Catalog

Jewish music, just like the Jewish people, has been around for centuries and originates from various backgrounds. Just like the recorder, an ancient instrument that has been revived in the past few decades, so does the Jewish history and within it, the Jewish music. 27 HEBREW MELODIES FOR RECORDER is a collection of beautiful songs, some of which are very ancient, religious, and Hasidic, while others are modern and secular. Some come from Europe and are sung in Yiddish while others were “born” in Israel and are in modern Hebrew. Is there a common character to these varied tunes? Perhaps the favor for minor scale, some modality, and the use of syncopation. Nevertheless, each and every one of them is a unique piece, recorded for the first time in this special arrangement made by Hans Lewitus for two Recorders. In the album, one can hear and enjoy the whole Recorder family, accompanied sometimes by violin, clarinet, and guitar, along with singing. — Inbar Solomon

SPRUCE RITUAL from Bay Area violinist, vocalist, and composer Lucian Balmer is a heartfelt dance between western classical and North Indian classical music. While the album is centered around violin, viola, and cello—the string instrument family at the heart of Romantic era chamber music—Balmer seamlessly integrates the sounds of the sitar and the tabla, two pillars of Indian classical music. While the recordings do not contain lyrics, the human voice is also a prominent instrument on this album. This is thanks to the use of sargam, in which the notes of the composition are sung. The music of SPRUCE RITUAL is richly illustrative of Balmer’s own life experiences, ranging from devotion, love, loss, melancholy, and excitement.

RE/SEMBLANCE: SAATH-SAATH from Ansonica Records is a unique collaboration between Indian and Chinese musicians and a Cantopop lyricist. The result lives up to the meaning of the Hindustani phrase Saath-Saath: “together-together.” Transcending the confines of borders and cultural differences, this double album is the result of multiple crisscrossing journeys that took Chinese musicians to Bangalore and Mumbai, and took Indian musicians to Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Wuhan. The music exemplifies the notion of “resemblance” by hinting at and recombining a number of cultural traditions; listeners hear a melody that hints at a Hindustani raga, Indian singers intone a Cantonese poem, and more. Through the shared language of music, RE/SEMBLANCE: SAATH-SAATH opens up exciting new possibilities for inter-cultural conversations.

SOPRANO MEETS BASS is the latest from Ansonica Records. This album of traditional medieval Sephardic songs arranged by jazz bassist and music director Alan Lewine and classical soprano Ana María Ruimonte is an ethnomusicological celebration of the ancient Sephardic culture. These Spanish Jews were expelled from Spain in the 15th Century and resettled throughout the world, mingling their musical traditions with those of other peoples they encountered. The original arrangements meld medieval Moorish Iberia, jazz, flamenco, Middle Eastern music, and bel canto. They have set these songs in a sort of recombinant world fusion reflecting a vibrant embodiment of the Sephardic communities and their culture.

With Ansonica Records’ release of MÚSICA UNIVERSAL, traditional Cuban tunes and wider genres of pop and soul stand side by side. Vocal Universo’s performances intend to appeal to all varieties of musical tastes, with the understanding that humanity has a deeper understanding of music that breaks through language and genre barriers.

SONGS OF LAKE VOLTA, Joe Sheehan’s debut on Ansonica Records, finds the composer and pianist fusing his passion for the music of West Africa, particularly that of Ghana, with his background in both classical chamber music and contemporary jazz. SONGS OF LAKE VOLTA features nine traditional Ghanian songs surrounded by original music composed by Sheehan, performed by two critically acclaimed groups: Kinetic and Kassia Ensemble.

Continuing in the series of Cuban recorded Ansonica Records projects comes CORO DEL MUNDO – choir of the world. With tracks ranging from sacred to secular, and from delicate to aggressive, the surprising cohesiveness of the composers’ work is astonishingly beautiful and impassioned. Schola Cantorum Coralina and Vocal Luna contribute exquisite vocals to the proceedings.

With TROVAS MODERNAS, the members of Bello Son have curated the latest edition of the Great Cuban Songbook. This group of free format musicians emerged in the summer of 2014, from an experimental project developed over six years by Professor Jesús Bello at the Samuel Feijóo Art School in Villa Clara Cuba.

Ansonica Records presents a fantastic collection of traditional Cuban music authentically performed by the Havana based all-female octet, Ellasón. The dynamic group is comprised of vocals, baby bass, chorus, guitar, congas, bongos, cowbells, two clarinets, violin, and a voice leader. Ellasón focuses on traditional Cuban and Latin-American music with inspiration from the Cuban musical genre, La Trova.

In November 2015, less than one year after these initial steps toward fully opening relations, PARMA Recordings produced the first of its recording projects in Havana. The resulting album, ABRAZO: THE HAVANA SESSIONS on the newly-minted Ansonica Records label, presents works for big band, small jazz combo, choir, and chamber ensembles by composers Bunny Beck, Roger Bourland, Don Bowyer, Margaret Brandman, John Carollo, Timothy Miller, Mel Mobley, and Michael Murray performed by current or former members of the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, the Buena Vista Social Club, Irakere, and many more.