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Guy
Mendilow: Soar Away Home
(Earthen Groove Records 2001)
Guy
Mendilow draws on his experiences living, learning and performing
in four continents and over seven countries including Israel, South
Africa, Mexico and Brazil in his debut album Soar Away Home.
Awash with powerful vocals, rich harmonies and captivating rhythms,
Soar Away Home journeys from South African melodies to sitar patterns,
middle eastern rhythms, folk ballads and the blues. Featuring the
Guy Mendilow Band, an eight-person ensemble of four voices, 'cello,
violin, guitar, bass and percussion, the album opens with Mendilow's
exuberant arrangement of Ladysmith Black Mambazo's "Rain,
Rain, Beautiful Rain" (track 1), reminiscent of Paul Simon,
and ranges from the dark, searing harmonies of "Soar Away
Home" (track 2) to the tender folk ballad of lost love
"Carry On" (track 3), an arrangement of the traditional
"St. James Infirmary Blues" with deep, gravelly
bass and wailing New Orleans trumpet and the wistful instrumental
"Porch Song" (track 12) featuring warm contrabass
and jazz piano.
Especially noteworthy is Mendilow's masterful overtone singing on
"Experiment in tintal for overtone singing, 'cello &
violin" (track 8). If you've never heard the technique,
imagine one voice singing one steady pitch, a low drone, like a
bagpipe or tambura, while above it a second voice, haunting and
flutelike, traces intricate melodies and improvises swiftly. Now
picture a solo singer producing both voices at once, a one-man duo.
Sounds heady, but the result is simple and moving. Putting a new
spin on the old mouth technique and stretching its limits, Mendilow
uses the ethereal overtones to sing sitar patterns in the original
piece. He is very down to earth about it. He did not, for instance,
learn overtone singing from a guru on some mountain. He taught himself
in his car. And "Experiment in tintal for overtone singing,
'cello and violin" was written in a traffic jam outside
Detroit.
Produced
by Guy J. Mendilow
You
can order
a copy online or by contacting Earthen
Groove. Find out what
people are saying about "Soar Away Home," read more
listener reviews at cdbaby.com,
amazon.com,
cdnow.com,
or write
your own review.
Track
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