WORLD MUSIC CHARTS EUROPE TOP 15
Ar Log with Dewi ‘Pws’ Morris
Dinas Mawddwy, Gwynedd
In terms of status and influence, Ar Log (‘for hire’) could reasonably be called the nearest act Wales ever produced to the Chieftains. Like their predecessors, Ar Log also came together for a purpose and likewise out- grew those origins. Ar Log’s inception was committee-driven, actually the Wales Com- mittee for the August 1976 Festival Intercel- tique des Cornemuses in Lorient, Brittany. (The festival’s bagpipe (cornemuse) incarna- tion would give way to the Festival Intercel- tique de Lorient.) Egged on by the Dublin- ers, they knuckled down.
Dinas Mawddwy is a small village on southern Snowdonia’s temperate rainforest fringes. By the time Dewi ‘Pws’ Morris opened, the village hall was already full. With a Wicipedia (Welsh spelling) entry longer than Ar Log’s, his Rabelaisian wit and flair for chapel mind-torching ribaldries made it plain Welsh was the medium of communication for the evening, aside from music. Weirdly at one point Geraint Glynne Davies, speaking per- haps only to me, announced in German they were celebrating 40 years of making music. After Pws’ own set, he joined Ar Log for a few numbers. He returned in the second half, adding vocals or hammering out rhythms on various sized of triangles – a man with the broadest of smiles on his face.
With 40 years of repertoire to pick from, swathes of material fell by the wayside. For example, the Patagonian Welsh rediscoveries, songs once known only as titles. Probably, Ar Log’s strongest connection to the traddodiad was well to the fore. Both Roberts Brothers studied with Nansi Richards, the most famous Welsh harp player of the last century. Dafydd plays telyn deires or triple harp (as well as flute and low whistle) and Gwyndaf Roberts the knee harp. Dafydd was playing the Myrd- din ap Madoc-built telyn deires presented to Richards in 1973. That is serious tradition. Continuity was similarly maintained with the other two founding members: Dave Burns on the occasion of his birthday on guitar and mandolin and Iolo Jones on fiddle. Joining them were long-term band members Geraint Glynne Davies on guitar and lead vocals and Graham Pritchard on fiddle (and the passed- around mandolin). Completing the septet on keyboards and backing vocals was Geraint Cynan. In sound palette terms, it meant they could field two harps, two guitars and two fiddles at once.
Musically, the dynamics varied consider-
ably. The sing-along Cwrw Da (Free Beer) delivered exactly what it says on the empty bottle label with fiddle flourishes. Rew Di Ranno/Y Facsen Felen (nursery rhyme sylla- bles/ the slip jig The Yellow Brew) was a high- light. Yet for sheer lyricism, Y Gwydr Glas (The Window Pane) and Yn Iach Iti Gymru (Adieu to dear Cambria) were spellbinding. A concert event of 2016 and not just in Gwynedd. Never heard them? Rectify that situation immediately with Sain Records’ Goreuon Ar Log/The Best of…
Ken Hunt
1. BABA ZULA XX
2. WARSAW VILLAGE BAND Sun Celebration
3. AMIRA MEDUNJANIN Damar
4. THE KLEZMATICS Apikorsim – Heretics
6. CEMIL QOCGIRI Zalal
7. BONGA Recados De Fora
8. ABOU DIARRA Koya
9. GROUPA Kind Of Folk Vol 1
11. GAYE SU AKYOL Hologram Imparatorlu˘
12. OKRA PLAYGROUND Turmio
13. OGUN AFROBEAT Koko Iroyin
14. FENDIKA Birabiro
15. KARIM BAGGILI Apollo You Sixteen
(Glitterbeat) (Jaro)
(World Village) (World Village)
5. YOUNG IRANIAN FEMALE VOICES Songs In The Mist (Kirkelig Kulturverksted)
(Ahenk Müzik) (Lusafrica)
(Mix & Métisse) (All Ice)
10. HELSINKI-COTONOU ENSEMBLE The Road Is Long (No Problem Music)
gu (Glitterbeat) (Nordic Notes) (Matilda) (Terp)
(Take The Bus)
January’s most played world music albums, compiled from returns from radio DJs all over Europe. © giftmusic 2017
TRANSGLOBAL WORLD MUSIC CHART TOP 15
1. BONGA Recados De Fora
2. CEMIL QOCGIRI Zalal
3. AMIRA MEDUNJANIN Damar
4. VOXTRA The Encounter Of Vocal Heritage
5. GAYE SU AKYOL Hologram Imparatorlu˘
6. NOURA MINT SEYMALI Arbina
7. THE KLEZMATICS Apikorsim – Heretics
8. ABOU DIARRA Koya
9. ROBERTO FONSECA ABUC
10. MARIEM HASSAN La Voz Indomita
11. KANAZOÉ ORCHESTRA Miriya
13. NORDIC FIDDLERS BLOC Deliverance
14. ÇI ˘
GDEM ASLAN A Thousand Cranes
(Muziekpublique) gu (Glitterbeat) (Glitterbeat)
(World Village) (Mix & Métisse) (Impulse)
(NubeNegra) (Buda)
12. GEORGE TELEK, DAVID BRIDIE & CO A Bit Na Ta
(Wantok Music)
15. CONSTANTINOPLE & ABLAYE CISSOKO Jardins Migrateurs
January’s favourite albums compiled from a worldwide panel of broadcasters and writers.
www.transglobalwmc.com
(Nordic Fiddlers Bloc) (Asphalt Tango) (Ma Case)
(Lusafrica)
(Ahenk Müzik) (World Village)
10 YEARS AGO
1. SEASICK STEVE Doghouse Music
2. SETH LAKEMAN Freedom Fields
4. BOB DYLAN Modern Times
5. BELLOWHEAD Burlesque
7. ALI FARKA TOURÉ Savane
8. BERT JANSCH The Black Swan
9. JOHNNY CASH American V
10. THE GIPSY KINGS Pasajero
11. NANCI GRIFFITH Ruby’s Torch
12. ESTRELLA MORENTE Mujeres
13. WATERSON:CARTHY Holy Heathens
14. BEIRUT Gulag Orkestar
15. BE GOOD TANYAS Hello Love
16. RACHID TAHA Diwan 2
17. MARTHA TILSTON Of Milkmaids & Architects
18. GOTAN PROJECT Lunatico
19. MARIZA 20. ERIC BIBB
Concerto Em Lisboa Diamond Days
January 2007 sales from Virgin Retail’s national chain computer
fROOTS PLAYLIST 15 YEARS AGO
1. FANIA Sopi
3. ISSA BAGAYOGO Timbuktu
4. MARILIS ORIONAA Femelis
6. FLANAGAN The Chosen Few
7. VARIOUS ARTISTS Global Accordeon
(Swashbuckle) (Wergo)
8. TAM TAM DES COOLS Pa Bezoin Zot’ La Pèr (Tam Tam Des Cools)
9. ESTRELLA MORENTE My Songs And A Poem (Real World)
10. VARIOUS ARTISTS American Polka
(Trikont) Playlist choices from our March 2002 issue. (Sony France)
2. BILLY BRAGG & THE BLOKES England, Half English (Cooking Vinyl)
(Six Degrees) (Armugalh/Darenia)
5. ORCHESTRA SUPER MAZEMBE Giants Of East Africa
(Earthworks)
(Bronzerat) (Relentless)
3. BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB Buena Vista Social Club (World Circuit)
(Columbia) (Westpark)
6. VARIOUS ARTISTS World Circuit Presents… (World Circuit)
(World Circuit) (Sanctuary)
(Lost Highway) (Sony Europe) (Rounder) (Mute) (Topic) (4AD)
(Nettwerk) (Wrasse)
(Squiggly) (XL)
(EMI) (Telarc)
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