Allan Evans' World Arbiter is a non-profit sonic archaeology label whose recordings offer extensive documentation of the rarest surviving authentic traditions and performers. Since its first release in 1999, the label has presented vital examples of classical and traditional music with detailed scholarly analysis and painstakingly restored audio production. Many releases are the result of projects that took decades to restore and annotate, as original records and tapes often exist in one known copy and require global hunting and diplomacy, with scholars combing their places of origin to interview elderly musicians. In 2009, World Arbiter published the first of five CDs containing all known surviving Balinese gamelan discs recorded before WWII with an expanded CD offering PDF texts and MPEG-4 files of historic silent films to create the fullest resource possible. Having also released recordings of Indian ragas, Sufi trance ceremonies, rare blues and Japanese traditional music, World Arbiter works to save endangered cultural traditions with the utmost seriousness, integrity and attention to detail.
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WA 2019CD
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[sold out] The fifth and final volume of World Arbiter's Japanese Traditional Music marks the completion of the label's excavation and restoration of 60 10" 78RPM discs of Japanese traditional music, bringing a great body of lost music to light and offering in full a legacy that has been almost entirely unavailable until now, even in Japan. The original set was manufactured in 1941 by a company now called the Japan Foundation, and was intended to be presented exclusively to libraries (though the Japan Foundation now has no record of having produced it). There are only two known sets of these discs, both missing the same final 10". World Arbiter acquired one original set of 59 from Beate Sirota Gordon (daughter of pianist Leo Sirota) in the 1990s, and, after a ten-year search, finally located a test pressing of the 60th disc in a theater museum in Japan. Upon first hearing these recordings, World Arbiter's Allan Evans was shocked to hear that the discs contained every species of traditional music, from the court's origins in shamanic rites, Buddhist chant, Noh plays, kabuki, and blind biwa players' haunting songs of chilling epics, to the recordings presented here: a final volume full of folk songs that captures rice planters, weavers, tuna and herring fishers, and children, all funkier than one could imagine and with the presence of eternity in their every sound and breath. The sounds and intensity of Volume Five's folk music surpass anything heard in the classical music of Japan. With Japan's ongoing modernization and loss of its traditional music, World Arbiter's audio restoration removes artifacts from chronological chains to resonate in the eternal flow of sound that defies time and space, remaining vital and always in the present. Includes 24 tracks of performances by anonymous Japanese singers.
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WA 2018CD
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A compilation from all five of World Arbiter's volumes of the complete Balinese recordings from 1928, newly remastered in 2015 and released for the first time since the days of 78-RPM shellac. Performances of gamelan gong kebyar, semar pagulingan, gender wayang, palégongan, gambangam pajogédan, gambuh, angklung, suling, tembang, kidung, kakawin, arja geguntangan, janger, cepung, unaccompanied vocals, and topeng. When composer Colin McPhee heard some 78s in New York, brought over by anthropologists just returning from the Dutch East Indies, he immediately set out for Bali and spent several years there, immersing himself in local traditional music and penning definitive texts on their practices. A local record store had discs cut only a few years before his arrival, and soon after McPhee bought his collection, a drunken warehouse manager, faced with the fact that no one on the island owned a record player, destroyed his entire unsold disc inventory out of rage. McPhee's rescued discs remain as some of the only surviving copies of a recorded legacy that even the Balinese never accessed. World Arbiter has collaborated with ethnomusicologist Edward Herbst to locate all known and unknown extant recordings, texts, and context, an Indiana Jones-style global search begun in 1998 that ended up with a Mellon Foundation grant covering restoration, publication, and in situ activities to find anyone alive who was linked to the discs, including a 98-year-old singer who proofread Herbst's transcriptions of her discs. The project went further through McPhee's field notes, photos, and his silent films shot in the 1930s of dancers and ensembles, all accessible on Arbiter's website. The restoration and publication of a complete lost legacy is now a cultural repatriation for the Balinese and listeners everywhere. This anthology also reveals how McPhee placed Balinese genres into Western music, a move that led to the styles of Reich, Riley, and Glass, making McPhee the godfather of minimalism. Includes performances by Gamelan Gong Kebyar Belaluan, Denpasar; Gamelan Gong Kebyar Pangkung; Gamelan Gong Kebyar of Busungbiu; Ida Bagus Oka Kerebuak; Ida Boda; Ni Lemon; Ida Bagus Wayan Buruan & Ida Madé Tianyar; Gamelan Semar Pagulingan of Banjar Titih, Denpasar; Gamelan Palégongan of Banjar Tegal, Kuta; Gamelan Gendér Wayang of Banjar Tegal, Kuta; Gamelan Pajogédan; Gambuh of Sésétan, Denpasar; Gamelan Angklung Kléntangan of Sidan; Gamelan Angklung of Pemogan, Denpasar; Arja Geguntangan of Belaluan, Denpasar; Jangér of Kedaton, Denpasar; Jangér of Abian Timbul, Denpasar; and Suling of Ubud, Gianyar.
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WA 2017CD
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Vol. V of the Bali 1928 recordings contains various emergent theatrical dance and dance-opera forms with translations of the dramas' texts. We hear the first recordings of women participating in dance dramas, making this disc a major cultural repatriation of primary Balinese art forms that had been lost for nearly a century. An extensive essay is included as a PDF (accessed by computer) with links to 1930s silent films and a photo library are hosted online by World Arbiter. Some of these recordings come from discs that existed in only one known copy, and now their erotic, subtle, innovative styles are available for everyone to experience. Performances by Tembang Arja & Kidung with the Gamelan Geguntangan of Belaluan, Denpasar; Tembang Arja with the Gamelan Geguntangan of Sésétan, Denpasar; Jangér of Kedaton, Denpasar with lead singer Ni Wayan Pempen; Jangér of Abian Timbul, Denpasar with lead singer Ni Lemon; Cepung Monyèh Sasak from Lombok; and Topéng of Kaliungu: Ida Boda, Ida Bagus Purya & I Nyarikan Seriada.
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WA 2016CD
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Vol. IV of the Bali 1928 recordings includes kebyar with sung poetry, gambuh dance-drama, ancient ritual angklung, and solo flute. All lyrics receive English translations in the liner notes, with an extensive text by Edward Herbst included as a PDF (accessed by computer) and hosted online by World Arbiter. Performances by Gamelan Gong Kebyar Belaluan, Denpasar; Gambuh of Sésétan, Denpasar; Gamelan Angklung Kléntangan of Sidan, Gianyar; Gamelan Angklung of Pemogan, Denpasar; Gamelan Angklung of Banjar Bun, Denpasar; and Suling of Ubud, Gianyar (I Klingéng Buta and Ida Bagus Pegug).
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WA 2015CD
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Vol. III of the complete 1928 Balinese recordings, the first republication since 1928 of lost shellac recordings, opens with the only known recordings of a lost gamelan. Heard in three tracks, Gamelan Semar Pagulingan, an ensemble known as "Gamelan of Love in the Bedchamber," played instruments that no longer exist, originally performed just outside the private residence of a raja during meals, times of leisure, and when the raja was otherwise engaged in pleasure with one of his wives. The major artist in this CD is I Wayan Lotring, a composer who could not sleep for nights as he heard melodies in his dreams that he taught orally to musicians in his gamelan. An extensive text by Edward Herbst is included as a PDF on the CD (accessible by computer) and hosted online by World Arbiter. Some of these recordings come from discs that existed in only one known copy, and now their mystical, complex, innovative styles are available for everyone to experience. Also includes performances by Gamelan Palégongan of Banjar Tegal, Kuta; Gamelan Gendér Wayang of Banjar Tegal, Kuta; Gamelan Gendér Wayang of Kaliungu; Gamelan Palégongan of Kelandis; Gamelan Gambang; Gamelan Gambang of Pura Kawitan Kelaci, Banjar Sebudi; and Gamelan Pajogédan (Gandrung) of Pagan.
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WA 2014CD
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Vol. II in a five-disc series of 1928 Balinese recordings features Balinese vocal music, the first release of these recordings since they were first pressed to 78 rpm discs in 1929, the only commercially released recordings of music made in Bali before World War II. Originally recorded by a team from the German labels Odeon and Beka on a 1928-29 expedition to Bali and intended for a Balinese public that lacked any discs of its own music, many of these records have been reduced to single remaining copies by the ravages of time -- when the labels' (European) merchant in Bali destroyed the original discs in a fit of rage due to a complete lack of sales. Now, after a decade of global sleuthing, World Arbiter has located a surviving copy of every known vocal disc that escaped destruction, even one slumbering under a pile at an east Balinese raja's palace. The unaccompanied singing has been restored to the point that the listener is practically sitting inside the masters' throats to experience their microtonal miracles. The lyrics, fully translated, some from the archaic Old Javanese language and included in the liner notes, reveal intensely urgent erotic, mystical and romantic meanings. These extensive notes are supplemented with a 110-page PDF including an in-depth essay by Edward Herbst, contained on the disc and available online. Arbiter will continue to release its complete recovery of 111 three-minute sides, with five discs planned for the series, and a complete anthology to follow. Fully funded by a grant from The Andrew Mellon Foundation. Includes performances by Ida Bagus Oka Kerebuak, Ida Boda, Ni Dayu Madé Rai, Ida Bagus Ngurah, Ni Lemon, and the duo of Idu Bagus Wayan Buruan & Ida Madé Tianyar.
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WA 2013CD
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2017 repress. This is the fourth volume in World Arbiter's Japanese Traditional Music series. The World Arbiter label presents 1941 recordings of the Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai -- masters of the shamisen. An extensive anthology of traditional Japanese music was created sometime around 1941-1942 by the Kokusai Bunka Shinkôkai (KBS), International Organization for the Promotion of Culture. KBS was established under the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1934 for cultural exchange between Japan and foreign countries, representing genres such as gagaku (court music), shômyô (Buddhist chants), nô (Noh medieval theater play), heikyoku (biwa-lute narratives of battles), shakuhachi (bamboo flute music), koto (long zither music), shamisen (three-stringed lute music), sairei bayashi (instrumental music for folk festivals), komori-uta (cradle songs, lullabies), warabe-uta (children songs), and riyou (min'you) (folk songs). Considering that 1941-1942 was a most daunting time for Japan's economy and international relationships with Asian and Western countries, it is remarkable that this excellent anthology of Japanese music was ever completed and published, as it contains judiciously selected pieces from various genres performed by top-level artists at that time. The KBS' recording project is of unique historical importance and culturally valuable as a document of musical practices in traditional Japanese genres during the wartime. Few copies of this collection exist in Japan. This CD restoration is taken from a set originally belonging to Donald Richie, a writer and scholar on Japanese culture (particularly on Japanese cinema), who had given it to Ms. Beate Sirota Gordon, known for her great contribution to the establishment of Japan's Constitution during the period of U.S. occupation after WWII. Gordon's father, Leo Sirota, a piano pupil of Busoni's, fostered many excellent Japanese pianists at the Tokyo Ongaku Gakko (Academy of Music, forerunner of present-day Music Department of Tokyo National University of The Arts) during 1928-1945. Shamisen, a three stringed lute, is said to have been imported from China through Okinawa into mainland Japan (Sakai, Osaka) in the latter half of the 16th century. It began to accompany popular songs and contributed in bringing about a variety of genres of shamisen music in the early 17th century. In the late Edo period (early 19th century), small-scale shamisen vocal genres such as ogie-bushi, hauta, utazawa, and kouta were performed by geisha in ozashiki chambers. This disc includes the shamisen music enjoyed in ozashiki. Jiuta music is mainly performed in houses or ozashiki chamber in the Kansai area and said to be the oldest shamisen music genre, born soon after the instrument's arrival in Japan. Kumiuta (combined pre-existent songs) music is also heard on this disc. Full descriptions are included in a 36-page booklet in English and Japanese.
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WA 2012CD
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...Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai 1941. The World Arbiter label presents 1941 recordings of the Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai -- masters of the koto and shamisen, heard with excerpts from theater and songs performed by many artists born in the Meiji period. They represent the earliest examples of ancient classical traditions. In the late 1930s, Japanese musicologists and experts completed years of work on a project to record their country's musical cultures, starting with ritualized shamanic traditions of the palace's gagaku, Buddhist chant, Noh theater, blind lute (biwa) players chanting medieval epics, a body of koto music, shamisens of kabuki dances, folk songs of workers, artisans, farmers, and children's songs. Five volumes, each with 12 78 rpm discs, comprised the leading performers of the time, many born into a Japan that newly opened to the West in 1868, taught by masters of an earlier isolated Japan. These recordings were meant to be given only to educational institutions and not sold. Right before starting their distribution, war broke out in 1941. Beate Sirota Gordon, age 22, accompanied the U.S. Army to Japan in 1946. She had grown up in Tokyo with her parents, Russian pianists whose pupils included Yoko Ono and her father. Beate secretly wrote a pioneering section on women's rights in Japan's post-war Constitution. During her mission, Donald Ritchie, a noted film historian, discovered a set of these recordings and gave them to her. Gordon presented them to Arbiter in the late 1990s. Aside from her copy, only one other complete set is known to have survived the war in Japan, as they were possibly destroyed in a warehouse bombing. The people of post-war Japan and the rest of the world now have the chance to hear these lost recordings of Japan's broad cultural legacy. On these recordings, one is struck by a sense of eternity belonging to a culture living in a mind-set of immortality and permanence, an ease buoying virtuosity and intricate musical forms, revealing a gripping authenticity that later performers hint at. This third of five discs contains significant examples of the koto and shamisen literature, dances from Kabuki and puppet theater traditions, many originating in the 1700s. Full descriptions are included in a lengthy booklet, while complete translations are on Arbiter's web site. Arbiter loves Japan and its arts, and is honored to revive lost master performers.
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WA 2011CD
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Subtitled: Belaluan, Pangkung, Busungbiu. World Arbiter presents historic gamelan recordings made in 1928 as part of a collection of the first and only commercially-released recordings of music made in Bali prior to World War II, the first ever to document pre-War genres. The compositions heard on volume 1 are untraditional, avant-garde experiments that later evolved into familiar forms, new music captured close to the time of its inception. After five years of research and field work, Edward Herbst offers analytical notes and a glossary (PDF files) along with 1930s silent films shot in Bali by Rolf de Maré (MPEG-4). World Arbiter's multi-media format disc requires a computer to read PDF files and to view the films. The music is playable on standard audio equipment. Includes a 16-page booklet with notes and historic photos.
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WA 2002CD
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2015 repress expected soon? ...from Taroudannt, Morocco. 2000 release. Recordings from Taroudannt, Morocco, 1994-1995; a series of Moroccan Sufis practicing trance rites which outsiders are rarely able to witness. The city of Taroudannt, Morocco, is surrounded by perfectly-preserved red-ochre mud walls dating back, in part, to the 16th century Saadien dynasty, which chose Taroudannt as its capital before moving to the larger and more accessible Marrakesh. While the walls and their ramparts are impressive, the real attraction of Taroudannt lies in its purely Moroccan character, which has remained essentially unchanged for centuries. Situated in the Souss River valley and cut off by the snow-capped peaks of the Haut-Atlas mountains to the North, and the semi-desert Anti-Atlas range to the South, the French occupiers never created a modern ville-nouvelle here, with the typical unimaginative grid of streets one finds in many cities, large and small, throughout Morocco. The feeling of Taroudannt is timeless and traditional. A note about the recordings: the Guerreras and the Hadra were recorded with a hand-held stereo microphone, allowing free movement through the musicians and capturing the performances from a variety of vantage points. Sometimes particular instruments or voices were targeted, allowing the listener to hear the role they played. As a result, the sound is not static, the balance of elements shifting with the motion of the microphone. The performances were not the result of pre-arranged sessions. All were "encounters," recorded at public events held during the course of daily life in Morocco. Particularly in the large Guerrera, you will hear a throng of participants, surrounded by their expressions of enthusiasm and excitement, along with their casual socializing. Vocal drones, hypnotic percussion, chants, stringed instrumental accompaniment and winds, all captured live and in the moment for a sonic travelogue experience.
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WA 2009CD
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...Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai,1941. 2022 restock. First in a series of 78 restorations, this one focuses on gagaku & Buddhist chant. Beautiful, lost-in-time recordings -- produced to perfection from one of the world's greats. An extensive anthology of traditional Japanese music was recorded around 1941-1942 by Kokusai Bunka Shinkô-kai: International Organization for the Promotion of Culture. KBS was established under the Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs in 1934 for cultural exchange between Japan and foreign countries. In 1972 it became the Japan Foundation, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. KBS activities ranged from lectures, concerts, artistic and academic exchange, publishing books, photos, to producing films and records, establishing libraries and related cultural facilities abroad, among them this record set of traditional Japanese music. Gagaku ("elegant music") is the oldest surviving musical tradition, with a history of more than 1,300 years. It has been developed and passed down, strongly associated with imperial court cultures. Gagaku in current practice may be divided into three categories, by origin and style; 1) indigenous vocal and dance repertoires, primarily performed in the Shinto ceremonies accompanied by several Japanese indigenous and foreign instruments; 2) foreign instrumental music and dances, tôgaku (music of Chinese origin) and komagaku (music of Korean origin) used in various court, Buddhist, and Shinto ceremonies, which consist of various instruments brought from the Asian continent; and 3) vocalized Japanese or Chinese poetry, saibara and rôei established in 9th century Japan, mainly enjoyed by high-ranking noblemen in rather informal court ceremonies. In the words of World Arbiter's Allan Evans: "Current gagaku sounds brittle, easily cracked, very delicate. And in 1941 they used fewer performers but have a solidity, a weight. They were carrying on a tradition that was part of an immortal empire, a vision of permanence. Four years later it was over." In 1942, a set of sixty 78 rpm discs documenting the most authentic traditions in Japanese music was privately issued. Due to the war and neglect, few copies survive. This disc marks the beginning of its restoration.
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WA 2010CD
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2022 restock. Subtitled: Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai, 1941. This second volume of the 1941 Kokusai Bunka Shinkô-kai (KBS) recordings features Noh theater masters, many of whom had been trained by artists active before the Meiji (1868) period. An essay and texts in both English and Japanese with translation are included in the CD. Noh, a masked play, was established by the actor Kan'ami Kiyotsugu (1333-1384) and his son Zeami Motokiyo (1363-1443) in medieval times. Based on various earlier forms such as sangaku (acrobat and juggling), dengaku (dance and play derived from rice festivals), and kusemai (dance), the noh created a far more highly artistic form of theater than ever before. Japanese biwa music is characterized by a narrative with biwa accompaniment. The instrument, born in ancient Persia and introduced into Japan around the 8th century as a component of the royal court's gagaku ensemble, is a four stringed lute plucked with a large plectrum. In the late 12th century, blind Buddhist priests developed a unique narrative style, using this instrument as an accompaniment. The shakuhachi is a vertical bamboo flute sharply edged in its flue. Its standard length is about 54 cm., but there are shorter or longer types than this standard. Shakuhachi was traditionally played by komusô, Fuke-shû priests (a Zen Buddhist sect). The blowing of a shakuhachi (sui-Zen, literally "blowing Zen") was a komusô's religious act equivalent to chanting a sutra.
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WA 2008CD
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2015 repress. Subtitled: Rev. Gary Davis & Peers. Another exceptional archival release from Allan Evans' World Arbiter label. After years of preparation, World Arbiter offers new vivid restorations of discs from Harry Smith's Archive. Pioneering legendary artists are heard in a variety of genres which were essential in creating the blues. The accompanying text contains selections from an astonishing discovery: an unknown 1951 oral history of Rev. Gary Davis, providing a candid, unparalleled insight into his life. Includes two previously-unpublished recordings (Rev. Gary Davis from 1956/1957 and Leadbelly from 1941), plus various obscure 78 tracks from Harry Smith's collection (all recorded circa 1926-1929). The liner notes also include an excerpt from an unknown, unpublished oral history of Davis compiled in 1951 by Elizabeth Lyttleton Harold, the wife of Alan Lomax. Other artists include Big Bill Broonzy, Leola B. Wilson, Buddy Boy Hawkins, William Moore, Gus Cannon and Blind Blake, Ramblin' Thomas, Charley Patton, Rube Lacy, and Edward Thompson.
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WA 2001CD
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[sold out] 2001 restock. Subtitled: Bali, 1928, New York, 1941. 1999 release, the first on this exceptional classical world music label. Recordings from Bali, 1928, reissued for the first time. These historic recordings were made as part of a collection of the first and only commercially-released recordings of Balinese music prior to World War II. This incredibly diverse sampling of Balinese new and older styles was released on 78 rpm discs that same year, with subsequent releases for international distribution in the following years. The discs were sold worldwide (or not sold, as it happened) and quickly went out-of-print. It was a crucial time in the island's musical history, as Bali was in the midst of an artistic revolution, with a new style of music, kebyar, sweeping the island. Gamelan groups were having their older ceremonial orchestras melted down and reforged in the new style. Intense competition between villages and regions was driving young composers to develop compositional ideas, innovations and impressive techniques. Gamelan is the general term for Bali's dozen or so instrumental music ensembles. The word is derived from gamel, to handle, and Balinese make a clear distinction between gamelan krawang, bronze instruments, and other kinds of ensembles utilizing bamboo. The distinctive features of Bali's major styles highlight shimmering resonances of gongs, knobbed gong-chimes, and metallophones (with bronze keys suspended over bamboo resonators), ranging four or five octaves, and differing from neighboring Java in their explosive sonorities and phrasings. Gamelan styles are associated with specific contexts of ceremonial, entertainment, or recreational activity. The unique collection of tuned gongs, gong-chimes and flat metallophones which we associate with the gamelan styles of Bali and Java, appears to have developed between the construction of the 9th century Buddhist temple Borobudur and the arrival of the first Dutch expedition in 1595. The end of the album features music by composer Colin McPhee, whose reinterpretive work is inspired by these early recordings, using piano and flute.
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WA 2003CD
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2017 repress. Subtitled: The Pathak Gharana, Dhrupad Ragas On Surbahar. Performed by Pandit Ashok Pathak (surbahar). Ancient Court Raga Traditions is comprised of two long tracks: "Raga Malkauns" and "Raga Bagesri," recorded in 2000. Only part of India's noblest classical instrumental traditions have been adequately documented on recordings, beginning with sitarist Imdad Khan in 1905. With the compact disc, raga performances could expand from pioneering 4-minute excerpts on 78 rpm discs to span well beyond an hour on CD, allowing full development and style to unfold. One vital court style remains in a fragmentary way: the ancient art of dhrupad, characterized by slowly singing and playing, which favored the arrhythmic alap section, based on the ancient Vedic chant. Too few of these family-based traditions survived the ending of royal patronage. Amongst them are the Pathaks, representing a musical lineage through 5 generations of dhrupad singers, veena players and sitarists, with the current generation including a composer and tabla player. Balaram Pathak introduced the use of harmonics on sitar with meend, heard on his one CD. This unique practice has been further explored by (his son) Ashok, who uses it extensively, along with thematic playing on the sympathetic strings. Before beginning a raga, he dwells on these strings, at times playing two simultaneously, creating harmonies which he adopted after having heard it in pre-Renaissance Western music (in polyphonic works by Perotin, Josquin des Prez, etc.). The recording took place over two afternoons. Each raga was played through once and without any changes or edits, and the decision was made to play "Raga Malkauns" on the second afternoon. As Balaram Pathak recorded one short work on surbahar, these performances further reveal the rare court tradition Pandit Ashok represents, its continuation despite the odds of a diminishing public which prefers khyal, and the musical contributions made by the performer himself to further their lineage.
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WA 2007CD
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2022 restock; originally released in 2006. Under the direction of Anak Agung Gede Mandera; Recorded in New York & London, 1952. The gamelan and dancers of Peliatan were the first to give an extensive foreign tour, demonstrating their revolutionary kebyar style. These performances are the first modern recordings made of a gamelan. Extensive liner notes by Edward Herbst, along with rare photos, document one of Bali's most significant ensembles. Remastered from the master tapes.
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WA 2006CD
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2004 release. Recorded 1926-29. A monumental artist amongst the earliest recorded bluesmen, Blind Lemon Jefferson was a master guitarist and lyricist. While his recordings have been re-issued, often in poor sound, World Arbiters restoration is the first publication of Jefferson to include transcriptions of the song texts and bring greater clarity to these classic vintage discs.
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WA 2004CD
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2022 restock. 2017 remastered edition. Discovered on the shelf of the late Teresa Sterne who created the Nonesuch Explorer series, Lost Sounds of the Tao was first published in 2001 and now comes back through new cutting-edge restoration software. Lo Ka Ping, guqin. recorded 1970, 1971. The guqin was Confucius' instrument, used by scholars and nobles for self-purification. Lo was a Taoist priest (1896-1980) who lived in the remote lands of the New Territories behind Hong Kong, recorded by a pupil in 1970. These rare archival tapes were assembled after an extensive hunt in Hong Kong, New York, California and Taiwan." From the liner notes: "A tape ready of four traditional pieces (Side I) and four original pieces (Side II) for ch'in, played by an old master who lives in a country home in the New Territories. There emerged a vibrant expressive art, its first impression the forthright spirituality of a Blind Willie Johnson (yes, some scales have the blue note intonation!) who made his Ming Dynasty qin state and moan out visions, as panoramas of ancient brush paintings danced before my eyes, attaining life in sound, all their varied densities in depicting nature now breathing amidst sonic rainbows unleashed through the qin's harmonics. The scratching of the silk strings as one changes the finger positions is referred to as the instrument's respiration. Lo's non-thematic use of the fundamental tones in the beginning of the first piece were akin to a veena beginning a raga, causing one to wonder if this manner had become embedded in his music from the early visits by Indian Buddhists, who had brought their own instruments to China. What so casually endows Lo's playing with profundity and depth is the philosophy behind the music, entering the sound through the Tao rather than displaying the fruits of a learned craft, for he was completely self-taught and thus freed from any burden of tradition. His performances, compared to most other players, brim with vitality and spirit, like found objects emerging forth into independent existences, unlike the imposed rhythmic regularity and extremely slow tempi the works are often given by scholars. Lo was alive until 1980 (age 84).
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