Show #80: Songs of Ecstasy and Enchantment
I didn’t really know at first what to call this show, but I did know that these are all songs of wonder good for musing and dreaming. Some of them…
By Tom Schnabel • • 1 min readI didn’t really know at first what to call this show, but I did know that these are all songs of wonder good for musing and dreaming. Some of them I have enjoyed for years and never tired of.
We begin with Pakistani sufi master the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, originally from an obscure Angel album called Spirit II: Spirit of Rumi. Graeme Revell produced this album and I also put the cut on my compilation, Trance Planet Vol. 5. This was Nusrat’s very last recorded performance, done at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. We get another soaring sufi song from the great Abida Parveen after that. What is interesting is that there is a little piano ostinato in it, something unusual in a qawwali song.
Keith Jarrett follows with an encore from a solo show he did in Munich in June, 1981: “Mon Coeur Est Rouge” (My Heart Is Red). It’s part of a box set called Concerts, recorded in Bregenz and Münich, Germany. The next song comes from Christian Vander, leader of a French band called Magma, but this time from a solo record he did in 1988. Magma was heavily influenced by Coltrane and Phaorah Sanders; in this song for voice and piano, you’ll hear musical quote from an early Pharoah Sanders album called Tauhid. Vanders’ voice is far from perfect but the totality of the song I think compensates for it.
Next come two lovely songs by veteran trumpeter Tom Harrell (with nice piano chords from Danny Grissett), after that bassist Jamie Ousley, who plays and teaches in Florida, with a vocal by Nanami Morikawa; they perform the old Americana standard “Shenandoah”.
We conclude with Hungarian guitarist Zsofia Boros and Tunisian oud virtuoso Anouar Brahem with pianist François Couturier.
I hope you enjoy this soothing and uplifting music!
Rhythm Planet Playlist: 11/07/14
Graeme Revell / “Don’t Go Back To Sleep” (Feat. Nusrat Fateh Ali) / Trance Planet Vol. 5 / Triloka
Abida Parveen / “Ghoonghat Ohle Na Luk Sajna” / Baba Bulleh Shah / Oreade Music
Keith Jarrett / “Mon Coeur Est Rouge” / Concerts (Bregenz München) / ECM
Tom Harrell / “Journey To The Stars” / Number Five / Highnote
Jamie Ousley / “Shenandoah” (Fea. Nanami Morikawa) / A Sea Of Voices / Tie
Zsofia Boros / “Brouwer: Un Dia De Noviembre” / En Otra Parte / ECM
Anouar Brahem / “C’est Ailleurs” / Le Pas Du Chat Noir / ECM