Show #151: Musical Potpourri
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…
By Tom Schnabel • • 1 min read<!-- 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 TheShamen in the early 90’s, but I didn’t discover her until later. I love this cut from her 2006 CD APrimitiveGuidetoBeingThere.
The positive vibe of Jhelisa continues with a track from AmpTrio called “Stand By You.” We follow it with GilbertoGil’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 EneidaMarta continues the good vibes feel of this quartet of songs.
We showcase piano next by pairing the late JakiByard with Rachmaninov’s second sonata. Somehow the songs just fit together on a deeper level. OlgaKern’s reading of the great Russian romantic composer is wonderful, and dovetails nicely into the 2008 ECM recording by VassilisTsabropoulos et al.
The last three tracks are versions of a 1938 song by MortonGould called “Pavane.” AhmadJamal’s early (1951) Epic LP adds an extra “n” to the title. JohnColtrane 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
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