Dirty Linen

One of the most loved and respected American guitarists and singer/songwriters, the immensely talented Michael Hedges, met with what many say was an untimely end after Thanksgiving 1997. Torched was Hedges' album in process at the time; it has been transformed into a tribute featuring songs and demos dating back to 1994.

Since his 1980 debut, Breakfast in the Fields, Hedges also released the now more meaningful Watching My Life Go By (1985), along with Live on the Double Planet (1987), Road to Return (1994), and the Grammy-awarded Oracle (1996). His 1984 album, Aerial Boundaries, escaped sophomore slump and is still considered by musicians and critics alike to be one of the most important acoustic guitar recordings. Hedges also fostered a reputation as an intense and enlightening live performer.

An interest in Eastern philosophies had developed into subjects for Hedges' songs over the past few years, and "Fusion of the Five Elements" and "Free Swinging Soul" reflect his admitted fascination with death and rebirth. "Free Swinging Soul" appears again on the compilation as a performance from a 1994 concert. Pals David Crosby and Graham Nash (who sang on 1990's Taproot) return to supply harmonies on the optimistic "Spring Buds." Hedges was comfortable with his mortality and "Rough Wind in Oklahoma" (his home state) was his "song about turning 40." Friends and colleagues affirm Hedges' outlook was quite positive in the months before his death. Perhaps Hedges was precognitive to a point, or at the very least , he found a way to infuse joy into his short but accomplished life. — Stacy Meyn (Alameda, CA)

They say there are only two things you can count on in life — death and taxes — but I suppose that with all the special-interest CDs flooding the market, this compilation CD and its accompanying book, a 'round the world tour of rituals associated with death, was just as inevitable.

Three experiences of the human condition unite all cultures: The sharing of food, expression of feelings via music, and ritualistic celebration through these means at the beginning and the end of life (and, perhaps, the high points in between). In spite of the subject matter at hand, this CD and book combo is most definitely not macabre. The package is equally weighted between the written word and the music presented on CD; neither alone would be very satisfying. There are short essays on the variety of rituals observed, food and its role in the rituals, the perception of life/death transitions in the major world religions, and speculation on what direction future rituals might take. But the extensive track listings make up the bulk of the book, giving many details of the cultural settings for the 17 tracks recorded at actual funeral celebrations around the world. From New Orleans brass bands to gamelan orchestras in Bali (Indonesia) to Native American songs, Mexico's Day of the Dead celebrations, funeral drums in Ghana, and pre-Christian Georgian chants adopted by Orthodoxy, the musical pieces included show diverse expressions of grief. Many of these pieces are celebratory in nature, expressing the life energy of the individual(s) who has departed, and, in some cases, contribute the energy needed to "push" the individual through the transition from this life to the next.

Many of the pieces are particularly affecting. The vocalizations of a Protestant (Christian) funeral eulogy by Pastor Ediemae Layne, an African-American woman, is spoken in cadences that are a form of music themselves. A Sufi qawwali from Pakistanian singers Asif Ali Khan and Manzoor Husssain Santoo Khan begins with plaintive longing, but soon turns ecstatic. "Music for the End of Mourning," an excerpt from Bokoto music of the Central African Republic, is a percolating piece played on two sanzas (wooden cases with metal strips fixed to them) while one of the players chants words of compassion for the bereaved family members. "Eyl Male Rakhamim" ("God Full of Compassion"), a mournful prayer from a service in the Ashkenazic tradition of Judaism, commemorates Jewish victims of the Crusades and the Holocaust, chanted without accompaniment by mezzo-soprano Janet Leuchter, whose voice carries a timeless sense of perseverance and strength.

Track credits bring full details of when, where, and by whom each track was recorded and address where the full recording might be obtained. The graphic design is exceptionally beautiful in its clear organization of a lot of information, accompanied by interesting and colorful photographs. — Susan Hartman (Baltimore, MD)

Shirley and Dolly Collins
For as Many as Will
Fledg'ling FLED 3019 (1999), reissue

For fans of 70s British folk music, this duo is of huge historical importance. Their classic records are all of a piece, and this, their final disc together (in 1978, 20 years before Dolly's death) has songs like "The Blacksmith" that are more familiar in versions done by well-known electric bands, a lovely piano and vocal rendition of Richard Thompson's "Never Again," and a medley from John Gay's "Beggar's Opera." All are infused with subtle musicality, quiet beauty, and spooky elements that even a gothic rocker would recognize.

By the time this disc came out, Shirley had already set the folk world on its ear twice, once with the diverse 1964 album Folk Roots, New Routes with guitarist Davy Graham, and again in collaboration with the Albion Band for 1971's No Roses. She was also the owner of one of England's most identifiable voices — though perhaps not as powerful as Maddy Prior's or Sandy Denny's, it is one of unquestionable uniqueness and charm. She was also a song source for many of the electric folk bands whom she befriended. Sister Dolly was a brilliant musical arranger, with a particular interest in medieval instruments, but equally adept on electronic ones, on which she had the ability to make an organ or synthesizer sound like a 500-year-old instrument. That they were able to work this odd combination of folk, medieval and contemporary music into something as charmingly quirky and fiercely independent as all of their records are is a testament to equal parts talent, uniqueness, and collaborations from guest artists like (on this recording) fiddler Barry Dransfield and premier medievalist Philip Pickett. They made some of the most haunting records of the whole folk revival, and they don't sound like anyone else, despite their huge influence on bands like the Albion Band and Fairport Convention. That influence is due to their being similar in spirit, in terms of blending forms of music that hadn't been put together before. — Dave Soyars (Panorama City, CA)

Debashish Bhattacharya
Hindustani Slide Guitar
India Archive IAM CD 1026 (1997)
Samir Chatterjee
Tabla
India Archive IAM CD 1028 (1997)

North Indian classical music can be awfully daunting to the uninitiated, but when it's served up as attractively as it is on these discs, listening is more than a dutiful excursion into cross-culturalism – it's out-and-out exhilarating. First up is Debashish Bhattacharya's masterly performance of Raga Bhimpalasi on an adapted archtop guitar. From the looks of things, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt's crown is about to be stolen by young upstart Bhattacharya, one of the most truly lyrical musicians playing in any style. His beautifully- constructed alap (a prelude in free rhythm) is riveting enough, but the blisteringly fast finish, a brilliant showcase for Bhattacharya's intense attack and boldly exact picking, is enough to hook most listeners for life. The notes include a fine essay by guitarist Mark Humphrey on the history of slide guitar technique in both India and the West.

Samir Chatterjee's solo tabla recital is every bit as melodic — and fascinating — as Bhattacharya's disc. Not only is Chatterjee a virtuoso tabla and pakhawaj player, he's a fine writer as well. He explains each individually indexed rhythmic pattern in detail, making this disc a must-have for aspiring tabla players. Percussionists will flip over his amalgam of pakhawaj and tabla patterns and technique — a supremely difficult combination that he plays with joyful ease. And Chatterjee's passion for playing makes his music all the more accessible and appealing. — Ellen Collison (Arlington, VA)

This is just some of the reviews in Dirty Linen #83 (August/September '99)
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