Whole Music Experience Top Ten Lists in Progress

Which albums made it into WME's Top Ten?

Stay tune for Top Ten lists for classical, jazz, world and healing music.  Also Top Three Labels of 2009.

Coming up shortly.

Music for Healing Project

In the upcoming months I plan on including more reviews, interviews and articles about using music for healing purposes.  While I understand music plays many roles in our lives, at this juncture in history I believe it's vital that we add purposeful healing music to our lives.

When I say purposeful, I mean that music plays diverse roles.  Some music was created for entertainment and cultural enrichment, for sharing and dancing.  Some types of music build community while others cause people to isolate themselves (which works if the person needs to be alone to heal personal wounds), and some music without tunes, without nostalgia or any invasive elements helps us to relax deeply, get in touch with our innerselves and bring balance to our lives.  When we find balance, we also find deep healing.

So in the months ahead The Whole Music Experience will combine traditional, jazz and community building recording reviews with music awareness for hospice workers, medical professionals, pregnant and menopausal women and many more in need of balancing music.

I also teach workshops on these topics in Skagit Valley, Whatcom and King counties in Washington State.  Please contact me if you have a group interested in presenting one of my workshops. wholemusicexp at gmail.com

A Music Experiment--Take a Music-pause

I have been thinking a lot about women suffering from emotional and mental symptoms connected to hormonal imbalance--with a focus on peri-menopausal and menopausal women.  Some of the symptoms I have experienced myself include irritability, heart palpitations with anxiety in the middle of the night, and an emotional rollercoaster ride, including bursts of anger in connection with standing up for myself.

So if any women reading this blog have experienced similar emotions and mental processes, I am including a few CDs here for you to try to alleviate some of the symptoms.  Experiment.

I also started drinking Tulsi (Holy Basil) tea to reduce my stress levels. I feel relaxed.

For insomnia I recommend:

"Relax and De-Stress" by Dr. Andrew Weill and Joshua Leeds, Sounds True

"Through A Dog's Ear" Volume One, Sounds True (Yes, this CD helps humans relax too and if your dog also feels stressed out, then you help the both of you).

These two CDs slow the body's rhythm down gradually until the music reaches 80 beats per minute--a full relaxed state. 

Clearing space after feeling strong emotions:

"In the Key of Earth" and "Vibrational Healing Music" by Marjorie de Muynck, Sounds True

Marjorie combines sound healing tools with musical overtones, natural sounds and jazz instruments tuned to the key of the universal ohm.  This music clears electromagnetic effects from your body and aura.  All the instruments are acoustic-based.

Catharis for anger and hurt (about issues from the past)

"The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster," Blue Corn Music

Or anything by Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, etc...

Ruthie sings the blues, old folk and gospel.  The themes of her songs reflect on healing past hurts, coming into one's own and other themes menopausal and middle age women experience.  The singing and production on this album lends itself well to getting stuff out of your system.  Dance to the music, clean house to the music or just listen to it through headphones.  I guarantee you'll feel better.

Uplift moods & relax nervous tension (without drowsiness)

"Nha Sentimento" Cesaria Evora, Lusafrica

"Lus" Nancy Vieira, World Village

Both of these CDs are new to my collection.  In fact, I just reviewed both of them in the last two weeks.  And I have been experiencing a lot of stress during this time too so these CDs were pushed to the limit and performed well.

The Cape Verdean sound feels warming, comforting and sedate.  The lyrics might reflect on sadness, but the rhythms, choice of instruments, etc... create a welcoming environment.  It might sound cliche to say that the songs feel like hugs from a friend, but they do.  Plus the two singers possess beautiful and deeply penetrating voices.

And if you need a happy song for dancing yourself into a frenzy

"Make a Better World" off of "Slide to Freedom 2" Doug Cox and Salil Bhatt, Northern Blues

These musicians provide music for my yoga practice.  I love starting out with this happy song and I end up feeling better about myself and my sporadic outbursts of anger. Who doesn't want to make the world a better place? Too bad I feel ticked off a lot.

I found the wolf photograph on Wikipedia and posted it on this article for Marjorie and other animal lovers mentioned in the article.

In Conversation with Marta Topferova

Storks, Poetry and the Human Spirit

 Around 2005-06, I heard vocalist and cuatro player Marta Topferova giving a radio interview in Seattle. After the interview, I acquired her recording, La Marea and I fell in love with its blend of old style Latin American music with a modern sensibility. That following Valentine’s Day I saw Marta with her trio at Jazz Alley (Seattle), and I felt swept away by the South American cuatro and Marta’s alto vocals. And I wasn’t the only one—many audience members stayed after the concert to meet the performers.



Later with the release of her second recording on World Village, Flor Nocturna, again Marta supplied her listeners with a collection of thoughtful songs performed in a “chamber ensemble” format. Some of the material felt melancholy, but so were the times in which I found myself listening to the recording.


Now, Marta awaits the release of her third World Village recording, Trova (see review below), which celebrates music of the Caribbean and South America. The songs tinged with poetic reflection, Latin percussion, cuatro, guitar, accordion, très (Cuban lute), and violin again speak of the times in which we live.


I caught up with Marta via e-mail for a conversation about the new album, Trova. While the music itself possesses a warm tropical feel, the poetry speaks directly to the times in which we live. Can we heal the world through our music and words?


WME: When I saw the title of your new CD my thoughts immediately went to the Cuban trova tradition and of course to the poetic troubadours from Spain in which Cuban trova found its roots. Now, you had lived in Cuba at one point where you studied Cuban music so is this where you found inspiration for this new album?


Marta Topferova: I visited Cuba 10 years ago and lived in Spain for 6 months in 1993. But most of my knowledge of Latin American music comes from playing with Latin American musicians in New York and my own studies throughout the years. For Trova, I wanted to go for a more upbeat concept and highlight Caribbean influences such as the Cuban son, bolero, Puerto Rican bomba, etc. I was always fond of the Cuban très and was lucky to find a très player (Aaron Halva), who knows the trova tradition very well, but is a versatile musician who can play many other rhythms and styles on the très. I also wanted to include some songs with 'coros' which are such a strong part of Latin American music.


WME: Trova acts as a departure for you from the Venezuelan-Colombian sound, even though half of this recording features the cuatro-based music. The violin, and bass is still present, but you have added more percussion, a très (traditional Cuban lute), and accordion, as well as, you bringing in acoustic guitar.


So what was your musical journey between Flor Nocturna, 2006 release to this new album?


MT: When I produced my last release, Flor Nocturna, I was working with a more chamber concept, partly because when I started touring, we played mostly in trio settings where I accompanied myself on cuatro along with just bass and violin or flute. I love this kind of subtle sound, but I found that I wanted to bring in a more energetic aspect to the performances, so I formed a group where percussion and coros play an important role.


WME: Poetry, both yours and other poets play a central role on Trova as you would expect. Would you like to comment on some of the themes, which delve into spirituality, nature, love and transcendence? (The Meadow, La Pradera, reminds me of Pablo Neruda’s poetry with its combination of natural beauty and human longing, despair).


MT: I like to write about many themes. The opening song is called Juligán or Hooligan, which is about a homeless guy. Homelessness is an unfortunate phenomenon we see frequently in New York City. My other songs are often inspired by nature or mythological symbols such as the song Vuelo de Cigueña or Flight of the Stork. I also like to share thoughts about society at times - for example in Madrugada (Dawn), I write, "What has happened to our power (as humankind), that has threatened what should be loved most." What I mean by that is that while our presence as a society in the world has been remarkable, it also brings with it serious difficulties such as global warming, pollution, extinction for many species.


Humanity is facing terrible dangers – commercialism is dominating more than ever, and we are not doing enough to care for nature, the poor and the vulnerable. This may sound old fashioned, but I am finding too much violence and vulgarity in our mainstream culture. So, I suppose I strive to offer a sort of refuge with my music, a place that is imaginitive, nourishing and beautiful.


WME: I remember reading in your biography from years ago that you studied the music of Spain, Cuba, and South America. How did this love of Latin and Spanish music start for you? I remember reading that you were a child living in the Czech Republic and that your family had Hispanic friends that drew you into Latin culture. Did this connection lead you in the direction of Latin American music?


MT: My first introduction to Latin American music was when I was 6 years old. My parents, both actors, worked with some Chilean friends who immigrated to Czechoslovakia in the 1970s. They gave my parents a collection of LPs by Inti-Illimani, a Chilean folkloric group who play music of the Andes. I fell in love with these records and played them over and over.


But there was no other Latin American music to be found behind the iron curtain back then. So the opportunity for me to explore my passion for this music didn’t come until I immigrated to the U.S. in 1987 with my mother and sister. It was in my adolescence in the U.S., where I came in contact with other immigrants like myself that my interest in the Spanish language and culture took off. I also finally had a chance to seek out a much broader variety of music.


WME: What comments would you like to make about the production of Trova, the new instrumental arrangements and new musicians on board for this album?


MT: Trova was recorded in a studio near Prague after a European tour. I did the arrangements for the album before we went on tour, but having a chance to play ten shows in a row and work on the music before recording made a big difference. The studio, "Sono" and engineer Michal Vaniš, turned out to be fabulous. We recorded the whole thing live in the main hall, which had amazing acoustics. I think the album has a very warm and organic sound, like older recordings.


The studio is an old farmhouse with a hotel and restaurant attached, so we stayed and ate there during the sessions. This created such a great and relaxed atmosphere for the making of the record. I also know each player quite well and the chemistry between the band members is great. The bassist (Pedro Giraudo) and percussionist (Neil Ochoa) have been playing with me for about nine years. The violinist (Roland Satterwhite) has toured with me a lot in the last three years. Aaron Halva on très and accordion is the newest addition. Aaron and I only started playing together about a year and a half ago, but I knew him on the New York scene for years and knew his musical tastes were very close to mine.


WME: Since you combine spiritual poetry with music, do you find composing and performing music to be a healing force in your life?


MT: Yes, music is a healing force in my life. Sometimes one forgets that – when one gets all caught up in the logistics that go into planning concerts, tours, and trying to make a living doing it. But then you have moments when you realize how much music means to you and the power it can have to uplift others.


WME: Finally what musicians, living and dead inspire you as a musician?


MT: My main inspiration has come from Camarón de la Isla, Paco de Lucía, Rafael de Utrera, Atahualpa Yupanqui, Mercedes Sosa (who passed away just recently), Guillermo Portabales, Los Compadres, Eliades Ochoa, Celia Cruz, Joao Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius da Moraes, Nereu Mocoto & Swing (a record called Power Samba), Lucía Pulido, Juan Carlos Formell, Zuzana Lapcikova, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis and many more…


World Village

In Review--Trovadores

Marta Topferova
Trova
World Village
Release Date: December 2009


Marta Topferova’s third recording for World Village, Trova focuses on the traditional Cuban sound—mainly sones and trovas, but makes a few excursions to South America. Marta returns with her cuatro while adding guitar and maracas on this recording. Aaron Halvo (accordion, très, vocals), Roland Satterwhite (violin, vocals), Pedro Giraudo (bass, vocals) and Neil Ochoa (traditional Latin percussion) round it off the sweet Caribbean (Come and Walk to the Hill), and South American sounds (The Fireflies).


Marta’s vocals sound warmer and lighter on Trova then on previous recordings—a mixture of honey and cinnamon. True to the trova and son traditions, poetry plays a central role either portrayed as Marta’s spiritual yearnings or the poetry of others reflecting on nature, love or transcendence over pain such as in the Pablo Raùl Trullenque and Carlos Carabajal’s Come to My Place without Knocking. The lyrical content radiates a wistful feeling, like clouds passing across the sky or the sun peeking through after a storm.


While many of the songs on the recording find roots in Cuban guitar and rhythms, Madrugada (Dawn) reflects back to Marta’s previous World Village albums, Flor Nocturna and La Marea with its cuatro tinge and Columbian-Venezuelan influences. The upbeat rebel-rousing Come to My Place without Knocking also falls into South American musical territory. I can imagine listeners kicking their heels up to this one with Satterwhite swinging away on violin and Ochoa bringing out a battery of Latin percussion, including a bombo and pandeiro. The vocal and guitar rhythms empower the song further. My favorite song, Mar y Cielo (the Sea and the Sky) ends the recording on a passionate note.


The songs are relaxing and even sedate with the exception of the rousing song in that falls in the middle of the recording. Listening to Trova certainly takes the rough edges off of the life experience. I have already listened to this advance copy several times and I feel delighted to add another one of Marta’s treasures to my collection. Kudos!


World Village

In review--Exalted baroque

Polyphony/Britten Sinfonia/Stephen Layton 

George Frideric Handel

Messiah

Hyperion Records

I am not a religious person, but when I listen to Handel’s Messiah, I feel a certain holiness enter the room—the space becomes sacred.  Oddly, a Handel expert told me last year that the baroque composer was not particularly religious.  True he had composed other oratorios with Biblical themes before composing the music for Messiah, but he did recycle material from his secular operas to appear as arias in Messiah.  However, this exalted music with its fiery arias and stunning orchestral interludes, must have given old Handel some pause for religious thought.  The libretto alone tells a powerful story of prophecy, suffering and transcendence, as well as, faith in Divine Providence.

Handel reworked the oratorio several times, adding arias for soloist and most notably for the castrato Gaetano Guadagni, in 1750.  The original performance of Messiah took place in 1741.  Polyphony and Britten Sinfonia perform the 1752 version.  They employ a small orchestra and choir.  The soloists for this performance include soprano Julia Doyle, countertenor Iestyn Davies, tenor Allen Clayton and bass Andrew Foster-Williams, four vocalists that work well off of each other.  The performance was recorded in St. John’s, Smith Square in London on December 22 and 23, 2008.

The recording feels in the moment with dynamic singing and beautiful orchestral passages punctuated by regal brass, organ and harpsichord.  Lasting for the length of a feature-length film, Messiah begins with Old Testament text in Part One with the prophecy of the coming Messiah.  The countertenor aria sung by Davies, track 6, But who may abide sends chills up my spine.  And in fact, the countertenor gets a workout in Part One since he sings a total of 5 arias.

The crowning glory of Part Two is the Hallelujah chorus which brings in rich counterpoint vocals, razor sharp horns and rolling timpani.  The chorus, in my opinion, ranks as one of the most beautiful passages in the history of classical music.   Part Three opens with another gorgeous passage, the soprano aria, I know that my redeemer liveth sung beautifully by Doyle.  Later in the same section, Davies and Clayton sing the hauntingly gorgeous aria O death where is thy sting?  And Doyles’ interpretation of If God be for us, who can be against us? is spellbinding. 

More counterpoint with the full choir and soloists perform the dramatic Amen chorus.  I find this interpretation of Handel’s Messiah richly rewarding.  I prefer recordings with smaller orchestras and with baroque instruments.  Four hundred years after the birth of Handel, the oratorio Messiah lives on in the hearts of classical musicians, Christians and aficionados of baroque music.  Whether or not Handel experienced Divine Intervention when composing the oratorio remains a mystery, but certainly when I listen to Messiah, something stirs profoundly in my soul.  In fact, I give high recommendations for Handel's oratorio and challenge even agnostics to give a listen and not feel moved by spirit.  And certainly Polyphony’s performance deserves a few listens this season.  It reminds us to overcome our collective despair despite the darkness we all face.

www.hyperion-records.co.ukhttp://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/

In review--Piano Beethoven's Forte

Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov
Beethoven Complete Sonatas for Piano and Violin
Harmonia Mundi



If someone wanted to become intimate with the Romantic musician-composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), spending time with the composer’s scores would certainly open a door. Many classically-trained musicians and scholars delved into the German composer’s scores, though barely decipherable given the composer’s messy handwriting and equally messy palette of raw emotions Beethoven brought to his sonatas and other work. And the musicians would also discover when researching the composer that he started out as a violinist and even mastered the instrument, though piano turned out to be his forte (pun intended).


Hungarian pianist and Beethoven interpreter Andràs Schiff recorded the entire cycle of the German composer’s piano sonatas for ECM Records, with the last recording of the series released in 2009. Now, German violinist Isabelle Faust and Russian pianist Alexander Melnikov recorded all ten of Beethoven’s violin sonatas, released on a 4-CD set which includes a DVD documentary of the recording process, fascinating in itself.


While each musician brings her own awareness, musical skills and scholarly knowledge to their instrument when performing Beethoven’s music, Faust and Melnikov bring a sense of excitement, pathos and wonder to their interpretations of these sonatas that appear on Beethoven Complete Sonatas for Piano and Violin. The musicians combine pragmatic thought with intuition and keen musical sensitivities. They pay homage to Beethoven while also taking on a formidable task of making sense of a large body of work, written over a span of 15 years.


In the documentary the musicians are shown contemplating Beethoven’s scores, musical direction and the composer’s personal life. Similar to other scholars and musicians that have tackled these multidimensional scores, the musicians discussed Beethoven’s sense of humor, his playfulness, passion and even his sentimental feelings. Beethoven as a person shared complexity with his music. And any listener fearful of emotions would do better to find a more detached composer, and outside of the Romantic era.


So where does a reviewer begin with a collection of ten sonatas? Beethoven composed the first eight sonatas for his friend virtuoso violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh. Sweet lyrical passages explode into sharp musical outbursts that eventually dissolve into humorous, even sarcastic musical statements. The first sonata opens with a bold declaration, a short motif and then the violin waxes lyrical and the piano responds in a more pragmatic tone. The two instruments participate equally in a musical conversation and they engage in a tit for tat.


The composer provided the musicians with plenty of upward runs creating elation and perhaps transcendence in listeners. And we have only just begun because this rich palette of emotions explodes during the first movement of the first sonata. It’s best to listen to the sonatas one at a time or one disc per day. Otherwise, a listener might find themselves too exhausted from the experience—feels like intense therapy at times.


Each sonata has its distinct personality, though they all share in common sweet moments, revelry, humor and passionate outbursts, as this seems to be par for the course with Beethoven, and his sonatas appear as smaller canvases that contain similar motifs to his symphonies.


While it would be impossible to review every sonata on this 4-CD set, all of them have been listened to with pleasure. And the liner notes were read thoroughly, even if some of the musical terms fell on deaf ears. Suffice to say that sonatas #9 and #10 away from the first eight sonatas. Sonata #9 was composed for Rodolphe Kruetzer, who never performed it in public because he found it “unintelligible” (liner notes). Kruetzer preferred to play in legato notes and the sonata was written in staccato notes. Sonata #10 was composed for French violinist Jacques Pierre Joseph Rode and it premiered in Prince Lobkowitz’s palace on December 29, 1812. Sonata #10 appears on disc #2 along with Sonata #4 and Sonata #5, also known as, Spring Sonata. While Sonata #9 appears alone on the backside of the DVD (disc #4).


After listening to all ten sonatas and watching the DVD, it’s impossible to distinguish one sonata movement for another. I hope to become more acquainted with this collection over time. However, I have found a few health benefits listening to the sonatas. I believe that the exploration of emotions that appear in the sonatas, absorbing and releasing those emotions can only act as a catharsis.


I listened to the sonatas before falling asleep and I woke up the next morning exploding with creativity. When I listen to Beethoven’s work, when performed by sensitive musicians, I unblock my creative flow and I feel tension release from my body. I don’t know what the composer’s intentions were when he composed music, but I feel that he immersed his music in honest emotions and that through his music he worked his way to the other side, which at many times resembles transcendence.

Harmonia Mundi