New Reviews: April 2, 2003
My Ireland
Ian Gallagher
Rego Records
Hailing from Roscommon County, Ireland, Ian Gallagher has been performing
traditional Irish songs and American pop tunes for the past thirty-five years.
My Ireland showcases Irish songs and instrumentals, as well as 1950's American pop
standards. Various percussion, accordion, sax, clarinet, trumpet, piano, trombone,
guitar, bass and vocal harmonies accompany the tunes. A strong sense of lounge jazz,
bop, and even swing, is evident in some of the American song remakes. Fans of the New
York Irish music scene should surely acquire My Ireland.
Review by Matt Forss
Dream Scapes
Steve Reid
Eagle Music Group
Dream Scapes is the latest effort of world, smooth and experimental jazz, by
jazz maestro Steve Reid. Each track possesses solid jazz rhythms backed with soulful
vocals, ethnic percussion and tribal grooves. Beautiful and rich melodies showcase
Steve's musical abilities as a producer, engineer and percussionist. Various world
percussion, guitars, bass, sax, flute, electronic wind instrument (EWI) and keyboards
complete the sound of Dream Scapes. Fans of smooth, world, vocal, lounge and experimental
jazz should acquire Dream Scapes.
Review by Matt Forss
Yakar
Idrissa Diop
Tinder Records
Senegalese-native, Idrissa Diop, brings us amazing Afro-Pop jazz from the heart of
West Africa. Incredible female and male backup vocals accentuate the contemporary
melodies. Each track contains traditional African elements mixed with contemporary
instrumentation and arrangements. Instruments used include electric/acoustic bass,
keyboards, guitar, drums, saxophones, trombone, trumpet, violin and ethnic percussion.
The songs are sung in Wolof and French. Generally, Idrissa and his band perform a wide
range of melodic expression. Overall, fans of West African popular music should check
out Yakar.
Review by Matt Forss
Calypso
Various Artists
Putumayo
(PUT 205-2, 2002)
Calypso, that combination of Caribbean rhythm, lyrical sleight-of-hand, colonialist
social commentary and fun-in-the-sun vibes, was some of the first "world" music to
achieve notable popularity beyond its point of origin. Despite the predominance of
modern incarnations of calypso (soca, rapso, chutney, etc), a healthy number of
listeners retain a passion (or a flat-out preference) for vintage recordings of
the music. Several labels have churned out various or single artist collections
of the old stuff, and this Putumayo disc is a very satisfying compilation of
what the back cover calls "calypso and calypso-influenced music." In other
words, not every track is strictly calypso. There's mento (precursor to
Jamaican reggae), folk and jazz done Caribbean style and African-influenced
junkanoo to be heard here, but despite the rather disingenuous title, the
musical offerings are bountifully enjoyable. While some of the tracks, such
as George Symonette's "Touch Me Tomato" and Frankie Anderson's familiar
"Limbo Song" reinforce the sort of stereotyping often associated with calypso,
there's no denying their infectious charm. Besides, there's a fair number of more
substantial tunes, like the Percentie Brothers' "Goombay Drum" and the rather tragic
"Linstead Market" by Lord Composer, to balance things out. In the CD's liner notes the
compilers lament what couldn't be included, but what they have on hand is quite fine.
Review by Tom Orr
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.
Tom Orr is a Southern California-based freelance writer, actor,
percussionist, 9 to 5-er, husband, daddy, and aspiring deep thinker.
He acquires more music than he has time to listen to, and feels the
only solution is to acquire even more.
