Meditative Mountain Music

"Music of Central Asia is a co-production of the Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia, a program of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, and the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. The aim of the series is to present leading exponents of Central Asia's rich and diverse musical heritage to listeners outside the region."


So says the blurb on the back cover of the CD/DVD set "Tengir Too - Mountain Music of Kyrgyzstan", which is Volume One of the series.

Tengir Too is an ensemble formed to modernise Kyrgyzstan's folk music tradition, which historically was played solo by shepherds on a range of wind and string instruments as well as the so-called Jew's Harp*. The ensemble music is true to the roots of the music, and represents a gentle experimentalism. A wide range of exotic and beautiful sounds is on offer here, and the accompanying DVD contains some intimate performances and interviews, plus spectacular scenery.

A lovely package, highly recommended. Sound samples are here.

* Having heard both instruments, I wonder whether this colloquial name is due to the tiny instrument's sonic resemblance to the ancient Begenna, or Harp of David, still played in Ethiopia. See here for a sample of that tradition of spiritual music.

A Bad Trip

Japanese Director Sion Sono's Strange Circus is an appropriately shocking and disturbing film about childhood sexual abuse. Nothing is what it seems, as we witness events on screen through the lens of the disintegrated mental state of one of the characters, but it's safe to say that the various possible interpretations of the disjointed story are horrendous. I haven't painted a pretty picture, yet this is a remarkable, visually striking, and highly original film, full of twists and turns, that takes a hard-hitting approach to its subject matter. It ought be appreciated by those with a taste for challenging cinema, but its extreme approach will alienate more than a few.


Masumi Miyazaki gives an excellent triple performance as writer Taeko, the older Mitsuko, and her mother Sayuri.

The US Region 1 DVD from TLA Releasing (in their Danger After Dark series) makes for top quality viewing.

Kind of blue? Perhaps you need a new Jazz album..

Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus is aptly named - Rollins assumed the mantle during the 1950's of pre-eminent saxophonist in Jazz, and this album shows why. The leader's tenor is not the only marvel on display here, since we are treated also to a tremendous display of Max Roach's god-like talent on drums.


The 1950's was a stabilising period in Jazz. The thrusting, determined modernity of Bebop became integrated into a more lyrical, accessible conception (although hot, tough music persisted in the hard-bop style, the jam session phenomenon, etc.), and Saxophone Colossus is a key work in that development. Jazz history aside, it is quite simply an amazing album of music.

First up is St Thomas, a calypso which Rollins turns into a swaggering display of rhythmic mastery and easy-going improvisational invention. Next, You Don't Know what Love is is a superb ballad showcase - Rollins plays a magnificently querulous extended solo that never runs out of great ideas. Moritat (a.k.a. Mack the Knife) is warm and lyrical (perhaps a tribute to Louis Armstrong, who revived the tune in 1954?). Blue Seven is a brilliant extended track on which Rollins and Roach both shine.

Superlatives don't do this one justice. Every music-lover deserves it.

They Don't Make 'Em Like They Used To...

Hugo (eyeing Yan's apartment): "You've got everything..."
Yan: "You can't have everything. Good thing, too..."

Here's a very nice, moody crime flick from 1970's France, a slice-of-underworld-life if you will. Alain Delon puts in a great titular performance as "Le Gitan" ("The Gypsy"), a melancholy thief with a deep love of his dispossessed people. Delon is reunited with Renato Salvatori, with whom he starred in Visconti's "Rocco and His Brothers" plus several other films, although a bigger part (that of the well-off jewel-thief Yan) is played here very well by another top actor, Paul Meurisse.


"Le Gitan" contains plenty of action and suspense, but what's memorable here is the gritty tableau, a dark vision of the lives of two extraordinary men, the little touches that reveal character, the philosophical asides, and not least the lovely soundtrack which features Django Reinhardt's peerless guitar.

"Le Gitan" is available to English speakers as part of the Region 1 "Alain Delon - Five Film Collection", and the Region 4 "Best French Crime Flicks" box from Australia's Madman Studios. The latter features only dubbed English audio for this film, but I can recommend the result (also the video transfer to DVD).

The Other Late-Period Masterpiece from Kurosawa

I've just watched Akira Kurosawa's Kagemusha (The Double) for the nth time, and continue to be moved by a wonderful film. The central characters are the feared warlord Shingen, and the petty thief who, by virtue of his uncanny resemblance, is co-opted as a strategic double and ends up with the weight of an entire clan on his shoulders. A rich and thought-provoking work which may be many things to many people, it is to me above all a rumination on society's need for individuals, and individuals' need for society.


Kurosawa portrays superbly the brutality and cunning on which power has always depended - the struggle between Shingen, Ieyasu and Nobunaga (not to mention Shingen's son) provides a compelling milieu. Tatsuya Nakadai is marvellous as both Shingen and his hapless double, and shines in some truly unforgettable scenes. Music relies heavily on a single motif but is highly effective, if without the brilliance lent by Takemitsu to the soundtrack of Ran (a film that begs comparison with this one).

This is essential viewing for lovers of life, art and cinema.

I have the 2002 Region 2 DVD, which has a more than decent transfer of the film. The image is very stable (with some very minor artefacting), but there is a persistent lack of definition which makes the film look far older than its 30 years. Criterion have issued a Region A Blu Ray edition, and a Region 1 DVD, both of which are supposed to be typically excellent.

EDIT: Kagemusha shared the Palme d'Or with All That Jazz at the 1980 Cannes Film Festival.

Downtown New York City Avant-Funk-Lounge-Rock-Surf-Jazz-Thrash

John Zorn’s band Naked City was what all the cool kids were listening to in the early 90’s, and myself in the late 90’s. Their album Radio is a great showcase for this marvellously entertaining, true fusion band., The quality of the playing is immense – huge talents executing with brio, and the kind of timing found on the best jazz records. No surprises there... Naked City contained some of New York's best jazz musicians! Remember though: the cutting edge is also the bleeding edge – some of the more avant-garde aspects of this record may not be for the faint of heart. Very highly recommended for adventurous listeners.

Cuban Music So Good It'll Send Shivers Down Your Spine

Don’t let the butt-ugly cover-design put you off. Eliades Ochoa's "The Lion is Loose!" is amongst the richest, most powerful recordings of Son Cubano, the style with which the Buena Vista Social Club swept the world off its feet. Ochoa leads a crack traditional group in this worthy updating of the Son, his guitar solos impressive showcases for his feel for this music and his technique, his rich, husky vocals very fine indeed. Ochoa is in fact guitarist for the Buena Vista group and this was recorded several years earlier than the famous BVSC release. This would be an excellent follow-up purchase. In fact, I’d very much recommend it first!


Next up, Duo Los Compadres! This group is one of the immortal ones, and these early 50’s recordings of Cuban Son capture a kind of perfection, a sound that feels as if it could be no other way. The disc features the two principals (Lorenzo Hierrezuelo, and Francisco Repilado) singing and playing mostly their own now-classic (and often achingly beautiful) compositions, always accompanied by two or three other musicians on bass and percussion. At some point you'll hear them exhorting each other towards greater musical heights: "Olé, Compay Primo!", "Olé, Compay Segundo..!" - YES, Francisco Repilado is none other than that much-loved musical ambassador who became a global phenomenon 40 years later!
This is _very much not_ a CD only for the historically inclined, but it is interesting to compare a few of these original versions with more recent recordings (e.g. Ochoa’s – see above) of the same songs.