f62


play, metaphor and double meaning that Ethiopians still prize in their Azmaris’ music. Wicked barbs lurk under airy poesy, frequent- ly aimed at authority. Interesting, then, that these recordings were effectively sponsored by the highest authority of all, Emperor Menelik. For it was he, having a car but nobody to drive it, who sent Eshète to Berlin to learn how to drive and maintain a motor. While in the German capital, Eshète went to the Beko recording company and made these recordings. Long lost, they were unearthed by Dr Wolfgang Bender at the German Insti- tute of Ethiopian Studies.


Eshète fell from favour when Haile Selassie became emperor; he was sent away from the capital to run tomato and wood-pro- cessing plants. He became a skilled photogra- pher and tireless explorer of his country, and became a notable campaigner for religious tolerance and freedom, for which he received papal acknowledgement. Clearly a formidable man; but what we get from these recordings is one lone voice. Hearing Eshète is a serious and moving experience, defeating time.


Via www.discovery-records.com Rick Sanders


HANGGAI He Who Travels FarWorld Connection 43086


Having spent a lot of time touring the world since the release of their fine debut in 2008, this six-piece group have earned the right to call their second album Juan Zou De Ren (He Who Travels Far). Despite being based in Bei- jing, they take much of their inspiration from the music of Inner Mongolia (where four of them hail from), mixing original compositions with new arrangements and sometimes lyrics for traditional pieces.


Although wonderfully atmospheric,


Hanggai’s 2008 debut was very much a studio creation, with a lot of input from co-produc- ers Robin Haller and Matteo Scumaci. From the very start of Gobi Road, it’s apparent that new producers Ken Stringfellow (REM, Neil Young) and JB Meijers have given the band a fuller sound. New member Shang Li (Yilalata) has brought with him electric guitars, and he’s also a very talented singer, as his exquisite vocal on Borulai’s Lullaby underlines.


It’s a shame they seem to have lost their ‘long song’ exponent Lao Hu, but there’s still plenty of khoomei (overtone or throat- singing) and a battery of folkloric instru- ments such as the tsuur (flute), tobshur (two- stringed lute), and the distinctive whinnying tones of the morin khuur (horse-head fiddle).


Hanggai


With their new-found confidence gained from experience, Hanggai apparently felt ready to do things more their own way this time around, recording together live in the studio, rather than instrument by instrument. Old fans will recognise Ayrhindu as a new version of Drinking Song, the rowdy party piece that has become a firm favourite of their shows. And another pleasant surprise is the appearance of guitarist Marc Ribot, who weaves a glammed-up solo into Dorov Mor- laril. The three ‘bonus tracks’ that close the album are perhaps superfluous, but overall this is a confident progression for a band who should continue to travel far.


www.worldconnection.nl – UK distribu- tion via Proper: www.properdistribution.com


Jon Lusk


JOHN MCSHERRY Soma Compass Records 7 4538 2


STEVIE DUNNE About Time own label SDB20101


NIAMH NÍ CHARRA Súgach Sámh/ Happy Out Imeartas IMCD002


CATHAL CLOHESSY & ÉAMONN COSTELLO


Bosca Ceoil And Fiddle Key Stone Records 080221


SEÁN POTTS Number 6 Na Píobairí Uilleann NPUCD018


As Ireland’s economy spirals ever further into the slough of greed-induced despond, it’s heartening that the island’s traditional musi- cians continue to release albums which, in many cases, are guaranteed to offer far more than spiritual analgesia. Top of the crop in 2010 was, indubitably, the debut solo album by the Belfast-born uilleann piper John McSherry (co-founder of his family’s band Tamalin, and a former alumnus of Dónal Lunny’s Coolfin and Lúnasa). On Soma he’s joined by sister Joanne on fiddle and brother Paul on guitars, with further assistance pro- vided by long-time muckers Dónal (son of Gerry the fiddle) O’Connor (keys and fiddle), Ruben Bada (bouzouki and guitar), guitarist Tony Byrne and percussionists Francis McIl- duff and Israel Sanchez. John is a self-taught piper and learned much of his craft from lis- tening to other pipers (on record and live), so those with an ear for the pipes will catch glimpses of Paddy Keenan and Séamus Ennis and of Finbar Furey and Davy Spillane, but his own signature soulful dexterity is ever apparent. He’s bold enough to begin the album with a gorgeous solo rendition of Ais- ling Gheal and much of the remainder is a high-octane, enjoyable romp through tunes passed down or self-composed.


www.compassrecords.com – distributed by Proper; www.johnmcsherry.com


Dónal O’Connor and Francis McIlduff, playing keyboards and bodhrán respectively, also pop up on the debut album About Time from the County Louth banjo- and guitar- player Stevie Dunne (which is not that surpris- ing since said Stevie nowadays resides in Belfast). A fast, but by no means untempered plucker, Stevie offers tasteful variations of a blend of traditional and recently-penned tunes, including two excellent interpretations of compositions by the Donegal fiddler Séa- mus Gibson (nephew of Tommy Peoples) – George Peoples and Ciarán’s Reel.


www.steviedunnebanjo.com From the diagonally opposite side of the


country, Killarney’s Niamh Ní Charra spent eight years as a soloist in one of the touring


Riverdance productions, and, as her first album, 2007’s On Dar Thaobh/ From Both Sides revealed, is equally adept on both con- certina and fiddle. Though full of bounce and spark, not least on the hornpipe The Belles Of South Boston, the album often proves remi- niscent of some of Sharon Shannon’s earlier releases, thanks to upfront/ upbeat arrange- ments and the presence of two former Shan- non sidemen, guitarist Donogh Hennessy and double bassist Trevor Hutchinson.


www.niamhnicharra.com


There’s nothing quite like a fiddle/ but- ton-box accordeon pairing to warm the cock- les and the combination of Limerick’s Cathal Clohessy and Connemara’s Éamonn Costello (with occasional accompaniment from Rod- ney Lancashire on bouzouki and guitar) proves more than up to the task. Costello shows a sensitivity lacked by many box-mer- chants, exhibited to great effect on a solo rendition of the reel Seán Ryan’s, and in cahoots with Clohessy, an equal aficionado of the hidden note, produces music that both lifts the spirit and sets the toes tapping.


www.boscaceoilandfiddle.com


Lastly, comes Number 6 from the octoge- narian whistler Seán Potts, a key figure in the development of Irish music over the last half- century. A former member of The Chieftains, Seán is probably best known for the twin- whistle recording made with Paddy Moloney in the mid-1970s, though others may recall his role in the band Bakerswell’s eponymous and only release. Number 6 is a glorious album, one on which Potts’ talents are both to the fore across a 20-track spectrum of traditional tunes (including a particularly fine conjunc- tion of The Tap Room and The Liffey Banks) and well-meshed with the talents of fiddler Paddy Glackin and his son Seán óg Potts. It’s a bundle of fun whose accompanying booklet includes informative notes on both the musi- cian himself and the tunes he’s playing.


www.pipers.ie Geoff Wallis VARIOUS ARTISTS


Fire In My Bones: Raw + Rare + Otherworldly African-American Gospel [1944 – 2007] Tompkins Square TSQ 2271


The Best Of Sacred Steel: Praise Music From African American Holiness- Pentecostal Churches Arhoolie CD 539


THE GOLDEN GATE QUARTET Incredible Dixiefrog DFGCD 8700


THE SOJOURNERS The Sojourners Black Hen Music BHMCD 59


Fire In My Bones is a three-disc compilation that will set the ears ablaze. An amazing col- lection of 80 tracks of some of the most excit- ing (and very raw) gospel ever recorded, much from previously hard to find, small obscure regional independent labels. As compiler Mike McGonigal points out in his notes in the informative (and well presented) 24-page booklet, Fire In My Bones has no overall divining concept. Many styles, many traditions are represented all “mashed together… solo performances next to con- gregational recordings, hellfire sermons next to afterlife laments. Tracks from major labels followed by field recordings.” The great diversity, intelligent programming, and over- all standard of sound reproduction mark this as an important gospel release – comparable to last year’s Elder Utah Smith’s I Got Two Wings CD/ book on CaseQuarter. Elder Smith’s 1944 recording of God’s Mighty Hand is included on disc two and there are various


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100