Sound Travels: Sean Quigley's Little Drummer Boy

What I'm listening to now ...


This young man is from Manitoba. His joy is so apparent and infectious.
Merry Christmas!

Sound Travels: Cinema Serenade

I haven't done a Sound Travels post in such a long time, but Dolce Bellezza inspired me to pick up my meme, dust it off, and begin again. Bellezza does a weekly meme on Wednesdays called What Are You Listening To Wednesday.

I'm not a reader who generally listens to music while she reads. I try to set aside time to just listen. But occasionally I find some music that, if I turn it down low, works well for me while I read. Recently I found that I could listen to Cinema Serenade 2: The Golden Age while reading. It's also fantastic to just sit and listen to. It is the Boston Pops Orchestra, conducted by John Williams and features Itzhak Perlman. Some of the delights include:

Theme from Laura (1944) - this one always makes me want to read Rebecca by DuMaurier!
Theme from Now, Voyager (1942)
Tara's Theme from Gone with the Wind (1939)

You can take a brief listen here.

Sound Travels: Lou Reed and Susan Boyle? Who knew!

I haven't done a Sound Travels post in a very long time, but then I haven't spent much time listening to music lately. I stumbled on this and found both the music and the video to be lovely. I didn't even think about it being a Lou Reed song (pre-punk Lou).

Lou Reed Co-Directs Susan Boyle's "Perfect Day" VideoAvailable on The Gift CD or MP3

Another unlikely musical collaboration: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss

Rediscovered that I had this CD and enjoyed it all over again today!

Sound Travels: Three Guitars and a Tractor

For your Tuesday enjoyment:

Sound Travels: Matt Dusk

Two Shots

Today I'm traveling around with Matt Dusk. If I didn't know better, I'd think he was one of the Rat Pack, singing in a smoky Las Vegas lounge, in about 1964. I can even hear the clink of ice cubes in highball glasses as they melt into the scotch. The title song, "Two Shots," was written by Bono/U2 for Frank Sinatra.

"On this record, every song is a situation, every song is a moment, every song is truth, and every song is real."

from the liner notes of Two Shots

Click here to listen to samples or buy MP3s.

Sound Travels: Page & Plant

No Quarter Unledded

This week I'm listening to some old guys who can still rock. Page and Plant joined up with an Egyptian ensemble, musicians in Marrakech, and the London Metropolitan Orchestra to create an aural experience that will take you to Marrakech (Marec), Snowdonia (Wales), and London (Albion). I like this quote found in the liner notes:

"Credit must be given to Bron-Y-Aur, a small derelict cottage in South Snowdonia for painting a somewhat forgotten picture of true completeness which acted as an incentive to some of the musical statements."

A number of the tunes are pulled from old Led Zeppelin albums and re-worked to pull in Middle Eastern and Celtic musical elements. If you like the music on No Quarter, I also recommend the concert/on location DVD.

Sound Travels: Dadawa

Sister Drum
(music samples can be heard here)

The melodies and spiritual nature of Sister Drum, inspired by Tibetan culture and created by ordinary musicians, destroys the old image of Chinese music as rigid and repetitious. Tibet has long been famous for its richly colourful people and lifestyles, as well as its isolation from the outside world. This, together with the religion and Buddhist philosophy of the people, is brought out in the music. Sounds resonate and roll, underpinned by a calm, steady beat.

The composer is HE Xuntian. By his technical skill and musical knowledge he takes thoughts and turns them into feelings. The singer is ZYU Zheqin, known as Dadawa. It is she who invokes the power of the Chinese word. The spirit of Tibet which they have together discovered has opened a window on that culture. But their music will give you the impression that these sounds are coming from your own heart.

(From the liner notes of Sister Drum)

I recently read Sky Burial (see book review here), which is the true story of a Chinese woman who left China in 1958 in order to search for her husband of 100 days who had supposedly been killed in Tibet while serving in the People's Liberation Army (China). This story beautifully captures the isolation and intense spirituality of the nomadic Tibetan people as well as the immense and harsh landscape in which these people live. As I read this book, I recalled the way in which hearing Sister Drum transported me to this same amazing landscape and expressed so well the spirit of the people of Tibet. Listening to this music with my eyes closed was itself a spiritual experience.



Where is music taking you today?

Sound Travels

I grew up in the Southwest and spend some time each year in the Four Corners area of the U.S. More specifically I go to the Navajo Nation and enjoy the peace and quiet that I can experience there. One of the things I like most is the way the Navajo converse. They do not dive right into "what I came to see you about," but spend a bit of time chatting about life in general before getting down to business. They do not engage in verbal tennis and do not talk over each other or cut in when the other pauses for a breath. Conversation is not a race, but instead it is paced with one person speaking while the other listens. It is common to allow a period of silence after someone finishes speaking in order to assure that they have finished expressing their thought. I usually need a few days to slow down after leaving my own fast paced environment and the wide open spaces with endless skies and deep canyons definitely help me to adjust my pace. Sitting alone on the edge of one of my favorite canyons and watching the sun rise usually starts the de-stress process for me. It is soothing to watch and hear the earth come alive and to be reminded of the natural rhythms that we tend to dismiss in a more urban environment.

So what does all this have to do with Sound Travels? In order to allow myself mini-breaks from my sometimes frantic life, I keep a small collection of Navajo flute music on hand to listen to when I find myself needing some Southwest soothing. One of my favorites is "Canyon Trilogy" by R. Carlos Nakai.


Go here to listen and see if it transports you.

Other favorites are:
"Inside Monument Valley" by Paul Horn and R. Carlos Nakai
"Ancestral Voices" by R. Carlos Nakai and William Eaton with the Black Lodge Singers

Artist website:
R. Carlos Nakai

Where is music transporting you today?

Sound Travels

Today I'm in Sao Vicente, a tiny Cape Verde island off the Western coast of Africa. I'm listening to Cesaria Evora's CD album "Cafe Atlantico" and if I close my eyes I can imagine I'm in a smoky cafe drinking a gin & tonic while the fans overhead move the air around me. The album is in Portuguese, but I don't need to know the language in order to understand the "joyous ache that sings her love to the world."



Samples from "Cafe Atlantico" can be listened to here.

Where is music transporting you today?

Sound Travels

Thank you Jo at Always Been A Dreamer for the title of my new weekly post, Sound Travels! I like what raidergirl3 does at An Adventure in Reading each Tuesday when she asks "It's Tuesday, where are you?" and thought I'd copy her idea and apply it to music listening. Like reading, music can be transporting and take us places. Feel free to join me each week at Sound Travels and let readers know what you're listening to.

Today I'm listening to Big Head Todd and the Monsters 1993 CD Sister Sweetly. I first heard this, when it was new, while sitting in a coffee house in Colorado (reading, of course) and it grabbed me right away. A few years later, I got to see this band in concert at a small to medium sized venue and still have fond memories. When I listen to this particular CD, I can actually smell the coffee and feel the wonderful Colorado mountain air again!

Big Head Todd and the Monsters is a touring band that doesn't depend on CD or download profits for their income. Because of this, they offer free downloads of their music. Go here to read about it and download some tunes.

So what are you listening to and where is it transporting you?

Transported ...

Today I came home from a long day at work, put a CD in the player, poured a glass of chardonnay from my favorite Edna Valley winery, sunk into my couch, closed my eyes ... and listened. I was slowly soothed and transported.

Each week I play along with raidergirl3 at An Adventure in Reading to write about where my reading is taking me that week. It's an appropriate question since any reader will tell you that they do indeed "travel" through various time periods, cultures, and geographies when they read. Some of us even leave the planet or reality as we know it. Music has a similar effect on me. I'm transported. I'm enchanted and held spellbound. I'm carried away by overwhelming emotion. Not all music has this effect, but much of what I listen to does indeed have the capacity to move me this way.

These thoughts led me to the idea that I might like to do a weekly post about the music I'm listening to. I'm not sure what this weekly post should be called, so if any of you have ideas for naming this pursuit, please make suggestions. I would also love it if you would join me each week. I'm always interested in what people are listening to.

So ... what was I listening to this evening? You didn't think I'd go away without telling you, did you?

Madredeus: O Espirito Da Paz
(the link should give you the opportunity to hear samples)

Madredeus is a Portuguese group of six that includes voice, classical guitar, cello, accordion, and keyboards. There are strong elements of fado here, but may be classified by some as classical. A sense of sadness and longing come across without becoming unbearably heavy. It is powerful and emotional and the voice of Teresa Salgueiro is heavenly. The lyrics are in Portuguese, but it is not necessary to understand the language to get the message of the music. Truly breathtaking.

What music is transporting you today?