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51 f
Simpson also makes an appearance supplying
GORDANA EVACIC
acoustic and less gritty in sound than Kries but
guitar, along with album producer Ian nevertheless, as on the 7/8 Mitra Delija, some-
Stephenson, while Anderson’s compositions
Sneha Scardona CD 152
times rising to dancey energy, is fronted by
include Riff Reels, a collaboration with jazz Lidija Dokuzovic’s appealing vocals. She has a
trombonist Annie Whitehead commissioned AFION still calmness and fine control about her that
by the Bath International Music Festival for a
Cudni Svati Aquarius CD 221-08
occasionally reminds of today’s Hungarian
folk-jazz ensemble. Both this and Hopscotch, female trad-rooted singers, and with a com-
another of the Bath tunes, are mesmerising,
DUNJA KNEBL
municative, unaffected vocal delivery she
flavoured by unfamiliar structure and
clearly cherishes the stories.
rhythm, yet somehow entirely in tune with
Spevala Mi Papiga Dancing Bear DB CD
Afion’s material on Cudni Svati isn’t lim-
the spirit of an album that uses the rich her-
220
ited to Croatia but ranges wider across the
itage of traditional music as its groundsheet.
Three albums from Croatia, all fronted by
Balkans, with a Bosnian sevdalinka and the
Mostly the tunes are self-composed by
female vocals, dealing with traditional music
seductive asymmetric rhythms of further east
Anderson, including the utterly gorgeous
in different post-traditional ways and using
in several Macedonian songs. The album title
Winter Sunlight, complete with Martin Simp-
largely non-traditional instrumentation.
means ‘strange wedding’; most of the songs
son playing Hawaiian guitar, while the North
allude to the dark side of love and marriage.
Gordana Evacic
East is at the heart of everything. Empty
At the time of its first album in 2006 the band
has till now been the
Spaces is a tender tribute to those three giants
had no regional-traditional instruments, but
supplier of vocals and
of Northumbrian music – Will Taylor, Will
now gathered around Lidija’s vocals with gui-
characterful ham-
Atkinson and Joe Hutton; The Reverend Joe
tarist Danijel Maodus are Aleksandar Jovevski
mered dulcimer to her
Hislop of Alnwick has a buoyant tune in his
on kaval, tambura and bagpipe, plus bassist
husband Miroslav’s slide-guitar blues. In
honour; and the wild majestic Farne Islands
Josep Mazic and percussionist/ drummer
Sneha she moves to the front with an album
are the subject of the dreamy mini-suite that
Nenad Kovacic. In an album that shows fur-
of her own. It shows her a bold and distinc-
closes the album in such compellingly
ther development and refinement from its
tive singer, backed by unusual and attractive-
thoughtful style. In characteristically buoyant
refreshing predecessor (see fR297), they treat
ly eccentric instrumentation in an album that
manner, Anderson also plays The Cheviot
well-chosen songs with an interesting and
somehow fuses Croatian traditional music
Rant, practically Northumberland’s national
intelligent articulacy of arrangement, pace
with the fun raggety feel of the adventurous
anthem, which he follows with a chunky cou-
and instrumental texture, and their gigging
end of American old-timey stringband music
ple of tunes favoured by Will Atkinson.
and is certainly unique in Croatia.
seems to be ever-widening, including in 2008
shows at Shetland Festival. www.afion.net,
People laughed when Alistair Anderson
It’s a set of mostly traditional songs and
www.aquarius-records.com.
first went out as a solo artist, insisting that
tunes from Croatia’s northern parts, particu-
one man and his concertina couldn’t possibly larly Podravina, where Croatian, Hungarian
At last Dunja Knebl has forsaken her
hold an audience for an evening. He’s come a and other peoples and musics have mixed for
nylon-strung guitar and rudimentary dum-
long way since then and, while he’s well sup- centuries; indeed Gordana’s dulcimer is a fea-
ching picking that made much of her earlier
ported by other musicians here, the principle ture of Hungarian rather than Croatian
work with the Croatian traditional material
holds – he remains one of this country’s most music. On it she favours a very damped sound
that she has been devotedly researching and
majestic and inclusive instrumentalists and with virtually none of the ringing sustain of
reviving over the years sound samey and not
this must rank as one of his best works. the multiple strings, producing a fat, upfront,
a little twee. In this album of songs and bal-
www.alistairanderson.com
springy plunky sound, economical in its notes.
lads mainly from Medimurje and other north-
It’s augmented in very nicely quirky accompa-
ern regions, of lovers, a cruel mother, magic,
Colin Irwin
niments by Miroslav on bass, banjo, guitar,
and the singing talking parrot of the title
tambura and percussion, joined by New York
track Spevala Mi Papiga, her gamine head-
mandolinist John Kruth of TriBeCastan for a
tone voice is this time set against the robust
TOMMY T jug-band-ish treatment of a wedding song,
and inventive acoustic and electric guitar
The Prester John Sessions Easy Star
and clarinettist Volkan Jocic brings a hint of
work of Afion’s Danijel Maodus, joined by
Records ES-1021
klezmer to a song of a soldier leaving his
flute, bass, cello and percussion, that much
lover in the care of a friend. After the nine
more effectively brings out the melodies, and
Ethiopian dub from an unlikely source.
tracks are tagged on three featuring Gordana
sometimes a greater strength in Dunja’s
Tommy T is bassist with US Gypsy punks Gogol
from 2003 and 2006 albums by Miroslav;
singing, in varied and even quite dark
Bordello, but more importantly (for this
‘bonus’ tracks can unbalance an album, but
arrangements. www.dunjaknebl.com
release at least) he was born and grew up in
these fit pretty well and it’s useful to have
Andrew Cronshaw
Addis Ababa and here draws on Ethiopian
Gordana’s good stuff gathered together in
soul and traditional music, alongside reggae
one place. www.scardona.hr
and jazz, to create something that sounds like So far rather few acoustic/ electric folk RAFIKI JAZZ
a smoother, more laid-back variant of Dub
bands doing traditional material in a contem-
Colossus’ A Town Called Addis album from
porary way have emerged in Croatia; Kries,
More Big Muzik From Over There! Koni
last year. The grooves are fluid and rolling,
Cinkusi and Afion spring to mind. Afion, more
Music KoniCD09
very much in the house style of Easy Star A big but refreshingly light-footed pan-
Records, but spiked with Ethio instrumenta- Gordana Evacic African/ global ensemble based in Sheffield.
tion and rhythms. Gigi guests on a couple of Rafiki Jazz feature stalwarts of the UK Afro
tracks, including the beautiful acoustic The music scene including riti master Juldeh
Response, bringing some vocal heft to the Camara, kora man Kadialy Kouyate and
table (Tommy T’s voice is pleasant if rather bassist Tony Koni (formerly of Batanai Marim-
thin). Another Ethiopian singer Abdi Nuressa ba), alongside steel pan player Catherine
echoes in and out of Oromo Dub (Cushitic Carr, Brazilian percussionist Guery Tibirica
Dub) over a rock solid Studio One style rhythm and beatboxer Unome, creating a rhythmic
and fulsome horns. That tune gets revived at bed on which the contrasting voices of Zanz-
the end of the CD as Lifers, which has Gogol ibar’s gutsy Mim Suleiman (heard recently
Bordello’s lead singer Eugene Hutz growling with Justin and Juldeh), UK soul-belter Rosie
over it, in truth I think I’d have preferred it if Brown, Mauritian vocalist Vanessa Rani Chut-
the vocals had been provided by Lionel Hutz turghoon and Kouyate let rip.
(the crooked lawyer from The Simpsons).
This works best when things are kept
Elsewhere the Abyssinia Roots Collec-
sweet and simple, such as on Hilife Mama and
tive (as the musicians who’ve got together
the charming Mingi Mingi. Not all the
for this project are called) provide some
arrangements have that spring in their step
intriguing, improvisatory pieces with the
and the interplay between the four voices is
Ethiopian and western instrumentals weav-
variable, sometimes the contrast is too great,
ing around each other, on the whole staying
although Suleiman always makes an impres-
on the right side of noodling. It’s Easy Stars’
sion. There are some delightful instrumental
dubbed up versions of western rock (Dub
passages, especially when Kouyate’s kora is in
Side Of the Moon, Radiodread etc.) that
the mix and in spite of the presence of a beat-
seem to get the attention, but I reckon the
boxer, this is mostly an fRoots-friendly semi-
label’s at its best with original material such
acoustic affair. Although they predominantly
as this CD and Ticklah’s excellent and under-
play in African and other tropical styles,
rated dub/ Latin album from last year.
there’s something very English about the way
www.easystar.com; tommytmusic.com
this potentially unruly conglomeration of dis-
parate musicians work to meet each other on
Jamie Renton Photo: Ian Anderson equal terms and if they can develop on the
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