#4219: New Releases, March 2019
It’s the most wonderful time of the month! Now is the time for newly released music, or music that is coming soon, this spring. Hear new work from Indian-American composer Reena Esmail, featuring her voice, and the Chicago Sinfonietta. Then, listen to music by musicians from Korea, Mali, and Syria, playing instruments or playing in styles that have usually been the province of men. There’s also music with Ethiopian roots and music from the Congolese capital of Kinshasa. And new music from Cameroonian singer Blick Bassy.
From Indian-American composer Reena Esmail, listen to her work for orchestra and voices, “#metoo”, with where North Indian classical style vocals meet the Chicago Sinfonietta. Her melody for this piece is first introduced in a traditional Hindustani form, called a “bandish”, with the composer herself performing the vocals. Then, the orchestra takes up the melody, draws it out and silences it, only to have it return, re-entering one by one, in the female voices of individual musicians of the Sinfonietta, mirroring the bravery and solidarity of the movement after which the work is titled.
Hear a setting of love poetry by Paris-based Syrian oud player and vocalist Waed Bouhassoun, who has also been touring as part of Jordi Savall’s ensemble. The piece, "Amour", is from her third solo record, Safar: les âmes retrouvées. Also, listen to music by Tuareg group Tartit, (‘union’) from Mali, made up of four women who sing and play percussion - led by singer Fadimata Walet Oumar, aka 'Disco', plus veiled male instrumentalists. It’s from their first record in more than ten years, Amankor / The Exile.
Listen to recent work by new music composer and multi-instrumentalist Park Jiha who uses traditional Korean instruments, like the piri, a double reed bamboo flute that sounds like an oboe, and yanggeum (hammered dulcimer) in her piece, “When I Think Of Her”. Then, Canadian composer Emily Hall uses hammer-ons, and delays in her piece – “The Happiness Handbook” - where she explores the full array of tricks and options for the multiple guitars of Instruments of Happiness.
There's music that might make for dancing by the Congolese band, Kokoko!, who are from Kinshasa. Sample Ethio-groove heavy music by L.A.-based musician and producer Dexter Story, in collaboration with Ethiopian producer Endeguena Mulu from his latest, Bahir. Plus, hear the latest from French-based Cameroonian musician Blick Bassy from his forthcoming record, 1958, dedicated to the leader for Cameroonian Independence, Ruben Um Nyobè, and the year in which he was murdered. - Caryn Havlik
ARTIST: Reena Esmail
WORK: Reena Esmail: Charukeshi Bandish [1:30]
RECORDING: Project W
SOURCE: Cedille Records
INFO: cedillerecords.org
ARTIST: Kokoko!
WORK: Malembe [3:58]
RECORDING: Malembe
SOURCE: Transgressive Records
INFO: kokokomusic.bandcamp.com
ARTIST: Dexter Story (feat. Endeguena Mulu)
WORK: Bahir [4:29]
RECORDING: Bahir
SOURCE: Soundway Records
INFO: soundway.lnk.to/bahir
ARTIST: Tartit
WORK: Leiliya [4:18]
RECORDING: Amankor / The Exile
SOURCE: Riverboat Records TUGCD1120
INFO: worldmusic.net
ARTIST: Park Jiha
WORK: When I Think of Her [5:13]
RECORDING: Philos
SOURCE: parkjiha.com
INFO: Available at iTunes
ARTIST: Waed Bouhassoun
WORK: Amour [2:44]
RECORDING: Safar : les âmes retrouvées
SOURCE: Buda Musique
INFO: budamusique.com
ARTIST: Reena Esmaill, Chicago Sinfonietta, conducted by Mei-Ann Chen
WORK: Reena Esmail: Charukeshi Bandish [3:00]
RECORDING: Project W
SOURCE: Cedille Records
INFO: cedillerecords.org
ARTIST: Chicago Sinfonietta, conducted by Mei-Ann Chen
WORK: Reena Esmail: #metoo [13:07]
RECORDING: Project W
SOURCE: Cedille Records
INFO: cedillerecords.org
ARTIST: Instruments of Happiness
WORK: Emily Hall: The Happiness Handbook, Mvmt I [5:11]
RECORDING: The Happiness Handbook
SOURCE: Starkland 232
INFO: starkland.com
ARTIST: Blick Bassy
WORK: Ngwa [4:42]
RECORDING: 1958
SOURCE: Nø Førmat!
INFO: lnk.to/Blickbassy-1958
