Tom Schnabel's Rhythm Planet
Overlooked and Unusual Songs Pt. 2
This week we dust off some rare gems from Tahiti to China, Cameroon, and to Moorish Spain, many of which are collector’s items now.
By Tom Schnabel • • 59m ListenLast year, I did a show where I pulled older songs that still need some love. Now it's time for Part 2!
We start with an R-rated Tahitian song from 1931: a love song chosen by illustrator and melomane Robert Crumb from an old 78 rpm record he found in France. After that, an album that David Byrne once gave to his friends at Christmas time, then put it on his Luaka Bop label. "Jing Jing" is an Okinawa song by Shoukichi Kina featuring Ry Cooder.
A miniature from Japanese composer Jun Miyake is next (when will he start doing sountracks?), after that a Chinese take on Vivaldi's "Spring" from The Four Seasons...played on a pipa orchestra.
We change gears with Bill Laswell's band Material featuring Jamaican singer Shaba Ranks, then the veteran toaster U-Roy with a song whose words still elude me. Can you translate them please? An Arabic version of Isaac Haye's "Shaft" by Algerian superstar Malik is next. An old 12" single dub track sung mostly in Welsh is next...crazy stuff.
We shift into 3rd gear with a set of beautiful gems by Paul de Marinis, Monserrat Figueras & Hesperion XX, Brazil's Monica Salmaso with a 1950s song "Ave Maria no Moro" (Ave Maria from the hill, or favela). Finally, Sarah Vaughan is incomparable with this beautiful song by Henri Salvador, "The Midnight Sun Will Never Set" done with Quincy Jones gorgeous arrangement.
Our final two songs come from Cameroun's Francis Bebey on an album named after the Gabon-based clinic of the great Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Lambarene Schweitzer (Lambarene was the village the clinic was in). The last cut is by jazz bassist Mike Richmond, who teams up with several world music players.
I pulled a lot of records for this show and had so many that I have decided to do a Part 3. Stay tuned for that and I hope you enjoy these rare picks.
Rhythm Planet Playlist: 09/04/14
Unknown Tahitian 1931 / "Chant D'Amour (Love Song" / Hot Women: Women Singers From The Torrid Regions Of The World / Kein & Aber
Shoukichi Kina / "Jing Jing" (Feat. Ry Cooder) / Asia Classics Vol. 2: Peppermint Tea House / Luaka Bop
Jun Miyake / "Postcard" / Glam Exotica / Tropical Music
Chinese Baroque Players / "Spring - Allegro" / Vivaldi Four Seasons / Xien
Material / "Reality Dub" / Manifestation: Axiom Collection II / Axiom
U-Roy / "Warn Them Now" / The Seven Gold / Sonic Sounds
Malik / "Shaft" / Generation Beur FM / Wagram Music
Llwybr Llaethog / "Ai Bod" / Da!/ Side Effects
Paul De Marinis / "Fonetica Francese" / Music As A Second Language / Lovely Music
Monserrat Figueras / "E Quando Siguaran" / El Canto De La Silbila / Astree
Monica Salmaso / "Ave Maria No Morro" / Voadeir / Blue Jackel
Quincy Jones Feat. Sarah Vaughan / "The Midnight Sun Will Never Set" / Quincy Jones' Finest Hour / Verve
Francis Bebey / "Cries For The South" / Lambarene Schweitzer / Adami
Mike Richmond / "Epominomous, Where Are You?" / Basic Tendencies / Nomad