Once upon a time in Algeria… a streetwise teenage boy started playing piano in the bars of Oran’s Jewish Quarter. It was 1942 and American GIs were in town bringing with them the sounds of Boogie-Woogie, Jazz and Cuban rhythms. Maurice El Médioni was that boy, soaking up those musical influences and, adding French chanson, Andalusian and Arabic styles to the mix, growing to become one of the pioneers of Algerian Raï music, playing for some of the biggest names of the golden era and his influence acknowledged by the stars of today such as Khaled and Rachid Taha. Now, with a band featuring Salamat’s Mahmoud Fadl and the Klezmatics’ David Krakauer and Frank London, the man is back in the spotlight at the Café Oran.
Gäbhard is the purely instrumental side-project by Arcana Obscura member Thomas Gäbhard. The second album, "Jalan Jalan", was released in 2010. At 15 tracks it's back on a fantastic journey through misty forests, over the Baliem Valley to the deepest blue of the oceans, it describes the press text in the flyer of the label. While the booklet has a little information about the music and the musician Thomas Gäbhard, who is also responsible for rhythm programming and sounds addition to the synthesizer, but it contains a number of wonderful photos from around the world. So you can make a musical and visual trip around the world to the most remote places.
The Game Tour was a concert tour by the British rock band Queen to support their successful 1980 album The Game. This tour featured the first performances in South America by the group. In Buenos Aires, Queen drew a crowd of 300,000—the largest single concert crowd in Argentine history as of 1982. In São Paulo, Brazil, the attendance was 131,000 and 120,000 on two consecutive nights.
On the third album by AKA, the leading Indonesian rock band of the ’70s, there was a slight change concerning the overall direction. With three exceptions - the powerful funk-rock of the opening title-track, the dirty garage beat of the B-side opener “Skip Away,” and the energetic up-tempo soul-pop of “Raja Jalan” the band turns to soft rock and Indo-pop ballads on this LP. And guess what - these folks really knew how to pull it off, even with lush pop harmonies that often touch the borders of the tear-jerker field. Crazy Joe, originally released in 1972 and reissued here for the first time, is a rather courageous album, with those three rawer and more energetic tunes alongside the gentle plush of the pop tunes. All those who dare to listen between the notes will find a massive load of delicate arrangements and rather striking melodies…
Six trio selections by the Stanley Cowell Trio, featuring Stanley Clarke on bass and Jimmy Hopps on skins. Elastic and flowing best describe the mellow "Maimoun"; Cowell's crisp keyboarding is determined and feisty, and Clarke's dark, moody bass solo consummates the excursion. Cowell and Clarke display amazing technique on "Ibn Mukhtarr Mustapha," and Hopps' impressionistic drumming is head clearing.
The key to Making Music lies in its title. This is not about a fusion of East and West. This is about creation for its own sake. The selfsame track opens our ears to the flute of Hariprasad Chaurasia, who turns breath into gold. Guitarist and Mahavishnu Orchestra guru John McLaughlin is another welcome addition to a quartet rounded out by saxophonist Jan Garbarek. As lines curve their way through subtle changes in temperature, we can feel the rhythm being formed, piece by ephemeral piece, even before Hussain lays hands to drum.
Their 5th album in as many years Aşk (deeper feeling of love), marks an exuberant return to the 70s Anatolian folk-rock sound that characterised Altın Gün’s first two albums.