The Basement Rug

Here’s something just in time for Halloween. If you don’t have a copy of the original 1931 Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, you better get out and find one! Check your local TV listings for Halloween - you will probably find it. If you are able to watch the original film, kill the audio and play this instead.

Dracula: Soundtrack by Philip Glass
Catalog Number: NONESUCH 79542
Released: 1999

1) Dracula
2) Journey to the Inn
3) Inn
4) Crypt
5) Carriage Without a Driver
6) Castle
7) Drawing Room
8) ‘Excellent, Mr) Renfield’
9) Three Consorts of Dracula
10) Storm
11) Horrible Tragedy
12) London Fog
13) In the Theatre
14) Lucy’s Bitten
15) Seward Sanatorium
16) Renfield
17) In His Cell
18) When the Dream Comes
19) Dracula Enters
20) Or a Wolf
21) Women in White
22) Renfield in the Drawing Room
23) Dr) Van Helsing and Dracula
24) Mina on the Terrace
25) Mina’s Bedroom/The Abbey
26) End of Dracula

The following biography was taken from kronosquartet.org:

KRONOS QUARTET:

David Harrington, violin
John Sherba, violin
Hank Dutt, viola
Jeffrey Zeigler, cello

For more than 30 years, the Kronos Quartet—David Harrington, John Sherba (violins), Hank Dutt (viola) and Jeffrey Zeigler (cello)—has pursued a singular artistic vision, combining a spirit of fearless exploration with a commitment to expanding the range and context of the string quartet. In the process, Kronos has become one of the most celebrated and influential groups of our time, performing thousands of concerts worldwide, releasing more than 40 recordings of extraordinary breadth and creativity, collaborating with many of the world’s most eclectic composers and performers, and commissioning hundreds of works and arrangements for string quartet. Kronos’ work has also garnered numerous awards, including a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance (2004) and “Musicians of the Year” (2003) from Musical America.

Kronos’ adventurous approach dates back to the ensemble’s origins. In 1973, David Harrington was inspired to form Kronos after hearing George Crumb’s Black Angels, a highly unorthodox, Vietnam War-inspired work featuring bowed water glasses, spoken word passages, and electronic effects. Kronos then began building a compellingly diverse repertoire for string quartet, performing and recording works by 20th-century masters (Bartók, Shostakovich, Webern), contemporary composers (Sofia Gubaidulina, Arvo Pärt, Alfred Schnittke), jazz legends (Ornette Coleman, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk), and artists from even farther afield (rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, Indian vocal master Pandit Pran Nath, avant-garde saxophonist John Zorn).

Integral to Kronos’ work is a series of long-running, in-depth collaborations with many of the world’s foremost composers. One of the quartet’s most frequent composer-collaborators is “Father of Minimalism” Terry Riley, whose work with Kronos includes the early Sunrise of the Planetary Dream Collector; Cadenza on the Night Plain and Salome Dances for Peace; 2002’s Sun Rings, a multimedia, NASA-commissioned ode to the earth and its people, featuring celestial sounds and images from space; and, most recently, The Cusp of Magic, commissioned in honor of Riley’s 70th birthday celebrations and premiered by Kronos and Chinese pipa virtuoso Wu Man in 2005. Kronos commissioned and recorded the three string quartets of Polish composer Henryk Mikolaj Górecki, with whom the group has been working for nearly 20 years. The quartet has also collaborated extensively with composers such as Philip Glass, recording his complete string quartets and scores to films like Mishima and Dracula (a restored edition of the Bela Lugosi classic); Azerbaijan’s Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, whose works are featured on the full-length 2005 release Mugam Sayagi: Music of Franghiz Ali-Zadeh; Steve Reich, whose Kronos-recorded Different Trains earned a Grammy; Argentina’s Osvaldo Golijov, whose work with Kronos includes both compositions and extensive arrangements for albums like Kronos Caravan and Nuevo; and many more.

In addition to composers, Kronos counts numerous artists from around the world among its collaborators, including the legendary Bollywood “playback singer” Asha Bhosle, featured on Kronos’ Grammy-nominated CD, You’ve Stolen My Heart: Songs from R.D. Burman’s Bollywood ; the renowned American soprano Dawn Upshaw; Mexican rockers Café Tacuba; the Romanian gypsy band Taraf de Haïdouks; and the unbridled British cabaret trio, the Tiger Lillies. Kronos has performed live with the likes of icons Allen Ginsberg, Zakir Hussain, Modern Jazz Quartet, Tom Waits, Betty Carter, and David Bowie, and has appeared on recordings by such diverse talents as Amon Tobin, Dan Zanes, DJ Spooky, Dave Matthews, Nelly Furtado, Rokia Traoré, Joan Armatrading and Don Walser.

Kronos’ music has also featured prominently in other media, including film (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, 21 Grams, Heat, True Stories) and dance, with noted choreographers such as Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, and the duo Eiko & Koma setting pieces to Kronos’ music.

The Quartet spends five months of each year on tour, appearing in concert halls, clubs, and festivals around the world including BAM Next Wave Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Barbican in London, WOMAD, UCLA’s Royce Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Shanghai Concert Hall and the Sydney Opera House. Kronos is equally prolific and wide-ranging on disc. The ensemble’s expansive discography on Nonesuch Records includes collections like Pieces of Africa (1992), a showcase of African-born composers, which simultaneously topped Billboard’s Classical and World Music lists; 2000’s Kronos Caravan, whose musical “travels” span North and South America, Europe, and the Middle East; 1998’s ten-disc anthology, Kronos Quartet: 25 Years; Nuevo (2002), a Grammy- and Latin Grammy–nominated celebration of Mexican culture; and the 2003 Grammy-winner, Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite.

Kronos’ recording and performances reveal only a fraction of the group’s commitment to new music. As a non-profit organization based in San Francisco, the Kronos Quartet/Kronos Performing Arts Association has commissioned more than 500 new works and arrangements for string quartet. Music publishers Boosey & Hawkes and Kronos have recently released sheet music for three signature works, all commissioned for Kronos, in the first volume of the Kronos Collection, a performing edition edited by Kronos. The quartet is committed to mentoring emerging professional performers, and in 2007 Kronos led its first Professional Training Workshop with four string quartets as part of the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall. One of Kronos’ most exciting initiatives is the Kronos: Under 30 Project, a unique commissioning and composer-in-residence program for composers under 30 years old, launched in conjunction with Kronos’ own 30th birthday in 2003. By cultivating creative relationships with such emerging talents and a wealth of other artists from around the world, Kronos reaps the benefit of 30 years’ wisdom while maintaining a fresh approach to music-making inspired by a new generation of composers and performers.

I just heard a few hours ago that Merl Saunders had passed on. I went looking for a new story and found this, along with a download of the Keystone Encores album (1973). Enjoy!

The following story is from th 24 October 2008 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle:

16:44 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — Keyboardist Merl Saunders, the gentle lion of the San Francisco music scene best known as co-captain of guitarist Jerry Garcia’s solo excursions outside the Grateful Dead, died Friday at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center after fighting infections.

The 74-year-old musician suffered a debilitating stroke 6 1/2 years ago and, although he lost the ability to speak, he made numerous sentimental guest appearances at shows over those years playing with one hand.

“I never met anybody so happy who had a stroke,” said Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart. “In the end, the only thing that lit him up was the music. Sometimes he’d cry, but I’ve never seen anybody so happy in the realm of music.”

The native San Franciscan attended Polytechnic High School with singer Johnny Mathis.

After serving in the Army from 1953 to 1957, he played jazz organ on the same circuit as Jimmy Smith and Brother Jack McDuff. He worked as musical director of the Billy Williams Revue and served in a similar capacity in Oscar Brown Jr.’s off-Broadway show “Big Time Buck White.” He backed up Dinah Washington and jammed with Miles Davis. Mr. Saunders, who was rarely seen in public without his trademark aviator shades and black leather fisherman’s cap, started playing with Garcia in 1971 at a small Fillmore Street nightclub called the Matrix, where the Grateful Dead guitarist liked to hold informal jam sessions on Dead nights off. Within months, the loose-knit band was playing to packed houses at small local clubs like the Keystone Korner in North Beach every weekend the Dead wasn’t working. Members sometimes included former Creedence Clearwater rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty and former Journey rhythm guitarist George Tickner.

The Saunders-Garcia Band, as the group came to be called, backed Mr. Saunders on his 1971 solo album, “Heavy Turbulence,” and recorded two albums for Berkeley’s Fantasy Records.

“Merl was an ensemble guy, a groupist,” said Hart, who played with Mr. Saunders in his early ’80s solo group, High Noon. “He brought those sensibilities to the Garcia band. He let Jerry have his flights of fancy.”

Mr. Saunders told The Chronicle in 1972 that playing with Garcia offered them both an opportunity to experiment and explore different forms of music. “We do it just for fun,” he said.

With the addition of saxophonist Martin Fierro in 1974, the group transformed into the Legion of Mary and disbanded the following year. Mr. Saunders also played in Reconstruction with Garcia in 1979 and 1980. Garcia appeared on Mr. Saunders’ 1990 solo album and video, “Blues From the Rainforest,” a surprise hit on the New Age music charts.

After Garcia fell into a diabetic coma in 1986 and lost some of his basic motor skills, Mr. Saunders spent hours daily with the stricken guitarist running scales, working him out on jazz standards such as “My Funny Valentine.”

Mr. Saunders’ music appeared on such soundtracks as “Fritz the Cat” and “Steelyard Blues.” He worked on the TV series “Nash Bridges” and, as musical director of the 1985 TV series “The New Twilight Zone,” inveigled the Grateful Dead into a new recording of the classic theme song.

He recorded numerous albums, toured constantly and earned a welcome spot in the post-Dead jam band scene. Mr. Saunders headlined the Haight Street Music Fair for 24 consecutive years.

After his stroke, Mr. Saunders’ musician son, Tony Saunders, completed his final solo album, “Still Groovin’.” The album featured duets with Bonnie Raitt and Mavis Staples. Huey Lewis stepped up with a lead vocal after Mr. Saunders was disabled.

In his first public appearance following the stroke, Mr. Saunders attended the September 2004 CD release party at the Great American Music Hall, and played a handful of notes on the keyboard.

Mr. Saunders cheated death twice before. He was booked to return to San Francisco on United Flight 93 out of Newark, N.J., on Sept. 11, 2001, but decided to take an earlier flight so he could get home in time to watch the 49ers on Monday Night Football. In 2002, he underwent surgery for cancer, only weeks before his stroke.

He is survived by his longtime companion, Deborah Hall; his sons, Tony of Martinez and Merl Saunders Jr. of Novato; daughter Susan Mora of Oakland; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at First AME Zion Church, 2159 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco.

E-mail Joel Selvin at jselvin@sfchronicle.com.

Album review by Lindsay Planer (AMG):

This is the third of three CDs compiled from a two-night (July 10 and 11, 1973) stand at Keystone Korners in Berkeley. These recordings have likewise yielded a pair of additional volumes — all of which stem from the original Live at Keystone (1973) two-LP release. Merl Saunders (keyboards) and Jerry Garcia (guitar/vocals) lead a funky rhythm section — consisting of John Kahn (bass) and Bill Vitt (percussion) — through a variety of adeptly chosen R&B, Motown, and blues covers. Garcia and Saunders began performing sporadically throughout the end of 1970, reconvening in the Bay Area whenever the guitarist could find time away from his day gig with the Grateful Dead. Ultimately this loose aggregate became the prototype for a somewhat more formal Jerry Garcia Band, which continued until Garcia’s passing in 1995. By the time these recordings were made, this particular combo was holding court upwards of eight weeks a year and had developed a unique, laid-back persona, perfectly counterbalancing Garcia’s decidedly more aggressive contributions to the Dead. The musical centerpiece of this band is undoubtedly their uncanny ability to provide multiple layers of interpretation and variation on familiar themes. The combination of Saunders’ sweet and soulful organ leads and the pure tonality in Garcia’s solos is flawlessly supported by round upon round of Kahn’s assertively fluid interjections. The Motown cover of “How Sweet It Is” perhaps best-exemplifies this approach, as the bassist punctuates the established melody with his trademark second-nature harmonic counterpoint. Keen-eared Deadheads will undoubtedly be curious to hear the adaptations of “High Heel Sneakers,” “I Second That Emotion,” as well as the Chicago-style blues interpretation of Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “One Kind Favor” — which the Dead very occasionally worked into their earliest performances. The loose structure allows for extended soloing which rather inadvertently reveals a lighthearted and cherubic side to Garcia’s musical companionship. This is a recommended listen for potential fans as well as the seasoned enthusiast.

Track Listing:

1) Hi-Heel Sneakers - 8:12
2) It’s Too Late (She’s Gone) - 7:44
3) I Second That Emotion - 10:57
4) One Kind Favour - 6:36
5) Money Honey - 8:19
6) How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You) - 10:20

Rabih Abou-Khalil is the Paco De Lucia of the Oud! His music is both hypnotic and intense, taking you on an all-absorbing journey you wish you didn’t have to return from. But while he can play blistering fast, he tends to reserve his outbursts for just the right moment, concentrating more on creating an unbelieveable journey that is accompanied by master percussionists and world-renowned musicians of all kinds. Listen to Arabian Waltz in the player below.

Tarab (1993) is the only Rabih Abou-Khalil album I have in my collection, but that will soon change, as I just found 13 other Khalil albums on the Silkroad blog which I have archived here.

Track Listing:

1) Bushman in the Desert
2) After Dinner
3) Awakening
4) Haneen Wa Haneen
5) Lost Centuries
6) In Search of the Well
7) Orange Fields
8) A Tooth Lost
9) Arabian Waltz

Biography from Wikipedia.org:

Rabih Abou-Khalil was born 17 August 1957 in Lebanon. He grew up in Beirut and moved to Munich, Germany during the civil war in 1978. He lives partly in Munich and partly in the South of France.

From early on, he learnt to play the oud, a fretless string instrument, similar to the European lute. He studied in the Beirut conservatory from oud virtuoso Georges Farah. After moving to Germany, he studied classical flute at the Academy of Music in Munich under Walther Theurer.

He has often blended traditional Arab music with jazz, rock and classical music, and has earned praise such as “a world musician years before the phrase became a label — makes the hot, staccato Middle Eastern flavour and the seamless grooves of jazz mingle as if they were always meant to.” Together with Anouar Brahem he has helped highlight the oud as a vehicle of eclectic “world jazz”. Abou-Khalil’s oud playing style has often been likened to jazz guitar: “Abou-Khalil spins more oud notes in 10 seconds than most jazz guitarists do in their short commercial lifespans.”

Abou-Khalil’s music uses elements from Arab music traditions, together with many jazz, rock and classical references, particularly to the school of Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, which itself broke ground in terms of introducing new global influences. Other influences include Frank Zappa, Bela Bartok, and such unexpected musicians like the Mighty Sparrow and Lord Kitchener from Trinidad. Jazz elements are present in most of his recorded work, for instance in the use of the acoustic pizzicato bass, generally played by recognized jazz musicians like Steve Swallow and Glen Moore. At the Beijing Jazz Festival of 2003 he performed to great acclaim accompanied by tuba and clarinet as well as the percussion he has always favoured.

Track Listing:

1) Raag Yaman (43:44)
2) Chaiti Dhun (14:10)

The following BBC memorial article: Indian music’s soulful maestro was published on Monday, 21 August 2006:

Ustad Bismillah Khan was one of India’s most prolific musicians, gaining worldwide acclaim for playing the shehnai for more than eight decades.

He was credited with helping the shehnai - a type of wind instrument - attain a higher status in Indian classical music and taking it to a world stage. It had earlier considered to be an accompanying instrument.

In 2001, he was awarded India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.

The shehnai is traditionally played at Indian weddings and ceremonies and its high-pitched notes and heart-tugging sound are considered auspicious.

A devout Muslim, Khan was a symbol of India’s religious pluralism and a symbol of harmony for people of different faiths.

He was often seen playing at various temples and on the banks of the holy river Ganges in the northern Indian city of Varanasi, his home town.

He was particularly proud of playing outside the famous Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.

Cultural icon

Born on 21 March 1916 in a small village in the northern Indian state of Bihar, Khan belonged to a family of court musicians. His ancestors were musicians in the princely state of Dumraon in Bihar.

Aged six, Khan moved to his maternal house, located close to the Ganges at Varanasi.

He started his formal training under his uncle, Ali Bux ‘Vilayatu’, who was a shehnai player attached to the Vishwanath temple.

Khan’s 1937 performance at the All India Music Conference in the eastern city of Calcutta brought shehnai to the centre stage of Indian classical music.

Among the high points in his career was when he played at Delhi’s Red Fort on the eve of India’s Independence in 1947.

Since the time of India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Khan performed every Independence Day and state-owned television has shown his live performance immediately after the prime minister’s address to the nation.

Fear of flying

By the early 1960s Khan had gained worldwide reckoning through his records even before his first performance abroad.

He was reportedly afraid of flying and had turned down numerous invitations.

In 1966 after a lot of insistence and persuasion by the Indian government, he agreed to perform at the Edinburgh festival, but he demanded that he and his staff should be taken on an all-expenses-paid trip to Mecca and Medina first.

This was initially a demand to avoid travelling, but when the government agreed to his demand he ultimately performed at Edinburgh.

Soon after he was flooded with invitations and went on to perform in the US, Europe, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Canada, West Africa, Japan, Hong Kong, Russia and in many other cities across the world.

‘Moody’

Bismillah Khan was a very private person and shunned publicity. He believed he “should be heard, not seen”.

He was known to be moody during concerts. The BBC’s Ram Dutt Tripathi says he saw Khan throwing microphones and refusing to play unless everything was to his liking.

Khan played in just one Hindi film, Goonj Uthi Shehnai (Echoes of the Shehnai), in 1959.

He was reportedly annoyed and stormed off a film set when a music director interrupted his playing and asked him to play a note in a certain way. Since that day he never looked towards Bollywood.

He did, however, play shehnai in the popular Kannada-language film, Sanaadi Appanna, in the 1970s.

Khan was known for living a simple and austere life at his home in a narrow alleyway near the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi.

Despite his fame, he was often seen out and about the city in cycle-rickshaws, his favourite mode of transport.

In his last days he was not very well off as his income supported a joint family of nearly 60, including five sons, three daughters and their children.

In 2003 he even made an appeal to the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for financial help. After repeated pleas, he was granted 500,000 rupees ($10,760 ) in “delayed aid”.

The musician’s love for Varanasi was well-known - even when he was on his death-bed he refused to be treated in Delhi despite such offers from the government.

Speaking to the Indian media before his death, Khan asked why, when others came to die in Varanasi, he should leave the city to die somewhere else.

Alam Madina Music Productions (AMMP) was started by Ali Akbar Khan (Khansahib) in 1979. The family-run, independent label has provided a vehicle for Khansahib to release music with an emphasis on capturing and archiving the pure heritage of North Indian classical music. This recording of two incredible evening ragas by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Nikhil Banerjee represents volume 4 of the AMMP Signature Series and includes Pandit Mahapurush Misra on tabla.

The Signature Series is a superb collection of recordings originally released on the “Connoisseur Society” label. They were all recorded by David B. Jones between 1963-1974 in various churches around New York City and are known to many as the first albums to “turn on” America to the real world of Indian Classical music. The master tapes were recorded using Sony C-37 microphones, custom-built, vacuum-tube electronics and mixer, and half-inch, 2-channel Ampex tape machines running at 30-ips. The re-issued CD’s were remastered by Bob Ludwig at his Gateway Mastering Studios.

Recording notes by Ali Akbar Khan:

1) Rag Manj Khammaj (21:38)

This rag was composed by my father. It is a light classical composition mixed from Rag Khammaj. The notes are very similar to other light classical ragas. You must take care not to mix them together. The moods of Manj Khammaj are Pathos and Joy. The fast gat is Rag Gara Manj, then the composition continues with Manj Khammaj.

2) Rag Misra Mand (21:30)

Rag Mand is a light classical melody originating in Rajesthan. When you hear my composition in Rag Misra Mand you will hear a difference between the two ragas. This is because Rag Mand is from Rajesthan, whereas Rag Misra Mand is a blend of Rajesthani tunes and folk tunes from Bengal. I mixed both of the styles together and added my own ideas. The moods are of pathos and joy. You can play Misra Mand starting in the early evening on into the late night.

Karuna Supreme is just one of many great indo-jazz fusion albums out there. Originally released on the MPS label on 1 November 1975, I believe it is now out of print.

Track Listing:

1) Ganesha’s Jubilee Dance (9:19)
2) Karuna Supreme (11:06)
3) The Soul and the Atma (20:44)

Review by Sean Westergaard, All Music Guide:

Karuna Supreme, recorded in 1975, is one of the earliest true fusions of Indian music and jazz, and remains one of the most successful. John Handy’s incredible mid-’60s quintet ably demonstrated his aptitude for modal playing, and Ali Akbar Khan had long been one of Indian music’s greatest ambassadors. Like Khan, Zakir Hussain was also the son of one of India’s finest musicians, and had been exposed to jazz as well from an early age (his father, Alla Rakha, recorded with Buddy Rich in addition to his long association with Ravi Shankar). The way these players find the common musical ground from their respective backgrounds is breathtaking. The album starts with the lively “Ganesha’s Jubilee Dance,” which has a simple but unforgettable melody that Handy and Khan use as a springboard for some amazing soloing. Handy’s improvisations are melodic and effortless, and some of the rhythmic flourishes supplied by Ali Akbar Khan are incredible. Zakir Hussain is equally stunning, reacting instantly to whatever the soloist is doing, offering both support and drive to the piece. The title cut is slower and more contemplative, but no less beautiful, and a nice complement to the animated “Ganesha’s Jubilee Dance.” “The Soul and the Atma” is a bit more reminiscent of Indian classical music, with its alap-like introduction, but once the tabla kicks in, the structure opens up for more amazing improvising. It starts kind of slowly, but gradually builds intensity over the course of its 20-plus minutes. The level of communication among the players throughout this session would be difficult to surpass. This is one of those rare East-meets-West recordings that absolutely succeeds at every level. Highly recommended.

This out of print gem comes from the magical Magic of Juju blog, where you will find many, many more gems as well! The rip from this offering (part-1 | part-2) is actually just over 80 minutes, so if you want to burn a CD you will have to use an audio editor to shave off a few seconds of silence from the beginning of a few tracks to get the 4-sides to fit on one CD. I did this without any trouble and created a single mp3 file of the 80-minute Raga. You can also listen to the Raga below in 32kHz mono at 80-kbps:

Liner Notes:

Audiences in India sit motionless for hours, hypnotized and exalted by the limitless imagination and virtuosity of the unbelievable Ali Akbar Khan as he plays monumental performances of the great traditional ragas. Now, after the outstanding success of the Forty Minute Raga (CS-2008), another uniquely Indian performance, in the original uncut version, is available. In this two-record set of Rag Kanara Prakaar, India’s greatest living musician, Ali Akbar Khan, evokes a musical intensity that transcends the normal concert experience.

Rag Kanara Prakaar is a late evening raga, usually performed between 9 pm and midnight. The raga was composed by the legendary Indian genius,Tansen, in honor of and for, performances at the Court of Emperor Akbar.