Finding a transition from the bands that played before into our classic slightly twisted four to the floor groove. Thank you for dancing. Enjoy the listening.

aken ein mysterium

How wonderful to see Hannes sparkling in the eyes of all of the people who celebrated his birthday. How wonderful to see this place in the west of Leipzig developing from happening to happening.

Ost End Pfirsich Hannes

Sometimes parts surprisingly fit together like pieces of a puzzle. Leaving you with moments of pure wonder and joy.

Thank you Evelise and the whole team of charming Cafe Verde and the Mercado Municipal of Mindelo, Cabo Verde for creating such a magical moment for us.

Even if our constant search for causalities invites a smile at the end of the day, I can't get out of my skin and wonder what this city, which has always been a melting pot of so many , has contributed to this moment?

If you listen carefully, you might be able to trace one or two of these rich and wonderful cultures in the music. Receive their melancholy and let yourself be carried by hope.

I am filled with gratitude for this.

um dia en mindelo

a collection of Brazilian tracks which I found over the years and during our recent travels through this diverse and always inspiring region. the sound scapes are mosaics of field recordings on the many parallel rivers of the amazon. special binaural stereo microphones were used to capture these auditory fragments. so grab the best headphones you can get hold of to fully dive in. the foto is also from this amazing area. por isso, desfrutem genti.

// who is interested in field recordings can check out these wonderful websites. some of the stuff in this tape I also found there…

https://www.birdnote.org/podcasts/sound-escapes
https://mindful-audio.com/amazon-jungle/
https://freesound.org/browse/tags/?f=tag:%22field-recording%22

pernambuco

A collection of Cuban music.

So it is probably worth saying a few words about Arsenio Rodríguez.

He was born in 1911 in a small, rural village in the province of Matanzas. He was one of fifteen children. His mother was a housewife, his father farm labourer.

Their roots were in the Congo Basin. So they belonged to one of the ethnic groups that were enslaved to Cuba. Like the Yoruba or Lucumí from Nigeria and Benin, the Kongo or Bantu from Angola and DR Congo; the Carabalí and Abakuá from Nigeria and Cameroon and also the Arará from Benin and Togo.

Their language, but especially their rhythms, were formative for Cuban music.

In the drum cycles of the Yoruba for example, each Orisha, each of the many deities of the great pantheon, had its own rhythm. All rhythms that were intended to be danced to.

Many of these African rhythms are said to be highly complex, and syncopation is often found.

Perhaps one could say that syncopations are the rhythms of the intermediate beats.

If you want to hear an example I can recommend my favourite version of ‘El Carretero’ by Guillermo Portabales.

However, the special way of playing the guitar, as heard, originated in another melting pot of cultures - in Andalusia. It was only from there that it found its way to Cuba via the Canary Islands in the 16th century. There, it left its mark on the guajira. The music that was often played by farm labourers when Arsenio was growing up.

It was there that Arsenio was hit on the head by a mule's hoof when he was seven years old. He was very heavy injured. The wounds healed badly and he lost his sight.

During this time, this meant that he was deprived of any chance of a self-determined life. He was taken in by a carpenter. He showed him his first instruments so that he could perhaps at least make a living from music. Arsenio was particularly interested in one, the ‘tres’.

A small guitar only strung with three double strings and tuned in a minor chord at the time. The ones I held in my hand today in Cuba, however, were made from normal guitar bodies with three double strings tuned to a major C chord, just as Arsenio later tuned his.

His talent was immediately apparent. But he not only played amazingly well, he also composed captivatingly. He quickly formed his own bands, arranged them and began to perform regularly. They called him El Cieguito Maravilloso, the marvellous little blind.

When the family's house was destroyed by a hurricane, the family had to move to Havana. And it was there that he founded the Conjunto, in 1940.

Completely unusual at the time, the band consisted of ten musicians. Arsenio composed, arranged, sang and played tres. His cousin took the second voice. Then there was a second guitar, double bass, bonga and five other instruments that had never been heard before in a Cuban orchestra.

The warm, earthy conga, which integrated the complex African rhythms. Three trumpets, so that they sounded like a choir. The dignified piano with its European history but now also the stylistic elements of the newly emerging jazz. And finally my favourite instrument: the cowbell.

It is said that the tres first came to life thanks to Arsenio and his style of playing characterises the way the tres is used today. Arsenio composed over 200 pieces in his lifetime. More of them made it into today's standard repertoire than from any other Cuban musician. By fusing European melodies, African rhythms and Jazz elements, he created his own style of music and played a key role in shaping what we now understand as Cuban Son.

And the composition of his band created the origins of Cuban Big Band music, what later became Salsa.

And all just because of a cowbell.

cienfuegos

Tracklist:

Dave Brubeck - Unsquare Dance
Madlib - Get Money
Gil Scot Heron - Whitey on the Moon
J Dilla - Motor City 10
Quasimoto, Madlib - Catchin’ the Vibe
Madlib - Movie Finale
Erykah Badu - The Healer
KT Gorique - Quelle histoire
Common - Doint
Slum Village - Untitled/Fantastic
Madlib, DJ Lord Such - Montara
Masego - Sunday Vibes
Takuya Koroda - everybody loves the sunshine
Madlib - Distant Land

ten twenty

ode to autumn

Some powerful drums and tunes to shake off the ghost of years past and find a fresh start into the new years eve. Ejoy.

bloedsche

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