The Real Mexico in Music and Song

The title of this fantastic album doesn't seem to capture the specific significance of these recordings from 1965-1966, undertaken by Henrietta Yurchenco, an ethnomusicologist who, in her absorbing liner notes, stated that she began working in México and Guatamala in the early Forties, starting in Michoacán.  Because of the people she worked with, this might be better called Mestizo and Indian Music from Michoacán, especially because the great Nonesuch Explorer series already includes titles dealing with specific areas like Chiapas, also heavily populated by natives and mestizos and also part of "the real México."

In any case, the native Purépecha Indians and mestizos of this west coast state adroitly maintained elements of their heritage within the Spanish and Mexican cultural influx and Yurchenco explained, "in 1965, on Pacanda Island in Lake Patzcuaro, we witnessed a strange mixture of paganism and Christianity."  The word "strange" could be viewed as judgmental, though that was clearly not her intent, but she observed that Purépecha performances are "seen through Indian eyes and sensibilities, replet with story line, colorful costumes, masks, dance and music."

What's great about this album is that it has small and large ensemble pieces along with solo guitar and harp pieces.  Joaquin Bautista on guitar, Epigmenio Ramos and Teodulo Naranjo (who was blind) on harp, Rogelio Acuña on vihuela (which looks like a guitar but is tuned like a lute), the singing Pulido sisters, and a mandolin orchestra performed wonderful tunes, many of them so short that you wish they could go on for a couple more minutes.  

It's all amazing, but "El Toro Antejuelo," a showcase for Naranjo, the trio of acapella songs by the Pulidos, and Bautista's performances of  "La Visita" and "Flor de Canela" stand out the most for this listener, whose exposure to "world music" was initially largely through early Nineties purchases of albums from the great Nonesuch Explorer series.  This was a more recent discovery and it is been uplifting to listen to during these troubled times.

Lull: Cold Summer

From the extreme blasts of intense noise that was Napalm Death to the slow washes of sound built on a base material of very gradual movement of subtle rhythm with Lull in a few short years shows how much former beat blast drummer Mick Harris evolved into a distinctive architect of sonic exploration, whether through the Scorn project, collaborations with a variety of musicians like Eraldo Bernocchi, Bill Laswell and James Plotkin, or with this really remarkable recording from 1994 and released on Subharmonic, with which Laswell was associated.

It is usual to refer to this as isolationist or dark ambient and so it is common to find references to it as an album filled with foreboding, as being cold or ominous.  That's understandable, but this listener finds the experience of hearing recordings like Cold Summer to be soothing, contemplative, and relaxing, even if there are those washes of sound that do have those touches of eerieness.

The first two Lull albums, Dreamt About Dreaming (1992) and Journey Through Underworlds (1993) were more visceral with elements of often loud percussion, extended voice samples (often expressing some form of agony or angst), and stronger electronic sound sources.  Both are very interesting and will be higlighted here some day, but there is a demonstrated turn inward into a more flowing and captivating ambient soundscape with Cold Summer that directed the Lull project for the next fifteen or so years.

Music is mood and even in this largely house-bound pandemic environment (though a major emergence looks to finally be in the works), Lull has proven to be an apt musical accompaniment, though, again, not in a dark sense, but, rather, in a mood of reflection and acceptance.  Having said this, there have been quite a few times over the many years that I've listened to this music that I've thought about playing it, especially, say, "Lonely Shelter," during Halloween as trick or treaters walk up the path to the door.  Talk about "dark ambient"!

Marilyn Crispell: Highlights from the 1992 American Tour

This is a great album, though it is strange that the dustjacket for this Leo Records release says "Trio With Reggie Workman & Gerry Hemingway On Tour," the disc and rear tray card says "Highlights From the 1992 American Tour" and the side of the case says "Highlights from the Simmer of 1992 American Tour."  One wonders why a more creative title couldn't have been devised that would reflect the remarkable music on this disc.

Marilyn Crispell has been highlighted here before as a solo pianist and, while a lot has been made of the inspiration she derived from the late, great Cecil Taylor, she, like any creative artist, absorbs influences from a variety of sources but develops her own style.  This is also very much true in her group work, especially in later years when her playing changed, likely as a reflection of her evolution as well as to distance herself from the constant Taylor comparisons.

So, with this package of seven tunes from four performances, we really see, as Art Lange rightly points out in his notes, that there is a big diffrence in how Crispell works with the other musicians from what Taylor did.  Lange observes that "Taylor's trios feed off of a juxtaposition of rhythmic motivation" and sometimes appeared to be working exclusive of each other.  Taylor was, of course, a very percussive pianist, brilliantly so.  But, for Crispell, Lange continues, she "builds her music in layers upon the foundation of the bass and drums."

That can be clearly heard throughout these performances, Hemingway, on drums, and Workman, veteran of so many years of playing with a dizzying array of artists on bass, are totally in sync with the leader and with each other.  Hemingway was, with Crispell, a member of easily one of the most memorable ensembles led by the great Anthony Braxton and Crispell and Workman long had a series of collaborations, so the ability of these three masters to generate amazing music is hardly a surprise.