A detail from a Ukrainian postage stamp from 2022 At the turn of the last century, the composer, Mykola Leontovych, arranged a traditional Ukrainian folk song for a choir of students at Kyiv university. The song, sung in March in those days, tells of a swallow heralding the coming of the Spring. But the timing…Read more Shchedryk (Carol of the Bells)
acoustic
Tripliciti
Triplicity (with a 'y') is any group of three things. In astrology, it is specifically a group of three signs belonging to the same element. Tripliciti (with an 'i') is a group of three fingerstyle guitarists: Andy McKee, Calum Graham and Trevor Gordon Hall. All three are consummate masters of their instrument; together, they create…Read more Tripliciti
Galactic Acid
Galactic Acid is a curious title for the recently released album by the acoustic fingerstyle guitarist, Mike Dawes. Does it refer to acids out in the galaxy? (Formic acid, acetic acid, carbonic acid and amino acids have all been detected out in space.) Or is it an acid derived from the sugar, galactose, in the…Read more Galactic Acid
Omission
Shh ... Don't say a word! This blog's mission is to fill in the gaps ... in your listening and mine. The unintended and unforgivable omissions from our collections must be purged. To that end, I would like to bring to your attention an acoustic guitar track by the jazz musician, Julian Lage. https://open.spotify.com/track/3k5DKMMsGADkmtIVa72D7p?si=88e0f6d4328c4321 A…Read more Omission
Sympatheia
For the next two weeks or so, Calum Graham, acoustic guitarist extraordinaire, is running a crowdfunding campaign for his next album. He has appeared in these pages twice before (Waiting, Billie Jean) and on both occasions I have marvelled at his work. CG's last album, Thread of Creation (2019), was self-released and doesn't appear on…Read more Sympatheia
Lightning Blog
Crotchety Man is spoilt for choice and pushed for time this week, so this will be a lightning blog covering a very mixed bag of musical delights. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/30KeiOLVyhGOxkhIwhxkPd?si=1bff15e7d15b4b0e We start this Spotify playlist with a band I damned with faint praise in this post back in January 2020. But Rick Mitarotonda's Goose has a knack…Read more Lightning Blog
Rodrigo y Gabriela
Right, pin back your lugholes, listeners, because I've got a real treat for you this week. Set aside the next 45 minutes and press Play on this video of Rodrigo y Gabriela in Seattle, 11th May 2014. But, first, turn off the phone, send the wife out shopping, gag the kids and muzzle the mutt.…Read more Rodrigo y Gabriela
Jon Gomm
No, this isn't a picture of Obi-Wan Kenobi trying to figure out what this alien device can do. Nor is it a hooligan hoodie who has accidentally stuck his fingers to his mate's guitar with superglue. This is Jon Gomm, the British equivalent of Calum Graham. In an earlier post here I said that Calum…Read more Jon Gomm
Te Acheres
I believe the title of this track-of-the-week, Te Acheres, is in the Ethiopian Amharic language1. Unfortunately, I have not been able to work out what it means. The Web does have the lyrics of the song and Google Translate will give a literal translation of them - but it refuses to decipher the title. And…Read more Te Acheres
Crotchety Man 