Soro

Salif Keita - Soro (1987) {Mango–Island Records IMCD 243 842775-2}
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© 1987 Mango Records / Island Records | IMCD 243 / 842775-2
Afro-Pop / World Funk / World Fusion / West African

Soro is the album that brought Salif Keita international stardom though he was already well-known in West Africa from his work with The Rail Band and Les Ambassadeurs. Keita's voice is in peak form, soaring and swooping with awe-inspiring power. For these sessions, Keita has gathered an all-star band that is innovative, solid, and turn-on-a-dime tight. The production, state of the art in 1987, sounds just as bright and fresh today. This CD draws its strength from the rich traditions of Malian culture, melded with cutting edge musical technology, and a global outlook. All of the tracks on Soro are crucial, though the bittersweet "Cono" and the intricate and epic title track "Soro" (Afrika) are standouts.

But when they added Benoît Delbecq the music became something else again. François Houle explains: “As Benoît and I were looking at opportunities for the duo [established in 1996], Ken Pickering [Vancouver jazz festival artistic director] suggested we merge this with the trio collective [formed in 2014, though its members have been performing in different Grdina groups since around 2004]. Knowing how Benoît’s playing fits into so many different configurations, I thought this would work nicely. I suggested he bring his bass station to augment the lower end of the quartet.” Two performances at the 2015 festival led to a return engagement in 2016 followed by a day in the studio. “The whole session unfolded quite spontaneously, with hardly any discussion between takes. Gord suggested we play my piece ‘Soro’ as he knew Benoît’s affinity for African rhythms in his piano approach.

Over the course of the last 12 years Simon Preston has been recording Bach’s organ music for DG, and while some of these discs have been released individually during that time, many are appearing here for the first time. More than that, some of the earlier recordings have been rejected in favour of more recent ones: I’m glad that his 1992 recording of the ‘Schubler’ Chorales (6/92) has been substituted by an altogether more relaxed and elegant version, recorded in late 1999, in which he not only seems more in sympathy with the music but also feels less inclined to treat it as the latest Olympic athletics event; BWV645 takes the best part of a minute longer in this new recording and benefits enormously from it. A total of 10 organs has been used (every one, as they say, a winner) and the booklet includes adequate historic information, specifications and photographs (although none of Preston’s registrations is detailed), as well as brief, rather basic notes and a somewhat superficial interview with Preston himself.

In February of 2015, Grammy Award-winning band Snarky Puppy recorded Family Dinner Volume Two in front of a live studio audience with guest instrumentalists and vocalists from all over the world. A companion piece to the monumental album, this documentary/concert-film features exclusive candid interviews and acoustic performances from the guest artists. The project is a true testament for showing first-hand how music can be a bridge between diverse cultures from countries from all over the world to create a unifying musical statement for the average listener or the devout music-connoisseur.

Ping Machine - Encore - Live Au Petit Faucheux (2013) {Neuklang Records NCD4072}
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© 2013 Neuklang Records | NCD4072
Jazz / Contemporary Jazz / Modern Big Band

Realizing his new album ENCORE live at the Petit Faucheux on 22 & 23 March 2013, Ping Machine is betting live music: raw, passionate and uncompromising. At the head of this great set of 15 musicians, Frédéric Maurin says its risk appetite and unveils new licked compositions on stage, demanding all of twists and nuances. The musicians play on the wire and excel on these bespoke writing scores. Facing the audience, the material appears in this its most savage and more urgent. Pleasure, sharing and emotion is perceived.