Monday, January 27, 2014

Finnish Tango and Gamelan Grief


Finnish tango has been a big deal for decades.

That's just one of many things I learned as I camped out at the intimate world music stage at last weekend's Jazz Winterlude festival.  Correctly anticipating a line outside the door of the 100-person capacity Recital Hall, I arrived early with an empty bladder.

I refused to give up my seat for the next five hours.  The education I received made my social and physical discomfort seem immaterial. 

Accordionist Juha Silfverberg clued me in to the scene of his native Finland.

Ensemble Ibérica, a guitar trio led by Beau Bledsoe, played music of Spain, Portugal and Latin America with impressive precision. 

I'm ashamed to admit that I hadn't taken in a performance by Marimba Sol de Chiapas until Saturday.  Although I could have done without the patronizing  tone of the bandleader- "can you say Chiapas?"- the quartet made absolutely gorgeous music. 

Did you know that musicians in gamelan orchestras use hammers as mallets?  I didn't.  Gamelan Genta Kasturi made one hell of a racket.  The sonic assault was made even more overwhelming by the raucous Arturo Sandoval sound check that bled into the room. 

My head still hurts. 


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My notes about Terri Lyne Carrington's concert at the Jazz Winterlude festival are published at Plastic Sax.

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I mourned Keith Whitley's death in 1989.  That's one reason Jason Eady's Daylight & Dark instantly hit home with me.  Another reason is the reference to Kansas City on the opening track "OK City".  Refusing to drink 3.2 beer in an Oklahoma tavern during a pit stop on a southbound drive toward Texas, a man has an ill-fated encounter with whiskey.  RIYL: Gary Stewart, heartaches and hangovers, Alan Jackson.

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Listeners who are don't speak English and are unaware of the backstory of Against Me! might think that Transgender Dysphoria Blues is just another solid third-generation punk album.  But the lyrics- many of which take on self-referential gender issues- are great.  RIYL: The Clash, the new sincerity, F*cked Up.

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I admire how organizers of Plano's Suburbia Music Festival own it.  Besides, the lineup is truly impressive.

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I'm going to skate to one album and one album only.  Jennifer Holliday's The Song Is You is a completely over-the-top collection of standards.  And I can dig it.  RIYL: Eartha Kitt, gay cabaret, Luciano Pavarotti.

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I've always loved the Grammy Awards.  A ranking of yesterday's performances follows.  (Roomful of Teeth knocked me out during the non-televised segment.)  Kendrick Lamar/Imagine Dragons, Beyoncé/Jay-Z, Paul McCartney/Ringo Starr, Pink/Nate Ruess, John Legend, the Sound City all-stars, Carole King/Sara Bareilles, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis/Mary Lambert/Madonna, Lang Lang/Metallica, Daft Punk and company, Kacey Musgraves, Chicago/Robin Thicke, Lorde, The Highwaymen, Billie Joe Armstrong/Miranda Lambert, Ringo Starr, Taylor Swift, Gary Clark Jr./Keith Urban and Katy Perry.  Sorry, Katy- that was wack.

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Kansas City Click: My official picks are published here.

(Original image of a portion of Gamelan Genta Kasturi by There Stands the Glass.)

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