SINGING WHILE YOU DANCE

Hello Music Lover!
Singing while you dance. Try it with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the all black, all male song and dance troupe from South Africa. Their song “Jabulani”, requested by Quentin, means “rejoice”. But it also means “happiness to all who are here”, “let’s be happy together.” In many African languages, there are no separate words for music and dance. One automatically means, and includes, the other. It’s like the word “carol” which originally meant a dance, (and on which we are beginning to focus as we approach Christmas.) Maybe we in the West, more “developed” world get too cerebral about music, and maybe we should just follow our gut and get up and dance every time we hear music. Hmmm- I wonder what Africans would think about our quilt – they’d probably cut it up for dance costumes!

Ladysmith Black Mambazo has been accompanied by fellow musicians from all spheres, and in this song, their partners are members of the English National Orchestra. Whether they are with a soccer stadium full of fans singing in unison, or Dolly Parton, or with a male voice choir from Wales, Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s songs are irresistible.  Always in 4/4, and in just the right tempo for a regular (i.e. dancing) heartbeat, with the down beat on 3, with drums or some other kind of timpani, this is true crossover music. Quentin calls it “road music”, and I know what he means. It just helps you roll along, in no particular hurry, with joy in your heart, while the miles get eaten up. Lady Smith Black Mombazo played at the Elora Festival in 2008, and it would be great to see them back again! Go to http://www.letsloop.com/artist/ladysmith-black-mambazo/song/jabulani-rejoice to hear "Jabulani" (it's the second of three on this video.)

When writing the lyrics to "Lord Of The Dance" in 1963, Sydney Carter intended partly to just make a tribute to Shaker music. He later stated that he had not expected the churches to like it as a hymn at all. Somehow, however, it touched a chord. The tune "Simple Gifts"was written by Shaker elder Joseph Brackett, (to different words: "'Tis a gift to be simple, 'tis a gift to be true..."), and it has since been used not only by Carter, but also Aaron Copland (see our post of August 21 about his ballet score, Appalachian Spring.) Incidentally, Christopher Parkening has also done a beautiful guitar transcription of this, EMI Angel recording CDC-7 47525 2.

The background to the painted figure was originally the other way up, the stitched lines loosely following the rises and falls of the pitch of the tune. But when it was ready to place the man on top, it was clear that the lines had to lift at the end, because that's what the song is about, joy and praise. So, it's actually upside down!

Carter sees Christ as the incarnation of the piper who is calling us, who dances a shape and pattern which is at the heart of our reality. Whether Jesus ever leaped in Galilee to the rhythm of a pipe or drum he does not know. However, we are told that David danced (and as an act of worship too), so it is not impossible. The fact that many Christians have regarded dancing as a bit ungodly (in a church, at any rate) does not mean that Jesus did. The Shakers didn't. Dancing, for them, was a spiritual activity. Just as they made furniture of a functional, lyrical simplicity, their hymns often had a great beauty: from one of these, Simple Gifts, Carter adapted the melody and wrote lyrics he thought were appropriate.  As he says,  “Sometimes, for a change I sing the whole song in the present tense: 'I dance in the morning when the world is begun...' It’s worth a try.”

Happy listening (and dancing) to you all,

Susan

IN THE SEASON OF THE YEAR

It is well and truly autumn here. The Sumacs are blazing, and the maple leaves are falling. Our first song today is Autumn Leaves, lyrics by Johnny Mercer,

music by Joseph Kosma, and sung by Frank Sinatra, and it is for Joy. It gently weaves a story of loss, shown by the sepia photograph which has fallen among the leaves, which in turn always show more colour variations than you could possibly remember from last year. “Since you went away the days grow long and soon I'll hear old winter's song; but I miss you most of all my darling, when autumn leaves start to fall.”

Our second piece, The Lincolnshire Poacher, is a folk song from the north of England which extols the joys of poaching, and which was first heard in York about 1775. It is considered to be the county anthem of Lincolnshire; it has been adopted as the quick march of several regiments both in the UK and Canada and the RAF College Cranwell, and it has been used as a setting for the ancient Anglican hymn “The happy birds ‘Te Deum’ sing, ‘tis Mary’s month of May.”

But our interest here is that it was the signature tune of the late and great vibraphonist and jazz musician Peter Appleyard, who died in July. Born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, his version of the Lincolnshire Poacher made it a pop hit in the late 1970’s.  Peter appeared at the Elora Festival just last year, performed his last concert in his own barn in May of this year, and was considered a treasured friend by all who knew him.

Our square has been sponsored by John and Lou Ann, who were privileged to attend the recording of a concert broadcast by the Peter Appleyard Quartet, (Peter with Dave Young, bass; John Sherwood, piano; Terry Clarke, drums) and then be given a CD of the broadcast. But even better than that, Peter hand-drew and autographed a label for John’s CD, with the caricature of himself that you see here. How cool is that!

The square is all handpainted, in deference to Peter’s artistic skills. The signpost, which is typical of Lincolnshire, shows some of the key places in Peter’s life, and the distance from his birthplace. I don’t know if there are County signs such as that shown, but it is the crest of Lincolnshire, and as a personal hurrah to Peter, we have shown his Order of Canada pin.

In addition to its use by the armed forces and Anglican Church and as Peter Appleyard’s signature tune, "The Lincolnshire Poacher" also has a spy connection. It was the nickname of a mysterious, powerful shortwave call sign that used the first two bars of the song as an interval signal. It was believed to be used by a radio station operated by MI6 from RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, first becoming active in the late 1970’s.  After the call sign was repeated several times, an electronically synthesised English-accented female voice read groups of five numbers: e.g. '0-2-5-8-8'. The final number in each group was spoken with a lifted voice. It is presumed that each time it was used, a coded message was being communicated to undercover agents operating in other countries, to be decoded using a one-time pad.

There was also an Asian numbers station of identical format that was believed to broadcast from Australia, and nicknamed "Cherry Ripe". It used several bars from the Lincolnshire Poacher as its interval signal. Both Cherry Ripe and the signal from Akrotiri continued to operate long after the Cold War ended, through the turn of the century, the last recorded transmission being in June 2008. However, the usage of numbers stations has never been confirmed by any world government.

Whoever has used those opening bars, to many they will always be a reminder of the closing bars, and Peter Appleyard: “’Tis my delight, on a shiny night, in the season of the year.” Rest in peace, Peter!

Happy listening to you all,

Susan