Next Gen Folk Column
Victory Music Review October 2011

Note: The Next Gen Folk column is intended to be more than just a perspective on roots musicians from a younger generation. The goal of the column is to show positive ways that different generations work together in roots music. The goal is to show how music is passed on and celebrated from generation to generation. The Congolese band Staff Benda Bilili is a powerful example of this kind of work.

Staff Benda Bilili. Très Très Fort.
2009. Crammed Discs.

When writing about music from Africa, it’s all too easy to get caught up in the stories behind the music. Africa has traditionally excited Western imaginations (and stereotypes) more than any other place. And sometimes the story is so powerful that you can’t ignore it, which gives the music a special meaning. This is the case with the Congolese ensemble Staff Benda Bilili. You just can’t make up a story like this.

The musicians of Staff Benda Bilili are handicapped and live on the streets outside the Jardins Zoologique in Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic Republic of the Congo. Riding around on motorized tricycles all day (local kids push them when the tricycles run out of gas),they hustle a living from the city streets. They’re surrounded by, and have taken in, street children, or sheges. One of these former street kids, Roger Landu, is also a stunning virtuoso in the band. A mere 17 years old, he built his own instrument: a one-string lute he calls a satonge. It’s got a tinny sound from the homemade materials (a coffee can), but despite its humble origins and single string, he blazes through guitar riffs that would stun any six-string instrumentalist. I can’t imagine the ingenuity and creativity it would take to rise above a life in the streets with an entirely hand-made, self-taught talent like that. All the members of Staff Benda Bilili have hard-won stories like this. One example is Bandleader Ricky Likabu who works many odd jobs, hustles alcohol and cigarettes from his tricycle outside clubs, and, according to the liner notes, still sleeps on cardboard in the streets.

But despite the hard-luck exterior image of the group, handicapped people in Kinshasa occupy a key role in the city (at least according to the album’s liner notes) running goods back and forth across the border (due to an exemption on customs taxes), and enjoying a reputation as fearless, well-educated, outspoken advocates for themselves and others less fortunate (the sheges, or street kids, whom they protect). This is reflected in the lyrics of Staff Benda Bilili, as they sing about the importance of polio vaccinations (their handicaps stem from polio afflictions as children), speak out against corporate control of food, present a call to action for Africans “Black man, get up, stand up, Africa is being destroyed./If Africans don’t unite they’re going nowhere/Africa belongs to Africans/Let us love and help each other,” and admonish those who would judge them, “Don’t judge the life of a man/one doesn’t choose one’s life.” The songs are sung in Lingala, and are heavily informed by Congolese music traditions which were themselves originally inspired by Cuban music that had traveled back to Africa. The more you look into the modern history of music, the more you see music turning in circles, traveling away from and returning to the source endlessly.

On the one hand the music of Staff Benda Bilili is a powerful testament to overcoming adversity, but on the other hand, it’s a more positive vision of life in the Congo. A sign that life goes on, no matter where you are or what your circumstances, and that hope unifies us all. Staff Benda Bilili are now touring internationally and have a critically acclaimed documentary of them making the festival rounds. In the song “Tonkara,” Staff Benda Bilili sing about chance, and how it can strike anyone at any time. “I once slept on cardboard/Good luck hit me, I bought myself a mattress/It can happen to you, to him, to them/A man is never finished/Chance can hit you without warning/It’s never too late in life/Someday I’ll make it too.” Think about the kind of chance that brought these street performers across the world and landed them brand-new careers as international stars. Now that’s an inspiring story.

Staff Benda Bilili: Moziki

Staff Benda Bilili Documentary

Roger Landu on the santonge

NOTE: This article first appeared in the Victory Music Review, a monthly publication for acoustic music lovers in the Pacific Northwest.

Note: This review originally appeared in Driftwood Magazine.

Boban & Marko Markovic Orchestra vs. Fanfare Ciocarlia. Balkan Brass Battle.
2011. Asphalt Tango.

By now, Balkan brass is an accepted and much-loved part of the “world music” industry. Give thanks to Yugoslavian director Emir Kusturica for this. His hallucinatory, rabidly-exciting scenes of gypsy life in the Balkans, though rife with stereotypes, are also so much fun that they sparked a huge love for this music in the West. Think a mix between O Brother Where Art Thou if it was set in Eastern Europe and the films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie), and you have an idea of what his films are like. Classic Kusturica films include Underground, Time of the Gypsies, and Black Cat, White Cat. If you haven’t heard of Kusturica, drop what you’re doing right now and add Underground to the top of your Netflix queue. Seriously. It will blow your mind. Or if you’ve already seen his movies, drop everything and add Arizona Dream to your queue. It’s his foray into American film, and it’s totally insane. Starring Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway, and Jerry Lewis, it’s a psychedelic romp through Southern Americana. Pure mad genius.

A key to Kusturica’s movies is his use of intense Balkan brass, and his integration of the brass bands into his film (see the Youtube clip from Underground). There’s something innate in Balkan brass; I think it’s a music you have to be born into. You can hear the desperation and anger of Eastern Europe’s Roma (not Gypsy, please) people in every note. This isn’t music to relax to; this is music to make your walls bounce. It’s frenetic and weird and overwhelming. And it’s infused with the party-or-die attitude of Eastern Europe. Balkan brass bands in concert put out a colossal amount of energy; I once saw someone fall into a canal, they were dancing so hard to the music. So the thought of bringing two Roma brass bands together, and two of the very best, is kind of staggering. And true enough, this battle between top ranked bands Boban & Marko Markovic Orchestra (known for their playing in Kusturica’s movies) and Fanfare Ciocarlia (one of the best Balkan brass bands) is every bit as house-shaking as imagined.



Recorded in 48 hours in a Transylvanian hotel outside Castle Dracula (according to the press release), the ensuing album, Balkan Brass Battle, brings together these two giants of Balkan brass to cover such unusual material as the James Bond theme and the Gummy Bear song. And they produce stunning renditions of both, which may surprise you when you realize just how silly the Gummy Bear song is. On the Western covers, the beats are extra funky, channeling an almost funkadelic sound, and helping to tilt the axis away from the insanely frenetic sounds of Balkan brass. But the album really shines when the groups tear up traditional Balkan folk music. “Devla” is a hallucinatory romp through Balkan rhythms, with each group blasting back and forth. And tracks like “Topdzijsko Kolo” and “Dances from the Monestary Hills” give the listener a great intro to the true sounds of Balkan brass. Each band gets their time to shine with their own tracks on the album, and you can compare and contrast the bands via their alternate takes on Duke Ellington’s “Caravan.”

Many of the tracks have the oom-pa oom-pa beat usually associated with Oktoberfest polkas, but the rhythm is so jacked up that you’d probably injure yourself trying to dance to this music with a belly full of German beer. In fact, Roma brass music is so intense that injuries on the dance floor are not uncommon. These are the kind of bands that close out the night at an all-night Balkan dance party, probably breaking half the chairs in the place with their hard-partying dance music. Now you have a chance to bring home your own party with this collaborative album of Balkan brass.

Boban & Marko Markovic Orchestra vs. Fanfare Ciocarlia: Devla

  

Opening Scene from Emir Kusturica's Underground

Trailer for Balkan Brass Battle

If you've been to Seattle's Dusty Strings Music Shop, you've likely met Molly Bauckham. She's a wispy elf of a lady who specializes in harps and friendly smiles. She's part of the Dusty Strings that I love, the open and caring music store that caters to our homey community of roots musicians. She's also a stellar Celtic harpist.

Her new album, Maid on the Shore, just came out. Recorded at Empty Sea Studios, the album features traditional and original Celtic tunes and songs. Molly's got a lovely, light touch on the harp and her voice rides a great line between classically trained and folk-informed. From what I've heard, the album is quite beautiful.

This Friday, Molly has a CD Release Party at Dusty Strings for her brand-new album of original and traditional Celtic music. She'll be joined by guests from Seattle's Celtic scene: John Peekstok (guitar/cittern), Sarah Bost (flute), and Richard Hill (backing vocals). Show up and support one of Seattle's friendliest folk musicians!
 

Friday, September 30
Molly Bauckham's CD Release Concert
Dusty Strings Music Shop
$15.00 (children under 12 $7.50)
Doors open @ 7:00 PM
Call 206-634-1662 (or toll-free 866-634-1662) to purchase tickets (or stop by
the shop!)

FACEBOOK EVENT

Molly Bauckham: Sheba's Bellybutton


Molly Bauckham: I Know My Love


 

ALSO: Dang, decisions decisions. Empty Sea Studios is holding an excellent concert Friday night as well. Cahalen Morrison, who you'll remember from the Hearth Music blogs (and Listening Lounge) will be soloing at the studios. This is a great chance to catch his powerful songwriting, at once informed by the deep undercurrents of old-time ballads and the lone, empty spaces of his childhood in New Mexico. PLUS Portland bard Huck Notari will be opening with Karin Nystrom. Together they sing beautiful, mellow, whispery dream folk music that we've found quite enchanting.
 

Cahalen Morrison & Huck Notari
Friday, September 30th, 8.00 PM
Empty Sea Studios
Tickets: $10 advance, $14 at the door.

Cahalen Morrison: Sweet Little Cob of Yellow Corn

 

It's been a while since our last installment of "Songs We Can't Stop Listening To!" Sorry about that! Here are some of the songs we've got stuck in our heads the past month. We've been on a real old-time fiddle kick recently, so these songs come out of that long-time interest. Enjoy!
 

Long Time Courting: "Barbara Allen"

I swore that I'd heard all the versions of Barbara Allen that I was ever going to care about. That no one else had anything new to say on this most familiar of ballads. But then Boston-based Long Time Courting came along. With flutist Shannon Heaton taking a turn on lead vocals and arranging, their version of this ancient chesnut aims for the stark, eerie beauty of the lyrics. Beautiful harmonies, deep cello lines, and soaring vocals. What more could you ask for? This song makes me think of a lone castle on the moor, wind-swept and desolate, dreaming of old glories.
 

April Verch: "Jim Shank/Ti-Jacques Jarret"

I love old-time fiddling and have dabbled for a few years in playing old-time fiddle. But since I come from a background in Irish music, I'm always accused by real old-time fiddles of having a "Celtic feel" to my music. On her new album, That's How We Run, the great Canadian Celtic fiddler April Verch turns this influence to her advantage, holding forth on a host of old-time tunes and unabashedly dropping in the bouncy rhythms and complex notesmanship of her native Ottawa Valley fiddle traditions. Some of the best music is made by artists pushing themselves out of their genres and experimenting with other traditions, and this is certainly the case here. The tune "Jim Shank" is one of my favorite old-time tunes, the kind of tune you can play for about an hour without getting tired of it. April follows it with a tune of her own composition, "Ti-Jacques Jarret", written presumably in the Ottawa Valley style. On this album, April's joined by the cream of the crop of American old-time players: Rayna Gellert, Riley Baugus, Dirk Powell, Bobby Hicks (!), Bob Carlin, and more. DANG!

The Stage Hogs: "Cumberland Gap"

I've written about Eddie Bond before. He's a traditional voice of the Appalachian mountains, growing up around Galax,Virginia. His four great-grandfathers were banjo players in the area and his family has long been involved in Appalachian music. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a powerful influence in his singing and fiddling, and you can hear echoes of greats from the region in his playing, like Tommy Jarrell, Wade Ward, Fred Cockerham and others. After spending so long listening to West Coast musicians sing old-time music (which I love!), it is a powerful experience to hear the true Southern accent mold the words we've all grown accustomed to. Eddie's also an amazing fiddler, full of fire and brimstone, the kind of fiddler you can believe would have been banned by the local preacher. There's something unhinged and primal about his playing. This is the real deal, folks, so if you've got even the slightest interest in Southern old-time music, you've GOT to listen to Eddie Bond. He doesn't record much, unfortunately. I first heard him on Arhoolie's album of Fries, VA banjo picker Stevie Barr (itself a strong testament to the hardcore punk edge of old-time music). He just released a new album with the great Appalachian banjo player Kirk Sutphin and guitarist Snake Smith under the name "The Stage Hogs". It's not for sale online yet, but we'll update when it is. For now, have a listen to this track and check out this video and hold on to your seat!

Eddie Bond w/Dennis Hall and Friends at Galax 2009

Hogwire Stringband: "Rabbit in the Lowland"

Another great disc of old-time music, Hogwire Stringband is led by one of my favorite fiddlers, Brad Leftwich. I first heard Brad in the stellar trio "Tom, Brad, and Alice", standing for Tom Sauber, Brad Leftwich and Alice Gerrard. Their two albums, released in the early aughts on Copper Creek Records, are seminal old-time albums chock-full of rare tunes and beautiful songs. Both highly recommended. Brad's fiddling has a soft, gentle touch with an effortless sense of rhythm. With the Hogwire Stringband, he's joined by his wife and musical partner (banjo) Linda Higginbotham, ex-punk rocker guitarist Joel Lensch, who picked up old-time via Portland, Oregon's hot scene, and bassist/clogger Marielle Abel from Rhythm in Shoes. It's a great lineup and the group channels Leftwich's subtle approach to old-time music.

NOTE: This review was originally written for Driftwood Magazine, the online publication that took over for Dirty Linen. Check out their daily reviews!
 

Fish & Bird: Every Whisper Is A Shout Across the Void
2011. Fiddle Head Records.

On their debut album, Fish & Bird were a folkier duo with a sound that was heavy on fiddle and banjo interplay. Now they’ve expanded to full folk-rock, and if you liked bands like The Duhks or The Paperboys, I would heartily recommend their new album, Every Whisper is a Shout Across the Void. They’ve still got those really nice clawhammer banjo lines and the kind of smooth-yet-not-pop fiddling that you can only find in Canada, but they’ve now added bass, drums, and guitars. Their songs also seem poppier. That can be good and bad, but overall they’ve got the folk chops to keep from sliding into “Genericana.” Some lyrics are a bit strange, certainly it came as a surprise on the nice instrumental “Circle Tune,” when singer Taylor Ashton started singing about climbing inside a recently-dead horse à la the ice planet Hoth, but most of the lyrics are sensitive and thoughtful, like

There are more connections in the human brain
than there are stars in the universe
and I tried to say in a couple words
what I can’t understand, let alone explain

from the beautiful “Effigy.” The opening track, “Well Run Dry” passes the hummability test that every song should undergo, and the penultimate track, “Northern Lights,” is just flat out gorgeous. Fish & Bird are a new force to be reckoned with on Canada’s roots scene, and from the sound of their new album, they’d do well in the U.S. too.

Fish & Bird: Effigy


Fish & Bird: Circle Tune

 

Greg Vandy, renowned KEXP DJ for The Roadhouse, recently brought our most favorite jugband ever, The Crow Quill Night Owls, into the KEXP studios for a live performance and interview. Not only is their performance absolutely top-notch, but Greg got ragtime prophet Kit Stovepipe (see photo above) to open up about his musical influences and past history. It's a great interview and a great set of performances and you can listen to it NOW on KEXP's website.

LISTEN to the Crow Quill Night Owls on KEXP

 
It's especially nice to hear Alex laying down some seriously old-school vintage vocals on the classic "Any Kind of Man," which we first heard from Janet Klein. And their funky little number about jelly rolls is kinda awesome in every way.
 

We also love Greg's interview with the band! Their discussion of the art of paper bag CD packaging, New Orleans "jass" bands (or ass bands?), Kit's initial conversion to roots music via Baby Gramps, the Boswell Sisters, Kit's 78rpm obsession, and more!
 

Crow Quill Night Owls on KEXP

Crow Quill Night Owls on Facebook

American Standard Time is Greg Vandy's super-frickin'-awesome blog, BTW.

More kickass KEXP in studios with Greg Vandy:

Frazey Ford

Frank Fairfield

Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside

The Water Tower Bucket Boys

Cahalen Morrison & Eli West

Caleb Klauder Country Band

  (note: photos by Max McSimov)