En El Amor
En El Amor
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Nataša Mirković, Michel Godard, Jarrod Cagwin: East European Sephardic Songs from the Balkan
About the album
"En El Amor" is a fascinating collaboration project between two well-known jazz musicians with the Bosnian singer Natasa Mirkovic. On this album, the singer performs songs from her childhood in Bosnia: Ancient Sephardic traditionals that are still being sung by the people of the Balkan area today. She clearly draws inspiration from her ancestral roots, while at the same time the three musicians arrange these old songs in a new and experimental context that transcends time, culture and tradition.
Recorded in the breathtaking acoustics of the former synagogue of St. Pölten in Austria, this album becomes a total work of art fusing ancient and new, religious and secular, traditional and modern artistic expression.
The musicians
Nataša Mirković – voice
Michel Godard – serpent
Jarrod Cagwin – percussion
Release date:
Catalogue number: CD-16313
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tracklist
Tracklist of "En El Amor"
01. Madre un manseviko | Sarajevo 2:23
02. Buenas noches Hanum Dudu | Saloniki 2:47
03. Ken kere tomar konsejo | T.: trad. Bosnian, M.: Jagoda Flory 4:28
04. La Tore | Sarajevo 3:28
05. Anderleto | Bosnia-Herzegovina 4:35
06. Porke yoras | Bosnia-Herzegovina 7:58
07. Noches noches, buenas noches | Sarajevo 5:58
08. Ken ez esto | Sarajevo 4:46
09. Poko le dash la mi konsuegra | Istanbul 4:26
10. Lavaba la blanca niña | Saloniki 3:12
11. Durme durme | Sarajevo 4:07
12. En El O | M.: Godard, Cagwin 5:43
13. Oh! que tiempo muy hermozo | Izmir 3:13
14. Oy ke buena ke fue la ora | Sofia 3:24
booklet text
Growing up in Sarajevo, I had the good fortune to discover the wonderful music of the singer and musician Jagoda Flory. This
Sephardic music first took root in my heart back then and it has remained dear to me ever since. Whatever my current musical project may be, I still return again and again to this special world of lyrical music. To immerse myself in it is to enter into a fairytale world with a wealth of stories from all corners of the globe.
En El Amor is my personal collection of these magical stories with songs from Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina. It takes you away on a voyage of love, marriage, longing, desire, betrayal and war; inviting you to enjoy tales which I have gathered and treasured over the years until they inspired me to record this CD.
My very first rehearsal with Michel and Jarrod remains an unforgettable experience. It was as if the heavens opened to fulfil my innermost dreams. The musical accompaniment with serpent and percussion lent the songs a magical and enchanting air. Each of us became a storyteller and in our interpretation of the music, the stories came alive and seemed to develop before our eyes. Some songs became less melancholic, others gained undertones of yearning. They took on a life and dynamic of their own.
The lyrics of the songs have been left in their original languages. My idea was to allow the music to be expressed through the poetic words of Ernst M. Binder. I find that the language he uses perfectly reflects the atmosphere of the songs and allows them to flow onwards, without end. The paraphrases by Ernst M. Binder are taken from three of his works: Kassandra (2004), Gipsy's Lullaby (2003) and Lieder an die Nacht (2004-9).
Ernst Marianne Binder was not only a dear friend and source of artistic inspiration for me. He was also a well-respected poet, author and director of our time. This CD is dedicated to him and his memory.
Nataša Mirković, Vienna, April 2017
recording information
Recorded february 2017
Location: Former synagogue of St. Pölten, Austria
Balance engineer & recording producer: Jonas Niederstadt
Corporate Design: Tim+Tim, timandtim.com
Cover photography: Alexander Gehring
Booklet photography: Jonas Niederstadt
English translation of E. M. Binder texts: Kimi Lum
English translation of introductory text: Bridget Gerstner
© 2017 Carpe Diem Records
press reviews
The Art Desk
"Singer Nataša Mirkovič grew up in Sarajevo listening to the recordings of Jagoda Flory, a specialist in traditional European Sephardic music who's still performing in her 90s. This bewitchingly offbeat Balkan collection includes one of Flory’s arrangements alongside 13 by Mirkovič and her collaborators. One major selling point for me was that one of them, Michel Godard, plays the serpent, an instrument more often seen in dusty museums than actually heard. It makes an extraordinary sound, Godard totally unfazed by its difficulties. Sample his extended solo at the start of “Ken kere tomar konsejo”, its sonorous, breathy rasp midway between a bassoon and tuba. Godard’s intonation is improbably secure; you can't imagine the serpent sounding better than it does here. There are witty moments, the basso flatulent rumblings at the opening of “Porke yoras” difficult to digest without a grin.
Jarrod Cagwin’s inventive percussion accompaniments are similarly impressive, but the real joy comes in the shape the versatile Mirkovič’s haunting, endlessly expressive vocals: seductive, melancholy and world-weary by turns. There's not a dud track here, though favourites include the impassioned love song “Poko le dash la mi konsuegra”’ and an infectious closing number. Full translations aren't provided: instead we get brief paraphrases of each text by the poet Ernst M. Binder. They're all we need. 60 minutes of quiet enchantment. Nicely packaged too, and beautifully recorded in a former synagogue. And, if you're smitten with Mirkovič’s voice, track down her recording of Schubert's Winterreise, where she's accompanied by a hurdy gurdy." TheArtDesk, 2018
Audio magazine
"With baroque austerity and well-measured folk music temperament, Nataša Mirkovic sings songs of Sephardic Mediterranean Jews.
The star of “En El Amor” is the former synagogue in St. Pölten (Upper Austria): in this recording space, Michel Godard with his serpent (an old bass wind instrument), percussionist Jarrod Cagwin, and above all the singer bring the finest nuances to life." Audio magazine 11/2017