The Hot List: May 6, 2000

Fiddling from the Canadian Maritimes has been very hot in Canada -- and elsewhere -- for the past several years. Rounder Records has releases two albums for fiddling fans: Full Circle from Cape Breton fiddler Bill Lamey, and My Roots are Showing from Natalie MacMaster. The Lamey album contains older material, from when the fiddler moved from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Boston. Many of the songs are from "house sessions" and releases commercially for the first time. MacMaster's latest release features her once again doing what she does best -- performing exciting renditions of traditional reel, jigs, and more.

It is a little known fact that Canada also has many fine Klezmer groups. Finjan is one of them, and their new Rounder release Dancing on Water features everything from traditional Yiddish standards to new compositions. I found the album very easy to listen to - the tempos were just right for dancing or relaxing!

As usual, I have been absolutely swamped with excellent albums from Rounder, so in brief here is a list of notables:

Sacred Music of the Moroccan Jews - From the Paul Bowles Collection, a series of synagogue services and liturgical music recorded in 1959 in Morocco.
Women's Songs from India - Recorded in the late 1990's in Northern India in the Bhojpuri and Maithili languages.
Chers Amis by Magnolia Sisters - Fans of Cajun music will enjoy this all-woman band.
Rosa De Castilla and other Love Songs - Sung by Judith Reyes, Chabela Villasenor and The Solorio Sisters, these are Spanish-language songs from Mexico about love in all of its many forms.

Next: International Independents