Sunday 1 December 2002

WINTER HARP

Winter Harp plucks up the spirit of the season!
 


WINTER HARP
Thursday, December 12, 2002
MacEwan Ballroom (U of C)

Combining medieval Christmas carols with their own vibrant musical compositions, Winter Harp is a Vancouver-based troupe of troubadours that performs and records music using painstakingly reconstructed traditional medieval instruments.

The heavenly reverberations of the classical Spanish and Celtic harps, plucked by multiple-award winners Lori Pappajohn and Jill Whitman, have a commanding presence. Lauri Lyster is Winter Harp’s heartbeat, providing what Pappajohn refers to as "the oldest source of music" – percussion – while Joaquin Ayala and Kenichi Ueda augment the company’s 190 strings with flute, bells and chimes. Poet and performer Alan Woodland animates each show with tales of winter that, according to Pappajohn, are carefully selected for their ability to tug at your heartstrings. They signal that the Yuletide has truly begun.

"Winter Harp gets together in the fall to plan out our next show," says Pappajohn. "We have a hard time deciding what not to include. Alan Woodland travels to England every summer and visits libraries to do research for us on Christmas and winter. He comes up with so many wonderful pieces of literature. No matter how often I hear some of them, they can still bring tears to my eyes."

Resurrecting music that in some cases has gone unheard for centuries is no easy task, but Pappajohn and her associates have discovered that having authentically crafted instruments to perform with makes that music sound even better. Her first inspiration for the customized construction of a specialty medieval replica was the bass psaltery, a haunting instrument with ancient roots.

"The bass psaltery goes back thousands of years," says Pappajohn. "The Sumerians and Babylonians used them. I have one bass psaltery that is about a foot-and-a-half tall. And I thought, ‘Wouldn’t this sound fantastic if it was five feet tall?’ So I went to the best instrument crafter in Canada, a man named Edward Turner, and he laughed at me like I was crazy. But I said, here’s the deal – I’ll pay you. So he made it for me. It’s a five-foot obelisk and the sound it produces is amazingly ethereal. I can only describe it as the sound of sunlight shimmering on the surface of water."

Her next flash of creative genius came when Turner showed her a picture of one of his other original creations, the organistrum. Far from the grating trumpet of its sister crank-handle machine the hurdy-gurdy, the organistrum’s four bowed-up strings have a more harmonious disposition. Its deep tonal voice originated in 12th century Spain and then migrated across Western Europe. Turner copied Gothic cathedral sculptures to perfect his design – there are only two such instruments in existence in the world (the other hangs in the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa).

"I was ordering my bass psaltery and Ted said, ‘By the way, I made one of these, too.’ The picture was so breathtaking that without even hearing it I said, ‘I’ll take one.’"

For Pappajohn, the realization was beginning to set in that there were dozens of "lost instruments" out there waiting to be rediscovered. Looking at the Christmas carols we all know by rote, she points out that we are reciting lyrics that were written two, three or four hundred years ago. Taking people back to that long-forgotten time has become the theme of Winter Harp’s mystical performances and recordings. Clad in Pre-Raphaelite gowns and surrounded by candles, the members of the ensemble embody the spirit of the season, and convey its message of good will through cheerfully interactive songs and stories.

"We focus on the myth and legend surrounding the darkest time of the year, when people traditionally gather," says Pappajohn. "The Celtic bonfire festivals were an opportunity for everyone to share warmth, companionship, their hopes for the return of the sun, and the coming new year. For centuries it’s been a time when people pause and examine their lives…. There is a time of darkness within all of us that anticipates the returning, the rebirth. For us, it’s a journey. Whether you believe the Christmas story or treat it as a fable, it’s a fun and magical time of year for all."

Winter Harp has recently received a grant from Bravo, which has allowed the troupe to produce its first music video, entitled "Avalon." Filmed on location in England in the pouring rain, "Avalon" will be in rotation on Bravo and is also available (along with more information about Winter Harp) on the group’s Web site, www.winterharp.com.

By Christine Leonard

Wednesday 10 July 2002

The Best of Mickey Hart: Over the Edge and Back - Album Review

Mickey Hart
The Best of Mickey Hart: Over the Edge and Back(Rykodisc)

Cover Art

By Christine Leonard
Jul 10, 2002

Percussionist/composer/producer/author/ethnomusicologist Mickey Hart, former drummer of The Grateful Dead, presents Over the Edge and Back, a retrospective spanning 25 years of musical experimentation and exploration. Gathering together previously recorded materials, Hart re-encapsulates the essence of his artistic odyssey into one dynamic audio-showcase. This "Best of-" compilation opens with the song taken from Hart's most recent new-age release Supralingua, "Angola", an evocative instrumental track which signals to the listener that they aren't in Kansas anymore. 


Carrying on from there, the disc flows into the seductive and optimistic "Where Love Goes" sung by the London-based group The Mint Juleps. I do declare, that this is one beauty of a track, with pure vocals and an African sway to it. Drawing on a lifetime of experience, Hart has rounded up a collection of diverse material from his numerous solo and collaborative performances around the world. One of these significant side-projects is known as Diga, a self-described 20th-century rhythm orchestra. 


Featuring the lightning-quick beats of tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, Diga is the source of the album's fourth track "Sweet Sixteen." Another compelling cut entitled "The Compound" was one of many Hart composed for the percussion-based soundtrack to Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now. Turning his studies ever inward, Mickey Hart has taken the shaman's path to spiritual enlightenment, as documented in his memoirs "Drumming at the Edge of Magic" and "Planet Drum," and the complementary CDs that accompanied them. 


Indeed, the theme of this new album is very much in keeping with Hart's visionary quest to conjure the ancient metaphysical roots of his musical soul.

RECOMMENDED TRACKS: "Where Love Goes", "Call To All Nations"


Christine Leonard, CJSW Radio, Calgary, AB


Friday 1 March 2002

MEDIAEVAL BAEBES

Is that a lance in your pocket?
If so, the Mediaeval Baebes 
will be happy to see you!

MUSIC PREVIEW
MEDIAEVAL BAEBES
Friday, March 10, 2002
MacEwan Hall (U of C)

Former leader of the legendary goth band Miranda Sex Garden, Katharine Blake and her troupe of bewitching troubadours breathe new life into Europe’s oldest music. Borrowing in good faith from medieval literary sources, Blake arranges ancient sonnets and prose into workable 21st century melodies.

Formed in London in 1996, the Mediaeval Baebes originally consisted of a dozen women from around the globe who were drawn to each other by a shared love of art, music, theatre and drinking. Combined with their angelic voices,the group’s sensuous image, which incorporates intricately braided tresses and sinfully sheer floor-length gowns, quickly captured the interest of British record companies.

Three top-selling albums later the Mediaeval Baebes have reduced their handsome headcount to a mere nine singers: Blake, as well as fellow Miranda Sex Garden alumnus and Hamilton, Ontario native Teresa Casella, Marie Findley, Claire Ravel, Rachel Van Asch, Carmen Schneider, Ruth Galloway, Bjork’s doppelganger Audrey Evans and – who could forget? – Cylindra Sapphire. Though their numbers may have diminished, the balance and range of their vocal harmonies has not. The nine sisters recorded their latest offering and named it after the romantic symbol of perfect love, The Rose, and included a stunning booklet of gorgeous goth-nouveau artwork and intimate portraits of each Baebe in full anachronistic regalia.

"I think this is our most ambitious project to date," says Blake. "On our other albums we weren’t able to be a part of the whole process. We wanted to see this new one through from beginning to end, to really take responsibility for the final product. It was a great experience, we were able to bring in friends of ours who are musicians, and photographers, and artists."

Rounding out the wild wench entourage is accomplished musician and honorary Baebe, Dorothy Carter, who gives encore guest performances playing the hurdy-gurdy, dulcimer, zither, recorder and autoharp. Also along for the joyride is another Miranda Sex Garden refugee and longtime collaborator, percussionist Trevor Sharpe.

"We’re on a one-month tour of Canada and the U.S. where we all share one bus," says Blake. "It’s a bit of a nightmare getting everyone on the case. Every performance is incredibly live. Hundred-string instruments threatening to go out of tune. The instruments are amplified, but not electric, it’s all organic, and I think the audiences appreciate that aspect of realism. There’s no script – it’s different every time we do it, and anything can happen."

Perhaps, the most notable outside contribution to this album comes from the Mediaeval Blokes, who provide seldom-heard male vocal accompaniment to the Baebes on the bawdy song "Dringo Bell." Blake laughingly divulges that the naughty heirloom tune is about the sad dilemma of "Brewer’s Droop," – that is, when a man’s consumption of alcohol overbids his ability to perform in the bedchamber.

"It’s kind of our version of the Dead Kennedys' "Too Drunk to Fuck." What we did is called up a bunch of male friends of ours and got them so drunk they could hardly stand. Which was perfect, because we wanted a really deep manly kind of bass sound coming from them for this one.... They’re not on this tour with us, but when we play in London again, I think it would be excellent to go drinking and have them onstage with us."

Revelling in the social freedoms that would never have been afforded to women from the times of which they sing, the Mediaeval Baebes spice their wine with a feminist emollient. On another track from their new album, an 11th century Irish ballad entitled "I Am Eve," epithets of Christian misogyny fly like a world of woes released from Pandora’s jar. Still burning with bittersweet irony, the chenille-clad chanteuses reconstruct "The Sour Grove," a lewd 15th century erotic poem sung in medieval Welsh. Extracted from "Cywydd Y Cedor" (or "The Female Genitals") by Gwerful Mechain, this potent poem in celebration of the female body was reputedly banned from many anthologies of Welsh verse on the grounds that it is "salacious."

No strangers to controversy, the Mediaeval Baebes have had their works banned on British television, and have sent clergymen into a tizzy over their pagan sympathies and the liberal interpretation of songs usually reserved for Catholic mass. But speaking in tongues comes naturally to these scholarly-minded maidens; their previous albums have featured hymnals sung in Latin, Middle English, German, Italian and medieval French. During the process of sourcing out their latest array of material, the a cappella choir added several more languages to their dialectical palates. Blake explains that the gradual progression of translating and interpreting the original texts lays the foundations for the shape of the finished product.

"We’re up to eight different languages on the new album. We added medieval Spanish, Russian and medieval Welsh. Oh, and some ancient Irish, too. The music and phrasing arise out of the lingual melodies. It’s exciting to stylize the existing elements and let it grow from there naturally. For example, the song "The Snake" is based on an old fairy tale, and sung in Spanish. It’s sort of the Mediaeval Baebes do Ricky Martin."

By Christine Leonard