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Maciej, with the appearance and demeanour of an impish wizard, has since its beginning been a key element and free spirit of the Polish village music revival with Kwartet Jorgi, and done much theatre work including as co-composer of, and bagpiper in, Wrocław’s Piesn Kozła (Song Of The Goat) Theatre’s wonderful Scots Gaelic song pro- duction Return To The Voice and the King Lear-derived Songs Of Lear, both big success- es at Edinburgh Festival.


In the Released Sounds project, the result of a residency at the Zamek culture centre in his home town Poznan, his breathy shep- herds’ flutes and bagpipes are joined by his guitarist son Mateusz and baroque, early and contemporary music hammered dulcimerist Elisabeth Seitz.


They’ve taken music from 16th to 18th Century paintings by Hieronymus Bosch, Wat- teau, Caravaggio, Holbein and others; some fragments are of known pieces by such as Handel, others are of traditional or unknown extraction. The opener isn’t from a painting, it’s a Wallachian doina that Chopin jotted in his notebook as he travelled in the Carpathi- ans, and which has never been published. In each case they develop what’s there with new composition and improvisation.


What emerges ranges between baroque and early music, folk music and impression- ism. Maciej’s playing is always full of life and spontaneous, unconventional character, with Elisabeth and Mateusz adding structure as well as taking leads themselves. In concept it might appear an academic, if rather interest- ing, exercise; in execution it’s full of expres- sion and life. The painters, themselves uncon- ventional free spirits, would, I’d imagine, be well entertained.


www.etnoteka.pl Andrew Cronshaw


THE FAIR RAIN


Behind The Glass Transition Records TRANSCD011


The Fair Rain may be a new name on the block, but its young musicians have been touring hard for around seven years, five of them as members of the Birmingham band Old Dance School. That band name prompted much misunderstanding and almost wilful misconceptions despite the excellence and enterprise of the music, so a reappraisal of nomenclature was rather inevitable, and recent personnel changes (percussionist/ multi-instrumentalist Jim Molyneux replacing cajón player Tom Chapman, and fiddler Char- lie Heys replacing Samantha Norman) have afforded the ideal opportunity.


Actually, with hindsight, the principal gear change – from primarily playing tradi- tional music for ceilidhs and sessions to a bold- ly-textured musical landscape bringing togeth- er intelligent, often provocative self-penned songs with enterprising instrumental sets – probably happened between albums one and two; Behind The Glass now being effectively the band’s fourth studio set. There can be no argument that, whatever name it goes under, the band’s music retains and develops that sparky, quirky originality for which it’s already gained a very healthy following.


The erstwhile hallmarks of the band sound – shimmering, neo-chamber string arrangements and cool yet dazzling brass interpositions (Aaron Diaz’s trumpet bright and clear in the mix) – are still here, yet there’s a definite progression in the ensemble work away from the conventional session- band-plays-fusion approach. The album roughly alternates between songs and scintil- lating yet thoughtful instrumental items – the cautiously funky Dreams Of White Horses is typical, containing some particularly tasty playing. The songs are all from the prolific


The Fair Rain


pen of the band’s guitarist Robin Beatty, whose mellow, light-textured singing style seems just right for expressing fragile themes of migration and travel, although his account of the tale of French tailor Franz Reichelt (Mannequin) represents perhaps the disc’s darkest moment. Interestingly, the feeling of standing on the precipice at the track’s close is echoed in the disconcertingly sudden end- ings to some other tracks. The production team (Andy Bell and Calum Malcolm) do the honours with exemplary insight and clarity. www.thefairrain.com


David Kidman


YIANNIS CHALDOUPIS & MOUKLIOMOS Parakalamos JSP3102


TAKIMI OF EPIRUS Vitsa JSP3101


These albums were recorded on consecutive days during the height of summer in two dif- ferent mountainous villages of Epirus, NE Greece (close to Albania, and the vocals have much in common with Albanian polyphony). The covers announce them as field recordings which may make for ethnomusicological authenticity but may also beg the question – why not at least set up a portable studio in someone’s house or a church or a village hall and record on multitrack rather than make recordings which sound two-track and often unbalanced mix-wise and sonically unclear? Both albums are the ‘real thing’ inasmuch as there’s no attempt whatsoever (as far as I can hear) from any of the parties to modify the music for a non-local audience. Both albums have useful sleevenotes in Greek and English which do well to set the scenes and explain what is special about the music of Epirus.


But in general these albums don’t do much for me I’m afraid. If they’d been better (to my ears) recorded, I would have been more drawn in, but as they are, they’re, I think, of interest only to specialists. And ‘field’ doesn’t mean it sounds as good as if one were actually there, with the movement of the musicians, maybe dancers, smells and the direct aural perception of being in the same space as the music being made. Favourite Vitsa track: Berati/Pogonisio, which sounds like the musical equivalent of a snake dance, where melodies and rhythms slowly intertwine and unravel. Favourite Parakalam- os track: Precious Yianni, Your Handkerchief/ I’m Going Giddy When I Think of You, which alternates a delightful clarinet figure with polyphonic vocal verses.


www.jsprecords.com Nick Hobbs


LINUS + ØKLAND/ VAN HEERTUM Felt Like Old Folk Smeraldina-Rima 29


Outside its own world, improvised music doesn’t get a very good press – and God knows, I’ve heard enough squeaky-bonky efforts over the years. This, however, is a refreshingly different proposition, combining Ruben Machtelinckx and Thomas Jillings of Linus with hardanger fiddler Nils Økland and euphonium player Niels Van Heertum on three improvised pieces and one written one. The pace is slow and patient throughout, and no-one seems to want to force themselves to the front, looking for textures and atmo- spheres that bring out the best of the instru- ments. The fiddle weaves its strange, angular way in the long opener A, then sets the tone in Old Folk, which is a timeless, wind-drawn landscape. Machtelinckx’s deep, relentless slow thrum of baritone guitar underpins Felt, the only composed piece, while his left-field, measured banjo on B is an excursion into the barely known. At times the sounds could be the slowest Belgian village band you ever heard mixed up with Difficult Listening Hour – it’s equally intriguing, challenging and very rewarding. And the packaging is superb.


www.smereldina-rima.com Ian Kearey


DEBO BAND Ere Gobez FPE Records 013


The second album from these benders and shifters of the classic Ethiopian sounds of the 1970s and ’80s find Debo Band pushing out the boat even further than before. Band leader/saxman Danny Mekonnen and his eleven person crew (plus a couple of guests), rip into a set of originals and spiky takes on classics with a wayward creativity that mixes punk, funk and Sun Ra-ish free jazz with a whole host of Ethiopian grooves.


This very much isn’t just a straight up recreation of the Éthiopiques sound. There are Ethio-ised covers of tunes by Duke Elling- ton and Somalia’s Dur Dur Band, even an Oki- nawan song from the 1940s! Arrangements are heavy on offbeat drumming, thrashy gui- tar and squalling brass. Singer Bruck Tesfaye has got one of those East African soul voices that hits you right in the gut.


Who else is doing anything like this? The collaboration between Holland’s The Ex and Ethio jazzer Getatchew Mekuria probably comes closest, but Debo Band are definitely following their own distinctive musical path and long may they do so.


deboband.com Jamie Renton


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