<!-- missing image http://blogs.kcrw.com/rhythmplanet/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/blog-spacer.jpg -->This week I just want to play deejay and lay down some tracks I’ve liked for a long time. Here are my picks:
Jhelisa had a number of hits as a member of The Shamen in the early 90’s, but I didn’t discover her until later. I love this cut from her 2006 CD A Primitive Guide to Being There.
The positive vibe of Jhelisa continues with a track from Amp Trio called “Stand By You.” We follow it with Gilberto Gil’s Grammy Award-winning CD Quanta from 1997, with a plangent piece called “Estrela” (Star). He’ll be performing with Caetano Veloso on April 10 at the Microsoft Theater (formerly known as the Nokia).
From Gil’s Brazil we cross the pond to Guinea-Bissau, another lusophone country, this time in West Africa. The song “Mindjer Dôce Mel” from Eneida Marta continues the good vibes feel of this quartet of songs.
We showcase piano next by pairing the late Jaki Byard with Rachmaninov’s second sonata. Somehow the songs just fit together on a deeper level. Olga Kern’s reading of the great Russian romantic composer is wonderful, and dovetails nicely into the 2008 ECM recording by Vassilis Tsabropoulos et al.
The last three tracks are versions of a 1938 song by Morton Gould called “Pavane.” Ahmad Jamal’s early (1951) Epic LP adds an extra “n” to the title. John Coltrane based his masterful Village Vanguard recording from 1961 on it; we hear a later, shorter studio version called “Impressions.” Coltrane, like Jamal, was a musical omnivore and listened to everything regardless of genre or style.
Hope you enjoy the set!
Rhythm Planet Playlist for 3/25/16:
- Jhelisa / “Far I Have Come Far I Must Go” / A Primitive Guide To Being There / INFRAcom!
- Amp Trio / “Stand By You” / M(Y)Our World / Amp Trio
- Eneida Marta / “Mindjer dôce mel” / Lôpe kaï / Iris Music
- Gilberto Gil / “Estrela” / Quanta / Mesa
- Jaki Byard / “Two Different Worlds” / Out Front! / Prestige
- Olga Kern / “Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 36 (rev.1913-31): II. Non allegro” / Rachmaninov: Sonata No.2 – Balakirev: Islamey / Harmonia Mundi
- Anja Lechner, U.T. Gandhi, and Vassilis Tsabropoulos / “Gift Of Dreams” / Melos / ECM
- Morton Gould, composer; Kenneth Klein, conductor; London Philharmonic Orchestra / “Pavane” / American Salute / EMI
- Ahmad Jamal / “Pavanne” / The Legendary Okeh and Epic Recordings / Epic/Legacy
- John Coltrane / “Impressions” / The Impulse Story / Impulse! Records
