end of the eighties. But whatever the mode of expression Gypsies in Bulgaria always had complex and difficult relations to the socialist state and still are discriminated in post-communist Bulgaria. In the seventies the ethnic category ''gypsy'' was abolished and the word ''gypsy'' disappeared. There was also an attempt by the governement to force Gypsy citizen change their names when it was too obviously Turkish/Muslim for a more Bulgarian/Slavic one. 

The introductory text was written by Jan Yoors a Belgian who lived with Gypsies between the age of 12 and 22. He died in 1977 in New York; he published three books about Gypsy culture and  society. He spoke fluent Romani.
The singers and musicians here are Muslims based in Sofia. All the songs are in Romani.Four bands and six female and male singers perform urban Gypsy music with accordion, violin, trumpet, clarinet and darbuka. Among the musicians Ibro Lolov (accordion) and Hassan Chinchiry (violin and vocal) are the most famous.

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International Folk Music Festival-Szeged 1988

 

‘’A FELKELŐ NAP HÁZA’’

 Nemzetközi Népzenei Fesztivál * Szeged 1988

''THE HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN''

International Folk Music Festival * Szeged 1988

Hungaroton, 1989, SLPX 18157-58 

This double album was recorded live during the Szeged Festival. Only Hungarian bands and soloists are presented here all of them being part of the Hungarian revival also known as ''Táncház movement'' (Táncház mozgalom in Hungarian). Officially born on the 6th of May 1972 in Budapest, this revival went growing very quickly all over the country and beyond among Hungarian-speaking communities. By the eighties official support was given to folk events and venues hosting  folk dances evenings. It took  two years nevertheless to organize this first international folk music festival that was held on the 19-20th of August 1988.
Were present bands like Muzsikás, Téka, Méta, Ökrös etc... along with singers such as Márta Sebestyén, András Berecz, Irén Lovász, etc... Some formations were a mix of musicians from different bands as for the final set grouping no less than twenty-six musicians and singers.
All the lyrics in Hungarian are translated to English and available.

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Ալվարդ Միրզոյան (քանոն)

 

Ալվարդ Միրզոյան (քանոն)

Alvard Mirzoyan (kanon)

Melodiya, 1986, S 3u 23613 008

The kanon (or kanun, qanun ...) is a very old instrument in the Near East but I don't know exactly when it was used extensively by Armenian musicians although there are pictures dating from the Middle Ages showing this instrument. It seems that mostly men played it until the beginning of the XXth century when women became more numerous like Louisa Sedrakian or Angela Atabekian who is said to have been the first female kanun player trained by famous kanonist and composer Khachatour Avetissian among others. Knar (lyre) was an ancient name for the kanon. It replaced the santoor in modern folk orchestras.
A. Mirzoyan was born in 1956 but it's nearly impossible to get useful information about her training or career. I know that she played with Jivan Gasparyan's band.
Here we have a typical example of the Soviet idea about folk music whether Russian, Estonian or Armenian. Folk musicians were expected to get as close as they could to classical music (reading, virtuosity, harmonization, etc...). This is why, maybe, there are two classical-like pieces : the Venetian Carnival by Paganini and a sonata for kanon composed by Kh. Avetissian mentionned above. For this piece re-recording was used so that Mirzoyan could play three kanons. The ''classical'' aspect is also present on three other tracks where Mirzoyan is accompanied by forte-piano player Assia Gazaryan. These includes two pieces by Komitas who was himself a pioneer in the modernization of traditional Armenian music as well as a musicologist who saved or rediscovered old forms of liturgical chanting.
There is a composition by Sayat Nova of course as well as dances with dhol player Gagik Akhverdian.

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Bharata natyam songs

 

BHARATA NATYAM SONGS 

Sung by kalaimamani S. Rajeshwari
Nattuvangam : kalaimamani natyachelvam  K.N. Pakkiriswami Pillai

HMV, 1984, TPHVS 32511 

Bharata natyam is a major form of Tamil classical dance originating in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the oldest traditional Indian dances. A mixture of classical dance and martial arts, it has been linked to religious practices since its origin. The oldest description of this type of dance goes back to the second century CE. The practice of bharata natyam suffered in the 19th century from the devaluation of this art by the English colonisers for example by accusing the dancers of being mere prostitutes.The tradition was saved and then renewed during the 20th century, particularly after independence.There are different styles of bharata natyam. It is often a solo dance that is very difficult and long to learn. It is often taught today to young girls, but has remained open to boys. There are seven steps in a regular performance starting with a prayer to Ganesha and finishing with a mangalam a kind of blessing.

Here the singer is S. Rajeshwari, kalaimamani being the highest civilian award in the state of  Tamil Nadu. She is accompanied by a mridangam player and on some tracks by a flute player. No names mentionned. However another musician has his name on the cover : K.N. Pakkiriswami Pillai. This man is in charge of the nattuvangam without which dancing would be impossible. Nattuvangam is at the heart of the performance based on the thalam (taal) or rythmic cycle. He leads the dancer who must know perfectly the bases of her/his choregraphy. The nattuvanar is thus paramount and this is why his name is on the same level as that of the singer. He plays little cymbals and uses also syllables such as ''kita taka tari kita thom''.
Note that tracks A1 and A2 are one track so there are eight tracks instead of nine.

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ΤΟ ΚΑΣΤΡΟ ΤΗΣ ΘΡΑΚΙΑΣ

 

ΤΟ ΚΑΣΤΡΟ ΤΗΣ ΘΡΑΚΙΑΣ

THE CASTLE OF THRACE

Kariofyllis Dhoïtsidhis  Theopoula and Labriana Dhoïtsdhi

Pan Vox, 1985, SPV 16340

This tape is part of the collection ''Songs and dances from Thrace n°11'' here performed by a group lead by K. Dhoïstidhis who is credited with the entire programme (lyrics and music); of course  the repertoire is in fact traditional in its aspect. The Dhoïtsidhis are a well known musical family with Kariofyllis (vocal and outi) and his two daughters (vocals). They come from the village of Karoti near the Turkish border; the whole region lies between Bulgaria and Turkey and is called ''to kastro''. I supposed that the title of this tape and the last song refer to that area.
The instruments used here are clarinet, violin kanun, outi and toubeleki.

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Los Pampas

 

LOS PAMPAS / PAYSAGES D'ARGENTINE

flûte indienne.charengo.bombo.flautilla tucumana.guitares

LOS PAMPAS/ LANDSCAPES OF ARGENTINA

Disques Vogue, 1969, CLVLX 381

This is the first album out of two recorded by this excellent band of Argentinian musicians. Interestingly it was issued in France on a French label (as well as the second album). France was very much attracted to Latin American music generally speaking at that time and had been since the fifties; a lot a groups toured in France and Western Europe like Los Guaranis and Los Machucambos then later Los Incas, Los Calchakis, ... Los Pampas was led by Carlos Benn-Pott the kena player (also a member of Los Incas); he composed some of the tunes present on this album. Raul Maldonado on guitar and vocals was also an important musician for the diffusion of Argentinian music in Europe.
The repertoire is made of traditional dances and songs : chacarera, zamba, escondido, bailecito, cueca etc... The two zambas sung here are quite good and moving.
Argentina is a vast country with all sorts of musics, the tango being the most famous. Here Los Pampas play what I would call ''neo-folklore'' with tunes and songs originating partly from the Inca Empire and pieces from the pampa. Los Pampas were a band of nomadic people from various ethnic origins hence the name of that region in Argentina used by the Spanish afterwards.
Text in French.

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