17 Macedonian folk dances

 

17 MACEDONIAN FOLK DANCES

EXCITING RHYTHM OF MACEDONIA PLAYED ON TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS 

BY THE "MACEDONIAN EARLY MUSIC BAND" OF THE  ŽIVKO FIRFOV 

FOLKDANCE GROUP

Goatbag Records, 1979, GB 1978

As the cover shows the folk dances on this LP are played on kaval, gajda, tambura and tapan. It was recorded in England (for Goatbag Records unknown label to me) by Chris Gunstone who is an ex-member of Blowzabella and is perhaps one of the tambura players. The information about these recordings are a bit confused. Are mentionned (in small print) Mile Kolarov on kaval, Lazo Nikolovski on gajda and Linzo and Kris on tambura; no name for the tapan player. It was produced by C. Gunstone and the band was  recorded with an Uher 4400 during a session in November 1978 before the departure of some members. It is thus a kind of ''field recording'' as it is called on the back cover.
The repertoire is quite interesting and very traditional especially the gajda solo on track B3 (Kukunesh). There is a booklet with the steps of the dances, musical scores and general information about Macedonia but it's not included here. 

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Azeri Mugams

 

AZERI MUGAMS

Азербайджанские Мугамы

Melodiya, 1980, S 30-17223-24

Here we can listen to Agahan Abdullaev  accompanied by an ensemble under the direction of Bahram Mansurov and Aliguli Ahmedov with Firhuddin Aleskerov on tar, Elman Badalov on kemanche and Vardan Avetisov on daf. Abdullaev sings the mugam rast while Ahmedov sings mahur-hindi.
Another good production by Melodiya for mugam lovers.

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TÜRKÜLER SEVDAMIZ 3

 

TÜRKÜLER SEVDAMIZ 3

OUR LOVE OF FOLK SONGS 3

TOLGA SAĞ  YILMAZ ÇELIK  MUHARREM TEMİZ  ERDAL ERZİNCAN

 Iber Müzik Yapım

These four singers and bağlama players are members of the Alevi community in Turkey. Of the four of them Erdal Erzincan is maybe the most known in France.Their association started in 1997 and this third tape is the last one. Each singer has his songs and they alternate with group singing and the result is very impressive. The notes are in Turkish only with the lyrics.  

I suppose you can find some information about Turkish-Kurdish Alevi people in English on the internet. I would recall nevertheless that these people are targeted by religious and civil authorities and are sometimes murdered as in the criminal fire of a hotel in Sivas in 1993 where 37 persons died when they gathered for the Pir Sultan Abdal festival. 

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Musique Soufi

 

MUSIQUE SOUFI ET CHANTS INEDITS DU XVe SIECLE

SUFI MUSIC AND UNRECORDED SONGS OF THE 15th CENTURY

Turquie/ L'aventure du monde par les sons
Turkey/Discovering the world through sound

KUDSI ERGUNER - NEZIH UZEL

GREM, 1985, DMC 503-1

Kudsi Erguner and Nezih Uzel are both from Turkey and share the same heritage from sufi masters. Uzel died in 2012 while Erguner is still active. He settled in Paris in 1975 and became very well known here through concerts, books and radio programmes; most of his discs were recorded and produced in France.

The notes (in English) are informative enough about the composers and the songs performed. Recorded in 1982 at the Senanque Abbey by Xavier Bellenger (who is also the editor) this LP really gives us a nice way to discover an old poetical and musical tradition through the voice, the ney and the bendir which are at the core of the Mevlevi  order (with ''dancing'' of course). 

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Ensemble Achalay 5

 

ENSEMBLE ACHALAY

MUSIQUE DES ANDES N°5

 

MUSIC OF THE ANDES N°5

Disques BAM, 1972 ?,  LD 5799

This band was founded in 1958 by Argentinian kena player and composer Ricardo Galeazzi. It is as old as Los Incas maybe even older. Argentina was the place were that kind of  music was created from traditional material and interpreted from an urban point of view. Los Pampas is another band along with Los Calchakis and Los Incas with Argentinian roots. Galeazzi plays Venezuelan tunes on his kena and two track with the accordion. They play pasillo, cueca, joropo, marinera etc...
Unfortunately the LP is not in very good shape again after hours of use ...
Text in French only.

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James Morrison

 

THE PURE GENIUS OF JAMES MORRISON

Masterpieces of Irish Fiddling

Shanachie Records, 1978, 33004

Michael Coleman is often mentionned as the greatest Irish fiddler of his time. But county Sligo gave birth to another great fiddler : James Morrison. In fact there were three of them with Paddy Killoran. They all emigrated to the US and made a career there.
This LP is really excellent and shows Morrison's infectious way of playing Irish dance music. During the 20s and 30s Irish music in America was extensively recorded by the major companies like Gennett, Columbia,  Victor, etc. These 78rpm were largely exported and sold in Ireland where people used to dance to them at  a neighbour's house equiped with a gramophone. Tracks A1, A4 or A7 are good examples of the energy and style of Morrison's solos or duets. These 78rpm were both a threat and an incitement to local musicians in Ireland because dancers could easily dance to Coleman/ Morrison's music and because some musicians tried to imitate their prodigious fiddling. These american records spread the Sligo style everywhere in Ireland.
This,LP was partially reissued on a CD called ''From Ballymote to Brooklyn''.
The notes on the back cover are quite informative about the musical life among Irish people in New York.

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the Star of Donegal

 

THE STAR OF DONEGAL
Fiddling Talk & Tunes
JOHNNIE DOHERTY

Folktracks, 1975, FSA-60=075

Johnnie Doherty (1900-1980) was indeed a real ''star'' in Donegal and beyond. This tape was recorded in 1952 by Peter Kennedy and Sean O'Boyle when Doherty was still a pedlar. There are tunes of course but also some talking about his family and way of life (4 tracks). This tape is part of a series about J. Doherty but this is the only one I have for the moment.There is a short text about his music.
So if you particularly like Donegal fiddling  you should listen to that ...

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