Are you a film director? Producer? Hollywood tastemaker? We’ve officially hit the autumn equinox and I’m nearing the end of the line with my COVID benefits, so I’m putting some real ~what’s next??~ energy out into the world. To that end: I think I’d like to work as a music supervisor in film and television.
When I mentioned this to a friend recently, he told me he knew some-LA-someone in the mid-aughts whose job entailed filling celebrities’ iPods with mp3s. Wow, what a job. Can you imagine deciding what a teenage Haley Joel Osment listens to while eyeing up a prospective birdie on the back nine?
Maybe my niche could be preloaded iPods for celebrity golf tournaments...
click on the covers to listen or go your own way ~~
Mónika Lakatos - Romanimo (2017)
The hallgato songs included in this collection are intended to invoke joy and sorrow all knotted together. They stem from 150+ years of collective memory and communal singing practices of the Oláh Romani, of whom Mónika Lakatos is a descendent. The recordings on Romanimo stay more-or-less true to the bare instrumentation of hallgato, featuring only nylon-string guitar and vocals (with a few very subtle modern flourishes for effect). It’s the kind of music that can lift you into a state of reflection on a scale much larger than the self.
Dorothy Ashby - The Fantastic Jazz Harp of Dorothy Ashby (1965)
For years, in naïveté, I subsisted on only two Dorothy Ashby albums: Afro-Harping and The Rubaiyat Of Dorothy Ashby, both stone cold classics with decidedly different visions. Then, propelled by the feeling that there simply aren’t enough jazz harpists in the world for my liking, I sought out the rest of her catalogue. Sure enough, there were a handful of other volumes to discover. This 1965 effort marks the apex (imho) of her ‘early period’, which is to say the period when her music was a pure, sparkling delight, rather than the occasionally ominous sounding or deeply spiritual later works. For more on the marvel that is Dorothy Ashby, check out this great hour-long radio feature from Indiana Public Media.
Ryan Driver - Feeler Of Pure Joy (2009)
I can’t claim to have a robust knowledge of the Toronto music scene(s), but time after time, I keep stumbling across Ryan Driver doing… something… something really particular. Take, for instance, his work with The Titillators, a whistle-jazz combo playing standards underpinned by his employment of an amplified street cleaner’s bristle as a bass. With the recent resurrection of TO label Rat-Drifting via Bandcamp, I’ve discovered his fantastic Feeler Of Pure Joy. It’s a sun kissed, country-inflected collection of songs that showcase Driver’s endearing approach to writing/singing. Featuring contributions from the likes of Jennifer Castle, Eric Cheneaux and Martin Arnold, it’s a dandy.
Isaam Hajali - Mouasalat Ila Jacad El Ard (1977)
Reissued by the mighty Habibi Funk label in 2019, this solo debut from Lebanese singer/composer Isaam Hajili was recorded during a year spent living in exile in Paris on account of the Syrian Intervention in the Lebanese Civil War. Originally limited to ~100 cassettes sold primarily at a corner store and otherwise distributed to family, friends and collaborators, the reissue we’re privy to was salvaged from the one remaining cassette copy Hajali had for himself. Amidst the warmth of magnetic tape, Hajali’s songs swoop between currents of folk, jazz and rock with clear Arabic influence (most specifically, some prominent santour). Bent in a slightly melancholic manor, the music is also not unfunky.
Tarta Relena - Ora Pro Nobis (2019)
A progressive Gregorian acapella duo working to define and expand ideas of ‘Mediterraneaness’ through the bending and borrowing of vocal traditions. Throughout this gripping EP, the voices of Marta Torrella and Helena Ros move in and out of sync, leading to sumptuous moments of tension in flight.
Hukwe Zawose & The Master Musicians Of Tanzania - Mateso (1987)
Like Romanimo above, the songs on Mateso have an incredible ability to pull out the gorgeous, triumphant elements of anguish. The album’s title translates to ‘suffering’ and, while that quality can be heard in the music, it’s also filled with nourishing complexities. Dr. Hukwe Zawose (educator, instrument builder, cultural conservationist, and charismatic singer/performer of singular abilities) was one of the foremost cultural figures of the Wagogo people of central Tanzania. Along with his five-octave vocal range, Zawose helped bring the thumb piano into broader international consciousness throughout the 80s and 90s. This album is a sterling example of his ability to deliver traditional musics in a way that’s entirely captivating; a skill that provided him a lifelong, globetrotting career, until his death in 2003.
I’m super interested in feedback / dialogue / suggestions. If you have ideas about the newsletter, want to share music with me, have specific questions / requests, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. And please: share this newsletter with a pal if you feel so inspired!
Yrs.,
Andrew P.
andrewdanielpatterson [at] gmail [dot] com