I have several compilations from Putumayo currently making the rotation on my iPod. Hmmm, actually I have 9 total. But I won’t talk about them all here. How ’bout I mix it up and give you a sampling from around the world?
Because I love this city and because it has certainly gotten the shaft recently, I’ll talk about a sample from New Orleans called New Orleans Brass.
I’ve spent a lot of time in NOLA. It’s been way too long since I’ve been there but I used to go literally every year for either the JazzFest or Mardi Gras. I spent many a day and night dancin’ down Bourbon Street getting funky with the brass band music blaring from every nook and cranny. So, this CD brings back some really fond memories of a NO that may no longer be there.
As the name denotes, this is heavy on brass. Overall, the CD is well polished, and that’s not necessarily a great thing. I would love to hear some really raw second line recordings – the kind you might hear from a funeral procession jazzing it up down the street. While most of the bands are unknown to me, it does include a track from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (including Dr. John). Overall, it’s a great disc that’s sure to cheer you up if you’re in any sort of funk at all.
DobaCaracol singing Etrange from Quebec
Heading north from New Orleans, let’s hit another French-influenced city, Quebec. Released in honor of the city’s 400th anniversary (did you know it was that old?), this CD includes both traditional and contemporary music celebrating their French and Celtic heritage. There’s even a song sung in Montagnais, a language spoken by just over 11,000 native Canadians.
This mix is both sultry, with lounge-like music from Myreille Bedard, and fun, with songs like Les Visceres from Polemil Bazar. The CD wraps up with a couple of knee-slapping tunes in which I imagine myself sitting on a front porch in the country sipping homemade brew and dancing in the grass (sounds like my time in New Orleans!).
(A short diversion here. I picked this next CD up at Easy Street Records last week. Each year during the West Seattle Street Fair, Easy Street sells all of their used CDs for $1-$2. I’m always one of the first ones there when they open on Friday morning so that I can hunt around for my favorites. This next one was one of them.)
The last CD I want to mention is an oldy but goody. Laura Love has a sound that can’t quite be defined, which is probably why she isn’t better known than she is. She’s a little world music, a little bluegrass and a little country. I used to listen to this CD nearly 15 years ago on a tape player. I very specifically remember humming along to her songs as I rode a bus from Mexico City to Guatemala. I was so happy to find this CD at Easy Street and I’ve been singing along to it for the last week. I had to laugh when I saw that the CD lists her as “country” because she isn’t. She’s so much more… Check it out yourself. While it’s so old that it’s not available new, you can get used copies on Amazon for just a few dollars. It’s well worth it!
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Jean Schroy says
thanks enjoyed this