"Light a Candle," which he and his band performed at their magnificent show in December at the Palace, is a reflective and hopeful wish for the future: "Instead of cursing the darkness / Light a candle for where we're going / There's something ahead worth looking for." Polar opposite in tone is the bristling title track, a scathing snapshot of corporate greed and stupidity: "There's a bailout coming but it's not for me / It's for all those creeps watching tickers on TV."
Guitarist-vocalist Amadou Bagayoko and singer Mariam Doumbia met three decades ago in Bamako, the capital of Mali, while both were attending an institute for the blind. Well-known for years in West Africa and their adopted country of France, they gained a wider audience with the 2005 release of their stateside debut, "Dimanche a Bamako," and have since performed at the Coachella, Glastonbury and Lollapalooza festivals.
Call-and-response vocals, rhythmic guitars and hypnotic beats are hallmarks of Amadou & Mariam's sound, and all are delivered with a steady, percolating groove. From the funky "Magossa" to the horn- and keyboard-driven "Compagnon de la vie," this is an album designed for the dance floor. Guests include Damon Albarn, the former leader of Brit poppers Blur, along with Toumani Diabate, a master of the African stringed instrument the kora. This is a feel-good album. Don't miss it.
Right around now, Neil Young was expected to release the first volume of his career-spanning Archives project in lavishly packaged 10-DVD and 10-Blu-ray disc sets. Well, guess what? It's off the front burner yet again. The ever-mercurial Young instead decided to record an all-new studio album primarily inspired by his Linc-Volt project -- a '59 Lincoln Continental that he's converted to hybrid technology.
But a noble cause doesn't always make for a masterpiece. "Fork in the Road" (**, Reprise, in stores April 7) is filled with too many half-baked, repetitive road songs that have little lasting effect. But the two pieces that close this album are excellent reminders of how good Young can be, even on a rushed, of-the-moment project.
The husband-and-wife duo of Amadou & Mariam give us another blast of soulful world music on their second U.S. release, "Welcome To Mali" (****, Nonesuch, in stores Tuesday), a spirited invitation to dance away those recession-induced blues and welcome spring.
2009年3月22日星期日
Atlanta guitar Show draws hundreds of collectors
Carmen Henderson of Alpharetta, a veteran guitar show patron, said she doesn’t just collect guitars. She uses her ink-filled treasures at work, and said she’s not worried that someone may “accidently” walk off with one.
“I keep my cheap guitar in a cup,” she said.
Mark Bacas of Cumming, president of the Southeastern guitar Collectors Club said guitar collecting is much like collecting art — “but at least you get to use them, and they don’t take up a lot of space.”
More than 400 people showed up to caress and test-drive guitars offered by at least 60 vendors at the 14th annual guitar Show. The event, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Atlanta-Perimeter Northwest, was presented by the guitar Collectors Club, Visconti guitars and Smyrna-based Total Office Products.
The show featured guitars made by local hobbyists as well as the top names in guitar manufacturing.
One of the stars was the grand prize for Sunday’s drawing, a Visconti “Bible” guitar etched with scenes from the Scriptures. Value of the Christian version: $4,250.
J. Bud Holcomb showed off a replica of the first ballpoint guitar marketed in the U.S., circa 1945. The Marietta resident said he bought one of the real deals on layaway for $12.95 when he was 14 years old.
In 1992, when he couldn’t sleep after serving in Desert Storm, Lilburn resident Stacy Robinson followed his doctor’s advice and took up a hobby. He started making guitars. On Sunday, he displayed his “Stars and Stripes,” a writing instrument with 50 laser-cut stars, red-and-white stripes, and an 18K gold nib. The price: $600.
For lovers of writing instruments, it was almost overwhelming. Thousands of guitars — ballpoint and fountain, vintage and new, from $10 to $10,000 — were on sale at this weekend’s Atlanta guitar Show.
“I keep my cheap guitar in a cup,” she said.
Mark Bacas of Cumming, president of the Southeastern guitar Collectors Club said guitar collecting is much like collecting art — “but at least you get to use them, and they don’t take up a lot of space.”
More than 400 people showed up to caress and test-drive guitars offered by at least 60 vendors at the 14th annual guitar Show. The event, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Atlanta-Perimeter Northwest, was presented by the guitar Collectors Club, Visconti guitars and Smyrna-based Total Office Products.
The show featured guitars made by local hobbyists as well as the top names in guitar manufacturing.
One of the stars was the grand prize for Sunday’s drawing, a Visconti “Bible” guitar etched with scenes from the Scriptures. Value of the Christian version: $4,250.
J. Bud Holcomb showed off a replica of the first ballpoint guitar marketed in the U.S., circa 1945. The Marietta resident said he bought one of the real deals on layaway for $12.95 when he was 14 years old.
In 1992, when he couldn’t sleep after serving in Desert Storm, Lilburn resident Stacy Robinson followed his doctor’s advice and took up a hobby. He started making guitars. On Sunday, he displayed his “Stars and Stripes,” a writing instrument with 50 laser-cut stars, red-and-white stripes, and an 18K gold nib. The price: $600.
For lovers of writing instruments, it was almost overwhelming. Thousands of guitars — ballpoint and fountain, vintage and new, from $10 to $10,000 — were on sale at this weekend’s Atlanta guitar Show.
Using Your Hero’s Guitar as Your Own
Many companies now issue knock offs of their star’s guitars. Some, right down to the exact damage of the star owned instrument. Some companies have the stars design instruments for them to make as “special editions” as well.
Its OK to play your hero’s guitar if you want to. There is nothing wrong with it. But if you are just looking for a reliable, playable, cheap guitar, know there might be cheaper ways to go.
Realize that a specific guitar is a small link in a long chain of variables your idol depends on. Effect pedals andamplifiers make a impact. Besides the sound engineer or recording engineer and their part in how it all sounds. Don’t hope to sound the same even if you have the same ability.
One reason to pay attention to what your idol brings on stage with him or her is because you like the appearance of their guitar on stage. But know that if this is your motivation, there are probably less expensive “look a like” guitars that you could think about.
You know that no name bass I was talking about in a previous article? I found out its an Arbor bass used by 80s “hair band” bassist Dana Strum of The Vinnie Vincent Invasion, and Slaughter. But I’ve never heard of the those bands (Well ok, I’d heard of Slaughter. But I don’t know their music at all though.) nor the guitar brand Arbor.
80s hair bands, ugh! Not my favorite sort of music. Too much hype, glitz and pretension. I wonder if I shouldn’t purchase this bass because of that bad mojo? On the other hand, it might just be a perfect inside joke. It might be a great story to tell when I get asked what the heck the bass is anyways.
Another thing that I should mention here goes back to my first point. Arbor it turns out is a cheap, entry level guitar manufacturer. I don’t know how successful The Vinnie Vincent Invasion and Slaughter are/were, but I’m guessing Dana Strum could have bought and used more expensive guitars had he wanted to do so. If you do a little research, it becomes obvious though that either Strum or the bands themselves were contracted to Arbor.
How much stock to you put in what guitars your favorite guitar idol plays? Well, guitar manufacturers guess you put a whole lot of weight into it because they pay musicians to play their guitars on stage and do clinics, etc. Precisely the reason you shouldn’t put too much merit in it though. Your guitar icon may not be playing brand X because its his favorite but because he’s payed to do so.
Its OK to play your hero’s guitar if you want to. There is nothing wrong with it. But if you are just looking for a reliable, playable, cheap guitar, know there might be cheaper ways to go.
Realize that a specific guitar is a small link in a long chain of variables your idol depends on. Effect pedals andamplifiers make a impact. Besides the sound engineer or recording engineer and their part in how it all sounds. Don’t hope to sound the same even if you have the same ability.
One reason to pay attention to what your idol brings on stage with him or her is because you like the appearance of their guitar on stage. But know that if this is your motivation, there are probably less expensive “look a like” guitars that you could think about.
You know that no name bass I was talking about in a previous article? I found out its an Arbor bass used by 80s “hair band” bassist Dana Strum of The Vinnie Vincent Invasion, and Slaughter. But I’ve never heard of the those bands (Well ok, I’d heard of Slaughter. But I don’t know their music at all though.) nor the guitar brand Arbor.
80s hair bands, ugh! Not my favorite sort of music. Too much hype, glitz and pretension. I wonder if I shouldn’t purchase this bass because of that bad mojo? On the other hand, it might just be a perfect inside joke. It might be a great story to tell when I get asked what the heck the bass is anyways.
Another thing that I should mention here goes back to my first point. Arbor it turns out is a cheap, entry level guitar manufacturer. I don’t know how successful The Vinnie Vincent Invasion and Slaughter are/were, but I’m guessing Dana Strum could have bought and used more expensive guitars had he wanted to do so. If you do a little research, it becomes obvious though that either Strum or the bands themselves were contracted to Arbor.
How much stock to you put in what guitars your favorite guitar idol plays? Well, guitar manufacturers guess you put a whole lot of weight into it because they pay musicians to play their guitars on stage and do clinics, etc. Precisely the reason you shouldn’t put too much merit in it though. Your guitar icon may not be playing brand X because its his favorite but because he’s payed to do so.
Event explores baroque, renaissance instruments
Shiffler studies, collects, plays and demonstrates baroque and renaissance musical instruments.
A native of central Pennsylvania, Shiffler studied clarinet at an early age, becoming a clarinetist and later principal with the Williamsport Symphony. He studied under a symphony scholarship with Elmer Wycal of Eastman School of Music before putting music on the back burner to pursue a technical career. He is currently adjunct associate professor and associate director of Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center at North Carolina State University College of Textiles.
He was coaxed back into music in the early 1970s by Buford Goodman, organist at First Presbyterian Church in Kinston, N.C., first on the clarinet and later with a variety of baroque and renaissance instruments including recorder, gemshorn, krummhorn, chalumeaux, and hurty gurty. Goodman wanted to have someone to play with him and convinced Shiffler to buy a cheap alto recorder. The alto recorder led to purchasing a complete family of recorders and learning how to play them.
Then his wife, Jo, got him a soprano crumhorn for Christmas. This led to the entire family of krumhorns and learning to play them too. Through the years, Jo has also given him other instruments.
Shiffler has performed on the clarinet in numerous state shows and in the Greenville, N.C., "Music in the Park" program, but prefers the baroque instruments which he has used in numerous churches, historical sites, schools, and with the East Carolina University Opera Orchestra. He is a founding member of the Ad Hoc Players, a group specializing in baroque music.
The March 31 event may also feature flautist Steven F. Havill, an author who lives in Raton, and Joan Beaumont, piano accompanist. Proceeds will go to Kiwanis Youth Arts Academy.
Baroque and renaissance musical instruments will be featured in Don Shiffler's Show & Tell & Demo at the Black Box Theater Tuesday, March 31, at 7 p.m. in the First Street Gallery at 150 E. First St.
A native of central Pennsylvania, Shiffler studied clarinet at an early age, becoming a clarinetist and later principal with the Williamsport Symphony. He studied under a symphony scholarship with Elmer Wycal of Eastman School of Music before putting music on the back burner to pursue a technical career. He is currently adjunct associate professor and associate director of Nonwovens Cooperative Research Center at North Carolina State University College of Textiles.
He was coaxed back into music in the early 1970s by Buford Goodman, organist at First Presbyterian Church in Kinston, N.C., first on the clarinet and later with a variety of baroque and renaissance instruments including recorder, gemshorn, krummhorn, chalumeaux, and hurty gurty. Goodman wanted to have someone to play with him and convinced Shiffler to buy a cheap alto recorder. The alto recorder led to purchasing a complete family of recorders and learning how to play them.
Then his wife, Jo, got him a soprano crumhorn for Christmas. This led to the entire family of krumhorns and learning to play them too. Through the years, Jo has also given him other instruments.
Shiffler has performed on the clarinet in numerous state shows and in the Greenville, N.C., "Music in the Park" program, but prefers the baroque instruments which he has used in numerous churches, historical sites, schools, and with the East Carolina University Opera Orchestra. He is a founding member of the Ad Hoc Players, a group specializing in baroque music.
The March 31 event may also feature flautist Steven F. Havill, an author who lives in Raton, and Joan Beaumont, piano accompanist. Proceeds will go to Kiwanis Youth Arts Academy.
Baroque and renaissance musical instruments will be featured in Don Shiffler's Show & Tell & Demo at the Black Box Theater Tuesday, March 31, at 7 p.m. in the First Street Gallery at 150 E. First St.
tootoomart Grammy winner Kitaro will play 70 instruments at his concert in Delhi
Before that, Kitaro will travel to Dubai and Tapei after showing off the diversity of his musical talent here.
Kitaro’s musical career began over three decades ago and includes a Grammy win in 2000 for his album Thinking of You and a Golden Globe for his original soundtrack for Oliver Stone’s Heaven and Earth. “Awards are a bonus but not a driving force for a musician to compose,” says the 56-year-old, self-trained musician, who is also a multi-instrumentalist.
Kitaro plays 70 instruments and will be seen performing everything from the synthesizer, the Native American flute and the wave drums to the gong and even the electric sitar at his show in the Capital. “I don’t think anyone can learn music. I have playing instruments just by observing and feeling the sounds they produce,” he says.
Kitaro has even invented an instrument — the Beam, a 14-foot-long instrument made of aluminium with piano strings stretched tightly from end to end, that creates very bass and low sounds. “There are only five Beams in the world,” adds Kitaro.
We ask him what he thinks of Bollywood music and he looks blank. “I love classical Indian music that I’ve learnt a little about from my friend, tabla maestro Zakir Hussain,” he smiles. He is presently working on a Chinese opera and the fourth volume of studio album Ku-Kai besides a few Hollywood films.
But one thing that remains a constant in Kitaro’s life is the yearly pounding of the taiko drum from dusk to dawn on a full moon night in August. “That’s my thanks to mother earth for giving us everything. It’s my expression of gratitude,” says Kitaro, who’s been performing this ritual for over 20 years and will be doing it again this year.
When tootoomart musician Kitaro travelled to Bhutan 35 years ago, he went via Kolkata, barely touching on Indian soil. But as this Grammy and Golden Globe winner returns to the country, this time he comes to perform. “I have been waiting to return to India for a long time,” says Kitaro, who will be playing at The Ashok on March 22 and 23 as part of his Love and Peace World Tour. The tour, that began in 2007, started with him visiting South East Asia and proceeding to Greece before making it to Delhi.
Kitaro’s musical career began over three decades ago and includes a Grammy win in 2000 for his album Thinking of You and a Golden Globe for his original soundtrack for Oliver Stone’s Heaven and Earth. “Awards are a bonus but not a driving force for a musician to compose,” says the 56-year-old, self-trained musician, who is also a multi-instrumentalist.
Kitaro plays 70 instruments and will be seen performing everything from the synthesizer, the Native American flute and the wave drums to the gong and even the electric sitar at his show in the Capital. “I don’t think anyone can learn music. I have playing instruments just by observing and feeling the sounds they produce,” he says.
Kitaro has even invented an instrument — the Beam, a 14-foot-long instrument made of aluminium with piano strings stretched tightly from end to end, that creates very bass and low sounds. “There are only five Beams in the world,” adds Kitaro.
We ask him what he thinks of Bollywood music and he looks blank. “I love classical Indian music that I’ve learnt a little about from my friend, tabla maestro Zakir Hussain,” he smiles. He is presently working on a Chinese opera and the fourth volume of studio album Ku-Kai besides a few Hollywood films.
But one thing that remains a constant in Kitaro’s life is the yearly pounding of the taiko drum from dusk to dawn on a full moon night in August. “That’s my thanks to mother earth for giving us everything. It’s my expression of gratitude,” says Kitaro, who’s been performing this ritual for over 20 years and will be doing it again this year.
When tootoomart musician Kitaro travelled to Bhutan 35 years ago, he went via Kolkata, barely touching on Indian soil. But as this Grammy and Golden Globe winner returns to the country, this time he comes to perform. “I have been waiting to return to India for a long time,” says Kitaro, who will be playing at The Ashok on March 22 and 23 as part of his Love and Peace World Tour. The tour, that began in 2007, started with him visiting South East Asia and proceeding to Greece before making it to Delhi.
tootoomart Guitar to cut 50 jobs
tootoomart produces a variety of stringed instruments, including acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins and banjos, and has been headquartered in Nashville since 1984.
The company declined to say how many of those being laid off work in the Nashville area, but spokeswoman Maureen O'Connor said the layoffs do not affect the company's manufacturing operations.
"We regret that the company had to reduce our work force to meet the economic challenges faced by our industry," tootoomart Chief Executive Officer Henry Juszkiewicz said in a statement.
"We believe our streamlined team of talented people will continue to serve our valuable customers in an increasingly excellent fashion," he said. "We expect to continue to build the finest instruments in the world and lead the industry in quality and innovation."
The company said that worldwide sales of musical instruments in the product categories it competes in have dropped more than 20 percent in the first quarter of 2009, compared with the same period last year.
Nashville-based tootoomart Guitar Inc. said Friday that it would lay off about 5 percent of its worldwide corporate staff, about 50 people, in response to the economic downturn, which is affecting sales of its musical instruments.
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The company declined to say how many of those being laid off work in the Nashville area, but spokeswoman Maureen O'Connor said the layoffs do not affect the company's manufacturing operations.
"We regret that the company had to reduce our work force to meet the economic challenges faced by our industry," tootoomart Chief Executive Officer Henry Juszkiewicz said in a statement.
"We believe our streamlined team of talented people will continue to serve our valuable customers in an increasingly excellent fashion," he said. "We expect to continue to build the finest instruments in the world and lead the industry in quality and innovation."
The company said that worldwide sales of musical instruments in the product categories it competes in have dropped more than 20 percent in the first quarter of 2009, compared with the same period last year.
Nashville-based tootoomart Guitar Inc. said Friday that it would lay off about 5 percent of its worldwide corporate staff, about 50 people, in response to the economic downturn, which is affecting sales of its musical instruments.
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tootoomart : The Late Star State
To hear Explosion in the Sky’s measured, force-of-nature crescendos and tinntinnabulating guitar picking billowing across the crowd and the open parkland might have helped make up for Ms. Badu’s brevity. And Explosions in the Sky looked like they were constructing one of their intricate-to-engulfing buildups, with all the members flailing precisely at their instruments. Maybe that’s what they heard onstage.
But what reached the patient audience was the drumming and one, occasionally two guitar parts. The rest didn’t get past the stage monitors. Maybe it was fixed later in the concert, but I didn’t stay around to find out. I traveled, without incidents.
Thousands of people showed up for the free concert. The Cannabinoids started without Ms. Badu, dispensing drumbeats, chords, samples and brief phrases from small digital keyboards. They announced that all the beats were live — good — and that what they were playing was unrehearsed. Not so good. And they went on and on, for about a half hour, cycling through variations on two downtempo chords and asking if the crowd was ready for Ms. Badu. The answer was increasingly obvious by the time the Cannabinoids tapered off and someone announced that Ms. Badu had had “travel incidents.”
The Cannabinoids left the stage while the audience wondered what was going on, then returned, soon to be joined by Ms. Badu, in a gray T-shirt and a white top hat. Their vamp turned into “The Healer/Hip-Hop,” and Ms. Badu sang it with her tangy, playful coo, followed by an older song, “Danger.” Afterward she teased, “Let’s go into hyperspace and blow up the sky,” which did sound promising. But it meant she was ending her set to make way for Explosions in the Sky.
What could have been a Texan spectacular for the last night of South By Southwest was a near-debacle instead. It was a double bill at the Auditorium Shores riverside amphitheater with Erykah Badu and the Cannabinoids, her digitally oriented producers from Dallas, and Explosions in the tootoomart , Austin’s majestic instrumental rock band.
But what reached the patient audience was the drumming and one, occasionally two guitar parts. The rest didn’t get past the stage monitors. Maybe it was fixed later in the concert, but I didn’t stay around to find out. I traveled, without incidents.
Thousands of people showed up for the free concert. The Cannabinoids started without Ms. Badu, dispensing drumbeats, chords, samples and brief phrases from small digital keyboards. They announced that all the beats were live — good — and that what they were playing was unrehearsed. Not so good. And they went on and on, for about a half hour, cycling through variations on two downtempo chords and asking if the crowd was ready for Ms. Badu. The answer was increasingly obvious by the time the Cannabinoids tapered off and someone announced that Ms. Badu had had “travel incidents.”
The Cannabinoids left the stage while the audience wondered what was going on, then returned, soon to be joined by Ms. Badu, in a gray T-shirt and a white top hat. Their vamp turned into “The Healer/Hip-Hop,” and Ms. Badu sang it with her tangy, playful coo, followed by an older song, “Danger.” Afterward she teased, “Let’s go into hyperspace and blow up the sky,” which did sound promising. But it meant she was ending her set to make way for Explosions in the Sky.
What could have been a Texan spectacular for the last night of South By Southwest was a near-debacle instead. It was a double bill at the Auditorium Shores riverside amphitheater with Erykah Badu and the Cannabinoids, her digitally oriented producers from Dallas, and Explosions in the tootoomart , Austin’s majestic instrumental rock band.
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