LLAMA
Ravid Goldschmidt: Pentatonic and Aeolian Hangs
Sílvia Pérez Cruz: voice
* Factory produced DVD-ROM contains 24bit/88.2 kHZ WAV files, 2.8 MHz DSD files, English and Japanese liner notes and various cover images. This item is offered for use in Computer Audio and Hi-End Music Server applications and will not play in standard DVD players, nor CD players
Inspired by the steel pan drums of Trinidad and Tobago, but built to perfection by two instrument designers, Felix Rohner and Sabina Scharer, of PANArt in Bern, Switzerland, the "Hang" was first introduced to me by Ravid Goldschmidt whom I heard playing in one of the numerous walkways of the ancient Barri Gotic quarter in Barcelona, Spain. Not that Ravid is a typical street musician (he is often invited for concerts in Spain and Europe), it is just that
he finds it both interesting and challenging to have direct communication with his audience. When I saw him then, his audience was rather large...
Ravid, who was 25 years old at the time of this recording, was born and raised on a Kibbutz (agricultural commune) in Israel. He has played drum set "all his life", mostly Brazilian influenced, but began concentrating on the "Hang" when he first heard it played by a fellow musician at a music festival in Israel. Since that time, he has been developing his own voice on this unique instrument and "llama" is a documentation of that development.
He discovered an enthusiastic audience and has been in Barcelona ever since.
During his stay in Barcelona, Ravid has had numerous opportunities to hear local musicians in their own concert settings. At one of these concerts he met Sílvia Pérez Cruz, the voice on "llama". Together Ravid and Sílvia discovered their own unique musical connection, allowing each other to act and react freely. When Ravid first told me he wanted to record with voice I was somewhat hesitant because more than anything else, the voice is a very particular and personal "thing" and when it is not in tune, it is very hard to work and the situation can become uncomfortable. However, after hearing 2 seconds of Sílvia, I was hooked!
She has studied saxophone with Llibert Fortuny and participated in the Festival of Jazz and Flamenco in Seville, attending the master classes of Marc Turner, Jeff Ballard, Read Arderson, Jorge Pardo, Lee Konitz, Paul Bley, Javier Colina and Antonio Mesas. Presently Sílvia is continuing both her studies and professional activities in and out of Barcelona, at times taking her as far away as Belgium, France, Hungary, Italia, The Netherlands and Norway. The group she is most involved in presently is the all female flamenco quartet "Las Migas" (www.lasmigas.com). While Sílvia has participated in a number of recordings in Spain, this MA release represents her recorded debut outside of her native country.
The music on "llama" is somewhat varied. More than half the tracks were done in single takes, both Sílvia and Ravid knowing immediately what they wanted to express. Nevertheless, track one ended up being take two of "Gitana". It is possible however, to hear take one (the first song of the sessions) on the "MAonSA" SACD sampler (available from the MA website). Track two is part of a lullaby, "Vestida de nit" that Sílvia`s mother used to sing to her. Sílvia also reveals her unique approach to Fado on "Lagrima" originally sung by Amalia Rodriguez (track 6), while both performers express their respect for the music of Africa, on track 9. Sílvia shows some of her jazz vocal chops on "I'm All Smiles". Ravid's solos serve as interludes between and after songs, and are somewhat more introspective and impressionistic, although Sílvia is just as poetic, but in a different way, on her "Los Silencios de Los Desiertos". The set ends with Ravid's "Lullaby for Yali" on which Sílvia sang very quietly, but very close to the microphones.
Finally, the venue for this recording was a little church in the Barri Gotic quarter of Barcelona. MA's own custom made, DC powered, line level microphones with Bruel and Kjaer capsules were used. You can see them on the cover of the "MAonSA" SACD sampler. The high output of these mikes was then fed thru 3 meters of Crystal Cable "ULTRA" XLR cable, directly into the DCS 904 Analog to Digital converter which was placed close to the microphones. The digital signal from the AD converter was then sent via a 12 meter AES-EBU digital cable (also by Crystal Cable) to the Fostex FR2 Field Memory Recorder which records on Compact Flash Memory. The sampling rate used was 88.2 kHz with a 24 bit rate.
All photography was done by Shoji Onuma. Special thanks to Rubato Appassionato: www.rubatoappassionato.com
For information on the HANG, please go to the following: www.hangfan.co.uk
Todd Garfinkle/MA
