Compilations

Peter Gabriel, Zoe Keating & Lera Auerbach, Spontaneous Improvisation at Piano Bar #davos14

Fofoulah – Fofoulah
Release date: September 19th, 2014

www.glitterbeat.com
www.fofoulah.com

“Fofoulah's music is a new voice in the endless Atlantic musical dialogue - what marks them out is the blurring of distinction between West African, jazz and popular music. Their interplay between polyrhythmic Sabar drumming, riffs and free-flowing improvisation can transcend categories…”
++Justin Adams (JuJu, Robert Plant, producer Tinariwen)

The London-based quintet Fofoulah (meaning “it's there” in Wolof) was formed in 2011 and features Tom Challenger (Red Snapper) on saxophone and keyboards, Phil Stevenson (Iness Mezel) on guitar, Johnny Brierley (Outhouse Ruhabi) on bass, Dave Smith (Robert Plant’s Sensational Space Shifters) on drums, and Kaw Secka (Irok) on Sabar drums.

With the rhythms of the Sabar drums - a traditional form of Wolof drumming from Gambia and Senegal – at its heart, Fofoulah’s music has evolved into an inspired cosmopolitan mélange that also incorporates elements of electronic music, dub, improvisation and afro-rock. Like the complex city they live in, their music is shaped and lifted by diverse sound-worlds and cultures.

“Some of us grew up within this culture, some of us studied the rhythms but most importantly we all realized and embraced the undeniable power and energy of these (sabar) drums”
Johnny Brierley (bass)

“This deeply traditional music connects people with sound, rhythm and movement in a very unique and special way and is a constant inspiration in everything we do.” 
Dave Smith (drums)

Having performed mainly in the creative hubs of east London and Bristol, in 2013 Fofoulah released the ‘Bene Bop EP’, a collaboration with Senegalese singer Biram Seck. Later that year the band entered the famed Real World Studios near Bath to begin work on their radiant debut album ‘FOFOULAH.’

Produced by drummer Dave Smith (Robert Plant, JuJu) ‘FOFOULAH’ is a previously unvisited crossroads where Sabar rhythms meet dub basslines and sci-fi synths; liquid melodies and Wolof rap entangle with trance-like dance grooves; and raw guitars, horns and samples blend with west and north African song forms.

In the album’s liner notes, bass player Johnny Brierley describes the creative journey that led to the making the album:
“The rhythms and traditions of the drums were essential starting points for our compositions and acted as the building blocks for all the other instruments…our music has developed and evolved with each members musical background and influences being heard within the band…'Fofoulah', our first album, is a snapshot of the band at this moment in time and the result of a constantly developing sound”
In keeping with the band’s expansive approach, the album also features an incredible roster of guest voices: Senegalese singer and Bristol resident Batch Gueye, UK singer / producer sensation Ghostpoet (courtesy of 'Play it Again Sam'), Algerian/Parisian singer Iness Mezel and the acclaimed Gambian born, Fulani musician Juldeh Camara (JuJu, Robert Plant).

Fofoulah is not merely a cross-cultural project. They are a dynamic band born naturally out of personal friendships and varied backgrounds, the nerve net of contemporary London and the post-global interconnectedness we all experience daily. The band is propulsive, innovative, celebratory and always leaning forward. They are a thrilling extension of the deeply rooted Sabar rhythms upon which their music revolves.

“Lets join together, leave conflict and work together. There is peace in community”
--No Troubles (Kelinte)

“If you don’t appreciate the truth of who you are and what the world brings to you, you will struggle. As we work we offer ourselves to the world.”
--The Clean Up (Rahas)

Fofoulah are: Tom Challenger - saxophone/keyboards, Phil Stevenson – guitar, Johnny Brierley – bass, Dave Smith - drums/sabar, Kaw Secka - sabar/tama


Fofoulah - Make Good (Soumala)

Salve Mater

Background, context, and poem text: https://www.brainpickings.org/2016/09/28/orson-welles-reads-walt-whitman-song-of-myself/

CONTEXT / POEM TEXT

Orson Welles reads Walt Whitman

For Piano Day 2019 | www.medardfischer.com |
medardfischer.bandcamp.com | Instagram: @medardfischer

Borrowed

Amy Beach: The Fairy Of The Fountain. Augusta Schnabel-Tollefsen** on Ampico 54314.
c Recorded for educational and pedagogical purposes by VViljanen Feb 10, 2019, and ANY KIND OF COMMERCIAL USE IS PROHIBITED.
Photo: Amy Beach (1867-1944)was an American composer and pianist of Scottish descent. She was the first successful American female composer to make a name for herself in music. Most of her compositions and performances have been done under the name of Mrs. HHA Beach.
Amy Marcy Cheney was born as a child of a distinguished New England family . She was a prodigy who was said to be able to sing forty songs as a one-year-old. She learned to read herself at the age of three and composed three simple rolls when she was four. She received her first lessons from her mother when she was six, and a year later she gave her first recitals . She played works by Händel , Beethoven , Chopin , as well as her own works. In 1875 her parents moved to Boston, where they were advised to register Amy at a European conservatory. Instead, they chose to have her take classes in Boston, and they first hired Ernst Perabo, and later Carl Baermann. When she was fourteen, Amy got her only official composition training from Junius W. Hill, with whom she studied harmony and counterpoint for a year . Apart from that one year, Amy Beach did not have any lessons and taught herself everything especially by studying classical pieces, such as Bach's Wohltemperiertes Klavier .
In 1883 she made her professional debut in Boston: she played Chopins Rondo in E and Moscheles ' concert in g minor. Shortly thereafter she performed as a soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra . After her marriage in 1885 with Dr. Henry Harris Aubrey Beach - a Boston surgeon who was 24 years older than she - agreed to limit her performances to one public recital a year and donate the proceeds to a charitable cause. Responding to the wishes of her husband, she devoted herself to composing. Her first major success was the Mass in E major , in 1892 by the Handel and Haydn Societywas carried out. The well-received execution of this mass led to Beach from then on being counted among America's most important composers. She composed the Jubilate dedicated to the Woman's Building at the World's Columbian Exposition . [1]
After her husband died in 1910, she toured Europe as a pianist and she played her own compositions at the concerts. She was determined to acquire a reputation both as a pianist and as a composer. In 1924 she returned to America where she spent most of her time on the MacDowell Colonyin Peterborough (New Hampshire). In 1915 she wrote the "Ten Commandments for Young Composers", which included many of her theses for self-study. Later, Amy Beach moved to New York, where she became the virtual house composer of St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church. She used her status as the most important female composer of America to promote the career of young musicians; she was also at the head of various organizations, such as the Society of American Women Composers, of which she was the first president. Heart failure led to Beach withdrawing in 1940, until her death in 1944.
**Augusta Schnabel-Tollefsen (Augusta Tollefsen, née Schnabel, 1885 - 1955).
Info* of the original piano roll:
LA FES DE LA FONTAINE (THE FAIRY IN THE FOUNTAIN) "Les Reves De Columbine" Op. 65, No. 1
Roll Number: 54314, 54314G
Composer/Creator: Beach
Pianist: Tollefsen
Roll System: Ampico
Country: US
Date: n/a
Category: classical
Original Price: $1.75
*Info source: The Player Piano Group web page (by permission)

Amy Beach: La Fée de la fontaine. Augusta Schnabel-Tollefsen 1910's on Ampico 54314

To hear this music at it's best download from iTunes or buy the CD from Amazon.

Steve Reich : Different Trains : 1 America, Before The War

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Peter Gabriel, Zoe Keating & Lera Auerbach, Spontaneous Improvisation at Piano Bar #davos14

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