Recording Reviews

Gilberto Gil
Quanta Live
Atlantic/Mesa 92807 (1998)

Gilberto Gil
O Sol de Oslo
Blue Jackel BJAC 5031 (1998)

Gilberto Gil continues to reinvent himself in surprising ways. If you have forever associated his music with the Tropicalismo movement — listen again, listen anew.

Quanta Live gives listeners entre into another aspect of Gil. Live performance rarely duplicates recordings and vice versa. And for good reason: There's little to no fan feedback when you're taping in the studio's confines. Gil is one of those artists whose live performances seem fueled by the adoration. The resultant energy captured on Quanta Live from the 1997 Gil World Tour is amazing. The CD presents a mix of old and new Gil compositions. Surprisingly fun are two Bob Marley covers ("Is This Love" and "Stir it Up") sung in English. The audience is obviously having fun and Gil and his musicians are loose, and in fine form. The result is an ephemeral moment preserved for the enjoyment of those who missed the pleasure of witnessing this spectacle first-hand.

O Sol de Oslo is a unique project in which self-described Brazilian and global "backlanders," including Gil, Trilok Gurtu (percussion), Toninho Ferragutti (accordion) and Rodolfo Stroeter (bass), combine their respective musical talents and songwriting energies to create a musically diverse and enjoyable recording. No better way to start than the uptempo traditional "Tata Engenho Novo," with its rapid-fire Brazilian Portuguese lyrics. The transition from mournful ballad ("Mana") to rappish electric dance-beat ("17 Na Corriente") seems unlikely, but it works. What comes next? An easy rollicking, accordion-spiked jazzy number, more ballads ("Kao," "A Santinha La Da Serra" and "Bastiana") and even more "Rep." The surprises reveal less about the musicians' geographic origins and more about the amazing musical terrain open to exploration by all comers. - Linda Dailey Paulson
(Sacramento, CA)

Baaba Maal
Nomad Soul
Palm Pictures 2002 (1998)

Ernest Ranglin
In Search of the Lost Riddim
Palm Pictures 2001 (1998)

While there's no doubting his staggering ability as a singer, Maal, one of the biggest stars from Senegal, has in the past occasionally undersold himself with trite arrangements and slick production. Though there's some of that on this release, too, a variety of producers and musicians manage to unite behind his voice and produce a pretty consistent recording considering all the textures it uses, from the occasional kora and traditional percussion to synthesizer and drum machine. The last two mentioned do manage to do some harm to songs like "Fanta," that attempt to match slick dance textures with Maal's very emotionally charged voice. The voice, with an incredibly wide range, storytelling ability and a remarkable combination of vulnerability and power, deserves better. Some songs, like "Douwayra," have such a commercial sheen that it would be hard to tell them apart from any of a million other dance-pop recordings except for his presence. But thanks to some of the more sensitively produced songs, such as the trance-like "Lam Lam," co-produced by Brian Eno, one remembers the emotional power that Maal wields longer than the insensitivity of some of the beats. In the end, the voice wins out. But barely.

The best place to find the unencumbered Maal is actually on Ranglin's record. This brilliant CD is by a former guitar teacher for Bob Marley, recording with the best musicians and singers in Senegal, including Maal. If Ranglin were merely a good guitar player this would be a fascinating reggae/African crossover, but he is well beyond good, with the emotion of a great blues player and the chops of a jazz master. Ranglin clearly understands Jamaican and African rhythms and the connection between them. He is a sharp enough jazz player to have won awards for his electric guitar playing even before he became one of the leading session players in Jamaica, playing for Marley and Jimmy Cliff, among others. The title is appropriate, and the traditional grooves work very well with the electric ones (much more so than on Maal's record), particularly on the Maal-composed "Minuit," where his guitar plays a soulful duet with Kawding Cissokho's kora. The concept is simple enough, perhaps more mood than song oriented, but there are many moments of great beauty. Even the over 10-minute long "Haayo," which consists mostly of the title repeated over and over again with quick punctuation from Ranglin's lead guitar, is trance- rather than yawn-inducing. In addition to Maal, Ranglin is assisted by Mansour Seck, stand up bass player Ira Coleman, and many great traditional Senegalese musicians and singers. - Dave Beltane Soyars
(Panorama City, CA)

Foot-Notes
My Father Was a Fiddler
Foot-Notes (1998)

Foot-Notes is a band determined to show that the best in traditional music is often found by digging deeper rather than wider. In My Father Was a Fiddler, their second CD release, they continue to explore the Norwegian-American musical heritage of the bluff country of northeast Iowa around Decorah and Highlandville. While their earlier recording centered around music learned from one fiddler, Bill Sherburne, My Father Was a Fiddler draws on music from at least six local musicians. Foot-Notes' fiddle, bass, guitar, and mandolin are joined by pianist Ellen Blagen, daughter of fiddler Alfred Blagen, one of the main sources of tunes for the record. Waltzes are the primary fare on this recording, but a few polkas and schottisches, a Norwegian song, and a nice version of "Home Sweet Home" break up the triple meter. As with the earlier recording, the musicianship is superb and the production values first-rate. - Bruce E. Baker (Goose Creek, SC)

Various artists
River of Song: A Musical Journey Down the Mississippi
Smithsonian/Folkways SFW 40086 (1998)

In an age when the opportunity to experience a broad range of regional music and culture seems to have been all but blotted out by the imposition of uniformity through American mass-media outlets, this project comes as a breath of fresh air. This two-CD set is part of a much larger project that includes a PBS television series, a radio series, and a website (www.pbs.org/riverofsong), among other things. The series (and this CD set) explore the wide variety of regional and folk music that has evolved in the cultures associated with the Mississippi River.

The CDs are arranged as a musical travelogue covering four sections of the river from the headwaters in Minnesota, through the Midwest, the South and through Louisiana. The music is ordered in some cases to show associations; perhaps the oddest, though clearly related, pairing is between the Chippewa Nations' "Powwow Song" and Babes in Toyland, a Minneapolis punk band's "22." There are quite a number of reasonably well-known musicians on the album, including Spider John Koerner, Greg Brown, John Hartford, Fontella Bass, Levon Helm, James Cotton, Geno Delafose and Irma Thomas, as well as many rather obscure musicians.

This set is enjoyable either for listening as a diverse set of music that segues in interesting ways or as a set of music to think about and use as a basis for exploration along with the many other resources available in conjunction with this release. - Andy Allen (Towson, MD)