Michael Wittmann's
Album Reviews,
M to S
Return to Table of Contents for all reviews.
Find the NEW!!! CDs below...
Michael Wittmann's
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Madala - Kon'Ko Man | The guitarist for the South African jazz group Outernational Meltdown, whose first album was lame and second is rhythmically intricate, fun, and much better to listen to... Madala's album is another step up. These are simple acoustic pop songs out of Africa: great vocals (call and response, or solo tenor voice), and the acoustic guitar holds a lot of rhythm in it. Pop Mohamed does much of the songwriting, and Airto Moreira is on most of the tunes, so you know the rhythm kicks. (16oct96) | |||||||||
Thomas Mapfumo - Chimurenga Forever | Thomas Mapfumo is called the "Lion of Zimbabwe" for some reason or other, but the point of this CD is that he makes great music. He put together a very distinctive style over the years, with a cool guitar sound, a wonderful baritone voice, and really kicking rhythms. These are his greatest hits from '78 to '93. The guy had a huge influence on southern Africa's music scene, and when you listen to the quality of the material, you see why. (20aug96) Back to Top | |||||||||
Marimba Ava Murewa - Musava Ano (in these times) |
Usually, when westerners learn an African style of music, they can't help
but twist it into something western. That is pretty much avoided here.
The album sounds pretty good. It's thumb piano (in this part of Africa,
they call it the mbira, though I've read elsewhere that there are about
200 different names for it) with marimba (hence, the group name) and
chorus and some bass and percussion. It sounds pretty mellow, and not as
raw as the Shona Spirit album we have at WMUC, but pretty good. For other
thumb piano material at WMUC, check out Hukwe Zawose and the Francis Bebey
album on vinyl. (24apr97) Back to Top
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Ziggy Marley - Free Like We Want 2 B | The Prince-like title says nothing about the music, which is either a mixture of Ziggy's material, or his band ripping through upbeat versions of his dad's material. "Could You Be Loved" and "Get Up Stand Up" are straight out of the ubiquitous Legend album, and the versions are indistinguishable. Well, not quite: they're live versions, recorded during the HORDE tour in '95, like all the other tracks on the album. The whole thing has a positive, happy vibe, which is what Ziggy Marley is pretty much known for. (4nov96) Read a Washington Post review here. Back to Top | |||||||||
Medeski Martin and Wood - Shack-Man | Instrumental organ-rock-soul-jazz with a bit of funk and R&B or whatever thrown in. Throw-back musical ideas in search of a good groove that will keep you interested for 5 minutes. Mostly, they don't quite make it, but just barely miss. The difference between listening to this and listening to ambient is that in ambient, you expect a slow flow and background development where you suddenly end up in a place you weren't expecting, while here you expect more flow, up front development, and then it doesn't really end up anywhere new. Enjoy those tracks which don't get boring on you. (4nov96) Read a Washington Post review here. Back to Top | |||||||||
Mkono - Primal Future | All percussion ensemble, with some droning didjeredoo and twitching flutes and saxes thrown in. These guys groove out in a totally different way than Clave y Guanguanco, but it's the same idea. Just percussion, a vibe, but this one is longer, not as hectic, deeper not in content but in tone (more bass, in other words, and a slower rhythm). I really like this! (20aug96) Back to Top | |||||||||
Sugar Minott Album: Collector's Collection Volume 1 | Nice reggae, early dancehall from the early 80's, and generally friendly pop sounding stuff. These are songs that weren't released for a long while, though much other material by the man exists. I like the way this sits between Bob Marley and Shabba Ranks (to name the two best known reggae and dancehall singers).(20aug96) Read a Washington Post review here.Back to Top | |||||||||
Benny More - The Voice and Works of Benny More (Voz y Obra) |
Classic Cuban tunes recorded in the 50's and 60's that come in all sorts
of styles: bolero, mambo, cha cha cha, afro, and son montuno... Because the
music is 30 or 40 years old, the speed is much slower (pre rock'n'roll
influences, after all) and the melodicism is what makes this album great.
The good rhythmic tunes are subtle, in comparison to the whacked out tunes
by people like Arturo Sandoval these days. Instead of driving like a mad
hatter, they groove like a cool summer's day party at about 2AM when you're
slightly buzzed and just wackin on the low quality, blasting music from
someone's boombox. (25feb97) .Back to Top
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Clara Nunes - ComVida |
Duets from Brazil with a huge list of really famous people in the Brazilian
scene. The accordion songs are the best. She's got a good voice, and the
music can be fun to listen to, with a syncopation rhythm different from
what you're used to hearing. Hey, that's Brazil for you. Enjoy it, that's
the mood it's meant for. (31may96)
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Olodum - Ao Vivo em Montreaux | Great Brazilian music! These are the drummers that played on Paul Simon's album Rhythm of the Saints, and they're accompanied by a slew of singers on a bunch of fast paced songs with horns and choruses thrown in. The drumming kicks butt, the bass lines are all over the map, samba and all the other expected Brazilian styles are there, and the crowd (it's recorded live at Montreaux) is really into it. Great album. (16oct96) | |||||||||
Outernational Meltdown - Free At Last |
These guys put out a mediocre first album filled with lame jazz noodlings
that really had no interest for me. This album is nothing like the first
one! South African jazz with a much more acoustic flavor, where vocals
crop in, almost like in South African pop music that is scattered through
the world music books. Great to listen to, with musicians like Airto Moreira,
Madala Kunene (we have a solo album of his), Pops Mohamaed as part of the
band. (16oct96)
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Nikola Parov - Kilim | Though the title might make you think of Arabic music (you know, the kilim rugs of Turkey, Persia, or Bosnia, etc.), it's actually more Irish music here than anything else. The sax sounds like Sting-era Branford Marsalis, the bass sounds like fusion jazz at times (the duller type, no Jacoá), the flute sounds like Jethro Tull on a bad day... I thought it was pleasant and safe, but not terribly interesting. (24apr97). Back to Top | |||||||||
Astor Piazzolla - El Nuevo Tango de Buenos Aires | Piazzolla took the tango from the bordellos and whorehouses of Argentina, studies some under Boulanger (who influenced half this centuries composers), and returned to Argentina with the tango modified into a concert style of music. There's a huge revival in his music going on right now, all sorts of releases of music that are coming out, and Milan Latino has a large catalog of material from live students. This album contains the great song Vuelva Al Sur, and then continues with all sorts of concert works that take the accordion into whole new ranges of expression and emotion. This is some heady, schmaltzy, complicated, and intense stuff. Great! (25feb97). Back to Top | |||||||||
Planet Soup compilation |
This 3 CD set of trans-cultural collaborations is impossible to describe.
The general idea was to put together artists from two different genres
and see where they ended up with the music. The resuls are really surprising.
Songs where African kora music meets Spanish flamenco, American blues meets
Tuvan throat singing, Japanese drumming meets Pharaoh Sanders-like ecstatic
jazz, and you expect me to be able to describe this? No way! What's amazing
to the ears is the quality of the collaborations. Almost every tune has
at least a kernel of quality, and some expand into astounding explosions
of music. The tunes I like most are (on CD #1): La Cucina, Ray Lema et.
al, and Astor Piazzolla; (on CD #2): Farmers Market with Henry Kaiser,
Jon Hassell and Farafina; (on CD#3): Eitetsu Hayashi, and Turkanas. Of
course, these are mostly the rhythmic, percussion driven songs, and the
3 CDs have much more than this to offer. For the amount of music to be
found here, it's got a remarkably high quality content. Another winner
from the ellipsis arts label. (20mar96) Back to Top
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Red Hot & RIO | It's all here, lounge music, bossa nova, club remixes of classics like the Girl from Ipanema (by the La Da Dee woman, Crystal Waters, and it sounds great!), dub, reggae, trippy hip hop, ballads, great sloppy guitar work, classic guitar styles, and more. This is Brazilian music, and it works. Find an artist you're interested in (just please ignore Sting) and enjoy the work. Damn fine listening, something in it for everyone. Money Mark, Everything But the Girl, Crystal Waters, Stereolab, Funk'n'Lata, Mad Professor, Ceasria Evora, and more are on here... Find your flavor, enjoy! (16oct96) | |||||||||
Mike Richmond - Basic Tendencies |
Acoustic bass is the lead instrument, with a set of world music people
to flesh out the sound and add the rhythm on top of which the soloing goes
on. The tunes sound safe. The whole disc is "nice," which should say enough.
It's not too often you hear a bass in the lead solo spot for lengthy amounts
of time. I once heard a disc by a bass quartet that was more bizarre than
this, but that doesn't surprise me (think about it...). The background
rhythms and sounds add most of the interest. (4jun96)
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The Sabri Brothers - Ya Mustapha | Qawwali music with a bit of a western tinge to it, but in a good way. The vocal acrobatics are all there, the rhythmic power and drive is there, the hypnotizing trance of long tracks (from 12 to 24 minutes, only 4 of them) is there, the mixtures of call and response singing with percussive rhythms over harmonium playing... This is one excellent album. So far, the only music we've had in this style was Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and this fits in very well with his work. (25feb97) Back to Top | |||||||||
Marta Sebastyen - Kismet | This singer of traditional Hungarian folk songs has appeared on a few other albums, like Deep Forest, but remains true to her original style of music. This album contains traditional works from other cultures that she sings in her own distinctive style. It's great to hear Bulgarian music (tracks 1 and 2) or a track that'a mix of Indian and Romanian (via Gypsy? could be) on the same album that has other Magyar or Slavic influences written all over it. Very calm, but at times very beautiful. (25feb97) Back to Top | |||||||||
Marta Sebastyen - The Best of... | This singer of traditional Hungarian folk songs has appeared on a few other albums, like Deep Forest, but remains true to her original style of music. This album contains traditional works from other cultures that she sings in her own distinctive style. It's great to hear Bulgarian music (tracks 1 and 2) or a track that'a mix of Indian and Romanian (via Gypsy? could be) on the same album that has other Magyar or Slavic influences written all over it. Very calm, but at times very beautiful. (25feb97) Back to Top | |||||||||
Patti Smith - Masters | The early punk goddess has put out a new album, so this is the nearly obligatory retrospective of her work. If she weren't such a genius poet/singer, this would suck, but as it is, the songs are EXCELLENT. If you've never been bitten by the Patti Smith bug, then meet the master... The only complaint is that there isn't enough of this stuff. At the time it came out, it was somehow measured as punk (and Rock'n'Roll Nigger has the attitude to prove it), but when you listen to it, this really comes across as the essence of rock and emotional truth and honesty. Tracks 9 and 10 are on the new album... Patti Smith rules! (20aug96) Back to Top | |||||||||
The Spirit of African Gospel | The mainstream elements that make this familiar and easily listenable are varied: Paul Simon introduced Ladysmith Black Mambazo to a great number of people back in the 80's, and they've been releasing great albums for a long time; the Mahotella Queens have been doing heavily vocal township jive that has gained a large listenership over the years; finally, gospel music has always been a large tradition, at least where I grew up in North Carolina. So, this happens to be totally a capella (29sep96) Back to Top | |||||||||
Strunz and Farah - Live |
Fiery and passionate flamenco music with two guitar virtuosos flying away.
Okay, so it isn't as good as the best Paco de Lucia from the 70's, but
it's definitely good for those who like high quality flamenco music that
is a bit removed from the Gipsy Kings pop style of Bandoleo. This really
is a good album, folks, and the guitar playing is pretty damn astounding.
The band consists of typical bass and drums behind the guitars with congas,
bongos thrown in. Just about every track is pretty cool. (24apr97) Back
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Strunz and Farah - Heat of the Sun | Virtuouso guitar playing in the Spanish style, two guys flying away at it while random percussion flits about with fills and Flamenco syncopation. Real musicianship wins out over excitement at times, but a few tracks kick butt. These guys really do play amazing music. Of course, this suffers from the usual "people who are 34 listen to this when they don't listen to easy listening" problem, but mostly it stays away from that... (31may96) Back to Top | |||||||||
Studio One artists - Grooving at Studio One | It's reggae time again!! These are the originals of what the band UB40 covered in their Labour of Love album, and then some extras. Songs are traditional, laid-back, grooving reggae. Okay, so not all are great, but what the hell, most of them are good. If you've listened to a lot of reggae in its more pop forms, then a lot of these songs will sound really familiar. Back to Top | |||||||||
The Swedish Sax Septet - Riff-Ola |
Take the jazz saxophone quartet idea one step further, and you have this
meeting of swedish sax players doing traditional folk music and music composed
in that style for a huge ensemble. The richness of tone is no longer surprising
to anyone who has listened to sax quartets over the years (now that they
aren't novelty anymore), but the genre chosen for the music is definitely
a surprise! It sounds great! The richness of reeds (especially in the lower
registers) really does this music well..... (4jun96)
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