Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (1917-2000) was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on May 1, 1950, for Annie Allen, making her the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize. - wiki
Recently re-issued on Strut. From bandcamp: Recorded overnight at Bob Bank’s Blank Tapes on 17th July 1978 after the Arkestra had appeared on Saturday Night Live, the album is unique in the Ra catalogue. “Most critics felt that it was more of a fusion-inspired record,” explains Michael Ray. “As the name suggests, the album is liquid and languid.” Bob Blank continues, “Musically, it was very ad hoc and freeform. There were horn charts but most tracks came out of improvised jams. Sun Ra just did his thing.”click link for personnel (Bob Blank was one of NYC's all-time great independent record producers. Click link for more.
Sunburst was an African band that was formed in 1970 by Zairean guitarist Hembi Flory Kongo. One of its members was Eric Allandale who used to be with The Foundations, and previously the New Orleans Knights. - wiki.
"This album was produced/issued by the Peloponnesan Folklore Foundation, a nonprofit cultural institution and museum based in Nafplion, Greece. It was founded in 1974 by the folklorist and scenic designer Ioanna Papantoniou in memory of her father Vasilios Papantoniou. The aim of PFF is the research, preservation, study and presentation of the material culture of the Greeks. collections include 45,000 items. The majority of them, more than 27,000 items, are directly connected to the popular and modern Greek culture including traditional costumes and items - wiki"
"...during contemporary interviews, the guitarist (Patrick Flegel) would point out that much of Cindy Lee catalogue came out of collisions with pain and hardship, and seemed faintly dislocated in the present, where Flegel had found comfort and stability happiness, even. Even then, Flegel would rather talk about Diamond Jubilee, a collection of songs that were much less infected by darkness and were instead eightless This collection is now on display, a double album of over two hours. Nevertheless, to call the record spectacular doesn do it justice. Over the span of 32 songs, Cindy Lee and Flegel melt into a wholly new sound world of imaginary Americana that feels incredibly hypnagogic..1966 weighs heavy here, as The Velvet Underground, The Byrds, Ricky Nelson and Joe Meek collide into a strange new sound. Edges are blurred out and voices disembodied. Even though Flegel rejected the narrative of the underdog, it makes perfect sense that Diamond Jubilee exists outside of the music business it not on streaming platforms only on YouTube or a prehistoric blogsite. The complete 3 record set is made available in digital format for free of whever you may choose to donate -- John Wohlmacher @ beatsperminute.com >> click on link for full review (and a link to download the entire collection is embedded in 7th graph)"
"Cilla is known as Father of the flute of the Mornes of Martinique. The Mornes were the refuges of the runaway Negroes, those who, following their acts of courage and revolt to escape from slavery, were pursued by the colonists.- wiki"""
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight"" is a song originally written and first recorded in 1939 by Solomon Linda under the title ""Mbube"", through South African Gallo Record Company. Lyrics of Linda's original version were written in Zulu, while those of the English one were later written by George David Weiss. In 1949 Alan Lomax, then working as folk music director for Decca Records, brought Solomon Linda's 78-rpm recording to the attention of his friend Pete Seeger, leader of the folk group The Weavers. In November 1951, after having performed the song for at least a year in their concerts, The Weavers recorded an adapted version with brass, string orchestra and chorus and released it as a 78-rpm single titled ""Wimoweh"", a mishearing of the original song's chorus of ""Uyimbube"" (""You are a lion"" in Zulu). Their version contained the chanting chorus ""Wimoweh"" and Linda's improvised line. The Weavers credited the song as ""Oral tradition"", with arrangement by ""Paul Campbell"", later found to be a pseudonym used by The Weavers in order to claim royalties.[9] It reached Billboard's top ten and became a staple of The Weavers' live repertoire, achieving further exposure on their best-selling The Weavers at Carnegie Hall LP album, recorded in 1955 and released in 1957. The Tokens were formed in 1955 at Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn and was known first as the Linc-Tones, a name inspired by the school's name. The original members were Neil Sedaka, Hank Medress, Eddie Rabkin, and Cynthia Zolotin. - wiki"
Hipp’s last recorded effort, a 1956 date featuring tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims. It was omitted from Blue Note #1530 With Zoot Sims when it was released the following year, and came to light in 2008 on a CD reissue. Hipp’s life is fascinating. She built a career as a pianist in New York during the 1950s, then walked away from music and supported herself by working in a clothing factory. Her records were obsessed-over by Japanese and European collectors (in part simply because they were obscure); now even the reissues are hard to find. - Tom Moon "Echo Locater" See link for excellent long piece on Hipp. Stories of her stage fright, and the destructive influence of Horace Silver, and other factors that led to her retreat.
Recorded on a hot night in a one-room gospel music studio in the New Town district of Accra, comes Gb_fal_i — a remarkable record exploring the edges of contemporary African music. Ghanaian trombonist Elikplim Kofi and American guitarist Nathaniel Braddock had met at a concert at Accra’s Alliance Française in 2017 when they both performed as members of the Abiza Band. When Eli heard that Braddock was returning to Ghana in 2019, he reached out via WhatsApp to suggest a collaboration, sharing a sketch of a song and asking Braddock to produce a collaboration record. That August, they set up the session joined by two percussionists, known as Black and Brown. This session is the product of that night. Braddock lives in Arlington with his wife Julie & son Phin and a cat named Kitty.
"This cut featuress Emilia Halvorsen, Saporiti's wife. He is a Vietnamese American musician and scholar who was born and raised in Nashville. He has studied Asian American and transpacific culture, as well as immigration, refugees, and twentieth-century imperialism in Southeast Asia while working on his PhD at Brown University. As No-No Boy this latest album comprises part of his dissertation from Brown University."
"Evangelia Atamian (akla Marika Ninou) 1922-1957 was a Greek rebetiko singer. Wiki describes rebetiko as designating _disparate kinds of urban Greek music which in the 1930s went through a process of musical syncretism and developed into a more distinctive musical genre. She recorded a total of 174 songs, of which 119 as lead singer befor succumbing to cancer at age 35. The music in this particular collection encompasses the musical repertoire of the sponge divers on Kalymnos island. Like the women pearl divers of Japan, this group spans centuries with music an important expression of their fears and hopes, with some songs seemingly designed to bring courage the dangers they will face in tending to their responsibilities. I become tuned to the Greek divers recently reading the biography of poet Robert Lax (Pure Act, by Michael McGregor), who lived for a time amongst these divers on Kalymnos in the early '60s. "
Cannell is a British composer and improvising recorder player and violinist. Her work is known for combining the influences of early music, folk and experimental music. Her debut solo album Quick Sparrows over the Black Earth (2014), was named as a top album of 2014 by The Wire[1] and her album Reckonings (in collaboration with violinist André Bosman) was named in the best albums and tracks of 2018 in The Guardian.
Aunt Sally were an avant-punk-psychedelic-rock group from Osaka in Japan, active in the late 1970s. The band was fronted by leader Phew (Hiromi Moritani b: 1959). Click link to go to Moritani's wiki page
"Living on a 1600-acre family farm in rural Fruitland, Washington, in the late 1970s, the brothers' father, Don Emerson Sr., encouraged his teenage sons' musical interest as they began writing and playing their own music. Don Sr. built his sons a state-of-the-art $100,000 recording studio called The Practice Place and in it they self-produced and self-released their first album, Dreamin' Wild, in 1979, an eclectic mix of rock, soul, R&B, country and funk music, on their own label - wiki According to Discogs, 2 000 copies if this record were pressed in 1979. Half of them were destroyed. For more, click link to go to 2014 article from the Guardian."
This Canadian "cross-country collective fuses together two distinctmusical scenes; that of Calgary, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains; and Montréal, on the St. Laurence River. The band was spearheaded by violinist Jeremy River. The band was spearheaded by violinist Jeremy Gignoux, a former Montrealer now based in Calgary, Gignoux, a former Montrealer now based in Calgary, who saw an opportunity to connect two groups of musicians with a mutual interest in traditional music and improvisation. This is their first Studio release"
Six Organs of Admittance is the primary musical project of American guitarist Ben Chasny. Chasny's music is largely guitar-based and is often considered new folk;[1] however, it includes obvious influences, marked by the use of drones, chimes, and eclectic percussive elements. -wiki Click link to see the 10 records that _shaped, improved, and educated_ Chasny
Debut album by Rubber Zebra, recorded and released in 2007. This album was recorded and produced by Chad Vickers in his basement studio in Durham, N.C. USA. Group comprised of Vickers & Corey Woods on Drums, Bass, Keyboard, and Guitar, and Dustin Holt wno plays guitar and sings most of the vocals. I don't remember what led me to this distinctive, rather strange and handmade sounds.
"Williams grew up in Georgia. My mother played piano. I really enjoyed listening. I once composed my own sheet music that I tore up in a rage. I had wanted to hurt her but instead I hurt myself. Years later, in my thirties, I found it taped together. Mama had saved it. She moved to NYC at 19 to model burt never got comfortable w/the camera. She believes there are angels and other beings around Earth. She says that, of course love will rule all hearts one day. Advises not to shy from the dark. To know thyself. Then be free. She says these things, and much more of her origin & other adventures on her website. Click link "
Les Ménestriers (or "The Minstrels" in English) were a French medieval folk band that released ten albums during their tenure from 1969 to 1980.. Baglama [Saz], Oud, Lute, Vocals, Arranged By – Bernard Pierrot, Rebec, Viol, Oud, Crumhorn – Marcello Ardizzone, Recorder, Crumhorn, Chalumeau – Berry Hayward, Recorder, Flute, Crumhorn, Goblet Drum [Darbuka], Tambourine, Spoons, Chalumeau – Chris Hayward
aka Sarah Ramsy is from Tucson, Arizona. She received an MFA in creative nonfiction writing from Columbia University, worked on President Obama’s 2008 campaign, and was a recipient of the 2018 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant. She lives inWashington, DC. Her book, _The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness: A Memoir_ that recounts the decade-long saga of how a seemingly minor illness in her senior year of college turned into a prolonged and elusive condition that destroyed her health but that doctors couldn’t diagnose or treat. Worse, as they failed to cure her, they hinted that her devastating symptoms were psychological. - penguin random house"
The French composer Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992) bestrides the 20th century as a creative genius of the first magnitude. Throughout his life Messiaen produced a steady stream of masterpieces, informed both by his fervent sense of religious feeling and his unique ear for sound. His use of birdsong and Indian and Greek rhythms gave his music an immediately identifiable character. The Quartet for the End of Time was written in 1941 while Messiaen was imprisoned during the Second World War. Using the most sparing and at first sight incompatible instrumentation, he created a haunting musical image of hope in the midst of despair. The Theme and Variations for violin and piano is an equally characteristic and immediately accessible work. - liner notes
