In Review--Street Groovin'

-


World 
Dieter Iby
Didgeridoo Street Music 
Arc Music

On visits to YouTube, I have encountered street musicians playing didgeridoo on street corners and sidewalks.  I can’t imagine encountering didgeridoo players on the streets where I reside, however, I can listen to Dieter Iby perform his world fusion on Didgeridoo Street Music.  The musician arranges didgeridoo with West African percussion instruments and he partners with kora player (West African harp) Stefan Charisius on Sim.Mah (Pisces) with spectacular otherworldly results.  Iby also pleases me with his song titles which feature signs of the Zodiac.  I’m not sure if the musician is familiar with astrological energies, but he certainly matches the right song to the right sign.

For instance, the opener, Gu.an.na (Taurus) feels sensual and grounding to me similar to the sign Taurus and the track I already mentioned for Pisces also feels right on.  The second track, named for Leo starts off with a roar and has a jungle like feel after the drums show up.  So this leads me to experiment by seeing how well the songs match the signs.  Gu (Aquarius) should electrify us or wake us up.  This song starts out with chimes (which is already different than the previous tracks), and then, yes, it feels electrifying once the didgeridoo starts grooving.  The Libra track would bring us back into balance--and the didgeridoo strikes a balance with percussion.  Let’s look at one more track, Dub (Cancer) which should evoke deeper emotions and a sense of safety. I don’t know that it does, but it’s funky nonetheless.

This CD features invigorating music that begs us to move in some way, preferably free form dance.  Even with the low guttural sounds of the didgeridoo, these songs won’t relax listeners and pets might not respond positively to these songs because of their jagged rhythms (so be mindful not to crank up the volume when pets are around).  I am unable to listen to the entire CD in one sitting, but I enjoy listening to a few tracks at a time.  However, if you love didgeridoo or play this instrument, you’ll want to add this recording to your collection.  You might even learn new techniques from listening to it.

http://www.arcmusic.co.uk 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction to Peyote Songs & The Native American Church

-
Image
Father Peyote: Songs of the Native American Church Introduction to the Peyote Church Ceremony This is an archival article written in 2003.  It's not updated.  For more recent recordings, go to Canyon Records website, http://www.canyonrecords.com When some people speak of Native American ceremonies, the peyote ceremony or the ingestion of the hallucinogen peyote (contains mescaline) usually surfaces. However, there is too much false information being passed around in the non-native community surrounding peyote meetings. The first thing people need to know about the Native American connection to peyote is that the plant is sacred medicine ingested as a sacrament during healing ceremonies of the Native American Church. The second thing, people need to know is that the Native American Church is not a set structure like the Christian Church. The peyote meeting could take place in a Navajo hogan or a teepee. And finally, since the peyote meeting does in part derive from Nat
Read more

The Practice--Treasure Hunt from the book Whole Music

-
Image
Excerpt from Whole Music The Practice: Musical Treasure Hunt Similar to treasure hunts from our childhood, I’m going to send you on a music treasure hunt in which the pleasures are many.  Pretend that you are a song catcher visiting other cultures where you collect new sounds. While I mentioned sound healers earlier, another important player with music preservation are ethnomusicologists who combine cultural anthropology with music preservation.  Two famous song catchers are the late Alan Lomax, and the world beat drummer Mickey Hart.  I recommend learning more about these song catchers through books, and documentaries. 1) Step One-- Head over to YouTube, and look up the following music traditions: ·          Aboriginal Didgeridoo ·          Finnish Runo-Songs (Traditional singer) ·          Gregorian chants ·          Griot Music of Mali (Acoustic, not pop music) ·          Sanskrit Chants Sung by Hindu Indians in Context (aka Kirtans)
Read more

Talking about Timbre

-
Image
Wikipedia As I mention in my book Whole Music , when I was a child I fell in love with timbre and the voices of the individual instruments we listened to in music class.  Each instrument conjured a specific emotions or feeling in me.  The French horn caused me to feel majestic and the cello invoked melancholy.  My moods would shift with each instrument that I heard and my moods would shift quickly. Today, I listen to more than timbre, but I have an understanding of how tone, frequencies of the tone and timbre (the color of the tone) affect me on all levels.  And I wonder what listening to an entire symphony does with its many voices, themes, keys, musical passages etc... In the concept of "whole music" I prefer not to separate musical components, but in the case of this post, I will present solo instruments for your listening and feeling pleasure. If you keep a music journal (and I hope that you do by now), write down the emotions that come up with each instrument.  R
Read more