Suns of Arqa - Cradle (1994)

I discovered one or two years ago Suns of Arqa, a  unique and creative world music team, founded by Michael Wadada. Suns of Arqa is an open band concept, some 200 musicians from across the globe passed through its ranks   mixing musical cultures, technologies, spiritual inspirations and composition patterns in an open and innovative way...

Cradle is a possible introduction to this musical universe, where Indian raga meets reggae, where ambient dub meets electronics, where tablas meet synthesizers, where tribal roots meet classical traditions. Well, it is true world music, and not only a unique world's musics... 

Indian shenhai, flute, violin and keyboards are involved into Cradle, a  serene and meditative album, opening new listening spaces between trance and ambient music...

It is ethno-ambient at its best...

link / mp3

SACr.zip

password: olduvai 

Harold Budd - The Pavilion of Dreams (1978)

Harold Budd is an American composer (b. 1936) who played (and still plays)  a very important part in the minimalist and ambient scene, either as a solo artist or through his collaborations with musicians such as Brian Eno, Zeitgeist, Hector Zazou, Andy Patridge, John Foxx, Daniel Lentz, Ruben Gardia, Cocteau Twins, Robin Guthrie.

The Pavilion of Dreams was released in the famous series Obscure Records, where Brian Eno produced still unknown composers such as Gavin Bryars and Michael Nyman. It was Harold Budd's second album, and it revealed him to a wider international audience.

Ambient and impressionist music, intimate chamber music, quiet melodies in the vein of Satie and Debussy, The Pavilion of Dreams offers "an extended cycle of works begun in 1972". Harold Budd (electric piano) is accompanied by a small ensemble of musicians (harp, celeste, marimbas, percussion, vibes and vibraphone, chorus). Among them, Lynda Richardson (mezzo soprano), Marion Brown (Alto sapophone), Michael Nyman (marimba) and Gavin Bryars (glockenspiel, voice, celeste). 

Quiet music for an hectic age, The Pavilion of Dreams explores the poetics of slowness. Mysteriously ambient, lightly melancholic, deep as an horizon, these compositions opened new perspectives in the trend of ambient musics, and they could be considered as a foreword to Ambient 2 / The Plateaux of Mirror, composed in 1980 with Brian Eno.

link / mp3 320

HB.TPofD.zip

password: olduvai

Night Ragas, Volume Four (1990/1992)

This is an extract of a 16 CDs series entitled  From Dawn to Midnight, reflecting the changing moods of morning, afternoon, evening and night music through ragas. This series was produced by the Indian label "Music Today" (New Dehli).

Here are three ragas to be listened to during the night:

- Raga Naiki Kanhra: Shruti Sadolikar (vocals). Time: night.

- Raga Des: Pandit Jasraj (vocals). Time: late night.

- Raga Darbari: Amjad Ali Khan (sarod). Time: midnight and after.

These three haunting and meditative ragas need the depth of darkness to unveil all their beauty and mystery...

link: mp3 / 320

1990-NRag1.zip

1990-NNRag2.zip

password: olduvai