Best of 2013
31. 12. 2013 | Rubriky: Articles,Best of Year,Feature
[by Ken Hunt, London] It started off as a slow year, especially in terms of concerts or talks that stood out. Disquietingly slow. Then it just got better and better, particularly when it came to concerts, and less so in terms of fees.
New releases
Iva Bittová / Iva Bittová / ECM
Brass Monkey / The Best of Live – 30th Anniversary Celebration / Park Records
Katy Carr / Paszport / Deluce Recordings
Chumbawamba / In Memoriam: Margaret Thatcher / [no label]
The Furrow Collective / At Our Next Meeting / Furrow Records
Arun Ghosh / A South Asian Suite / Camoci
Kayhan Kalhor & Erdal Erzincan / Kula Kulluk Yakışir Mı / ECM
Lisa Knapp / Hidden Seam / Navigator
Laura Marling / Once I Was An Eagle / Virgin Records
Leyla McCalla / Vari-colored Songs / Dixie Frog
Quercus / Quercus / ECM
Martin Simpson / Vagrant Stanzas / Topic
Jyotsna Srikanth / Call of Bangalore / Riverboat Records
Jody Stecher / Wonders & Signs / own label
Simon Thacker’s Svara-Kanti / Rakshasa / Slap The Moon Records
The Ex & Brass Unbound / Enormous Door / Ex Records
Linda Thompson / Won’t Be Long Now / Topic Records
Marta Topferová & Tomáš Liška / Milokraj / Animal Music
Noëmi Waysfeld & Blik / Kalyma / AWZ Records
Duncan Wood & Guests / Swarbtricks – A Collection of New Melodies Purposely Composed for the Violin & Mandolin by David Swarbrick / Beechwood
Historic releases, reissues and anthologies
Eliza Carthy / Wayward Daughter / Topic
Country Joe & The Fish / Electric Music for the Mind and Body / Vanguard
Grateful Dead / Sunshine Daydream – Veneta, Oregon, 8/27/72 / Grateful Dead Productions/Rhino
Paul Horn / In India/Cosmic Consciousness – Paul Horn In Kashmir / BGO Records
Ravi Shankar / The Living Room Sessions Part 2 / East Meets West Music
Dave Van Ronk / Down In Washington Square / Smithsonian Folkways
Lal Waterson / Teach Me To Be A Summer’s Morning / Fledg’ling
Young Tradition / The Young Tradition/So Cheerfully Round/Galleries/Chicken On A Raft EP / BGO Records
Young Tradition / Oberlin 1968 / Fledg’ling
Events of 2013
Shirley Collins: ‘The Outskirts of Culture’ (talk) / Purcell Room, London / 2 February 2013
Milokraj featuring Marta Topferová & Tomáš Liška, Green Note, London / 10 April 2013
Martin Simpson & Ariev Azhar / Alchemy Festival, Purcell Room, London / 17 April 2013
Rory McEwen / Art exhibition – The Colours Of Reality / Kew Gardens / 11 May to 22 September 2013
Iva Bittová, David Dorůžka, Aneta Majerová and Peter Nouzovský / Libeňská synagoga, Praha 8 – Libeň / 31 May 2013
Landfall – Laurie Anderson & Kronos Quartet / Barbican Hall, London / 28 June 2013
Noëmi Waysfeld & Blik / Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Stadtkirche / 6 July 2013
Mariana Sadovska / Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Theater / 7 July 2013
Sam Lee & Friends / Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Burgterrasse / 7 July 2013
David Lindley / Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Heidecksburg / 7 July 2013
Jyotsna Srikanth and Dr. V. Krishna (performance/talk) / Nehru Centre, London / 30 August 2013
Arun Ghosh featuring Zoe Rahman – ‘A South Asian Suite’ launch / PizzaExpress Jazz Club, Soho, London / 29 September 2013
Sudha Ragunathan / Darbar Festival, Purcell Room, London / ADD
Bright Phoebus Revisited / Barbican Centre, London / 11 October 2013
Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick / Turner Sims Hall, Southampton / 19 October 2013
Robb Johnson + Roy Bailey + Barb Jungr + Jude Abbott + Jenny Carr + John Forrester – Gentle Men: A family history of the First World War / The Tabernacle, Notting Hill, London / 7 November 2013
A Celebration Of Bert Jansch / Royal Festival Hall, London / 3 December 2013
Ten music projects that returned to haunt
Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick / Prince Heathen / Topic Records
The Chieftains / 4 / Claddagh Records
Shirley Collins / Within Sound / Fledg’ling
Pannalal Ghosh / The Great Heritage / Saregama
Fraunhofer Saitenmusik / Das Album – 1978-1998 / Trikont
Dick Gaughan / Handful of Earth / Topic Records
Home Service / Alright Jack / Fledg’ling
Louis Killen / Ballads and Broadsides / Topic Records
Yusef Lateef / Eastern Sounds / Prestige
Kamalesh Maitra / Tabla Tarang – Melody on Drums / Smithsonian Folkways
Images: Smile x 2, September 2013 © Samita Vakani/Swing 51 Archives; Noëmi Waysfeld images at TFF Rudolstadt © Santosh Sidhu/Swing 51 Archives; Iva Bittová at Libeňská synagoga and John Tams of the Home Service at the Half Moon © Ken Hunt/Swing 51 Archives; Lal Waterson from Teach Me To Be A Summer’s Morning courtesy of © Fledg’ling.
Smile is now attributed to Banksy, according to an article in the Evening Standard of 20 August 2007. See http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/exhibitions/smile-please-its-a-banksy-6607227.html