Recording Reviews A sampling of the hundreds of reviews in the current issue Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women Live & Uppity Alligator ALCD 4856 (1998) The three women of Saffire take the suffering out of the blues, making them fun, snappy, slightly wicked and decidedly feminist, although there is nothing too risky in their risque lyrics, at least for consenting adults. It's invigorating to hear a middle-aged woman sing - no doubt with a big grin and a gleam in her eye - about her "silver beaver" that "don't beat around the bush." After boisterously celebrating the joys of young men in "Middle Aged Blues Boogie," one band member notes, "You can tell your mama's not in the audience tonight." It's not all sass and crass, though. "1-800-799-7233" isn't just a song title; it's also the number of the National Domestic Violence Hot Line. "That phone number works...," they note. The popular image is of a rural "blues man," but the first popular blues singers in the 1920s were relatively sophisticated city women - strong, independent and bawdy. Saffire update that tradition, although on this disc they don't offer any of their remakes on the songs of Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie or Ma Rainey, choosing a selection of their own songs. The album was recorded during a three-night run at the Barns of Wolf Trap near Washington, D.C. They get lots of encouragement from the hometown crowd, but the recording is very clean. The album finishes with two solid, quiet blues: an unlikely warble through Willie Nelson's "Crazy" and the hesitantly hopeful homecoming on "Some Cold and Rainy Day." The focus may be on the lyrics, but the uppity band members provide solid, spirited and varied accompaniment on guitar, bass, fiddle, piano, mandolin, harmonica and even kazoo. Anne Rabson's an especially romping boogie-woogie pianist. - Jeff Lindholm (Charlottesville, VA) Baka Beyond Journey Between Hannibal HNCD 1415 (1998) Despite the commercial success of the "world fusion" movement, Baka Beyond - one of its most influential and original groups - has remained relatively unacknowledged. Widely acclaimed and popular acts, such as Afro Celt Sound System, Martyn Bennett and Delerium (which heavily sampled the group on its last album), have all borrowed liberally from Baka Beyond's unique and thoroughly organic approach to merging traditional world musics with Western pop sensibilities. Journey Between, its third adventurous and captivating release, showcases a consistency of vision and execution that deserves to reach beyond the converted. The innovative group was founded in 1992 when its leader, ex-Outback guitarist Martin Cradick, went on a lengthy trip to live with the Baka Pygmies in their native African rainforest environment. The exchange of cultural traditions inspired him to create this ensemble devoted to an emotional, often playful, celebration of global musical communication. Journey Between continues that celebration with its beautiful blend of Celtic guitar and fiddle, African percussion, Gaelic vocals, and Sengalese songs. A refreshing and diverse effort from a forward-looking act infused with traditional sonic wisdom. - Anil Prasad (Mountain View, CA) Various artists Song of the Crooked Dance: Early Bulgarian Traditional Music 1927-42 Yazoo 7016 (1998) Ethnomusicologist Lauren Brody does a terrific job of piecing together what had been the different musical styles that dominated Bulgaria during the first half of this century, before Communism eradicated their cultural presence. And there's quite a selection, from rapturous instrumentals featuring the drone of the gaida to charming vocal performances accompanied by folk orchestras. One chestnut, in particular, is "Ala Imash Ochi," which means "Wow! Have You Got Eyes." At times, the sound is scratchy because Brody recorded all 23 numbers from old 78s. But that's really irrelevant, given that nearly all of these songs would otherwise have been lost to posterity had she not spent so much time sifting through obscure sources to find these gems. Mostly, this is a collection of what is truly folk music, sounds that could once be heard in small towns and villages in what had been a largely remote outpost of the world. But Brody, a Fulbright scholar who first was seen in the public eye as a member of the seminal klezmer band Kapelye, helps us appreciate the significance and understand the context by providing wonderful liner notes that explain the repertoire, instrumentation, vocal styles and even the many artists captured here. - Ed Silverman (Millburn, NJ) Hijas Del Sol Kottó Nubenegra/Intuition/Alula INT 3229 (1998) Back to their original name (changed to and then back from Sibeba last time out), this team of aunt and niece from Biko, an island off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, in western Africa has made a wonderful sophomore album that is full of new ideas while holding on to the tight, rhythmic acoustic style of their debut a few years back. The backbone is still the singing, in their traditional language mixing hard roots a capella and sweet, almost swinging popular ideas that mix and match Spanish styles, some Caribbean touches and many west African forms, including makossa and soukous. They have that intuitive kind of rapport that comes only from family groups or longtime mates, and they sing with each other as if one. There's a lot of variety on Kottó, with a light, acoustic makossa starting off the record in spirited energy. They take a shot at a reggae groove on the title track, a celebration of a child's first step, and it's fun and breezy. The a capella pieces are totally entrancing, whether they are serious social themes or simple celebrations. One splendid song is a morna-like piece (fans of Cesaria Evora take note) that is utterly charming. There's lots of Latin and African percussion, clarinet, electric and acoustic guitars, some unstated synths (imitating accordions, marimbas, and such), a real string section and a solid rhythm section. But it's the voices... the voices... roaring and rootsy one minute, unearthly and sublime the next. - Cliff Furnald (New Haven, CT) Ingrid Karklins and Backbone Red Hand Willow (1998) Veda Hille Spine Bottom Line 63440-47303 (1998) Red Hand's packaging itself is an intricate labor of love and the most innovative since Fred Eaglesmith's pine box crates. Red Hand was designed and handmade by the artist with recycled and non-wood papers and tied with a French weave ribbon. The booklet with lyrics is handsewn rather than stapled and has the artist's hand print on the cover in red ink. A black outer sleeve holds everything in. Karklins sings the songs, which are mostly original but draw from Latvian sources, while accompanying herself on piano, keyboard, and kokle and is assisted by a bass player and a percussionist. On Nick Drake's "Know," someone supplies "prozac guitar" and "spark plug wrench." As with her previous releases, Karklins is too esoteric to reach more than a cult following, but it's an effort worth supporting, especially for the care that went into the Zen-like wrapping. Hille has attracted a small cult following that may become larger with the release of Spine, her first U.S. album. The lyrics are challenging enough on their own ("hope is something halfway between a feather and a jaw"), but just consider the accompaniment, which includes musicians playing mandola, dumbek, saw, cello, riqq, elastic bands, and such unknown instruments as davul, yakbak, alarm guitar, and megapet! Hille herself plays tenor guitar and piano and her songs come across as fragile and deeply personal, with few hooks in the conventional sense. The production, for which Hille is half responsible, is at times stark, innovative, and unpredictable. This is an album that will endear itself to some, and simply bewilder others. - Paul-Emile Comeau (Comeauville, NS, Canada) This is an excerpt from Dirty Linen #78 To read the entire article, Subscribe! © 1998 Dirty Linen, Ltd., Baltimore MD No reproduction in any form is permitted without written permission from the editors.