The Laudario di Cortona is a mediaeval codex written sometime between 1250 and 1290 and still preserved to this day in the town of Cortona in southern Tuscany. The original manuscript is comprised of a collection of 47 “laude” or sacred songs in vernacular Italian. Initiated in 2016 to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of ... [Continue Reading]
voice
Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin & Ultan O’Brien: Solas an Lae
Much more than a collection of tunes and songs shining a light on a particular style, region or era, singer Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin and fiddler Ultan O’Brien’s Solas an Lae (The Light of the Day) is also an acoustic experiment. The project explores the relationship between the human voice and the fiddle and how they complement each ... [Continue Reading]
Yumi Ito: Stardust Crystals
Born to a Japanese father and a Polish mother, Yumi Ito is a young jazz vocalist, songwriter and composer based in Basel, Switzerland. As a classically trained pianist, the singer is also an accomplished bandleader who has already performed extensively on the European jazz circuit. Featuring eight new songs composed over a ... [Continue Reading]
Félicia Atkinson: The Flower and the Vessel
When I record voice, I open to pages randomly, whether from books I’ve written or books written by others. I only do one or two takes with voice, picking words from those books like I would to make a spontaneous, wild bouquet of flowers […] I use a lot of cut-ups in that way. Playing with found language allows me to isolate ... [Continue Reading]
Olivier Bogé: When Ghosts Were Young
This is a recording that can be heard as on ode to the innocence of childhood […] that manages to reconnect with the ghosts […] we once were and with which, as adults, we sometimes fleetingly come into contact again. Vincent Bessières - CD liner notes Born in Toulon in the south of France, Olivier Bogé is a young ... [Continue Reading]
The Gloaming: Live at the NCH
Following in the footsteps of The Chieftains, Planxty, the Bothy Band and more recently Altan or Lúnasa, The Gloaming is one of the rare traditional Irish music bands to enjoy a commercial and critical success both a home and abroad while at the same time making a significant impact on the contemporary musical landscape. Since ... [Continue Reading]
Trio Da Kali and Kronos Quartet: Ladilikan
Opening the record, Trio Da Kali’s balafon (a wooden xylophone), bass ngoni (a traditional lute) and vocals clearly transport the listener to West Africa. But the introduction of Kronos Quartet’s classical strings a minute into “Tita” triggers an unexpected yet uplifting musical shift, thus unveiling an extraordinary fusion ... [Continue Reading]