2007 - week 33, from 18 Aug

[Charlie]

Seq - Artist - Song Title - Album - Country - Label - Cat no

1 - Olivia Ruiz - J'traine des pieds - La Femme Chocolat - France - Universal - 983 367 -2

2 - Terry Lee Hale - Hearts - Shotgun Pillowcase - USA/Slovenia - Borderdreams - BD 009

3 - Tamara Dadasheva - Ma Hiezha Kant - Songs of Defiance: Music of Chechnya - Chechnya - Topic - TSCD934

4 - Catherine-Ann MacPhee - O Hi Ri Lean - Island Blues - Scotland, UK - Network Medien - 21.292

5 - Sam Ku West - Hawaiian Hula Blues - Hawaiian Hula Blues - Hawaii - Grass Skirt - GSK 1001

6 - King Sunny Ade - Sunny Ti De medley - The Best of the Classic Years - Nigeria - Shanachie - 66034

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Olivia Ruiz [photo: www.artunivers.com]

This is the second play for the opening track from Olivia Ruiz’s album. Thanks to replies from listeners, I now know what the song’s title means – I drag my feet. The rest of the album is good too, but this stands out and attracted so many positive reactions, it deserves a second chance before moving on to another song.


Terry Lee Hale [photo: www.indigo.de]

Terry Lee Hale sent his album from a Paris address, but he’s an American who made this album in Slovenia. The first song ‘Hearts’ is so interesting, with atmospheric trumpet played by Andrej Jakus, you’d be sure there must be something else good further down the album. But no, this is the only track to recommend.



Songs of Defiance: music from Chechnya is one of a pair of albums released on the Topic label from recordings made by British musicologist Michael Church on a recent trip to Georgia and Chechnya. The journalist Garth Cartwright praised the albums as being among the best he has heard this year. I find the sparse instrumentation a bit hard to take, and can only manage one track at a time, but I do like the female singer Tamara Dadasheva.



Sometimes it’s impossible to explain why one song brings to mind another, apparently quite different. But I always intended to play the last track from Island Blues one of these days, and this turns out to be the day for Catherine-Ann McPhee, who lives on the island of Barra in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides.


Sam Ku West [photo: www.virusdeblues.free.fr/images ]

After I played a track by Hawaiian guitarist on the World Service a year or so ago, the tiny Grass Skirt record label reported enquiries from all over the world, so let’s see if there is a repeat reaction.


King Sunny Ade

In the early 1980s, many European listeners were surprised to discover that the pedal steel guitar, which sounds very much like the Hawaiian guitar, was featured in many Nigerian bands including that of King Sunny Ade. Produced by Martin Meissonnier, the albums which launched King Sunny worldwide on Island Records featured new recordings of songs that had previously been popular in Nigeria, and we finish the show with a track from the CD that collects together some of the original versions. How great they sound.

[Eddie Punch]

In case anyone was wondering what sort of guitar Sam Ku West has on his lap, it's a Square Neck National Style 2 Tricone from 1927 or so. Sam toured extensivly in Europe, he even played for King George V of England who said that Sam was the "Fritz Kreisler of the Hawaiian guitar" (Fritz Kreisler being a classical violin player himself)

His repitoire consisted of traditional hulas, marches, hapa haole, waltzes and some blues including "Stack O' Lee Blues", which the Victor Record Label lists as being a Fox Trot. His Band was called the "Sam-Ku-West Harmony Boys"

Sam-Ku-West died in Paris still a young man in the 1930's

(I own three National Guitars myself, two of them made in September 1934)

Eddie Punch

[Charlie]

emails from

1. Jon Veigel, Surprise, Arizona

Greetings!

A few years ago I was the guest of the Deputy PM of Tonga. His daughter and I attended a special church service featuring the singing of church choirs from all Tongan islands. The church was packed, each choir was placed at different locations, and the service was delayed for the man's daughter and I to arrive, and be seated front row center.

I am musical naive and not church going, yet the sounds from individual choirs and massed choirs, singing without accompaniment, with no person obviously controlling either the sequencing or the offerings left me exalted! The church is meant to be COE-cathedral like, here with walls of coral.

My enthusiasm is transparent. Can they be featured on your program?
Perhaps they already have been.

The Arch-Bishop told me no one had ever set up to record at a professional level.

Is there any way I might help?

Jon

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2. Anonymous

Dear Charlie, Would love to hear more from the Armenian Navy Band, and some old timey Chinese night club songs from the 1930s, and how about some contemporary choir music from Tonga. Sometimes I get the feeling that you homogenize too much and you could easily paint on a wider canvas. Thank you.

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3. Antonea Dawn El-Zonkoly, USA

Hi Mr. Gillett:

bebopalu7 here. I am so impressed with your show, more and more every week. I was wondering how King Sunny Ade is doing. Only this week I was wishing to here some sound from him. I had the pleasure of meeting him way back in 1981, I think it was, just before J J Rollins put on a coup. I met him in a dimly lit disco type place. He came up to me and introduced himself and we talked briefly about the music in Ghana and how the sounds reach America. Shortly after I came home, Mr. Ade came to America and I saw him on television.

You just keep amazing me Mr. Gillett. It is one of God's blessing to me, I want to experience music from around the world and you bring it to me every week. Thank you very much.

[Dayna]

I also heard King Sunny Ade on XM Satellite & liked him.