文章基本信息

标题：Helen Rivero and Ian Blake: Luminous
作者：Mark D. Moss
期刊名称：Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine
印刷版ISSN：0037-5624
出版年度：2006
卷号：Winter 2006
出版社：The Sing Out! Corp.

Helen Rivero and Ian Blake: Luminous

Mark D. Moss

HELEN RIVERO AND IAN BLAKE Luminous Rivero & Blake 2005

Helen Rivero is a singer and composer born in Sydney, Australia, to Spanish immigrants who has focused her work on jazz, cabaret and folks songs from around the world. Ian Blake is a British-transplant multi-instrumentalist whose has worked with English country dance group Pyewackett, Eric Bogle, and British-world music-chameleon Andrew Cronshaw. For this stunningly recorded collection, these two artists bring all those influences and styles to a mix of lullabies from around the world, including pieces in Zulu, Yiddish, French, Russian, Creole, Italian, Micmac and many more (17 pieces in all).

Rivero is a singer who is nothing if not unique. She uses her voice as a supple musical instrument, effortlessly darting from the lyric to vocalese and sound effects, painting a striking, often haunting, series of mini-paintings from each of the cultures represented here. Blake is an instrumental master, providing a broad range of sensitively played arrangements for these pieces with an arsenal of woodwinds, keyboards and strings. Peter Kennard (percussion) and Julian Thompson (cello) fill out the ensemble.

The excellent production (Blake and Rivero) is pure and clean, very reminiscent of Blake's production work on Andrew Cronshaw's award winning release Ochre from last year. It is a joy just to listen to the sound of this recording, with each vocal and instrument cleanly presented with a "whole" sound ... open and clear.

The material seems to be a mixture of traditional and composed music from literally, all over the world. It's both a tribute to the artistry of the duo that the material works together and that each piece stands up independently of the whole. I wish there was more background about the material provided. In the end, though, this is music that stands on its own. I don't want to mistakenly make it seem like this is any kind of folkloric work, but if you're open to a cool, jazzy take on tradition from true musical masters, this is a beautiful recording well worth the effort to find.