01 OKANOkantomi
Okan
Lula World Records LWR036A (okanmusica.com)

The luminous duo of Canadian-Cuban musician/composers Elizabeth Rodriguez (vocalist and violinist) and Magdelys Savigne (vocalist and percussionist) are more widely known as Okan, and have already established themselves as the international co-ruling reinas of Afro-Cuban Music. With their latest release, not only have they composed nearly all of the material here, but they have incorporated the propulsive talents of their core ensemble into the CD (bassist Roberto Riveron, drummer Frank Martinez, keyboardist Jeremy Ledbetter and synthesizerist Miguel de Armas). Additionally, they have invited a staggering number of talented guests into their masterful recording. The compositions are all creatively connected to Mother Earth and are universal in their appeal. The deep emotional and musical verity of Okan challenges us to think and feel beyond boundaries.

The opening salvo is the incendiary Eshu Nigüe (Elegua), which thrusts us into the rich culture of West Africa, rife with magic and power and the fascinating fusion of Latin modalities with the rhythms of the ancestors. Quick on its heels is the stunning vocal duet, La Reina Del Norte featuring the relentless percussion of Reimundo Sosa and Emadio Dedue, as well as ridiculous violin work from Rodriguez. The title tune takes a sultry, contemporary twist with superb contributions from guitarist Elmer Ferrer.

Other stunners include the sumptuous, No Volvi, and the gorgeous, classically infused Preludio y Changui composed by Fritz Kreisler with stunning performances by Katherine Knowles on cello, Lara St. John and Rodriguez on violin, Matthew Giorlami on double bass and Sarah Di Niverville on viola. This irresistible recording is an invigorating, pure and potent project, as well as a triumph of Afro-Cuban fusion.

02 ErasEras
Randy Raine-Reusch; Michael Red
HMR3 Productions (isla.bandcamp.com/album/eras)

Veteran Vancouver-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and world music pioneer Randy Raine-Reusch and electronic musician, composer and DJ Michael Red join forces in six deep sonic meditations on Eras

The project has a fascinating backstory: back to 2014 when Red met Raine-Reusch in the latter’s home- world instrument-museum. Raine-Reusch is not only a noted instrument collector but has also spent his career studying and playing them. He specializes in performing and composing experimental music for instruments from around the world, particularly those from Asia.

During their 2014 recording session, Raine-Reusch chose various acoustic instruments from his vast collection including Asian flutes and various string zithers, African harps, and gongs. Adopting an intuitive interactive process, the duo recorded their finely-grained and honed improvisations, Red electronically processing them. The album was completed over the course of several days, but rather than immediately releasing it, they chose to leave it “to mature and distil.” The duo decided to finalize Eras this year, being “careful to preserve the direct and intuitive process that permeates the recording.”

Evocative track titles such as Five Names of Peace, Shifting Silence, Inner World and Winter Water capture the meditative, slowly flowing focus of the music. Between Is Six, the opening track, sets the tone with Raine-Reusch’s sensitive breath-centred sounds made on a low flute, sensitively modulated over the stereo sound stage by Red. And the last album sound is the most exquisitely languid fadeout I’ve heard all year. 

How to sum up the music on Eras? Rather than New Age, descriptors such as shadow worlds, sonic incantations and dreamtime may make more sense.

03 Vandana Vishwas KabeeraKabeera The Thinker
Vandana Vishwas
Independent VV004 (vandanavishwas.com)

After a couple of albums in which Vandana Vishwas bent like a reed in the wind, allowing her Indian cultural topography to collide with her experience of Western contemporary music, the luminous-voiced singer looks inward, to the ancient Indian roots that sustain her artistry. 

The album, Kabeera – The Thinker… takes the poetry of the 15th-century Northern Indian mystic, Kabir but sets it to music with a wholly modern sensibility. 

Vishwas’ lofty vocals seem to create a stratospheric atmosphere in keeping with the mysticism of the lyricist and central character of these songs – that is Kabir whose philosophical minstrelsy (at the height of his powers) is purported to have dramatically altered religious thought not simply within Hinduism, but also among Sikhism. Remarkably, so deeply mystical were Kabir’s verses that he was also embraced by the Muslim Sufi, who shared a similar mystical relationship with God.

Much of Kabir’s poetic output was originally written in Bhojpuri, a Northern Indian dialect in the region where Kabir was born and raised. It is a testament to the preservation of Indian culture that Bhojpuri is still in use in that linguistic heartland, where wandering minstrels still write lyrics to their devotional songs.

The music of Kabeera – The Thinker… may have a more focussed appeal as Vishwas sings all the lyrics in Hindi. But her lustrous voice is seductive, beckoning listeners to dig deeper into the world of this legendary Indian mystic.

04a Oklahoma Audrey SilverOklahoma!
Nathaniel Hackmann; Sierry Boggess; Sinfonia of London; John Wilson
Chandos CHSA 5322(2) (chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHSA%205322)

Oklahoma
Audrey Silver
Messy House Records MH 0105 (audreysilver.com)

Since the original Broadway production opened on March 31, 1943 and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, with its pithy lyrics and dialogue, sumptuous melodies, dramatic plot points, fully developed characters as well as a contemporary ballet sequence, Rogers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! has enjoyed endless revivals on Broadway, international productions translated into a plethora of languages and a film version that remains, in my opinion, one of the finest pieces of American cinema ever created. Recently, two fine recordings at either end of the musical spectrum have been released… a vocal jazz exploration of ten of the show’s most memorable tunes featuring the prodigious talents of NYC-based jazz vocalist Audrey Silver, and a full theatrical production conducted by John Wilson with the Sinfonia of London. These two diverse presentations are a fine representation of the near immortality of a good piece of theatre – one traditional and one exploratory – and both superb and timeless. 

For her fifth CD as leader (which she also produced), Silver has put together a phenomenal ensemble, featuring the gifted Bruce Barth on piano (Barth also serves as arranger here), Peter Bernstein on guitar, Adam Kolker on alto flute and bass clarinet, Khalil Kwame Bell on percussion and a well-appointed string section. The original book for Oklahoma! was adapted from Lynn Riggs’ 1931 novel, Green Grow the Lilacs. Interestingly, the novel contained a strong Native American plotline and presence which was effectively deleted for the Broadway show. In the opening title track, Silver restores that glaring omission by performing deftly on Native American Flute to parenthesize the song. The stunning arrangement by Barth is full of surprises as Silver’s warm, mellifluous voice weaves in and out of the familiar melody – making it her own. 

Other treats include a swinging take on Many a New Day, which features a lovely, Charlie Christian-esque guitar solo from Bernstein; a moving interpretation of Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ on which Silver, Barth and the sinuous string lines access the very soul of the hearty, natural world-loving settlers of the Western U.S. (or anywhere, really). Of special mention is a masterful and lilting treatment of the rarely performed, Out of My Dreams. The delicious and languid nature of Silver’s warm and wistful vocals here are reminiscent of the great Irene Kral, and Barth also renders a stunner of a solo, enhanced by luminous string lines.

04b Oklahoma OrchestralAnd now for something altogether different. Chandos has just released a truly magnificent double-disc recording of Oklahoma!. The release of the recording itself, has coincided with the 80th anniversary of the venerable musical’s first performance while an expert, talented and compelling cast delivers performances that thrill to the bone. Heading up the fine cast are Nathaniel Hackmann as Curly; Sierra Boggess as Laurey; Rodney Earl Clarke as Jud; Jamie Parker as Will Parker; Sandra Marvin as Aunt Eller and Louise Dearman as Ado Annie. It was Wilson’s inspiration that resulted (ten years on) in this golden age musical that had previously never been recorded in its original form. Robert Russell Bennett’s orchestrations have been beautifully and perfectly restored as well as being re-engraved by Bruce Pomahac at the Rogers & Hammerstein Organization resulting in – to quote Wilson, “To my ears, this great masterpiece in its original instrumental clothing, sounds as fresh as the day it was written”.

The quality of the recording is so vibrant, vigorous and visceral, that one imagines that they are actually in the first row of the orchestra section. There is also much additional, fascinating interstitial music here, which was necessary in live theatre at the time, in order to facilitate scene/costume changes, etc. The sheer excellence of the arrangements, interpretation, orchestra, direction and the stupendous cast make this a totally satisfying listening experience – theatre buff, or not.

Listen to 'Oklahoma!' Now in the Listening Room

01 Sultans of StringWalking Through Fire
Indigenous Collaborations with Sultans of String
Independent MCK2301 (sultansofstring.com)

This powerful project is the result of inspired musical and poetic collaborations between an array of gifted Indigenous artists from a wide variety of musics and tribal identities, and the highly regarded, multiple award-winning Sultans of String, which includes producer Chris McKhool on violin and viola, producer Kevin Laliberte on nylon-, steel-string and electric guitars, Drew Birston on electric and acoustic bass and Rosendo “Chandy” Leon Jr. on drums and percussion. These diverse artists – Indigenous and non-indigenous have joined together in the spirit of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action and Final Report, which sparked the co-creation of Walking Through Fire – the title of both the CD and live touring performances, which began on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation this year. 

There are 14 original tracks here, each inspiring, thought-provoking and brilliantly produced. Works of particular beauty include A Beautiful Darkness featuring Ojibwe vocalist Marc Märileinen, backed by a thrilling wall of sound, punctuated by McKhool’s haunting violin lines; Kó, with luminous and resonant vocals by Dene artists Leela Gilday and Leanne Taneton and The Rez – a deeply moving ballad featuring both rock and fiddling motifs alongside a stirring, soulful vocal from young, contemporary Ojibwe performer Crystal Shawanda. 

Also unforgettable is the soul-searing Take Off the Crown, where the incomprehensible horror of the murdered children is explored in a place beyond tears, introduced by “Digging Roots” member Raven Kanatakta (Anishinaabe Algonquin/Onkwehón:we Mohawk). Our Mother The Earth is also a gem, featuring masterful work from the Sultans of String as well as the vocal gravitas of the eminent Dr. Duke Redbird (Chippewa/Anishinaabe). This project is a rare gift from all of the artists involved… the gift of creativity, collaboration and hope for our future.

02 Vineet VyasSatyam
Vineet Vyas
Independent (vineetvyas.com)

Toronto-based tabla virtuoso Vineet Vyas’ musical path encompasses both the Canadian East Coast and one of the preeminent music traditions of India. Born into a family of Hindustani classical musicians in Nova Scotia, he began lessons on the tabla early. 

Already showing promise, in 1987 his studies modulated to the next level. That year he began instruction in the traditional guru-shishya parampara manner with tabla master Pandit Kishan Maharaj in Varanasi, India. Vyas credits that intense training and sadhana (dedication) to his guru for enabling him to establish himself as a tabla musician on the international stage. 

Vyas’ seven-track album Satyam, his third solo outing, was nominated for Global Recording of the Year at the 2023 (Canadian) East Coast Music Awards. Satyam – a Sanskrit concept referring to examining the truth – musically evokes the Hindu myth of princess Savitri, her husband prince Satyavan and their struggle with Yama, the goddess of death. Spoiler alert: after extensive musical conflict, the last track resolves in a peaceful coda. 

While the record features Vyas’ tabla mastery throughout, Satyam also leans heavily on seven skilled musicians who provide melodies based on Hindustani ragas. They contextualize, support and sometimes also defy the often sonically dense and mathematically intense drumming. In addition to the gripping Savitri narrative, Ajay Prasanna (bansuri), Rajib Karmakar (sitar), Pankaj Mishra (sarangi), Justin Gray (electric bass) and Bageshree Vaze (vocals) make substantial contributions to Satyam’s success as a listen-through album.

Listen to 'Satyam' Now in the Listening Room

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