Music for the Motherless Child

Last updated

Music for the Motherless Child
MusicForTheMotherlessChild.jpg
Studio album by
Martin Simpson and Wu Man
ReleasedMarch 1996
RecordedApril 1995
StudioChrist the King Chapel, St. Anthony Seminary, Santa Barbara, California
Genre
Length63:38
Label Water Lily Acoustics
Producer Kavichandran Alexander
Martin Simpson chronology
Smoke and Mirrors
(1996)		Music for the Motherless Child
(1996)		Band of Angels
(1996)
Wu Man chronology
Chinese Traditional and Contemporary Music
(1996)		Music for the Motherless Child
(1996)		Tan Dun: Ghost Opera
(1997)

Music for the Motherless Child is a collaboration album between English folk guitarist Martin Simpson and Chinese pipa player Wu Man, released by Water Lily Records in 1996. [1] As with the other album's released on the label, it was recorded at Christ the King Chapel, St. Anthony Seminary, Santa Barbara, by Tamil producer and label owner Kavichandran Alexander, who, also similarly to the label's other releases, curated and oversaw the project as a fusion between the music of two disparate cultures. Neither Simpson or Man had met before the recording of the album, which was done in only a single session that lasted seven hours. Alexander employed vacuum tube recording and took advantage of the church's natural acoustics.

Contents

The album features five traditional pieces, mostly drawn from American and European folk music, as well as one written by Simpson. A conspicuous blues influence and style is evident throughout the album. The duo claim that Music for the Motherless Child is dedicated to "the alchemists of both East and West." Upon the release, the album received mainly positive reviews from music critics, who largely complimented the blend of Simpson and Pipa's disparate musical styles. The album has since been re-released as a SACD.

Background and recording

English folk guitarist Martin Simpson had built up a career since the 1970s combining the Celtic folk styles of the United Kingdom and Ireland with American folk styles such as blues and country music, and became acclaimed for his intricate, technical guitar playing skills. [2] He had released four albums between 1990 and 1995. [3] Chinese musician Wu Man, meanwhile, is a virtuoso master of the pipa, a type of lute indigenous to the country. [4] She made her international debut with the album Chinese Music for the Pipa (1993), which was said by one critic to "highlight her extraordinarily emotive playing." [5] Both Simpson and Man had been living in the United States for several years by the time of Music for the Motherless Child's recording. [2] [4]

The genesis of Music for the Motherless Child came from Tamil producer Kavichandran Alexander for his record label Water Lily Acoustics. Each album on the label was a project overseen and produced by Alexander, who brought disparate folk or classical musicians together to fuse their disparate musical styles over the course of an album. [6] In a review of the album, Musicworks described the scenario: "Water Lily Acoustics had a great idea: put a few musicians from different cultures together in a room, turn on a DAT recorder, and see what transpires." [7] The first album on the label, A Meeting by the River (1993) by Ry Cooder and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, won Alexander a Grammy Award. [8] Music for the Motherless Child is another of these collaborations, with Alexander bringing Simpson and Man together. In a run-down of the label's catalogue, he writes:

St. Anthony's Seminary, Santa Barbara, the location of the album's recording USA-Santa Barbara-Saint Anthony's Seminary-1.jpg
St. Anthony's Seminary, Santa Barbara, the location of the album's recording

"English guitarist Martin Simpson is known for having successfully synthesized a style that blends the best of the finger picking traditions of the British Isles and Appalachia. Wu Man is a virtuoso of the Pipa, a Chinese lute which, like the western guitar, is derived from the Middle Eastern oud." [9]

As with the other Water Lily Acoustics albums, Music for the Motherless Child was recorded at Christ the King Chapel, St. Anthony Seminary, Santa Barbara, California, with Alexander taking advantage of the church's acoustic properties and using vacuum tube electronics which he had custom made. [10] Also similarly to the label's other albums, the two musicians had not met before recording. [10] Simpson had never even heard Man play before, even on a recording. [11] Recording took place in April 1995. [12] While some accounts state that the album was recorded in one, singular 20-hour session from start to finish, [13] it was in fact recorded in a single session from 7:00pm to 2:30am. [12] Simpson, playing guitar, and Man, playing pipa, are the only musicians on the album, while Alexander produced the album. Tim de Paravicini was technician consultant, with technical support from Roger Modjeski. [12] The record was mastered by Chris Rice. [12]

Composition

Music for the Motherless Child fuses Simpson's folk blues-style guitar work with Man's exotica pipa playing, creating what Tim Sheridan of AllMusic describes as "a most unusual sonic world, a place where East meets West and the blues reign supreme." [14] With the exception of "A-Minor Blues", which was composed by Simpson, the material on the album is traditional, [12] and mainly draws from American and European folk music. [15] "A-Minor Blues" takes influence from Appalachian banjo styles and the unsettling E minor playing of Delta blues musician Skip James. Man's pipa work on the track is said to be even more blues-styled than Simpson's guitar work, especially on her tremolo passages. [10] "The Coo-Coo Bird" is a traditional American tune which is similarly derived from the banjo. The album's arrangement of the piece is said to "[blur] the line between bluegrass and Chinese folk," given that, throughout the track, the pipa and guitar parts constantly switch. [10] ABC Radio felt the track had a distinctively Chinese feel. [11] "Dives and Lazarus" is a traditional Irish tune, though here the arrangement more closely resembles blues music. [11]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [14]

Music for the Motherless Child was released by Water Lily Acoustics in 1996, [16] [3] with photography from Michael Sexton. [17] The album is dedicated to "the alchemists of both East and West." [12] It received critical acclaim; Tony Sheridan of AllMusic rated the album four and a half stars out of five. He felt that, as was the case with several other of Alexander's "terrific ventures," Music for the Motherless Child "approaches the common language of a truly global music. Amazing stuff." [14] Reviewing Music for the Motherless Child for the NPR series All Things Considered , writer Banning Eyre described the album as "lovely." [18] Colin Larkin called the album "sparkling" in The Encyclopedia of Popular Music . [19] Musicworks were less pleased with the album, saying that the album works on first listen, but after that, "[t]he music quickly becomes awkward." [7] The album has since been re-released as a SACD, [17] and is archived in Singapore's National Library Board. [15]

Track listing

All songs are traditional, except "A-Minor Blues", written by Martin Simpson.

  1. "One More Day" – 5:03
  2. "A-Minor Blues" – 16:38
  3. "White Snow in Spring" – 6:38
  4. "Dives and Lazarus" – 19:36
  5. "The Coo-Coo Bird" – 7:14
  6. "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" – 8:29

Personnel

Musicians

Other

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Son House</span> American Delta blues singer-guitarist (1902–1988)

Edward James "Son" House Jr. was an American Delta blues singer and guitarist, noted for his highly emotional style of singing and slide guitar playing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lonnie Donegan</span> British skiffle singer (1931–2002)

Anthony James Donegan, known as Lonnie Donegan, was a Scottish skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought up in England, Donegan began his career in the British trad jazz revival but transitioned to skiffle in the mid-1950s, rising to prominence with a hit recording of the American folk song "Rock Island Line" which helped spur the broader UK skiffle movement.

<i>Child Is Father to the Man</i> Album by Blood, Sweat & Tears

Child Is Father to the Man is the debut album by Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in February 1968. It reached number 47 on the Billboard pop albums chart in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Waifs</span> Australian band

The Waifs are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by sisters Vikki Thorn and Donna Simpson as well as Josh Cunningham. Their tour and recording band includes Ben Franz (bass), David Ross Macdonald (drums) and Tony Bourke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Renbourn</span> English guitarist and songwriter

John Renbourn was an English guitarist and songwriter. He was best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo career before, during and after that band's existence (1967–1973). He worked later in a duo with Stefan Grossman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merle Travis</span> American country/Western singer-songwriter and musician

Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky, United States. His songs' lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic exploitation of American coal miners. Among his many well-known songs and recordings are "Sixteen Tons", "Re-Enlistment Blues", "I am a Pilgrim" and "Dark as a Dungeon". However, it is his unique guitar style, still called "Travis picking" by guitarists, as well as his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, for which he is best known today. Travis picking is a syncopated style of guitar fingerpicking rooted in ragtime music in which alternating chords and bass notes are plucked by the thumb while melodies are simultaneously plucked by the index finger. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vishwa Mohan Bhatt</span> Indian mohan veena player

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, professionally known as V. M. Bhatt, is a Hindustani classical music instrumentalist who plays the Mohan veena.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wu Man</span> Chinese pipa player and composer (born 1963)

Wu Man is a Chinese pipa player and composer. Trained in Pudong-style pipa performance at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, she is known for playing in a broad range of musical styles and introducing the pipa and its Chinese heritage into Western genres. She has performed and recorded extensively with Kronos Quartet and Silk Road Ensemble, and has premiered works by Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Terry Riley, Bright Sheng, Tan Dun, Zhao Jiping, and Zhou Long, among many others. She has recorded and appeared on over 40 albums, five of which have been nominated for Grammy Awards. In 2013, she was named Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America, becoming the first performer of a non-Western instrument to receive this award. She also received The United States Artists Award in 2008.

Alexander "Sandy" Bull was an American folk musician and composer. Bull was an accomplished player of many stringed instruments, including guitar, pedal steel guitar, banjo, and oud. His early work blends non-western instruments with 1960s folk revival, and has been cited as important in the development of psychedelic music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Simpson</span> English folk singer and guitarist

Martin Stewart Simpson is an English folk singer, guitarist and songwriter. His music reflects a wide variety of influences and styles, rooted in Britain, Ireland, America and beyond. He builds a purposeful, often upbeat voice on a spare picking style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Bell (singer)</span> American soul singer and songwriter

William Bell is an American soul singer and songwriter. As a performer, he is probably best known for his debut single, 1961's "You Don't Miss Your Water"; 1968's top 10 hit in the UK "Private Number", a duet with Judy Clay; and his only US top 40 hit, 1976's "Tryin' to Love Two", which also hit No. 1 on the R&B chart. Upon the death of Otis Redding, Bell released the well-received memorial song "A Tribute to a King".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water Lily Acoustics</span>

Water Lily Acoustics is an American record label in Santa Barbara, California founded in 1985 by Kavichandran Alexander, a Tamil from Sri Lanka. Alexander is a record producer and audio engineer. He named the label after his mother, Lily. The label primarily releases recordings of Indian classical music and collaborations by musicians from around the world. At its inception, the Alexander emphasized Eastern musicians, espousing the belief that they had seldom been recorded with proper sound quality compared to their Western counterparts. He began to include music from outside Asia. Alexander has recorded and produced musicians such as José Neto, Ali Akbar Khan, V. G. Jog, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Ry Cooder, Jerry Douglas, Béla Fleck, Taj Mahal, Papa Susso, Jiebing Chen, Simon Shaheen, Hungarian National Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Music he has recorded has appeared in the films Angel Eyes, Dead Man Walking, and Meet the Fockers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lily Frost</span> Musical artist

Lily Frost, born Lindsey Frost Davis, is a Canadian independent singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. Bilingual in French and English, she is a cross-genre, multi disciplinary singer/songwriter/performer and recording artist.

<i>The Best of the Vanguard Years</i> (Odetta album) 1999 greatest hits album by Odetta

The Best of the Vanguard Years is a compilation album by American folk singer Odetta, originally released in 1999.

<i>A Meeting by the River</i> 1993 studio album by Ry Cooder and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt

A Meeting by the River is an album recorded by Ry Cooder and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt; it was recorded in September 1992 and released in April 1993 through the record label Water Lily Acoustics. This improvised, collaborative album features Cooder on slide guitar and Bhatt on the Mohan veena, a stringed instrument created by Bhatt. A Meeting by the River was produced by Kavichandran Alexander and Jayant Shah, engineered by Alexander, and mastered by Kevin Michael Gray and Paul Stubblebine. It peaked at number four on Billboard's Top World Music Albums chart, and earned Cooder and Bhatt Grammy Awards for Best World Music Album at the 36th Grammy Awards in 1994. The album is included in Tom Moon's 2008 book 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pokey LaFarge</span> American musician

Pokey LaFarge is an American musician and singer-songwriter.

Kavichandran Alexander is an audio engineer and record producer. He is the founder of the American record label, Water Lily Acoustics. Alexander was the producer and engineer for the 1993 album A Meeting by the River, featuring Ry Cooder and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, which won a Grammy Award for Best World Music Album.

<i>Three Score and Ten</i> 2009 box set by Various Artists

Three Score and Ten: A Voice to the People is a multi-CD box set album issued by Topic Records in 2009 to celebrate 70 years as an independent British record label.

<i>Glyptothek</i> (album) 2015 studio album by Momus

Glyptothek is an album by Scottish musician Momus. It was released on 5 December 2015 by independent record label American Patchwork on CD and distributed by Darla Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dom Flemons</span> Musical artist

Dominique Flemons is an American old-time music, Piedmont blues, and neotraditional country multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. He is a proficient player of the banjo, fife, guitar, harmonica, percussion, quills, and rhythm bones. He is known as "The American Songster" as his repertoire of music spans nearly a century of American folklore, ballads, and tunes. He has performed with Mike Seeger, Joe Thompson, Martin Simpson, Boo Hanks, Taj Mahal, Old Crow Medicine Show, Guy Davis, and The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band.

References

  1. ↑ Gregory, Andy (1 January 2002). The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002. Psychology Press. ISBN   9781857431612.
  2. 1 2 Bush, John. "Artist Biography by John Bush". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Martin Simpsons Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  4. 1 2 Layne, Josyln. "Artist Biography by Joslyn Layne". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  5. ↑ Love, Bret. "AllMusic Review by Bret Love". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "Feature". Stereophiles. 20 (9–12): 209. 1997.
  7. 1 2 "Album Reviews". Musicworks. 70–72: 57. 1998.
  8. ↑ Morris, Chris (4 May 1996). "Musical Hybrids Thrive at Water Lily". Billboard . Vol. 108, no. 18. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 55–56. ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "Art is nearer to life than any fact can ever be" . Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Reviews". World Trade. 10 (6–9): 4. 1997.
  11. 1 2 3 "Martin Simpson". ABC.net.au. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Music for the Motherless Child (liner). Martin Simpson and Wu Man. Water Lily Acoustics. 1996.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  13. ↑ "Martin Simpson - one of the folk world's all-time favourites". The University of Sheffield. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  14. 1 2 3 Sheridan, Tim. "AllMusic Review by Tim Sheridan". AllMusic. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  15. 1 2 "Music for the motherless child Martin Simpson, Wu Man". National Library Board. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  16. ↑ Gregory, Andy (1 January 2002). The International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002. Psychology Press. ISBN   9781857431612.
  17. 1 2 Music for the Motherless Child (liner). Martin Simpson and Wu Man. Water Lily Acoustics.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  18. ↑ "Music For The Motherless Child". NPR. 7 August 1997. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  19. ↑ Larkin, Colin. "Martin Simpson Biography" . Retrieved 21 February 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.