Music from Western Europe: Jungle by Night (NL), Allan Taylor (UK), Manitas de Plata (F), Fernando Lemeirinhas (P), Gianmaria Testa (I), Ricard Galliano (F), Ot Azoj Klezmerband (NL).
1- Jungle by Night.
The fact that the Amsterdam group Jungle by Night wants to sound fresh and not purist, makes their music very catchy and completely contemporary. They have caused a furore in the Afrobeat scene with many performances. Hidden (the album we’re going to listen to) is their first album that delves deeper into a sound she wanted to make her own. Jungle by Night implements Malian soul, djembe rhythms from Senegal, gamelan tones, jazz or funk elements and even a bit of rock. CD. Hidden – Jungle by Night. Label: Kindred Spirits (2012), code: KS 037 CD | VIDEO
2- Allan Taylor.
Melancholy; it is this understanding that is central to this Allan Taylor album. A beautiful voice, beautiful guitar playing and lyrics written from a deeply felt and experienced (fellow) life. For example about friendship as in the second song The Stranger. Or about old lovers who love each other again in French Town. Allan Taylor knows how to unravel and name the complicated structure of feelings in a very nuanced way. CD. Hotels & dreamers – Allan Taylor. Label: Stockfisch (2004), code: SFR 357.6028.2 | VIDEO
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Manitas de Plata.
Manitas de Plata (pseudonym for Ricardo Baliardo) was born as a gypsy in 1921 in a caravan in Sète in the Hérault department in southern France. His pseudonym means Silver hands in Catalan. Although he was illiterate and could not read a note, he has recorded more than eighty albums and sold an estimated 93 million records.
CD. La Camargue de Manitas – Manitas de Plata.
Label: Versailles (1995), code: 4781332 | VIDEO
4- Fernando Lameirinhas.
Portuguese singer and guitarist Fernando Lameirinhas, who lives in the Netherlands, made the album Alegria Do Triste in 2002. The title means “Joy of the Sad” and that aptly captures the nostalgic atmosphere of Fernando’s music style; a personal approach to Portuguese fado and blues, influenced by jazz, Cape Verde morna, Brazilian chorinho and samba cançao. Fernando writes and composes all the songs himself. The album is a reflection of his theater program, in which he takes his audience to the Portugal of his memories and dreams. CD. Alegria do triste – Fernando Lameirinhas. Label: Munich Records (2202), code: BMCD 370 | VIDEO
5- Gianmaria Testa comes from Cuneo (Italy), the place where he grew up and taught himself to play the guitar. For about twenty-five years he worked in the same place at the station as a station master. He wrote his songs there during the empty, quiet moments at work. Only in 2005, more than ten years after his first released album, he stopped working on the station. Not because he no longer liked it, but simply because the stage had become his new home. Gianmaria made one masterpiece after another, of which thousands of copies are effortlessly sold. His lyrics are engaged (about the pain of migration, among other things), the melodies are mesmerizing and enchanting. He passed away in 2016. CD. La valse d’un jour : Il valzer di un giorno -Gianmaria TestaPier Mario Giovannone. Label: Le Chant du Monde (2001), code: 2741095 | Harmonia Mundi 874 1095 | VIDEO
6- Richard Galliano, Gary Burton, George Mraz, Clarence Penn.
What Astor Piazzolla did for the Argentine tango, the French accordionist Richard Galliano did for the musette, the French ballroom dance music of the early twentieth century. Galliano revived this dead genre and integrated improvisation into it, as he had learned from American jazz, his childhood sweetheart. Life as a jazz accordionist turned out not to be the easiest way to earn a living, but luckily he was appointed conductor, arranger and composer of Claude Nougaro’s orchestra in 1973. Until 1976 he played with greats such as Chet Baker and Toots Thielemans. After that, his mission to revive the musette took all his time. With five compositions by Astor Piazolla, L’Hymne à l’amour can be seen as a tribute to this great master of tango music. A striking guest role is reserved for Gary Burton, whose clear vibraphone sound forms a beautiful unity with Galliano’s melancholic accordion. CD. L’Hymne à l’amour – Richard Galliano, Gary Burton, George Mraz, Clarence Penn. Label: Cam Jazz (2002), code: CAMJ 77992 | VIDEO
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Ot Azoj Klezmerband.
Ot Azoj says they are a Klezmer band that reinvented themselves with the album. Band leader Karin Kranenborg plays here with a new generation of musicians. The music is inspired by the fictional country Molvania: an Eastern European-like country with a humorous description of ‘beautiful factory cities, special geckos and other strange phenomena’. CD. Dža dža dzum – Ot Azoj Klezmerband. Labe: AAC Records (2016), code: 99501 | VIDEO
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