Just got an amazing new CD + DVD package called "Songs of the Volcano - Papua New Guinea Stringbands with Bob Brozman". Bob sat in with 5 or 6 stringbands in Papua New Guniea who live in fairly extreme conditions in an area that was devastated by a 1994 volcanic eruption. In fact, a millemeter of ash still falls every day, coating everything!
The music from these local stringbands is otherworldly; 4-7 guitars and up to 12 singers. Bob leaves his virtuoso hat at the door and just tries to blend in on bottleneck, lap steel, and charrango. The music is great (if you dig simple, melodic world music) but the DVD is even better because you get to see everyone in action and get a real sense of the people and the place. Considering the amazing conditions under which the CD/DVD was recorded ... ash falling, steaming hotel rooms, a patio where they used human bodies as a sound buffer ... the sound is excellent. The DVD alone is worth the price of admission. I've never seen or heard anything quite like this. Amazing.
http://www.bobbrozman.com/songsvolcano.html [This message was edited by Andy Volk on 11 January 2006 at 06:32 AM.]
