New Reviews: January 24, 2003
Reviews by Matthew J. Forss
Serenata
Irene Farrera
Paraiso Sonico
Venezuelan vocalist Irene Farrera brings us delightful and soulful music of
passion, joy and tradition. Vocals are accompanied by guitar, cuatro,
requinto, tambora, tamborita, congas, campana, bongos, violin, maracas
and other South American percussion instruments. Serenata combines
elements of Fado, jazz, flamenco and rumba into a unique musical
journey that is purely Venezuelan.
Grimborg
Gjallarhorn
NorthSide Records
Gjallarhorn is a Swedish-speaking band from the West Coast of Finland. Similarly,
the music is remarkably Swedish in character and style. Grimborg essentially
preserves the Finnish and Swedish mythological stories and ballads into song.
The name Gjallarhorn comes from Nordic mythology. The beautiful vocals of
Jenny Wilhelms, combined with traditional and non-native instrumentation
including violin, Hardanger fiddle, viola, mandola, didgeridoo, slideridoo,
Jew's harp, udu, djembe, berimbau, shaman drum, double bass and percussion
round out the musical reportoire.
The Heart Of Cape Breton - Fiddle Music Recorded Live Along The Ceilidh Trail
Various Artists
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
The fiddle music of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia is brilliantly preserved on another
fine Smithsonian Folkways recording. The fiddle music is accompanied with guitar,
piano, clapping, dancing and lamenting. Various jigs and reels by Brenda Stubbert,
Jackie Dunn MacIsaac, Kinnon Beaton, Jerry Holland, Buddy MacIsaac, Wendy MacIsaac,
Brian Doyle and Richard Wood capture the celebrated music of Nova Scotia. A
34-page information booklet is included.
Matthew J. Forss is currently a full-time student at Lakeland College-Sheboygan,
Wisconsin. He is majoring in Biology and German Language/Culture. Since 1998,
he has collected numerous musical instruments and CDs from around the world.
Also in 1998, he wrote a paper on Mongolian Ethnomusicology, titled:
How Does Music Play An Important Role In The Life And Culture Of Mongolia?
Currently, he has collected over 100 CDs that represent dozens of different
countries. His general interests include ethnomusicology journalism and
researching the traditional/contemporary ethnic music of various cultures
from around the world. His specific, geographic areas of study include the
traditional and popular music from Central Eurasia (especially Mongolia, Uzbekistan,
Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.) In November of 2000, he accepted the position of
writing world music CD reviews for this site.
