Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Will The Circle Be Unbroken The Ttrilogy Box 6 cd + 1 dvd

In 1969, the members of the three year-old Nitty Gritty Dirt Band almost packed it in for good, unsure of where the young group was heading next in its career or with its hybrid sound. Thirty-seven years later the remaining foursome - weathered, well-traveled, arguably wiser -- is enjoying its 40th Anniversary. The individual band-mates would probably admit they still don't know where they're heading next, only that wherever it is, they'll be going there together.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's pioneering spirit, its eagerness to experiment and desire to explore the by-ways and gravel roads of America's musical past, has exerted a profound effect on our present-day pop culture. Its members refused to be pigeonholed or hew to a narrow star-making path. In the early seventies, they defied the conventional hit-driven approach to record-making by undertaking the ambitious three-LP set Will The Circle Be Unbroken, cut live to two-track in Nashville over six days, for the sum of just $22,000. Thanks to the band's unfettered creative energy and the palpable excitement of playing with their country and bluegrass music idols, the album became a landmark, genre-smashing hit. Circle remains such a pivotal cultural moment that it was one of 50 recordings honored this year - and to be preserved -- by the Library of Congress.

It would be no exaggeration to say that much of what falls under the umbrella term of roots music these days bears the mark in some way of NGDB's influence, from folk-rock to alternative country, contemporary bluegrass to neo-hippie jam bands. It's not just a legacy from the past, but an influence that continues to grow - young heartthrobs Rascal Flatts scored a Best Country Song Grammy this year for "Bless the Broken Road," co-written by NGDB guitarist Jeff Hanna and originally featured on NGDB's 1994 Acoustic album. (The tune had also been nominated for the Song of the Year Award.) Fadden's "Workin' Man (Nowhere To Go)" was covered by up-and-coming bluegrass stars Cherryholmes on their self-titled, 2006 Grammy-nominated album. NGDB's own work is featured on the soundtrack to the 2006 Oscar-worthy film Transamerica. The band members, regularly nominated over the years as songwriters and artists, were awarded their most recent Grammy in 2004, Best Country Instrumental, for "Earl's Breakdown," a track that featured the titular Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Vassar Clements and Jerry Douglas. Most importantly, NGDB, in classic road-warrior tradition, still tours several months a year.

Although the faces and names of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band may not always be immediately recognizable to the general public - vocalist/guitarist Jeff Hanna, drummer/harmonica player Jimmie Fadden, banjo/fiddle/mandolin/guitar player John McEuen, vocalist/keyboardist Bob Carpenter -- fellow musicians young and old know exactly who they are. When John McEuen's son cajoled his dad into going to a Phish concert, Trey Anastasio not only recognized McEuen outside the arena and immediately invited him (and his lucky son) to hang out on the tour bus, he insisted McEuen open the second half of the show with the band. Before a performance at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, Bruce Springsteen mentioned to Jeff Hanna that Circle was one of his favorite albums (a claim clearly supported by Springsteen's own new Seeger Sessions). Bruce Hornsby has confessed that as a student in Virginia, he and his lyricist brother John snuck into an NGDB gig at William and Mary College by posing as roadies and carrying the band's gear into the concert hall.

A string of hits on mainstream pop and country radio in the eighties did get the band's name out to a large contemporary audience. Well before then, though, unsuspecting Top 40 radio listeners were singing along to the band. Hanna and McEuen had backed Michael Martin Murphy on his classic "Wildfire" and "Carolina in the Pines"; NGDB also arranged and played live in the studio on Steve Martin's gold-selling left-field hit, "King Tut." Clearly the band has a sense of humor to go along with its good taste.

"We've kept it alive, kept it a growing thing," say McEuen of the band's evolution. "With the Dirt Band, you think of a certain integrity in the songs, not a single focus. What has connected our various work is the 'Americana' instrumentation and playing songs that are accessible to people. Our songs aren't just about one thing and neither are people's lives."

"Maybe we're the Kinks of country music," suggests Jimmie Fadden, who, along with Hanna, has been part of NGDB since its inception. He's referring to the revered British Invasion combo fronted by Ray Davies, whose fame was eclipsed by the Beatles and Stones. Its work, however, remains among the most musically and thematically adventurous of the era. "There was always some disjointed quality to what the Kinks did that was parallel to what we did. It was not always perfect, like the record company likes you to be perfect, like the radio station likes you to be perfect. We were always allowed to wear our little band-aids and leave bruises and scratches on our music."

"We are told our songs have become a soundtrack to people's lives over a period of time," continues McEuen. " I sit at the autograph table and talk to younger people, in their teens and early 20s, obviously not whom you'd expect at a veteran band's shows. They would be there by themselves and I'd ask why they came to our show and they'd say, 'Ever since I was little, my folks used to play your music. They'd take it camping with us, we'd sing along in the car to "Ripplin' Waters," "Make A Little Magic." The song about Bojangles always reached me.' Currently, 20 percent of the Dirt Band's audience is under 30. Now when I ask them why they come to the show, they're starting to say it was their grandparents who used to play our music all the time."

"I didn't think anyone in this band felt we'd be playing music into our fifties," Carpenter admits. "At first I just looked at it like, we want to sell records and tour, and it happened from year to year to year. We're been fortunate that no matter what happened with our recordings, we always had people who wanted to come and see us play. And that's the thing that really kept us together. I know it may sound trite, but we really have our fans to thank for that. We've got a loyal fan base that comes out to see us make music."

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band formed in Southern California during the spring of '66. The young Hanna, Fadden and McEuen hung out at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Long Beach; this maverick group distinguished itself from its peers by playing jug-band music and wearing cowboy boots with vintage pinstripe suits. Like the Lovin' Spoonful on the east coast, the combo was inspired by the early 20th century jug-band sound, a danceable variation on country blues that originally depended on homemade instrumentation like washboards, jugs and kazoos. As Hanna recalls, "All of us were rebelling against popular music, although I think we were all closet Rolling Stones and Beatles fans. You could not be a child growing up in the sixties and not be exposed to that music and not have it influence you in some way. But there was something in the folk-blues tradition that jug-band music embodied. It was a throwback to a simpler time in music that was really appealing. Not to get too deep on a sociological level, but the idea that this music came from the Prohibition era spoke to us too, because people were all sneaking around rolling joints in the back of their parents' houses."

"It wasn't a part of what my friends were listening to," explains Fadden, "It wasn't so easy to get. You couldn't just turn on the radio and have it. I liked that sort of 'outsider' thing. I saw myself as not being a part of the mainstream so I gravitated to it quite easily. What really captured me was the honesty of the music, that it was uncompromising and relatively unadorned. There weren't a lot of smoke and mirrors. I think that's what really got me. It was raw."

Hanna says, "When we put our jug band together, before we were actually making any money, we were drawing overflow crowds at these little folk rooms - there might have been 200 to 250 people. They were young people; our fans were our peers. So there must have been something appealing about it, more than just our esoteric, snobby outlook on popular music. Of course, jug band music is fun too. The Lovin' Spoonful developed into a great band, one of the coolest, underrated bands ever."

NGDB's self-titled debut was released in 1967 on the Liberty label and included "Buy For Me The Rain," which cracked the Top 40. That was quickly followed by Richochet and, in 1968, Rare Junk. During this period, the group's manager read in Variety that the producers of the movie musical Paint Your Wagon were scouting for a band to portray itinerant musicians from the 19th Century California gold rush. NGDB played for composer Alan Jay Lerner and director Josh Logan on a huge soundstage at the Paramount lot and got the job. The band spent four months in the Oregon woods alongside such unlikely musical comedy stars as Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin and Jean Seberg.

NGDB's next studio album, 1970's Uncle Charlie and His Dog Teddy, would be the band's commercial and artistic breakthrough, yielding a Top Ten hit with its now-classic version of Jerry Jeff Walker's "Mr. Bojangles." By then, Jimmy Ibbotson had joined the band and would be part of NGDB off and on for the next three and a half decades, penning such band staples as "Ripplin' Waters" and "Dance Little Jean." NGDB had suffered a temporary break-up in early '69, but soon reunited with a stronger focus, its priorities figured out. As Hanna admits, "When we started as jug band we had a clear vision of what we wanted to do, but then we had these growing pains because people were going on different tangents, so the '69 version of the band - in terms of what we play now - is the heart of what we do, that country rock-bluegrass hybrid. "

Along with Walker's classic story-song, Uncle Charlie featured tunes from Randy Newman, Buddy Holly, a then-unknown Kenny Loggins and former Monkee Michael Nesmith. NGDB's manager, John's brother Bill McEuen, had demanded complete artistic control from the record label and took over production. He incorporated rustic audio-verite segments into Uncle Charlie that helped unify the material into more of an album-length statement and foreshadowed the work to come on the 1972 Will The Circle Be Unbroken. He would produce several important NGDB albums, though to simply call him the "producer" would be an understatement; Bill was to NGDB as George Martin was to the Beatles, crucial to the refinement of the band's studio sound at a key point in its career. As John says of his brother, "Thanks to his production, editing, artwork and concepts, the group achieved success that went beyond what many thought it could be."

Among the many outstanding tracks on Uncle Charlie was a version of Earl Scruggs' "Randy Lynn Rag." When NGDB performed at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Scruggs and his family came to the show. Hanna and John McEuen later caught up with him on the road. McEuen asked Scruggs if he'd consider recording with band, Scruggs answered "I'd be proud to" - and that set into motion what would become the Circle album.

In today's cultural climate, when the soundtrack of O Brother Where Art Thou? could reach platinum status, the concept of Circle hardly seems radical. Yet at the time this collaboration among Nashville legends like Scruggs, Doc Watson, Roy Acuff and even Mother Maybelle Carter and these long-haired admirers from the West Coast was unprecedented. Artists like the Byrds had gone to Nashville, but none had attempted a dialogue of quite this nature, reaching across generations, geography, attitudes and separate histories to find sounds and songs that everyone appreciated. Will the Circle Be Unbroken was a veritable summit meeting of talent, but it came off like a back porch conversation -- relaxed, congenial, with lots of laughs and plenty of poignant moments. A torch wasn't being passed; everyone was holding it up together. In an era of political and social divisiveness, Circle was an extraordinary gesture of unity and understanding that instantly captivated critics and record buyers, and would become a multi-platinum success.

In April 2006, the National Recording Preservation Board, established by the Library of Congress as" a comprehensive national program to ensure the survival, conservation and increased public availability of America's sound recording heritage," added Will the Circle Be Unbroken to its National Recording Registry, one of 50 recordings selected each year. As the Board put it, the album "introduced acoustic country music to a new generation of audiences and revived the careers of several of the guest performers."

This groundbreaking effort had a reciprocal effect on NGDB. As Hanna, who now lives in Nashville with his wife, singer-songwriter Matraca Berg, explains," I think we were lucky to find people down here to work with who were encouraging and nurturing on a creative level...and to be accepted by the country music community. The Circle album was a great kind of backstage pass to have. In the early eighties, when we had our run at country radio, there wasn't any test we had to pass in terms of credibility."

NGDB's 1974 double-album mix of live and studio cuts, Stars and Stripes Forever, received an even more enthusiastic commercial reception than Circle; the group followed it with the all-studio Dream. By '77, NGDB participated in another groundbreaking cross-cultural event: It became the first American combo to be invited by the Soviet government to tour the U.S.S.R., performing a month's worth of live dates and playing to literally 140 million curious television viewers.

After having sat in and recorded with the group since the mid-'70s, Bob Carpenter officially joined the Dirt Band, which had briefly dropped the "Nitty Gritty" from its name, in 1980; McEuen likes to refer to him as "the new original member." Carpenter co-wrote "Make A Little Magic" with Hanna, a 1980 pop hit featuring vocalist Nicolette Larson that is among the band's most perennially popular, the one, says McEuen, "that you always hear in grocery stores or on airplanes." Similarly, Linda Ronstadt, with whom Hanna had backed in a post-Stone Poney's lineup, guest starred on the lilting soft rock of Rodney Crowell's "An American Dream," which had made the Top 20 a year before. The mellow, gently heartfelt approach of those songs was indicative of the work that would put the Dirt Band at the top of the county charts for a decade, starting in the early eighties. Its remarkable run of 17 consecutive Top Ten hits included "Dance Little Jean," "Baby's Got A Hold On Me" and "Fishin' in the Dark." Their chart-topping work had little in common with the slick, pop-oriented country hits of today; it was more akin to the warm-hearted country/rock balance of "Peaceful, Easy Feeling"-era Eagles Throughout this productive period, there were more significant comings and goings: Ibbotson, who left in the late seventies, returned in '81 and stayed until 2004; McEuen departed in '88 for a solo career and came back in 2001.

"It was a cool time in country music,," says Hanna, "with people like Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, Lyle Lovett - they all were on the radio then. I was very proud that our band was happening at the same time, through the eighties."

By 1982, "Nitty Gritty" was restored to the Dirt Band name; in '89, the group -- consisting of Fadden, Hanna, Carpenter and Ibbotson -- revisited the Circle concept, gathering another impressive, wide-ranging roster of performers and selecting both vintage and contemporary material for sessions that had a pronounced country-gospel feel. Among the vocalists were Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Levon Helm, Roseanne Cash, John Hiatt and Bruce Hornsby; John Denver contributed a particularly affecting performance of "And So It Goes." Randy Scruggs, namesake of the "Randy Lynn Rag," co-produced the set with the band. (Circle II would go on to win three Grammy Awards and the Country Music Association Album of the Year). Randy would return in 2002 for the final installment of what became a Circle trilogy, a bluegrass-oriented set that featured such friends as Willie Nelson, Earl Scruggs, Rodney Dillard, Alison Krauss, Taj Mahal, Dwight Yoakum and, once again, Johnny Cash, who delivers the powerful, elegiac "Tears In the Holston River."

NGDB's most recent studio album, Welcome to Woody Creek, brought the group back to its roots. The band-mates approached their material as if it were a Circle session, with the emphasis on interaction, informality, spontaneity and maximum feeling, and it shows on every one of the self-produced album's spirited tracks. Though Woody Creek showcases material penned by the band members, the album also contain a particularly inspired treatment of the Beatles' "Get Back," re-imagined as a bluegrass stomp, and a graceful, evocative rendition of Gram Parsons' "She."

Looking back on the 40-year legacy of NGDB, Carpenter says, "The work of keeping the individuals and band together --the communication it takes, the work of dealing with people just as people -- that part of the job has been as intense and as time consuming for us as the music. You have to empathize with each other. We've been very lucky to be able to work things out in whatever dysfunctional way we do -and, believe me, it can be totally dysfunctional - but I think it's that way for every group."

"I love playing in the band," states Hanna. "One of the things that's different now is that we've traveled so many miles together, spent so much time together, it's become intuitive. We can read each other musically and that becomes a lot of what makes it fun to play music together. Plus we have this volume of work to draw from, which is great. We can pull out a song that feels new to us even if it's something we recorded 20 or 30 years ago. We're constantly learning. We surprise each other, with a new tune or a lick or some kind of groove that's fresh for us."

"Stuff goes in and out of the set," Fadden confirms. "We'll do something that we haven't done in 10 years and it seems like, oh, that was last week. It's simple and fun. I'm grateful being a part of that. I've been very blessed with many things. I like the guys I work with --there are some things in each and every one of us that rankles the other a little bit, but, you know, it's no big deal. I still have a lot of fun playing, in fact, I have more fun playing now than I ever did."

McEuen concludes, "It's the various strengths of the individual members, called upon at different times and brought to the forefront, that have kept the band creative and productive and brought the most success to the band."

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has enabled us to view our shared musical heritage in a new light. It has expanded the vocabulary of popular music and taken its uniquely American perspective around the globe. Most of all, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has proven that collaboration, cooperation, tolerance and good humor - along with a healthy disagreement every now and then -- can keep a group of people working together, having fun, creating music and making a difference for a lifetime.

-- Michael Hill

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Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Will The Circle Be Unbroken The Ttrilogy Box 6 cd + 1 dvd

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Marisa Monte - Infinito ao meu redor

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Marisa Monte - Infinito ao meu redor

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Cesaria Evora – Radio Mindelo

The album “RADIO MINDELO” holds a collection of Cesaria Evora’s very first recordings from the early 60s. Born on the 27th August 1941, Cesaria was around twenty then. She had been discovered at the age of fifteen by musician and songwriter Gregorio Gonçalves (Ti Goy), who continued to sponsor her and follow her artistic progress. Indeed, ten of the twenty-two songs performed by Cesaria on this CD were written by Ti Goy.
These recordings come from different sources - mainly Radio Barlavento in Mindelo. If some of them were released as 45 rpm at that time, on the Capeverdean label Casa Mimosa, most of them are unreleased material.

But whatever the details, it is fascinating to hear Cesaria’s ‘young’ voice and recognise the phrasing, intonations and serene sweetness she still brings to her music today, one of the reasons for her extraordinary success.

At the beginning of the 60s, Mindelo was swept by a craze for a new musical genre: coladera. The town was in its post-B.Léza period. The much-loved songwriter had died shortly before (in 1958) and the general feeling was that his work should be continued and his teachings followed, but coladera was the latest fashion. It had its maestros in Mindelo, including Ti Goy (Gregório Gonçalves) and Frank Cavaquim (José Vicente Gomes), key figures and particularly prolific songwriters. We should also stress the major role played in Mindelo cultural life by a radio station opened in the mid-50s: Radio Barlavento. Since the station needed music to play on air, it soon began to record local musicians and singers. Given the equipment used, these recordings made with a single microphone were of very decent quality. To balance the sound, singer and instruments were placed at different distances from the mike. Radio Barlavento, which broadcast on short wave, had actually purchased recording equipment in the hope of generating income, but since it could only produce one record at a time at playback speed, it was not profitable and the idea of going into the record business was shelved. However, the radio station supplied the tapes that others used to cut hit albums from the end of the 50s to the mid-60s. Gustavo Albuquerque was ‘sound engineer and programmer’ at Radio Barlavento from its inception. He remembers recording “various artists, including Amandio Cabral, Djosinha, Jack Monteiro, Cesaria, Titina, Arlinda Santos, Mité Costa and many others.”....

The record companies of the day were prominent commercial firms. They included ‘Casa do Leão’ (Lion Company) and ‘Casa João Mimoso’ (João Mimoso Company), which marketed four-track EP records (two tracks on each side) manufactured in Germany or the Netherlands. Gustavo Albuquerque played an important part in collecting what was then called ‘Música da nossa terra’ - music of our land. Not only did he help build up collections by contacting artists, but his own work was of a very high technical standard given the resources available at the time on the island of São Vicente, cut off from the rest of the world. ....

It was in this post-B.Léza society where the coladera craze was reaching its height, that Cesaria (Cize to her friends and family) made her name. “Gregório Gonçalves - ‘Ti Goy’ - and Frank Cavaquim took Cesaria Evora to Radio Barlavento to try out her voice on audio tape, recording magnificent coladeras written by those two artists in the 60s. She was about 20 at the time. Unless I’m mistaken, she’d begun to sing at 14 or 16.” Gustavo reminisces. Cesaria’s version is very similar: “Back then, Gustavo who worked at Radio Barlavento asked me if I’d like to record with Ti Goy, Caraca and other musicians whose names I forget. I told him yes, to go ahead and organise it with Ti Goy, because Ti Goy’s greatest pleasure was for me to visit him at home so he could teach me his music and have me sing it.”....


Towards the end of the 50s and at the start of the 60s, all the great songwriters and musicians had their ‘godchildren’. They taught these protégés new music and sponsored them at the start of their artistic careers. Such young discoveries could be heard in the bars that hosted ‘tocatinas de pau e corda’, at rehearsals of carnival ‘blocos’ (groups) or at performances at the Cine Eden Park that were called ‘theatre’, but were actually variety shows of music, stories and sketches. Cesaria Evora was Ti Goy’s ‘pearl’. The great musician spoke highly of the young singer wherever he went and gave her first choice of his new songs. He regularly took her to sing in the widest variety of locations. “Goy and I were always together! When I went to his place, he taught me his new songs, and when we had to play with the group, we went together. They were the two hunchbacks who always played with me: Goy and Caraca!’”....

Most of the songs that Cesaria recorded for Radio Barlavento were written by Ti Goy, which means they were coladeras, the speciality of this musician who played guitar and drums. Cesaria recalls taking part in a number of recording sessions at Radio Barlavento. How did they go? “Well, they said they’d pay me 25 escudos for each recording and that’s what they did.” She also remembers Radio Clube, another station where she recorded in those days: “They never paid me anything!”....

At the time, the town of Mindelo was under the spell of the great hits of the day and Cize’s limpid voice. New music was played on the radio, especially coladeras that offered biting criticism of important social issues, adding to the singer’s success. She began to receive requests to sing in every kind of venue. “I remember we - Ti Goy and I - went to a lot of places. We also went to sing on board Portuguese ships back then,” Cesaria recalls. Her reputation was now such that she was invited to sing at the ‘Grémio Recreativo Mindelo’ (The Mindelo Recreational Circle), an extremely select club frequented by high society back in the day of very rigid social divisions. It was there that an incident occurred that was to have particular importance in Cesaria’s life. She tells the story: “The Marques Da Silva brothers were playing with me. Apart from me, there was Arlinda… and someone else too. There were two or three of us singers on the bill, but I can’t remember the other names. It was then that Lulu Marques decided to give me a pair of shoes to wear. I told him, “I don’t want shoes. If I can’t go barefoot, I won’t go!” He insisted and I finally accepted a pair of black sandals he’d bought at Sr. João Pereira’s shoe shop. I had to be there by 9 in the evening, so I went along. Going in, I crossed the Grémio foyer in my sandals and stood there waiting. When it was my turn to sing, I took the shoes off and left them near a tree next to the stage. I went and sang barefoot. Everyone applauded, they were very happy. It was then that I saw a lady - I don’t remember her name - who came and talked to me. She told me I should feel comfortable. If I liked to sing that way, I should go ahead, I could take my shoes off and sing barefoot, it wasn’t a problem. So at the end of the show, when it was time to leave, I didn’t put my shoes back on. I left the Grémio barefoot, carrying the sandals in a bag.’”....

At the time, the story was widely repeated in Mindelo society in hushed tones. It gave rise to several more or less fanciful versions, leading to Cesaria’s ‘Barefoot Diva’ image.....

In the 60s, in the first stage of her career, Cesaria Evora’s success was at its height when she was invited to record her first album for release by the João Mimoso record company. Cize explains how it happened: “He brought me into his office to talk to me. He told me he’d like to make a record with me. I asked him, “Do you want me to go to Lisbon?” He told me, “No, we’re going to record it here in São Vicente, there’s no need to go to Portugal.” So we went to do the recording. Damatinha had a good tape recorder and we began to record - me, Luís Rendall and his son John Rendall, and others I’ve forgotten.” Where was the recording done? “In Gustavo’s house, in 1st May Street - Rua da Papa Fria,” answers Cize.....

Cesaria remembers the recording sessions at Radio Barlavento’s studios - sessions that might now be called historic: “One of the pieces of music I recorded was Terezinha - Dinher d'Angola jà Cabá - and, I think, Vaquinha Mansa too”. Cesaria clearly remembers the Gregório Gonçalves coladera Terezinha, which was a great hit at the time. Vaquinha Mansa is another in the songwriter’s long list of coladeras, along with Pé di Boi, Nutridinha, Mata Morte, Falta de Força and Sayko Dayo, recorded at various sessions between 1962 and 1964. On the morna side, Cesaria tended to choose new, rarely-played songs, since her colleagues of the day had virtually exhausted the B.Léza and Eugénio Tavares repertoires. Naturally, Cize chose mornas that were also suited to her style of singing, including Belga, Oriundina, Frutu Proibido, Mar Azul (a previously unrecorded B.Léza morna) and Cize. This last song, a Morgadinho morna, has nothing to do with Cesaria Evora, alias Cize. “People think it was my song,’ she says, ‘but no, it was written for another Cesaria.’”...

Cesaria Evora’s initial recordings provide an insight into the early career of a great artist. From the very first, she had a magnificent voice and was a very stylish performer displaying extraordinary presence. Some of the other artists who recorded with Gustavo Albuquerque at those historic Radio Barlavento sessions quickly achieved celebrity and set out on recording and stage careers, but despite her early success, Cesaria Evora remained firmly tied to provincial Mindelo with its tocatina bars, Cape Verdean nights and serenades, far from the popular acclaim to be found on the record-company circuits. This ‘interlude’ lasted from the mid-60s to the end of the 80s, when Cesaria was at last rediscovered. It may have taken a while, but it did allow the great diva to bring her art to maturity as she continued to champion authentic, firmly-rooted morna and coladera. During those twenty years before Cize stepped back into the limelight, different movements came and went in Cape Verde: revolutionary music, ‘roots’, funaná, etc. When calm returned at the end of the 80s, Cesaria Evora’s voice and talent provided the ideal medium to reveal morna and coladera to the world at a time when (by happy coincidence!) World Music was just on the rise. In the 90s, Cesaria began a dazzling new career. She achieved a worldwide fame never equalled before or since by any other Cape-Verdean artist. A providential twist of fate and a great triumph for the music of Cape Verde!....
Praia, 15th of September 2008....
Carlos Filipe Gonçalves....
Musician and journalist....

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Walter “Wolfman” Washington – Doin’ The Funky

Since I first heard The Wolf, I thought that he was one of the hippest guitar players and singers! He understood how to comp behind other singers, whether it was Johnny Adams, Lee Dorsey, or Irma Thomas. I think “Doin’ The Funky Thing” is crucialchronic FUNK at its best!" Dr John


Walter “Wolfman” Washington has been an icon on the New Orleans music scene for decades. His searing guitar work and soulful vocals have defined the Crescent City’s unique musical hybrid of R&B, funk and the blues since he formed his first band in the 1970s.

Washington began his career during the fertile heyday of the 1950s Rhythm and Blues period that spawned dozens of Number 1 songs and made New Orleans the recording destination of choice for hit makers like Ray Charles and Little Richard. Born in 1943, Washington was on the road by his late teens spending over two years backing the great vocalist Lee Dorsey who was touring in support of his smash hits, “Ride Your Pony” and “Working in a Coalmine.”

His tenure with Dorsey took him to all of the great music halls in America including appearances at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem. Before he went out on his own with his Solar System band, he also did stints with acclaimed New Orleans songstress Irma Thomas as well as with the legendary jazzman David Lastie’s Taste of New Orleans band.

During the 1970s, Washington began a 20-year association with one of the most important vocalists to hail from Louisiana- the late, great Johnny Adams. Dubbed “the Tan Canary” for his peerless vocal stylings, Adams was a mentor of sorts to Washington who developed his singing style while the two worked together at back-of-town clubs including a long stint at the famed Dorothy’s Medallion in the Mid City section of New Orleans.

When Washington formed his first band as a leader he was often pigeonholed into the blues genre. But by taking his cues from the likes of Dorsey, Thomas, Adams and the jazzman Lastie, his sound reflects the full range of music from New Orleans. He certainly can howl the blues, hence his nickname, but his musical talents have always defined pure Crescent City soul. In later years, with the second rise of funk, Washington fully embraced that genre as well.

Seeing Walter “Wolfman” Washington perform with his current outfit, the Roadmasters, is akin to taking a history lesson on black music in America with the exception that sitting down and taking notes is not an option. With his breadth of experience and seemingly endless repertoire, each of his highly danceable shows is one-of-a-kind. Like the greatest jazzmen, Washington channels his everyday life into his music. Depending on the setting, the band plays the blues, R&B, soul, funk, jazz and everything in between with pure heart.

Washington, like Adams before him, is a great interpreter of song. He inhabits each number whether it’s a soulful ballad or a funk rave up. His gift of interpretation allows him to bring his own spirit to the composition while always exposing the true sentiments of the lyrics to the audience.

While Washington had to hone his vocal gifts learning phrasing and presence, his guitar playing has been without compare since the early days of his career. As a rhythm player he provides just the right tension to support his band members when they take their solos. But it is during his moments in the spotlight that Washington really shines. When he plays lead guitar, jaws often drop in the audience as he spins out highly nuanced solos that build in intensity or spiral around a central theme. Of course, that’s before he even begins to play with his teeth!

Walter “Wolfman” Washington has earned numerous accolades over his long career, but he is not one to sit back on his laurels. He maintains a heavy schedule playing with the Roadmasters as well as with his trio, the Chosen Few. As if that were not enough, he also recently began a successful collaboration with some local jazzmen including the trumpeter James Andrews.

So the circle of New Orleans music comes full. Equally adept in virtually any genre, Washington stands out in a city full of great musicians for his unique style and uncommon grace as a guitarist, bandleader and vocalist.

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Walter “Wolfman” Washington – Doin’ The Funky

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Cam Jazz Presents : Vincent Courtois - Sylvie Courvoisier - Ellery Eskelin

Parisian cellist Vincent Courtois, pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and Ellery Eskelin have been performing as a group since 2002. Last fall They recorded in New York City for the Italian CAM Jazz label. Completely improvised music for cello, piano and saxophone. Now this work is available in the new cd titled : "As soon as possible". The happiness of these three to bring forth the beauty of extraordinary music, but, at the same time, matured over the years, is the result of successful sharing, and generates the effect of complicity in the listener. ...As Soon As Possible is an outstanding recording where equilibrium reigns, the circulation of ideas is sweet, and voices combine while they reply, without ever giving up their originality. (Philippe Méziat)

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Vincent Courtois - Sylvie Courvoiser - Ellery Eskelin - As soon as possible

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Trace Adkins – Live At Austin City Limits, Tx. ( 1997 )

Since he showed up in the country music world in 1996, Trace Adkins has been a relatively quiet but absolutely undeniable force in country music. At times his career has seemed to be almost under the radar. But with strong, memorable foundational hits plus subsequent #1 singles like 2006's "Ladies Love Country Boys" and 2007's "You're Gonna Miss This," Adkins, with minimal fanfare but a considerable range of triple-strength music, has evolved into a bona fide country music superstar.

When speaking of his fans, Adkins says there are "Badonkadonk people" and then there are "'Every Light in the House' people." The first group, named for Adkins' 2005 monster hit "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk," respond most readily to his songs that are big, bold, witty, fun -- the kind of high-impact, scrupulously well done productions that immediately, within their opening bars, announce themselves as modern country music extravaganzas.

The second group are more likely to rally around Adkins' first top-five hit, from 'Dreamin' Out Loud', his platinum-selling 1996 Capitol Nashville debut. These people love the way a song can more deliberately present itself over the course of three-and-a-half intense minutes soaked in the stylistic verities of country music traditions. But Badonkadonk people and Every Light people usually get along fine: With his commanding voice singing everything into a compelling whole, Adkins has no trouble seeing to that.

At 46, Adkins remains the same guy from Sarepta, Louisiana who, after singing in a gospel group and attending college and working on oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, moved to Nashville in the 1990s and eventually made a name for himself in the country music business with that memorable '96 debut. There is no question, though, that since 2008, when he appeared as a contestant on NBC's 'The Celebrity Apprentice' and wound up one of two finalists, Adkins and his music have become more widely known.

"I'm glad now that I did it," he says of his appearances on 'The Celebrity Apprentice.' "I went into it reluctantly. The only reason I did it was because of the food allergy situation, and because that's such a personal cause for my family." He is referring to how he chose The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network to receive any winnings of his from the show, and how his 6-year-old daughter is one of the millions of children and adults who must contend daily with potentially life-threatening food allergies. "The last gasp of every entertainer whose career is in the crapper is to do reality TV, and I certainly didn't want my appearance there to be viewed that way. But, happily, it hasn't turned out be like that."

In late 2007 Adkins released the second best-of collection of his career, following 2002's 'Greatest Hits Collection, Volume 1.' It was entitled 'American Man: Greatest Hits Volume II.' Where the first set featured smashes like "I'm Tryin' (2001) and other songs that had come after his #1 masterstroke of groove and grit "(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing,' (1996). 'American Man' featured songs for the Badonkadonk people and the Every Light people like 2002's "Chrome," not to mention the "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk" lollapalooza itself. The set also featured 2005's "Arlington," which moved Adkins into the realm of current events and history.

Also in late 2007, Adkins wrote a book. "A Personal Stand: Observations and Opinions from a Freethinking Roughneck," it was called. Although he spelled out his political-social views, the book made sense for Adkins, an artist-entertainer who says he "abhors" show business "soapboxes."

"I've just got this pet peeve about artists in general," he says, "whether they be actors or writers, painters, singers, whatever, who think that because of what they do that they're more enlightened in some sense, that they're more in touch with that deeper spiritual side than everybody else. I resent that. I don't agree with it. I think that it is a pious attitude. I don't like to go to a concert and hear someone get up there and preach his or her political opinions. It's not what I came for. If you want to do that, write a book." So Adkins did just that.

After all of this, Adkins returned to the music – the very thing that communicated, along with his concerts, all the articulate passion and views and charisma, whether they were specifically on the table for millions of listeners or not -- that made him Trace Adkins, country star, to start with. He has recorded a new collection of songs. X, his tenth album, does indeed collect songs for the Badonkadonk people and the Every Light people. These are songs like "Sweet," which turns a common national expression into a tight and particularized country tune, and "I Can't Out Run You," a vocal tour de force about the weight of romantic obsession in which Adkins records a haunting country soul song, in 2008, Sinatra-style.

"I'm not afraid to do stuff like that," Adkins says of the song, "and we've done stuff like that live, we've just never recorded that starkly. I told Frank that on this one I wanted the vocal to do the work, and carry the entire load, that's the way I want to cut this and put my voice out there and let the chips fall where they may."

It is the highlight of a collection teeming with other highs. There is “Hillbilly Rich,” a brilliantly fun song about how country stars live it up materially like rap stars, but with perhaps less blinding bling, and there are gospel- and bluegrass-sired songs such Adkins' 2008 "Muddy Water" single, as well as "Sometimes a Man Takes a Drink." These songs show how both sides of Adkins' music work with a great stylistic co-cooperation: “Hillbilly Rich” wouldn't be nearly as good without the rooted center of Adkins' steady, nuanced baritone, and “Sometimes a Man Takes a Drink” could be tradition merely without his ability to infuse heritage styles with modern tensions and vibes. And the album features as well a song like "Till The Last Shot’s Fired," which looks at military history and personal sacrifice and in which Adkins' vocal is augmented by the rare presence of the West Point Cadet Choir. "We had to go all the way to the Pentagon," Adkins says, "to get permission to record with them." An energetic tune built around a heavy guitar lick -- Adkins introduces the song as "a little funkabilly" -- called "Better Than I Thought It'd Be" and a thoughtful orchestrated ballad, "All I Ask For Anymore," round out the album.

When he travels these days, Adkins says, he gets recognized more than he used to be before he performed so well on 'The Celebrity Apprentice'. Along with the consistent accumulation of his signature music over the years, Adkins' television appearances have further revealed him as the smart, articulate singer his recordings have always indicated that he is. Of course, the “Badonkadonk” people and the “Every Light” people already knew.

What’s clear now, though, is that a dozen years into his career, Trace Adkins is not just an undeniable country music force. With his larger-than-life personality, steely determination and proven ability to compete in other medias, he’s a force that will continue to come.


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Trace Adkins – Live At Austin City Limits, Tx.

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Ollabelle – Before This Time

This album features 10 songs, an hour of music, and special guests including Larry Campbell and Levon Helm will be featured. This disc was mixed by Edward Haber (producer of Linda Thompson and Andy Statman, mixer for Richard Thompson).

"Ollabelle came together because of these musicians' love of this music, without thought of success or career or any of the other trappings of the modern professional music business. It has great value to our culture, adding new life to a tradition that is an important part of who we are. But mostly, they sound great. They sing great and they play great, and they are wonderful people." -T-Bone Burnett

The origins of Ollabelle are familiar to anyone who has heard the band. The group started as a Sunday night jam session at an East Village club (9C) updating gospel material with a semi-consistent group of regulars. Once they coalesced into a 6 person lineup, they went into the studio with producer Steve Rosenthal, recorded it on spec and sent it to one record label. The recipient happened to be T-Bone Burnett, who released it on his DMZ label. Legend has it he played 20 seconds of the opening vocal-drums number "Before This Time" to label boss Donny Ienner and the signing was approved on the spot.

I first saw Ollabelle at the old Living Room. That is to say the original home of the Lower East Side club- a small corner storefront. A friend of mine in the business had called me and told me there was this band. They had been signed to a big label, and they needed a manager. I believe Byron Isaacs opened the set playing "Gone Today" on a g-tuned acoustic guitar. Then he switched to bass. I remember hearing Glenn Patscha's otherworldly voice coming from somewhere, and finally identifying him as the guy sitting facing sideways at the old upright piano. I remember hearing Fiona McBain singing "Elijah Rock" and Amy Helm singing "Soul of a Man." Whenever I thought I had figured out what this band was about, they threw a new twist at me. 5 singers, 6 instrumentalists. Incredible arrangements of old gospel songs, and a few that they announced as originals.

I was glad I saw the band live, before I got a copy of their debut CD. I loved the CD, but you could see that it was only the starting point. This band had already moved beyond it"adding new dimensions, energy and approach to the songs. The blueprint that producer Steve Rosenthal and the band had come up with was brilliant, but the house they built was even better. There was more singing, better playing and an air of unpredictability. As we started to work together, I knew this was a band that could play anywhere: folk clubs, hippie festivals, jazz clubs, rock festivals.

But the problem with a band that can play a song so many different ways, all brilliant, and all completely in the moment, is trying to figure out what version of that song to actually record. As much as I love both their studio records, those only scratch the surface of what these guys do on stage night after night. So that is why I am glad to be able to help put together this document of Ollabelle playing live. While not definitive, as no single volume could ever be, Before This Time offers snapshots of what you might see if you go see them live.

The journey started with the first major tour. Tapped by T-Bone to join The Great High Mountain Tour (headlined by Alison Krauss & Ralph Stanley and featuring a veritable who's who of the bluegrass circuit), the band was forced to play in an acoustic configuration.

Drummer Tony Leone had to stand and play percussion, Byron Isaacs switched to upright bass and dobro (an instrument he was surprisingly quickly picking up), Glenn brought his old Navy pump organ, Fiona and Amy already played acoustic guitar and mandola respectively, and Jimi Zhivago broke out an unusual 12 string national steel bodied guitar"possibly the loudest acoustic instrument I've heard before or since. To add to the challenge, they had to distill their sound into a 3 song mini set. So they wood-shedded and rearranged all the songs to add more group vocals, and distill them to their essence. On "Ollabelle" you can hear Glenn, Fiona and Amy taking turns singing lead. Now it sounded more like a band.

Each tour they took in that first year on the road expanded the boundaries. With Diana Krall, they had to win over well-heeled couples in huge amphitheatres"and they did. With Ryan Adams, they played to a much younger audience and went over just as well. Everyone they shared the stage with was impressed with Ollabelle's uncanny combination of technical ability with uncalculated soulfulness. I can't think of many bands that could serve as able backing bands for both renowned taskmaster Donald Fagen (for a two night stand at Woodstock's Bearsville Theater) and Levon Helm (at the early versions of the Midnight Ramble.)

When Jimi Zhivago left the band, it left a open guitar chair. Rather than replace him with someone, it has allowed the band to rotate in an impressive cast of characters. Notable names like Larry Campbell, Buddy Miller, Ryan Adams, Charlie Hunter, Oren Bloedow and Dirk Powell have all filled the spot. Larry Campbell represents that approach on this record- featured on three tracks recorded at Levon Helm's Midnight Ramble. In fact, I think this may be the first time Larry ever played guitar with the band. And he soon became a valuable ally. Larry produced Riverside Battle Songs, the band's second album and joining them as a member of the American Beauty Project--- an all star Grateful Dead "tribute".

But many gigs they played as a five piece. Fiona played more bass, and added electric guitar to her repertoire"playing a dark-toned Supro that looks great, and sounds even better. Amy's funky rhythm mandolin playing came more to the fore of the arrangements. Byron switched it up"playing electric guitar and lap steel. And even an instrument he invented and constructed himself"The Hydra"a double-neck lap steel, where one neck has 4 bass strings. Glenn added more and more keyboard textures to the mix, and handled most of the solos"stunningly represented on "See Line Woman" on this set. Tony Leone's drumming simultaneously incorporates his jazz background, and his very deep appreciation for the groove based playing of Al Jackson and others.

This great five piece playing is represented on the tracks recorded at SUNY-Purchase. And like a great basketball team (one that shares the ball" there are no Kobe Bryants in Ollabelle), everyone supports each other.

The versions on Before This Time are great, but by no means the final word on Ollabelle. Every song here could be represented by other versions that take infinitely different approaches. But the textures and beauty of the way the five of them play together are all in full evidence from these tracks.

The tracks from the Ramble, in front of some of the most incredible audiences to see music anywhere, have a different feel. The tracks are loose-limbed and fun" with Larry's stellar guitar work and the addition of the great horns of Steven Bernstein, Erik Lawrence and Jay Collins.

At Club Helsinki, we include a couple of songs that represent the great cover songs that Ollabelle does. They learned "Brokedown Palace" for the American Beauty Project, a Grateful Dead tribute show that they participated in (and now have become the core band for the touring version).

When the band decided a live album was a good idea, we were lucky to have a friend named Rich Rothenberg who volunteered to bring his recording gear to a number of shows. He captured that incredible Purchase show. And we turned to Edward Haber" a talented engineer and producer (Linda Thompson/Andy Statman etc.) to mix these tracks.

I'm lucky to have seen Ollabelle more times than most people" and in a lot of different contexts: standing in the wings next to Elvis Costello's mum at Radio City Music Hall (she loved them), in a basketball arena in Tennessee, at Levon's barn countless times. We don't have all of that in here" but there is a lot to digest. Listen to this record, their other records" and if you haven't already-- you should get out to where they are playing.

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Ollabelle – Before This Time

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