Tom Schnabel's Rhythm Planet
Musical Potpourri
Today’s show features new releases and older classics from Africa, Brazil, Russia and closer to home.
By Tom Schnabel • • 51m ListenThis week I just want to play deejay and lay down some tracks I’ve liked for a long time. Here are my picks:
Jhelisa had a number of hits as a member of The Shamen in the early 90′s, but I didn’t discover her until later. I love this cut from her 2006 CD APrimitiveGuide toBeingThere.
The positive vibe of Jhelisa continues with a track from AmpTrio called “Stand By You.” We follow it with GilbertoGil’s Grammy Award-winning CD Quanta from 1997, with a plangent piece called “Estrela” (Star). He’ll be performing with Caetano Veloso on April 10 at the Microsoft Theater (formerly known as the Nokia).
From Gil’s Brazil we cross the pond to Guinea-Bissau, another lusophone country, this time in West Africa. The song “Mindjer Dôce Mel” from EneidaMarta continues the good vibes feel of this quartet of songs.
We showcase piano next by pairing the late JakiByard with Rachmaninov’s second sonata. Somehow the songs just fit together on a deeper level. OlgaKern’s reading of the great Russian romantic composer is wonderful, and dovetails nicely into the 2008 ECM recording by VassilisTsabropoulos et al.
The last three tracks are versions of a 1938 song by MortonGould called “Pavane.” AhmadJamal’s early (1951) Epic LP adds an extra “n” to the title. JohnColtrane based his masterful Village Vanguard recording from 1961 on it; we hear a later, shorter studio version called “Impressions.” Coltrane, like Jamal, was a musical omnivore and listened to everything regardless of genre or style.
Hope you enjoy the set!
RhythmPlanetPlaylistfor3/25/16:
Jhelisa / “Far I Have Come Far I Must Go” / A Primitive Guide To Being There / INFRAcom!
Amp Trio / “Stand By You” / M(Y)Our World / Amp Trio
Eneida Marta / “Mindjer dôce mel” / Lôpe kaï / Iris Music
Jaki Byard / “Two Different Worlds” / Out Front! / Prestige
Olga Kern / “Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 36 (rev.1913-31): II. Non allegro” / Rachmaninov: Sonata No.2 – Balakirev: Islamey / Harmonia Mundi
Anja Lechner, U.T. Gandhi, and Vassilis Tsabropoulos / “Gift Of Dreams” / Melos / ECM
Morton Gould, composer; Kenneth Klein, conductor; London Philharmonic Orchestra / “Pavane” / American Salute / EMI
Ahmad Jamal / “Pavanne” / The Legendary Okeh and Epic Recordings / Epic/Legacy
John Coltrane / “Impressions” / The Impulse Story / Impulse! Records
