Delicious Tunes is one of Europe’s finest labels dedicated to the best of modern African music. This track is from legendary Angolan guitarist and singer Paulo Flores, and if you wish more of his music, visit the label’s website here or visit Paulo’s Spotify account.
The Boomtown Rats and I seem to be on the same wavelength. Serbian summers are nasty!
Sad news to report today. Julee Cruise, who served as the muse for the David Lynch-directed TV series (and movie) Twin Peaks, and who had a massive hit with the song Falling, which was composed by Angelo Badalamenti, has passed away at the age of 65. She had been suffering from lupus since at least 2018, when she announced her condition. I had the pleasure of saying a few words to her during my earlier Facebook days, and she struck me as being a kind, unpretentious person. Rest in peace.
Enjoy the pleasures of Trio Paloma, Serbia’s answer to mariachi music!
Vangelis has passed away in Paris at the age of 79. His reputation needs no introduction to connoisseurs of music, especially those into soundtracks. For my money, Blade Runner was the jewel in his crown. May he Rest In Peace.
One of the perks of being a teacher in the Czech Republic has been the fact that I run into students who are both bright and interesting. I have to offer a hat tip to my student Michal Szabó for hipping me to this appreciation of the Digital Compact Cassette (DCC), a format which should have taken off far more than it did.
Today is a very sad day for us here at MYNTH. Klaus Schulze, the legendary composer and keyboardist, passed away on the 26th of April. He was 74. We wish to acknowledge his passing by posting one of my favorite performances.
Polish jazz legend Zbigniew Namysłowski has departed the world.
He played alto saxophone, flute, cello, trombone and piano, and was equally at home playing straight-ahead jazz or acidy funk. He also played on what is considered to be the holy grail of Polish jazz albums, Krzysztof Komeda’s classic LP Astigmatic, as well as collaborating with local luminaries like Janusz Muniak, Leszek Możdżer, Vladislav Sendecki, Michał Urbaniak, and Andrzej Trzaskowski. He was 82. You can read his obituaries here and here.
Requiescat in pace.
Now and again I stumble onto something pleasant, even if there is no CD or download available (yet) of the artist’s music. Nigar Marjanova (see her Youtube channel here) is a jazz singer out of Baku, Azerbaijan, a country known for producing some rather fine musicians (think of Vagif Mustafazade and his daughter, Aziza). I like that her voice is incredibly relaxing, a pleasure to hear. If she has the opportunity to produce a proper album in the future, we’ll be happy to share it.
Czech vocalist and cellist Dorota Barová is a new name for me, but her rather glorious voice brings up memories of Portuguese singers like Teresa Salgueiro, who you might remember as the lead singer of Madredeus. Barovà has had an impressive career, as her first album, the award-winning debut “Iluzja” (Anděl Award), propelled her to fame in the Czech indie music scene. Her sophomore release, Dotyk (Touch), brings a collection of new songs and lyrics authored by Barová, which she recorded in trio with guitarist Miroslav Chyška (member of Illustratosphere, J.A.R. and Sexy Dancers) and bass guitarist Miloš Klápště (known for his collaboration with Aneta Langerová, MarZ, Janoušek-Wroblewski Quartet, Beata Hlavenková).
Curiously, the album is sung entirely in Polish. Her phrasing makes the language sound elegant even to foreign ears like mine. The lyrics are inspired by the poet Krzystof Kamil Baczyński and the author and journalist Teresa Drozda. It’s pleasing to hear such a cross-country endeavor like this.
To hear samples from the album and to purchase the CD, MP3 or WAV files, you can go to Animal Records’ website, and for further inquiries, go to HM Management.