We're starting a regular feature on the blog where we'll give reviews of notable music we've been following. This week Jerry and Olwe will talk about their finds.
Judy Garland - The Golden Years at MGM (Vinyl LP)
The other night I settled in for one of my "listening sessions" and decided to unwrap one I had never heard. I pulled the sealed vinyl of Judy Garland, removed the cellophane and opened the box, did not expect any surprises, just maybe a treat. A bit of the history, I collect vinyl and I bought this on eBay a few years ago and just set it aside for just this nights type of occasion. The album was released in 1969, the year Judy died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs (she did not commit suicide), and it reprised her career with MGM, it contained songs from all of her movie releases. It is not an especially valuable album, they cut a lot of copies, and they can still be had for very reasonable prices, but it has never been released on digital format, so it would be a unique listening session.
And so I warmed up my Jolida tube amp, turned on the phono preamp, and placed the virgin record on my SOTA Sapphire turntable, a ritual we vinylphiles relish, and carefully lowered the tonearm with my favorite Yamaha cartridge, settled down into my listening chair, and . . . I got my surprise. The MGM release was perfectly cut from the studio masters, pristine in sound and full of of what one might expect in a good theater. Wow, what a voice, what a talent, Judy was in my room that night with all the magic that made her a legend. A prodigy at 13 when she released her first recording with MGM "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart," unfortunately not among the gems on this release, but memorable and amazing performances such as "Danny Boy", "Singing in the Rain", "You Made Me Love You", and of course "Over the Rainbow" from the "Wizard of Oz" a film so complete no one has attempted to offer a newer version.
We seem to be overwhelmed with "prodigies" today with shows like "America's got talent" and "American Idol", and I have been impressed by some of them, but the full talent of Judy Garland and the way she grew with that talent over years is not yet rivaled by any of them. A rich, versatile and skilled voice, she touches her audience in ways even Barbara Streisand should envy. In short, it's a keeper, one that will get periodic rotation in my listening sessions for years to come. While many of the songs on this release have been released in CD format, the total album has not, and that's a good thing: I cannot imagine the sound matching the magic produced on these vinyl discs. The bonus was the the 28-page 12x12 accompanying booklet with pictures from her performances and co performers - wow, look at Mickey Rooney and Frank Sinatra as kids.
Till my next audio awakening,
Jerry
Estampie - Crusaders (CD)
I'm sure you've seen those esoteric ethnic or "off on the margins" classical music CDs at the Big City Library, you know, the ones with the textbook-looking jacket and the textbook-sized booklet in three languages. You might have checked out Lute Music of John Dowland, or Mongolian Throat Music, or The Bulgarian State Radio Womens' Chorus, but they didn't really have very many catchy tunes; instead, they were more a faithful rendering of something only a musicologist in that field would appreciate. This is definitely not the style of medieval music you'll encounter with the ensemble Estampie's Crusaders, a CD which came out in 1996.
Why I find a CD this old to be "of current interest" is how big and vibrant the Middle Ages revival movement has become throughout Europe in the ensuing years, especially in Germany, a country that has been very silent musically since the days of Brecht and Weil and the Berlin cabaret scene. Besides the classical repertoire, journeyman participation in modern classical and jazz, rock and pop, Germany has been largely silent musically since WWII. This is also true for much of Continental Europe, the British Isles leading the Great White Diaspora with mass-appeal rock, followed by Ireland with Celtic folk. But in the 1990s Europe Proper began doing roots folk in a big way. The Scandinavian roots folk wave began then, and in that same time frame, Germany's Estampie came along with their unique take on medieval music.
Today there are hundreds of medieval-renaissance acts playing the European folk festivals and RenFaire circuit. And like Fairport Convention a generation earlier, they're largely blowing off North America. Imagine that! One of the biggest names, Germany's Faun, has exactly two CDs available through Amazon. The Scandi folk wave made some inroads here. For years there was the annual Nordic Roots Festival in Minneapolis, sponsored in part by Northside Records. However, the Euro-medieval revolution has gone all but unknown and ignored here. American participation has also been minimal. I only know of two bands, Unto Ashes and In Gowan Ring, who have toured Europe. Of course there is Loreena McKennitt of Canada, but she seems to split her sound between Celtic and medieval. Another surprise entrant is filmmaker David Lynch who produced a Hildegard von Bingen project. Lux Vivens included the wonderful vocalist Jocelyn Montgomery.
So what exactly have Estampie and the other bands done to this 500-plus-year-old music to pull it out of academic obscurity? To put it simply, it's now got a bite to it; now it rocks -- just a bit. Yet for all the bite and rock, it comes across all the more evocative and sensuous. Of course they've changed it, interpreted it, put it though filters, and even eclectrified it. But you can feel love, sincerity, and excitement, often missing or lessened from the scripted, standardized, purist academic fare. I guess this is why I chose Crusaders to introduce you to this phenomenon. With Crusaders you hear what the medieval academes have roundly rejected (some rather snottily), but the Euro public (especially the youth) have responded to with enthusiasm. Maybe listen to Estampie's Chanterai por mon corage and then listen to an academically purer version here done by the tweedy Early Music Consort of London. After listening to Estampie's version, you with your 21st century ears will "get it" when you here the Consort's version. Likewise the CD's version of Walther von der Vogelweide's Song of Palestine, considered by many to be the battle song of the Crusades, is both modern and timeless. I got Crusaders from MnLink. It is also available at Amazon.
Estampie occasionally tours, but there's not been much from them for a while. The principals, Sigrid Hausen and Michael Popp are most active in their parallel group Qntal, as well as other medieval music ensembles. In the meantime, the movement they help start is roaring, and I, an American, have been lucky enough to find it.
Olwe
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