Best of Year
[by Ken Hunt, London] Like some old fart’s misbegotten mantra, I typically say that the year started slow. Happens year after year after year after blooming year. For 2014 that applied particularly in terms of live performances. In the annual polls to which I contribute I am fully aware that what my bread-and-butter music diet will rarely register in anything anywhere apart from here.
To explain, as part of the whittling process, long-list ‘holding entries’ from the spring were largely gone by the summer and autumn. The summer festival season brought discoveries, consolidations and further winnowings. It is no coincidence that live performances numerically balance the recorded music entries. When all was done and dusted, it was live events – concerts and suchlike – that made 2014 so special.
New releases
9Bach / Tincian / Real World
Sam Amidon / Lily-O / Nonesuch
Olga Bell / Krai / One Little Indian
The Bevvy Sisters / Plan B / Interrupto Music
Iva Bittová / Entwine/Proplétám / Pavian
Country Joe Band / Entertainment Is My Business / Secret Records
Jackson Browne / Standing In The Breach / Inside Recordings
Martin & Eliza Carthy / The Moral of the Elephant / Topic
The Furrow Collective / At Our Next Meeting / Furrow Records
Bonnie Dobson / Take Me For A Walk In The Morning Dew / Hornbeam
Kronos Quartet / A Thousand Thoughts / Nonesuch
Sam Lee & Friends / More For To Rise EP / The Nest Collective
Thomas McCarthy / Herself and Myself / ITCD
Amira Medunjanin / Silk & Stone / World Village
Nachthexen [Scarlett O’, Dunja Averdung, Jürgen Ehle & Jörg Nassler] / Nachthexen / electrocadero
Nishtiman / Kurdistan – Nishtiman / Accords Croisés
Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters / lullaby and… THE CEASELESS ROAR / Nonesuch Records
Oysterband / Diamonds On The Water / Navigator
Peggy Seeger / Everything Changes / Signet Music
Kavita Shah / Visions / Naïve
Tiburtina Ensemble & David Dorůžka Trio / Apokalypsis / Animal Music
Wilson & Swarbrick / Lion Rampart / Shirty
Historic releases, reissues and anthologies
CSNY 1974 / CSNY/ Rhino
Ron and Bob Copper / Traditional Songs from Rottingdean
/ Fledg’ling
Grateful Dead / Wake Up To Find Out – Nassau Coliseum concert in Uniondale, NY • 3/29/90 / Grateful Dead Productions
Ravi Shankar / A Night At St. John the Divine / East Meets West
Various artists / The Flax In Bloom / Topic
Various artists / Magic Kamancheh / No Ethno
Various artists / Orkney – Traditional Dance Music from Orkney / Topic
Various artists / Songs of the Spanish Civil War / Smithsonian Folkways
Various artists / TFF Rudolstadt 2014 / heideck
Events of 2014
Kronos Quartet with Bryce Dessler, Jarvis Cocker and David Coulter and Mariana Sadovska (Chernobyl. The Harvest) / Barbican Hall, London / 13 May 2014
Explorations: The Sound of Nonesuch Records – Session Four – Iarla O’Lionáird and The Crash Ensemble; Kronos Quartet featuring Rhiannon Giddens, Olivia Chaney, Sam Amidon and Natalie Merchant / Milton Court, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London / 18 May 2014
Sam Lee & Friends / Queen Elizabeth Hall, London / 29 May 2014
Kiran Ahluwalia / The Jazzcafe Camden, London / 6 July 2014
Marta Topferová & Tomáš Liška’s Milokraj / Crossroads, Ostrava, Czech Republic / 17 July 2014
Lo Còr De La Plana / Colours of Ostrava, Ostrava / 18 July 2014
Vé Zou Via / Colours of Ostrava, Ostrava / 19 July 2014
9Bach / Colours of Ostrava, Ostrava / 19 July 2014
Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters / Colours of Ostrava, Ostrava / 19 July 2014
Nishtiman / Glatt & Verkehrt, Krems an der Donau, Austria / 27 July 2014
This Is Not Black (Ceci n’est pas Noire) – Alesandra Seutin featuring Ayanna Witter-Johnson / Purcell Room, London / 12 September 2014
A Time and Place: Musical Meditations on the First World War – featuring The Unthanks, Sam Lee and others / Barbican Hall, London / 18 September 2014
Dhrupad and Shock of the New – Jyoti Hegde and Abhishek Raghuram / Darbar Festival / Purcell Room, London / 20 September 2014
Best Then, Better Now – Prabha Atre / Darbar Festival / Queen Elizabeth Hall, London / 21 September 2014
Zakir Hussain – Masters of Percussion / Barbican Hall, London / 18 October 2014
Harry Manx / Borderline, London / 30 October 2014
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt / Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London / 8 November 2014
Jim Page and Dick Gaughan / TwickFolk, The Cabbage Patch, Twickenham / 9 November 2014
Kronos Quartet / Rudolfinum, Dvořákova síň [Dvorak Room], Prague / 13 November 2014
Five past music projects that returned to haunt
Kiran Ahluwalia / Aam Zameen: Common Ground / Kiran Music
Grateful Dead / Workingman’s Dead / Warner Brothers
Nic Jones / The Enigma of Nic Jones / Topic Records DVD
Chris Wood / Trespasser / RUF Records
Various / Lovely In The Dances / Osmosys Records
This year’s street art is from Prague, should you be wandering the pedestrian alleyways in the vicinity of Řetězová, Prague 1. This cannabis love token image is © Ken Hunt/Swing 51 Archives.
The image to the right of Events of 2014 is of L-R Jiři Plocek, Ben Mandelson and Grit Friedrich taken on our visit to to visit the extraordinary instrument maker Vít Kašpařík in Velké Karlovice in the Carpathians. The Assurd – Enza Pagliara female contingent of Vé Zou Via shot is from Colours of Ostrava. Both are © Ken Hunt/Swing 51 Archives.
The image of Kiran Ahluwalia at The Jazzcafe Camden, London is © Santosh Hunt/Swing 51 Archives.
Otherwise the images are © their image-makers, photographers and designers.
31. 12. 2014 |
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[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
31. 12. 2013 |
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[by Ken Hunt, London] Another fine year for music. The evidence of this list to the contrary, much of 2012 flashed by in a blur owing to illness in the family that wiped out most of the year’s listening hours. As to recorded music, the pile of unlistened to music grew, thanks to having to prioritise paid reviewing work. Yes, strange though it may seem, if one’s livelihood depends on paid writing, it is astonishing how a paying commission focuses the mind.
New releases
Al Andaluz Project / Live In München 2011 / Galileo
Carolina Chocolate Drops / Leaving Eden / Nonesuch
Eva Quartet & Hector Zazou / The Arch / Elen Music
Getatchew Mekuria & The Ex & Friends / Y’Anbessaw Tezeta / Terp Records
Maria Doyle Kennedy / Sing / Mermaid Productions
Sam Lee / Ground of its Own / The Nest Collective
Little Feat / Rooster Rag / Rounder
The Owl Service / Garland Sessions / Stone Tape Recordings
Tom Paley’s Old-Time Moonshine Revue / Roll On, Roll On / Hornbeam Recordings
Emily Portman / Hatchling / Furrow Records
Abdulkarim Raas & Kuljit Bhamra / Somali Party Southall / Keda Records
Kala Ramnath / Aavartan: A Musical Odyssey – 1 Dawn to Dusk / Kalashree
Kala Ramnath / Aavartan: A Musical Odyssey – 2 Dusk to Dawn / Kalashree
Ravi Shankar / Living Room Sessions Part 1 / East Meets West Music Inc
Jenny M Thomas And The System / Bush Gothic / Fydle Records
Wu Man and Master Musicians from the Silk Route / Borderlands / Smithsonian Folkways
Neil Young With Crazy Horse / Psychedelic Pill / Reprise
Historic releases, reissues and anthologies
Peter Bellamy / Barrack-Room Ballads of Rudyard Kipling / Fellside Recordings
Dorota Barová / feat. Dorota Barová / Indies
Sandy Denny / The Notes And The Words – A Collection of Demos And Rarities / Island Records
Grateful Dead / Dave’s Picks Volume Three – Auditorium Theatre, Chicago, IL 10/22/71 / Grateful Dead Productions
A L Lloyd / Bramble Briars and Beams o the Sun / Fellside Recordings
Sarah Makem / As I Roved Out / Musical Traditions
Sarah Makem / The Heart Is True / Topic
Gil Scott-Heron / The Revolution Begins – The Flying Dutchman Masters / Ace
Various Artists / Antologie moravské lidové hudby/Traditional Folk Music in Moravia – Dolňácko II / Indies
Various Artists / Antologie moravské lidové hudby/Traditional Folk Music in Moravia – Valašsko, Lašsko / Indies
Various Artists / Celebrating Subversion – The Anti-Capitalist Roadshow / Fuse Records
Various Artists / Copendium – An Expedition into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Underworld / Ace Records
Various Artists / I’m A Romany Rai – Songs by Southern English Gypsy Traditional Singers / Topic
Various Artists / Jail House Bound / WVU Press Sound Archive
Various Artists / Make it your sound, make it your scene – Vanguard Records & the 1960s musical revolution / Vanguard/Ace
Various Artists / You Never Heard So Sweet – Songs by Southern English Traditional Singers / Topic
Hedy West / Hedy West/Volume 2 / Vanguard/Ace
Dominique Vellard – Ken Zuckerman / Indian Ragas & Medieval Song / Glossa
Events of 2012
Iva Bittová and the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble / Groete Zaal, Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Amsterdam / 25 January 2012
Aruna Sayeeram/Aruna Sairam / Théâtre de la Ville, Paris / 12 April 2012
Brass Monkey / The Goose Is Out, East Dulwich, London / 27 April 2012
Andy Irvine / The Ram Club, Thames Ditton, Surrey / 4 May 2012
Little Feat / Islington Assembly Hall, London / 2 July 2012
Oumou Sangare & Béla Fleck / Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Heinepark / 6 July 2012
Hannes Wader / Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, RUTH-Verleihung, Heidecksburg / 7 July 2012
Alistair Anderson / Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Stadtkirche / 8 July 2012
Chumbawamba / Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Heinepark / 8 July 2012
Jyotsna Srikanth Project / London International Arts Festival, Redbridge Town Hall, Ilford / 11 August 2012
Dr M. Balamuralikrishna / London International Arts Festival, Redbridge Town Hall, Ilford / 11 August 2012
Chitraveena Ravikiran / Darbar Festival, Purcell Room, London / 29 September 2012
Shujaat Khan & Swapan Chaudhuri / Darbar Festival, Purcell Room, London / 30 September 2012
Carolina Chocolate Drops / O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire / 9 October 2012
Dick Gaughan / Twickfolk, Twickers, Middlesex / 25 November 2012
One additional live act sounded more than promising from catching them doing a support spot at The Goose Is Out and that was Kit & Cutter. The close-of-festival cameo performance by Strom & Wasser featuring The Refugees at TFF Rudolstadt was also really impressive.
Images: Iva Bittová botanising with an improvised palm tree hat (from bark donated by staff) at De Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam – Amsterdam’s Botanical Gardens – taken 25 January 2012 © Ken Hunt/Swing 51 Archives. Otherwise the images are © their image-makers, photographers and designers.
31. 12. 2012 |
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[by Ken Hunt, London] What a year for music! The number of events of 2011 on this list is greedy by most annual polls’ standards. One of the continual difficulties for me is that, because I am writing in a variety of periodicals and newspapers across a variety of musical genres for a number of territories, wonderful stuff just gets continually squeezed out. I mean, in this brave new world of world music, nobody wants ten roots-based Czech or Hungarian albums or Indian classical or English or even European folk albums…
2011 was marked by losses in the world of music. It started off with the deaths of the singers Bhimsen Joshi and Suchitra Mitra. Keeping to that subcontinental frame of mind, as the year crunched on, the rudra vina virtuoso Asad Ali Khan, the film-maker Mani Kaul, the ghazal and more maestro Jagjit Singh, Assam’s treasure Bhupen Hazarika and the sarangi player Sultan Khan died. Mauritania’s songstress supreme, Dimi Mint Abba and the Cape Verdean singer Cesária Évora, and the song creators Franz Josef Degenhardt and Ivan ‘Magor’ (Madman) Jirous died. And particularly heartfelt for me, there were the deaths of three mainstays of the British folk revival and scene – Mike Waterson, Ray Fisher and Bert Jansch (and then Loren Jansch). And last, there was Václav Havel’s death, not long after Ivan Jirous’s death.
New releases
Amira / Amulette / World Village
Asha Bhosle & Shujaat Khan / Naina Lagaike / Saregama
Kristian Blak & Yggdrasil / Travelling / Tutl
Eliza Carthy / Neptune / Hem Hem
Andrew Cronshaw / The Unbroken Surface of Snow / Cloud Valley Music
Steve Earle / I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive / New West Records
Arun Ghosh / Primal Odyssey / Camoci
Jayanthi Kumaresh / Mysterious Duality / EarthSync
Laura Marling / A Creature I Don’t Know / Virgin
Tommy McCarthy / Round Top Wagon / ITCD http://www.tinfolkmusic.com/www.tinfolkmusic.com/Thomas_McCarthy.html
Christy Moore / Folk Tale / Sony Music (Ireland)
Nørn / Urhu / own label / www.norn.ch
Llio Rhydderch and Tomos Williams / Carn Ingli / Flach
Mike Seeger and Peggy Seeger / Fly Down Little Bird / Appleseed
Jyotsna Srikanth / Carnatic Jazz / Swathi Soft Solutions
Ági Szalóki and Gergő Borlai / Kishúg / Folk Európa Kiadó
June Tabor / Ashore / Topic
June Tabor & Oysterband / Ragged Kingdom / Topic
Trembling Bells / The Constant Pageant / Honest Jon’s
Historic releases, reissues and anthologies
Peter Bellamy / Merlin’s Isle of Gramarye / Talking Elephant
Z.M. & Z.F. Dagar / Ragini Miyan ki Todi / Country & Eastern
Grateful Dead / Europe ’72 Vol. 2 / Grateful Dead Productions
Grateful Dead / Europe ’72: The Complete Records – Wembley Empire Pool, London, England 4/8/72 / Grateful Dead Productions
Home Service / Live 1986 / Fledg’ling
The Kinks / Something Else By The Kinks / Sanctuary
Muzsikás / Fly Bird Fly / Nascenti
Ravi Shankar / Reminiscence of North Vista / East Meets West Music
Ravi Shankar / Orchestral Experimentations / East Meets West Music
Leon Rosselson / The World Turned Upside Down / PM Press/Fuse Records
M.S. Subbulakshmi / Surdas Bhajans / Charsur Digital Workstation
Traffic / John Barleycorn Must Die (Deluxe) / Universal
Various Artists / The Complete Pakeezah / Saregama
Various Artists / The Rough Guide to English Folk / World Music Network
Various Artists / Antologie moravské lidové hudby/Traditional Folk Music in Moravia – Horňácko / Indies
Various Artists / Antologie moravské lidové hudby/Traditional Folk Music in Moravia – Dolňácko I / Indies
Various Artists / A Népzenét‹l a Világzenéig 1 From Traditional to World Music / Folk Európa Kiadó / Folk Európa Kiadó
Various Artists / A Népzenét‹l a Világzenéig 2 From Traditional to World Music / Folk Európa Kiadó
Various Artists / A Népzenét‹l a Világzenéig 3 From Traditional to World Music / Folk Európa Kiadó
Hedy West / Ballads and Songs from the Appalachians / Fellside
Events of 2011
‘The Contenders’ – Sam Lee, Emily Portman, Massie and Alex Nielson / Queen Elizabeth Hall, London / 14 January 2011
Archie Fisher / Twickfolk, The Cabbage Patch, Twickenham, Middlesex / 15 January 2011
‘A Tribute to Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’ – Alam Khan / Darbar Festival, Hall One, Kings Place, London / 23 April 2011
Marry Waterson & Oliver Knight / Royal Oak, Lewes, Sussex / 5 May 2011
The Folk Jukebox / Royal Festival Hall, London / 7 May 2011
‘Flying Man (Pakshi-Manab): Poems for the 21st Century’ – Mukal Ahmed, Munira Parvin, William Radice, Idris Rahman and Zoe Rahman / Conference Centre, British Library, London / 17 May 2011
Ravi Shankar / 21 June 2011 / Barbican Hall, London
Nørn / Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Stadtkirche, Rudolstadt / 3 July 2011
Aruna Sairam / BBC Proms Prom 17: World Routes Academy, Royal Albert Hall, London / 27 July 2011
‘Masters of Percussion’ – Zakir Hussain (tabla) with Rakesh Chaurasia (bansuri), Ganesh Rajagopalan (violin), Sridar Parthasarathy (mridangam and kanjira), Navin Sharma (dholak) and T.H.V. Umashankar (ghatam) / London Jazz Festival, Royal Festival Hall, London / 11 November 2011
Peggy Seeger / Folk Union, Hall Two, Kings Place, London / 18 November 2011
Images: Aruna Sairam and Hari Sivanesan on vina © Santosh Sidhu/Swing 51 Archives. Otherwise the images are © their image-makers, photographers and designers.
31. 12. 2011 |
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[by Ken Hunt, London] The year started brilliantly, thanks to the Carolina Chocolate Drops and Emily Portman. Then nothing much seemed to happen for the longest while – well, a month or so – and then the sluice gates opened and a wonderful year’s musical experiences began pouring out. It did, however, prove a disappointing year for quality new recordings of Indian music.
New releases
Laurie Anderson / Homeland / Nonesuch
Jackson Browne David Lindley / Love Is Strange / Inside Recordings
Carolina Chocolate Drops / Genuine Negro Jig / Nonesuch
Hariprasad Chaurasia / Hariprasad Chaurasia and the Art of Improvisation /Accord Croisés
Andy Cutting / Andy Cutting / Lane Records
Diva Reka / Diva Reka / Giga New
Barb Jungr / The Men I Love / Naim Label
Ida Kelarova, Desiderius Dužda, Tomáš Kačo and the Škampa Quartet / Romská balada / Indies Scope
Kronos Quartet with Alim & Fargana Qasimov and Homayun Sakhi / Music of Central Asia Vol. 8 – Rainbow / Smithsonian Folkways
Emily Portman / The Glamoury / Furrow Records
Alim Qasimov and Fargana Qasimova / Intimate Dialogue / Drever Gaido
Leon Rosselson & Robb Johnson / The Liberty Tree / Trade Root Music
Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band / Legacy / Compass Records
Steve Smith, George Brooks, Prasanna / Raga Bop Trio / Abstract Logic
Rajan Spolia / More Than Words: Snake Music (Chapter IV)/ Hard World
Jody Stecher / Return / own label
Swarbrick / raison d’être / Shirty
Various Artists / Music of Central Asia Vol. 7 – In The Shrine of the Heart – Popular Classics from Bukhara and Beyond / Smithsonian Folkways
Various Artists / Music of Central Asia Vol. 9 – In The Footsteps of Babur – Musical Encounters from The Lands of the Mughals / Smithsonian Folkways
Wenzel / Kamille Und Mohn / Matrosenblau
Historic releases, reissues and anthologies
Miles Davis / The Complete Columbia Album Collection / Columbia/Legacy
Miles Davis / Bitches Brew / Columbia/Legacy
Bonnie Dobson / Vive Le Canadienne / Bear Family
Swamy Haridhos & Party / Classical Bhajans / Country & Eastern
Incredible String Band / The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter / Fledg’ling
Ravi Shankar / Nine Decades Vol 1 – 1967-1968 / East Meets West Music Inc
Ravi Shankar George Harrison / Collaborations / Dark Horse
Various Artists / Magic Clarinet / NoEthno
Various Artists / Rough Guide to Afghanistan / World Music Network
Various Artists / Theme Time Radio Hour – Season 3 / Ace Records
Events of 2010
Carolina Chocolate Drops / Bush Hall, Shepherds Bush, London / 4 February 2010
Shraddhanjali – Zakir Hussain, Ranjit Barot and Sabir Khan / Queen Elizabeth Hall, London / 30 April 2010
Amira Medunjanin and Merima Ključo / St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation & Peace, Bishopsgate, London / 27 May 2010
Jackson Browne / Hampton Court Palace, Surrey / 8 June 2010
Tina Kindermann / Am Markt, Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt / 3 July 2010
Diva Reka / Am Markt, Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt / 3 July 2010
Kala Ramnath and Abhijit Banerjee / Stadttheater, Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt / 3 July 2010
Béla Fleck, Zakir Hussain and Edgar Meyer / Barbican, London / 9 July 2010
Little Feat / Cropredy Festival / 13 August 2010
Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick / King’s Place, London / 9 September 2010
The Alim Qasimov Ensemble / Barbican Centre, London / 19 September 2010
Christy Moore and Declan Sinnott / Royal Festival Hall, London / 6 November 2010
Iva Bittová and the Škampa Quartet / Howard Assembly Room, Opera North, Leeds, Yorkshire / 24 November 2010
Images: Smile, taken 20 July 2010 (still possibly a Banksy), and Tina Kindermann at TFF Rudolstadt © Ken Hunt/Swing 51 Archives
The copyright of the other images remains with the original copyright holders.
13. 12. 2010 |
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[by Ken Hunt, London] The doom and gloom of recession and depression, inflation and deflation affected people’s lives enormously during 2009. Some say it put dampeners on life. Musically though, on balance it was a year of hope, despite losses.
New releases
Aruna Sairam / Divine Inspiration / World Village
Damien Barber & Mike Wilson / Under The Influence / Demon Barber Sounds
Szilvia Bognár / Semmicske énekek/Ditties / Gryllus
Kaushiki Chakrabarty / Live at Saptak Festival / Sense World Music
Leonard Cohen / Live in London / Columbia/Sony Music
Gwenan Gibbard / Sidan Glas / Sain
Robb Johnson / The Ghost of Love / Irregular
La Musique D’Issa Sow / Doumale / Home Records
Amira Medunjanin and Merima Ključo / Zumra / Gramofon/ World Village
Cass Meurig and Nial Cain / Deuawd / fflach:tradd
Bea Palya / Egyszálének/Justonevoice / Sony Music (Hungary)
Madeleine Peyroux / Bare Bones / Decca
Martin Simpson / True Stories / Topic
Matt Turner, Peg & Bill Carrothers / The Voices That Are Gone / Illusions
Wenzel / König von Honolulu / Matrosenblau
Wihan Quartet / Beethoven Late String Quartets / Nimbus Alliance
Historic releases, reissues and anthologies
Alistair Anderson / Steel Skies / Topic
Jesse Fuller / Move On Down The Line / Fled’gling
Davy Graham / A Scholar and a Gentleman / Decca
Grateful Dead / Road Trips Vol. 2 – Carousel 2.14.68 / Grateful Dead Productions
Louis Killen / Ballads and Broadsides / Topic
Various artists / 50 Years of Folk Music in Newcastle / Ceilidh Connections
Various artists / Blodeugerdd – Song of the Flowers / Smithsonian Folkways
Various artists / Onder De Groene Linde / Music & Words
Various artists / Theme Time Radio Hour, Season 2 / Ace
Various artists / Three Score & Ten / Topic
Events of 2009
Aruna Sairam / Darbar International South Asian Music Festival 2009 / Purcell Room, London / 3 April 2009
F. Wasifuddin Dagar / Nehru Centre, London / 8 April 2009
Brass Monkey / The Goose Is Out! DHFC, East Dulwich, London / 15 May 2009
Iva Bittová / Purcell Room, London / 10 June 2009
Leonard Cohen / Mercedes-Benz World, Weybridge, Surrey / 11 July 2009
Richard Thompson / Fairport’s Cropredy Convention, Oxfordshire, England / 14 August 2009
Ridina Ahmedová / Palác Akropolis, Prague / 9 September 2009
Martin Simpson & Big Band / Queen Elizabeth Hall, London / 17 September 2009
June Tabor / Queen Elizabeth Hall, London / 18 September 2009
Vishwa Mohan Bhatt & Salil Mohan Bhatt / Great Hall, Kensington Town Hall, London / 29 November 2009
Bahauddin Dagar / Lecture Room, Victoria & Albert Museum, London / 18 December 2009
Images: Smile (possibly a Banksy) (Ken Hunt), Three Score & Ten (courtesy of Topic Records) and Aruna Sairam and Bahauddin Dagar (Santosh Sidhu).
2. 1. 2010 |
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Ken Hunt
2008 was one of the greatest music years of my life, full of fresh discoveries and confirmations of vision and talent still shining brightly.
New releases
Bellowhead / Matachin / Navigator
Szilvia Bognár, Ágnes Herczku and Ági Szalóki / Szájról szájra / FolkEurópa
Arun Ghosh / Northern Nameste / Camoci
Barb Jungr / Just Like A Woman / Linn
Sultan Khan and Manju Mehta / Umeed / Sense World Music
Mariza / Terra / EMI
Beáta Palya / Adieu Les Complexes / Naive Sony/BMG (Hungary)
Alim and Fargana Qasimov / Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan / Smithsonian Folkways
Zoe & Idris Rahman / Where Rivers Meet /Manushi Records
Kala Ramnath and Ganesh Iyer / Samaya / Sense World Music
Márta Sebestyén / Nyitva látám mennyeknek kapuját / SM
Peggy Seeger / Bring Me Home / Appleseed Recordings
Historic releases, reissues and anthologies
Don Cherry, Nana Vasconcelos, Collin Walcott / The Codona Trilogy / ECM
Robbie Basho / “Bonn Ist Supreme” / Bo’Weavil
Peter Bellamy / Fair England’s Shore / Fellside
Fotheringay / 2 / Fledg’ling (also in a vinyl edition on Stamford Audio)
French, Frith, Kaiser, Thompson / Live, Love, Larf & Loaf / Fledg’ling
The Fugs / Don’t Stop! Don’t Stop / Fugs Records/Ace
Grateful Dead / Rocking The Cradle – Egypt 1978 / Rhino
Grateful Dead / From Egypt With Love / Grateful Dead Productions
A L Lloyd / Ten Thousand Miles / Fellside
Makám / Orient-Occident / Z Paraván Kiadó
Chris McGregor Septet / Up To Earth / Fledg’ling
Mihály Vándor, János Vándor, János Zerkula and others / Gyimes 1977-1978 / FolkEurópa
Various Artists / Vetettem gyöngyöt / I Sowed Pearls / Etnofon Records
Events
Laurie Anderson and Band, Barbican Centre, London
Café Tacuba (pictured), Barbican Centre, London
Indo-Jazzwise Festival, Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho, London
Ari Babakhanov & Ensemble, Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Rudolstadt, Germany
Billy Bragg, Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Rudolstadt
Mariana Sadovska and Borderland, Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Rudolstadt
Sprjewjan, Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Rudolstadt
“The Imagined Village”, Tanz&FolkFest Rudolstadt, Rudolstadt
Bea Palya Quintet, Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, London
Kronos Quartet & Alim Qasimov and Ferghana Qasimova, Barbican Centre, London
Bang On A Can & Iva Bittová, DeSingel, Antwerp, Belgium
Zoe & Idris Rahman, Purcell Room, London
Szilvia Bognár, Ágnes Herczku and Ági Szalóki, H’ART Festival, Centre of Contemporary Art, Glasgow, Scotland
Kadri Gopalnath and Ronu Majumdar, Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan, Jalandhar City, India
Manju Mehta, Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan, Jalandhar City
Sangeeta Bandyopadhyay, Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan, Jalandhar City
Petr Dorůžka
In 2008 I was lucky to see some of the best concerts of my life, so maybe that explains why I didn’t have that much time for CDs…
Albums / alphabetical order 
Buena Vista Social Club / At Carnegie Hall / World Circuit
Djivan Gasparyan / The Soul Of Armenia / Network Medien
Kries / Kocijani / Kopito
Various / Zegar Zivi / Cloud Valley
Events / chronologically
Iva Bittová, Ida Kelarová, George Mraz and band, Lucerna, Prague
Mesechinka, Dutch Blend, Rotterdam
Linna Gong, Babel Med, Marseille
Sergei Starostin Family, Sayan Ring Festival, Siberia
Hazmat Modine, Folk Holidays, Czech Republic
Ale Möller Band, Glatt und Verkehrt, Krems
Mimmo Epifani and band (pictured), Alessano, La Notte della Taranta
Longital, Region Conference, Budapest
Chava Alberstain with Czechomor members, Strings of Autumn Festival, Prague
A Filetta, Womex, Sevilla
Miguel Poveda, Womex, Sevilla
30. 1. 2009 |
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[by Ken Hunt, London] Getting paid for something you’d be doing anyway is a rare privilege. Making
a decent living doing it is an altogether different mater, which is
why we present the fine things from 2007 that made our lives finer and
nourished our minds. These are the things that gave us the greatest
pleasure musically speaking.
14. 12. 2007 |
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