World Circuit Presents

[coll]: World Circuit Presents
Reviewed by Sadie O., 7/6/07
Mostly Cuban and African, some classics and neglected treasures from the World Circuit label’s vaults. Songs tend to be rootsy, mellow and swingy. Musicianship and recording is consistently excellent. Liner notes are really good, too.
No FCCs. All extremely good. I love track 8 on CD 2 most.
CD 1:
1. **sweet and mellow downtempo “son” classic, lots of hand drums and guitars. Ringing trumpet solo.
2. **solo guitar intro, then downbeat Malian shuffle with Ry Cooder adding a Hawaiian melody with a toy guitar. Call and response vocals.
3. **midtempo bounce, Senegalese singer/drummer/guitarist. Subtle talking drums, quite a bit of flutes.
4. **midtempo flutes, percussion and vocals, Andalucian/Arabian mashup by Spanish artist. Very rootsy.
5. **ethereal intro with band tuning up, Algerian vocalist. Fine early Rai shuffle gets going after nearly 2 minutes. Lots of trumpets.
6. ***Guajira! Somehow both relaxed and energetic, classic afro-cuban sound. Here, have a mojito, enjoy. Great solos, great horn section.
7. **1 minute long spoken intro in Spanish, then downtempo afro-cuban shuffle. Singer/guitarist is 80 in this recording.
8. **sparse instrumentation (something akin to thumb piano), female call and response vocals. Classic Malian sound, fine singing.
9. ***solo standup bass, slinky very downtempo Cuban sashay, gradually adding instruments, Hugh Masekela guests on trumpet. Gets totally psychedelic by end of song, but still killer bass work.
10. ***downtempo, very rootsy Gnawa from Morroco, powerful drums and vocals. Definitely some of the most intense Gnawa I’ve heard.
11. **midtempo lovely Guajira with lots of trumpet, pretty vocal harmonies. Trumpet really wails at end.
12. **male vocal group from Zimbabwe, very similar to Zulu/township jive. The song really swings, with just call and response vocals.
13. **relaxed swingy Latin groove, pretty female vocals in Spanish.
14. **live recording, introduction in English, then simply oud and vocals. Pretty, sweet. Long applause at end.

CD 2:
1. **lovely ethereal chords and kora intro. Downtempo drums come in after a minute, then big horns and strong male vocals in Wolof. Builds in intensity and tempo in last couple of minutes.
2. **downtempo loping beat with deep guitar and lovely vocals in Spanish. Apparently recorded in the 50’s in Puerto Rico and distributed all over western Africa.
3. ***strong loping beat, Mauritanian guitar stylings (kinda wiggly) and strong female vocals.
4. **midtempo “son” with bongos and lovely harmonies.
5. **rather uptempo “son” from Senegal (reworking of the song in track 6, CD 1). Lots of guitar, highly danceable beat, lovely vocals in Spanish.
6. **mellow downtempo Cuban ballroom, violin and piano, wonderfully evocative. Turns into a happy midtempo cha cha cha with chorus and flute.
7. **solo piano bolero by an obvious master. Damned short…
8. ****Oh man, this is good! Downtempo African desert blues with heavy-fingered electric guitar that would make Albert King swoon. An absolutely mad solo on some unnamed Malian instrument, too.
9. ***acoustic bass, a bit of hip hop scratching, jazz piano, sultry downtempo groove with muted trumpet, bongos… mad! Oh, and a killer talking drum! Oh hell – I think there’s a rubber ducky, too. Yow! Ends with solo male vocals that just sort of spring up at the end…
10. **pretty uptempo Kenyan “Benga” (sounds a bit like Highlife) with high male harmonies and some lovely bass and some kind of African harp in unison. A very distinctive sound.
11. **very live recording of Buena Vista Social Club, a bit uptempo and a lot energetic. Some gorgeous solos, and danceable as hell.
12. **solo guitar (kora?) and crickets. Lovely male vocals, very relaxed and low-key. Female chorus for last couple of minutes, other than that it’s all two stringed instruments and one voice.
13. ***very slow cha cha/waltz with bongos and guitars, and absolutely transcendant male doo wop harmonies.
14. **allstar duet of African stringed instruments, no real beat, just sort of a rolling groove and gorgeous fingerwork.
15. **very slow orchestral bolero with great dual vocals and dual guitars. You can imagine a fabulously romantic tango to this, if you’re so inclined…