Re: Trio Bulgarka

[chrisw@miso.wwa.com (Chris Williams)]

In article <9511260004.AA32546@fly.HiWAAY.net>,
   cbullard@HiWAAY.net (Len Bullard) wrote:
>
>[Simon T.]

>>Does anyone here but me like Bulgarian vocal singing....I love the 
>>Trio Bulgarka's solo recordings and the recordings under the name of 
>>"Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares".  They are incredible.
>
>I got the "Le Mystere" CDs a few years back.  Fabulous sound, and 
>impossible to duplicate.  Inspiring.
>
>They did a piece on ABC news about 1990 or 91 about
>the Bulgarian singers and they interviewed Kate. 

   We have this on tape...it's a candidate for inclusion on the next
Lovehounds Collection (yes, there will be another one.)

> She was quite depressed.  It seems she was being savaged 
>by critics for "strip mining" the cultures of others for pop,
>which is the same stupid bit that was done to Paul Simon
>for his work with the South African groups. 

   Yeah, if you ever saw Ladysmith in concert, you would have
heard Headman speak glowingly of "...that wonderful day we 
met Mr. Paul Simon." Basically, it's rock critics working
out their own white liberal guilt on rock stars. It's called
"projection."

   The "Southbank Show" had a profile of Peter Gabriel 
making "Security" (aka "IV"). It followed him from concept
to critical reception. He got savaged by some of the UK
music papers, but got generally good reviews in the black
UK music press (one on-screen quote: "Sadly, the honky
poseurs of the white press disagree...")

   Musicians want audiences. To be heard by people around
the world is a wonderful. For people to be exposed to
music from other countries that they might never have
heard is wonderful. To claim that musicians should remain
in their own little box, and not work musicians from other
countries is the worst type of musical colonialism.

   Besides, the "world" musicians who generally get heard by
"westerners" are usually the very best their country has to 
offer. The Trio Bulgarka are the acknowleged greatest singers
in Bulgaria. Nusrat Fatah Ali Kahn is a superstar, and his
concerts are literally a religious experience. 

   Talent so brillant that it is able to burn through the 
layer of wax clogging the ears of western listeners...these
people are usually already global musicians before they
get "discovered."

> OTH, interviews with the strippees indicated that they were 
>happy with the attention the pop stars earned them, and proud 
>to work with international personages such as Kate and Paul.

   The Trio *turned down* offers from other pop stars,
and appeared genuinely honored to be working with Kate. The
program "Rythums Of The World" had a feature about the Trio,
and showed them in the studio with Kate (and Kate learning
to sing drone to Yanka Rupkina's solo.)

>Had Kate not brought them to my attention, I would not own
>those CDs.

   We were Bulgarian music fans before Kate worked with them,
so we were overjoyed when we heard that Kate was going to.


--
Chris Williams of
Chris'n'Vickie of Chicago
chrisw@miso.wwa.com
"How perfectly goddamn delightful it all is, to be sure." - C. Crumb