Various artists
Arhoolie Records' 40th Anniversary Collection:
1960-2000, The Journey of Chris Strachwitz
Arhoolie CD 491 (2000); 5 CDs

This superb five-CD collection is a fitting and proper tribute to the 40-year-old label, Arhoolie Records, and its dynamic founder-owner, Chris Strachwitz. Roots music (vernacular or regional music, as he calls it), performed with enthusiasm and passion, captured Strachwitz' spirit and soul when he heard it on radio and when he witnessed it live in California during the late 1940s, after his family immigrated to America. He became interested in the recording process and eventually formed his company in 1960, the year he traveled to Texas to search out and record some of the bluesmen who he remembered hearing on radio and old 78 r.p.m. singles. Strachwitz found some of them sooner (Lil' Son Jackson) or later (Lightnin' Hopkins) and discovered incredible talent new to him (Mance Lipscomb) in the Texas backwoods. Within a short time, he left his high school teaching position, transformed Arhoolie into a full-time venture, and continued to search for and record more of the music that moved him.

The LP-sized box set (with a 66-page book to match) is co-produced by Strach witz and writer Elijah Wald, and the latter established a ground rule which helped to create an extremely cohesive project. The only material included is "limited to Chris' own recordings, the ones that he made with his own hands on the equipment, or at least those at which he was present," stated Wald, "and that seemed like the [restriction]... that would produce the most personal and representative collection." Wald said he and Strachwitz "had a lot of fun trying to patch it all together into a sequence that would frame the various cuts and show them at their best." Their work is an unqualified success. Even if you own a goodly number of Arhoolie CDs, this set is worth acquiring because the sequencing of the music flows perfectly and is as integral as the text of the book in telling the tale of Strachwitz' musical journey.

Chronological arrangement of the 107 tracks (which include five previously unreleased selections) adds greatly to the personal aspect of this package, because you can trace the development of Strachwitz' interests and follow how Arhoolie branched out to cover more musical styles. Seventeen of the 25 cuts on Disc A: 1954-1965 are blues. There are songs from artists such as pianist Whistlin' Alex Moore, songster Mance Lipscomb, and guitarist Lil' Son Jackson, all from Strachwitz' first recording trip to Texas; more blues from Blind James Campbell and Fred McDowell, who were taped on his subsequent excursions to the South; and Arhoolie's earliest Cajun and zydeco sides from the likes of the Hackberry Ramblers and Clifton Chenier. The second disc, covering 1965 to 1971, also features a majority of blues, with Piedmont, Chicago, and West Coast styles from John Jackson, Earl Hooker, and harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite, respectively, adding to the Arhoolie blues mix. Strachwitz' growing interest in Mexican and Tex-Mex regional musics brought him to Coahuila, Mexico, in 1970, and a cut by Los Pinguinos Del Norte extends the reach of the label once again.

As the years progressed and many of the older blues artists passed away, Arhoolie's output of original blues decreased. There are only five blues tracks from 1971 to 1979, the period covered by Disc C, on which Tex-Mex, Cajun, and zydeco provide over 50% of selections. Included here are numbers from two then-elderly patriarchs of conjunto accordion, Narciso Martínez and Don Santiago Jiménez, Sr., vocalist Lydia Mendoza, and something from the soundtrack of a documentary about the sounds of the borderlands, Del Mero Corazon, which Strachwitz worked on with film maker Les Blank. More Clifton Chenier, along with a side from the accordion/ fiddle team Boisec Ardoin/Canray Fontenot, represents zydeco, and a song from an impromptu Cajun super session by Dewey Balfa/Marc Savoy/D.L. Menard is one of three Cajun offerings. Tracks from San Francisco Bay Area groups The Klezmorim and the all-woman Any Old Time String Band are evidence that Arhoolie supported all kinds of roots musicians from its home base.

By the time the 1980s rolled around, Tex-Mex squeezebox star Flaco Jiménez joined Arhoolie, and the label released LPs by the up-and-coming Cajun revival group Beausoleil. Two cuts on Disc D spotlight Jiménez, and four feature Beausoleil and/or its head honcho Michael Doucet. More Louisiana accordionists and fiddlers make their appearance, plus blues singer/pianist Katie Webster, the ReBirth Brass Band from New Orleans, hillbilly/honky-tonk singer Rose Maddox, and a mariachi group from Redwood City, California. The blues is gone by Disc E: 1992-2000, but there's a solid mix of roots music traditions representing many cultures, via the United States, such as Central American garifuna percussion by the ensemble Chatuye (from Los Angeles), vallenato accordion music from Colombia by Iván Cuesta (Baltimore), and Eastern European gypsy fiddling from the Holland-based band Csókolom (who grabbed Strachwitz' attention at a folk conference in Memphis), to go along with Cajun, Tex-Mex, a cappella gospel, and the hot, searing, sacred steel guitars of Aubrey Ghent, Sonny Treadway, and the Campbell Brothers.

The book contains over 120 photo graphs, and the thorough discographical information for each selection is followed by at least one or two paragraphs of annotation, with frequent quotes from the Arhoolie meister discussing the music, the recording sessions, and the artists. Sidebar articles on Strachwitz' Southern travels, Arhoolie's financial windfall for publishing Fred McDowell's "You Got to Move" (covered by the Rolling Stones), and musings on topics such as ethnic music audiences add depth to the publication and give an insight into Strachwitz' opinions. Arhoolie fans will note that compiler Wald's aforementioned restriction means that the wealth of material from the 1920s to the 1950s that Strachwitz licensed and reissued on Arhoolie is outside the scope of the collection. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful celebration of the man, the label, and the music, and it's a real masterwork, most highly recommended. — Al Riess (Buffalo, NY)

Susana Seivane
Susana Seivane
Green Linnet GLCD 3137 (2000)

Susana Seivane is the Tiger Woods of the Galician bagpipes. Although she is only in her mid-20s, Seivane has been playing the Galician bagpipes for over two decades. She was born into a family of Galician musicians and bagpipe luthiers and began playing a specially made set of pipes when she was three years old. The CD booklet includes photos of her performing at that early age, and they are reminiscent of the oft-seen footage of Woods golfing as a wee tyke.
Seivane's debut album is produced by fellow Galician Rodrigo Romani, who's also a member of the band Milladoiro. Romani plays guitar, bouzouki, keyboards, ocarina, and percussion, and he's joined by three other members of Milladoiro and a handful of other instrumentalists on accordion, violin, flute, bass, and percussion in support of the piper. Much of the music comes from or is rooted in the tradition of Galicia, the Celtic region of Spain, and there are quite a few dance tunes among the 13 tracks. The instrumental arrangements deployed are both scintillating and creative, and breathe an extra spark into the vibrant music of this region. "Jotabé," a tune and dance from Northern Spain, opens the recording in an upbeat, playful manner, and the bouzouki, acoustic guitar, electric bass, and djembe accompaniment to Seivane's lead bagpipes provides a good sample of the trad-meets-contemporary sound that is prevalent throughout the disc. "Pasacorredoiras de Ponteareas" is a two-part medley that starts off as a pasodoble which "we play in a slow 3/4, in a medieval mood," says Seivane, and the balance between synthesizer and pipes, oboe, and tin whistle gives the number both an ancient and futuristic feel. Part two is a revved up, driven piece that will get your feet tapping to the bass guitar and percussion layered atop everything else. Sonia Lebedynski contributes vocals to the beautiful and reflective song "Alalá de Vilalba" while the spare, moody "Maneo" finds Seivane singing along with Lebedynski.

Although other instrumentalists do some soloing and the many participants make this album a band effort, the focus is on Seivane's work on the pipes. Her playing is tasteful and invigorating on one of the best Celtic CDs of 2000. The booklet contains notes on all the songs in English and Spanish. — Al Riess (Buffalo, NY)

The Horse Flies
In the Dance Tent
Live and Kickin' LNK004 (2000)

The Horse Flies and Friends
Two Traditions: Balaphon, Banjo, Fiddle and Drum
Callin' the Kettle Black (2000)

String band music fans have acclaimed the Horse Flies from Ithaca, New York, as being one of the most exciting bands around, and, after 18 years of playing quirkily infectious music, the band may have outdone itself with these hoedowns. The band, including bass player John Hayward (who passed away in 1997, shortly after these recordings), got together with percussionist Jim Roberts and a few others to come up with a unique crossover of Appalachian music and African rhythms.

In July 1996, during the final performance of the 6th Annual Fingerlakes GrassRoots Festival, the Horse Flies played an intense set with the same three percussionists who were to join them in the studio a few months later. Three years after the live performance, the group found out that the show had been taped and they decided to release it as In the Dance Tent. If whirling dervishes had sprung up out of the Appalachians, this is the type of music to which they probably would have danced. String band music lovers and, to a lesser extent, African music lovers should find it difficult to listen to either of these albums without being moved (both figuratively and literally) by its beauty and its rhythms.
Four of the tunes from In the Dance Tent were redone in October 1996 for the Two Traditions sessions, but the mostly instrumental material (as well as the performances) isn't radically different from one CD to the other. Two Traditions combines an equal number of traditional tunes and originals to create a sound that comes across as both ancient and modern, tight and loose, serious and joyful. The combination of fiddle and banjo uke with talking drum, conga, kalimba, and balafon works like a charm. One might argue that the few well-known tunes, such as "Hangman's Reel," tend to get their melodies chopped off in the process of setting down a groove, but it's a small price to pay. Some tunes are played with just a few instruments to bring out their haunting quality. "Sugar Babe," for example, is played on banjo and electric mbira, and this minimalist approach works quite beautifully.
— Paul-Emile Comeau (Comeauville, NS, Canada)

Rokia Traoré
Wanita
Indigo/Label Bleu/Harmonia Mundi
LBLC 2574 HM 83 (2000)

Traoré is a 25-year-old Malian singer who is quickly being acclaimed as one of the country's, and indeed the continent's, bright new stars. As the daughter of a diplomat, Traoré was fortunate to spend her youth in close to half a dozen countries. Once her decision to become a singer was made, Ali Farka Touré became a mentor, and Traoré's debut album was very successful. All the songs on Wanita, her even more assured second album, are sung in Mamaran, except for one song that is in French. The 36-page insert includes lyrics in both Mamaran and French, with a summary in English that doesn't quite fully do them justice.

Traoré sings mostly about Malian society and its concerns, as well as about such themes as honoring one's ancestors. The title track, which draws from the philosophy of the ancients, is an inspirational song about attaining one's goals, while several songs encourage respect and compassion for others or warn against arrogance. "Souba" is an homage to sharing, while "Yaafa N'ma" contains a beautiful message of forgiveness for the mistakes and injustices of others. "Sako Be Ke" is a recognition that gratitude, humility, and hard work go hand in hand with a singer's fame. Traoré is also an inspiring role model to other young women for singing so eloquently on a couple of songs about the role of women in society.

Although Traoré's sound is a mix of tradition and modern, her album features no electric instruments except for electric bass on some tracks. Traoré has a light voice that mixes well with the delicate and restrained backing of indigenous instruments that include the djembé, the balafon xylophone, and the n'goni lute (the latter two instruments being a new and innovative pairing for Malian music).- — Paul-Emile Comeau (Comeauville, NS, Canada)

Yann-Fañch Perroches and Fañch Landreau
daou-ha-daou
Keltia Musique KMCD111 (2000)

Although groups of all sorts have existed in Breton music for years, the most basic and pervasive formation is the duo. Whether it's the pair of singers performing kan ha diskan, or the pair of sonneurs on biniou and bombarde, the music is founded on the basic interlacing of melody lines and harmonies that can be achieved by two players. Perroches and Landreau, former members of the now-defunct band Skolvan, have returned to these roots of playing "à deux" for this, their latest release. Some of these tunes are traditional and will be familiar to Breton music enthusiasts. Others are recent compositions, inspired by the players' wide musical experiences, including Welsh folksongs and Finnish instrumental music. They are played on just violin and diatonic accordion, with no strumming guitars, no exotic percussion, no bells or whistles of either the literal or the metaphorical sort. The fact that I miss none of the frills just goes to show what a versatile duo can do with these two workhorse instruments. Subtle harmonies, rhythmic self-accompaniment and glorious melodies pour out from start to finish. You can listen closely for the subtle interplay of two master musicians, or you can sit back and tap your feet to some engaging gavottes, waltzes, and plinns. Either way, you'll be entranced.
Although those of us who just listen will enjoy daou-ha-daou, it's an even better CD if you happen to play the accordion. These guys have taken the "enhanced CD" concept, and, instead of the standard fare (low-res postage-stamp video), they've included something useful: a PDF file with complete scores and tablatures for all the tunes. They even include words to the songs even though the CD contains instrumental versions. If you play another instrument, these scores should still be transferable. So for Breton music listeners, this is a joy, but for players in search of tunes, it's essential!
— Steve Winick (Philadelphia, PA)

Värttinä
Ilmatar
NorthSide NSD6054 (2001)

Well, it's been a long time coming.... Ilmatar, which originally saw the light of day almost a year ago in parts of Europe and Japan, was one of the casualties when ill-fated Wicklow Records closed its doors. Finally it's receiving an American release, and the superlatives that greeted it in other parts of the world prove not to be hype at all. In fact, this might well be the best album Värttinä has ever done. 1998's Vihma saw the band back on track after the ill-advised pop sound of Kokko, and Ilmatar builds on that, triumphantly completing what has essentially been a creation myth of Finnish mythology, with Kokko the eagle, Vihma the wind, and Ilmatar the goddess of air.
Producer Hughes de Courson has, if anything, put some subtlety and shade into the band's performance, which often seemed like full-on attack of voices and instruments. Here, however, there's restraint and breathing space to let everything shine more brightly, particularly the lovely a cappella coda of "Aijö," coming after the dark, growling tones of the spell itself. It's still an album of Finno-Ugric runo songs, seamlessly blending the traditional and original — notably the writing keeps getting better and better — into an intoxicating whole. On the basis of this, the pinnacle of its record work so far, it's easy to see why Värttinä has a reputation as Finland's best group. They earned it.
— Chris Nickson (Seattle, WA)