The Night: World Music

I – Steen Rasmussen & Josefine Cronholm. (01:01:53 min)
Milton Nascimento was the king of Brazilian music in the 1980s. His musical universe is unique, although generations of vocalists and instrumentalists have honored the master by interpreting his work. On Steen Rasmussen’s new album, Milton på Svenska, the listener can expect much more than just average interpretations. This album is an example of how music from two continents can merge into a work in which concepts of intercontinental understanding are understandable to everyone.
CD. Milton på Svenska – Steen Rasmussen & Josefine Cronholm.
LABEL: Stunt Records (2023), code: STUCD22122. VIDEO

II – Tenhi. (01:10:55 min)
Saivo’s long gestation period (four years) should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with Tenhi’s modus operandi. The Finnish musicians relentlessly pursue their vision down to the smallest detail, meaning that all the songs received different arrangements and new elements until all the album’s details fit into the overall picture. On Saivo, Tenhi uses largely consistent instrumentation to make the songs cohesive and unison. Guitar and piano are the main instruments; occasionally, they are supplemented by percussion, strings, and polyphonic vocals, all creating a melancholic soundscape characterized by earthy sadness and otherworldly joy.
CD. Saivo by Tenhi. LABEL: Prophecy (2011), code: PRO 119 2. VIDEO

III – Gianmaria Testa. (01:04:20 min)
He was born into a farming family near Cuneo, Italy, in 1958. Before embarking on his musical career, he worked as a station master in Cuneo. Gianmaria learned the musical craft entirely self-taught. As a hobby, after work he composed songs from the stories brought to him by train passengers. It wasn’t until the early 1990s that he mustered up the courage to go public with his songs. In 1995, he recorded his first album in France, titled Montgolfières. Gianmaria Testa passed away in 2015 at the age of 57. He was discreet and friendly in his dealings, but powerful in his words, songs, and ideas. VIDEO
CD. Montgolfières – Gianmaria Testa. LABEL: Indigo Records (1995), Code LBLC 2519.
CD.Prezioso – Gianmaria Testa.  LABEL:  Bonsai Music  (2019), code: BON190103.

IV – Lobi Traoré. (01:05:02 min)
Before his death from heart failure at 49, Malian singer and electric guitarist Lobi Traoré released a series of albums that captured his enchanting improvisational blues in the studio. He sings in the Bambara dialect and has much the same plaintive quality as the otherworldly groans of the great Delta blues singer. However, it is his guitar playing—cutting, metallic, heavily distorted—that defines his brooding, vampiric sound.
CD. Bwati kono, “In the club” – Lobi Traoré.
LABEL: System Krush (2011), code: KSK 2010. VIDEO

V – Manu Dibango. (01:01:33 min)
At the age of fifteen, young Emmanuel Dibango N’Djocke (1933-2020) was sent by his parents from Cameroon to France to pursue a technical education. In Paris and Brussels in the 1950s, young Manu discovered blues and jazz. He studied classical piano before switching to the saxophone. Upon returning to his native country, he managed to combine his love of jazz with African folk music. In 1972, Manu Dibango personally ensured that interest in African music arose in the Western world with the album Soul Mokassa.
CD. B Sides – Manu Dibango. LABEL: Melodie (2006), code: 859082. VIDEO

VI -Kodo. (35:27 min)
With their performances, the Japanese percussion band Kodo gives the audience a penetrating sensory experience: it is a feast to watch the percussionists play the taiko, a large, traditional Japanese drum that produces an impressively deep sound. The album Mondo Head contains different music than one is used to from Kodo. Mickey Hart, known from the rock band The Grateful Dead, invited Kodo to experiment. Mickey brought Kodo and other musicians together to create a new kind of world music through improvisation. Kodo provided the rhythmic aspect for the singing or playing of the harmonica virtuoso Charlie Musselwhite, the Indian percussionist Zakir Hussain, the Cuban singer Bobi Cespedes, the Puerto Rican jazz drummer Giovanni Hidalgo and the Gyuto monks of India, the personal choir of the Dalai Lama. The result is a wonderful mixture of, among others, Tibetan, Japanese and Indian musical styles.
CD. Mondo Head – Kodo. LABEL: Columbia Records (2002), code: 5083312. VIDEO

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