3 mustaphas 3 / Drovers

[stern@chem.nwu.edu (Charlotte Stern)]

This past Sat. night at Shubas in Chicago I was lucky enough to
see two groups with whom I was previously relatively unacquainted:
The Drovers are an Irish group featuring fiddle, flute, and various
other standard instruments.  They were quite upbeat and worth checking
out.  3 Mustaphas 3 are a mystery band, probably partially from England,
but there may be some mid-eastern element.  They play a wide array of horns
and other traditional instruments, and a sing in a vast array of
languages, from Arabic to French to Greek to Ancient Egyptian.  One
fellow in the audience said they even do a Sanskrit number.  They are
a fun band to see live and they seem to have a few albums out.
They laugh and joke around alot, making fun of just about all the cultures
and music they do, but as musicians, they do tend to be verily talented,
and quite together as a group.  These two played together... the Drovers
I know play around Chicago somewhat frequently.  I would recommend checking
both out if you get the chance.  I notice that NoteWorthy lists one title
by 3M3 (Heart of Uncle on Ryko) but if anyone knows about where to
get any other albums by these guys (CD or otherwise) I would be interested
in hearing about it (I have a friend who has been looking for a while).
If you have any other info on either of these bands, I'd like to hear that
as well.  

Also, I have recently listened to music by two Kate session musicians:
Weber and Stivell.  The Harp is quite haunting and beautiful, while
Weber's music is Jazzier.  It is always interesting to listen to
artists kate likes and uses to try to assess just what it is that
attracts her to them.

-mjm (Mike Mendelson)