Recently Ralf Leenen and Alex Timmermann have added some interesting youtube videos about the life and music of Silvio Ranieri.
Silvio Ranieri – Historical Postcard (ca. 1932)
Ralf Leenen plays a historical record played by Silvio Ranieris mandolin orchestra on an original grammophone from the 1920s.
In a Chinese Teple Garden, by Ketelbey and En Badinant by Ambrosio
In a second video Ralf Leenen talks about the mandolin method by S. Ranieri and his connections with Ranieri.
The 3rd video you can hear a solo recording by Ranieri of The Swan by Camille Saint-Saens with piano accompaniment. In this video Ralf Leenen also analyses the playing of Ranieri which is very interesting.
Alex Timmermann has also added a youtube video about Silvio Ranieri including historical recordings of Sérenade badine by J. Gabriel.Marie, Arlequinade by Louis Ganne, Intermezzo from ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ by Pietro Mascagni.
A sound video of a recording on a 78 RPM disk made in 1905 with music for Mandolin and Piano by Jean Gabriel-Marie and Louis Ganne performed by the Italian Mandolin virtuoso Silvio Ranieri, as well as a 78 RPM recording of Pietro Mascagni’s famous Intermezzo ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’ played by The Belgian Mandolin Orchestra (the Mandolin section of the ‘Grande Harmonie Royale Bruxelles) conducted by Silvio Ranieri (Rome, 1882 – 1956, Bruxelles).
I have discovered the Trio Dhoore from a mixcloud podcast about the Celtic Connections 2018 in Glasgow.
Trio Dhoore is composed of three brothers:
Koen Dhoore: electro-acoustic hurdy gurdy
Hartwin Dhoore: diatonic box
Ward Dhoore: acoustic guitar
Trio Dhoore has played at the important folk festivals and has just finished a tour in Austria. Endless Dancing is the most popular track from their last CD Momentum. I have compiled a playlist with the best tunes by Trio Dhoore – Enjoy!
Playlist Trio Dhoore
Euan Morrison compiles a weekly one-hour Folk Show on Aberdeen Student Radio, the show is available on Mixcloud. YOu can always discover interesting bands and tunes in this podcast!
The Folk Show – WEEKLY, MONDAY 1700-1800
An hour of the best folk and acoustic music from Scotland and beyond, With Euan Morrison. Tracklist and more: www.curlypiper.weebly.com/folkshow.
In only five years and with three full albums, Trio Dhoore have launched themselves a top Flemish folk export. They blend traditional music from Flanders with their own style to create an energetic sound that will make you sit on the edge of your seat. Their “rooted folk music” breathes life, freedom and energy into a repertoire of traditional Flemish tunes (and the occasional song) and their own self-penned material. They create an immersive soundscape where folky grooves, melancholy melodies and intuitive interplay combine to unique effect.
In 2013 I have written about a CD by the mandolin quartet MANdolinMAN from Belgium. Last year the quartet has produced the third CD Unfolding the Roots.
You can find two tracks from this CD at vimeo, and also a trailer for the new CD.
Enjoy the quartet MANdolinMAN from Belgium!
Unfolding the Roots
Track from “Unfolding The Roots”, third album of MANdolinMAN (Belgium).
MANdolinMAN featuring Stefan Bracaval – “Rumba Del Raval”
Bonustrack on “Unfolding The Roots”, third album of MANdolinMAN.
composition: Maarten Decombel
TRAILER NEW ALBUM MANdolinMAN – “Unfolding The Roots”
(release Belgium October 2016 by MM RECORDS // Worldwide release March 2017 by ARC MUSIC).
After their successful first album “Old Tunes, Dusted Down” and a second album on which they explored the Bossa Nova style, MANdolinMAN return to their roots. The historic melodies from Flanders are injected with a modern and contemporary vigour. STAY TUNED!
Yesterday I have found an article about the group MANdolinMAN, a mandolin quartet from Belgium in the German Wasser-Prawda blog, which presented their second CD with Brazilian music:
I was very curious and searched for the website of this group, where I have found previews of the new CD as well as examples of their first CD. I have also found the following videos showing MANdolinMAN:
MANdolinMAN (Belgium) plays Bossa Nova :
Água de beber (A.C. Jobim) // new album release february 2013
MANdolinMAN old tunes, dusted down
As you can see in the videos, the band typically plays with three mandolins and a mandocello or with two mandolins, mandola and mandocello. The sound reminds me a little bit to the music played by Patrick Vaillant and his quartet. In the first video a tune from the Brazilian CD can be heard, the second video contains examples from the first CD with traditional music from Flanders.
Just like Alan Lomax followed in his father’s footsteps, Hubert’s son Andries Boone (Leuven, °1977) started the MANdolinMAN project, in order to bring his father’s notations to life. He does so in a very distinct way, together with three kindred spirits: mandolinists Peter-Jan Daems, Dirk Naessens and Maarten Decombel. Being played on a very well-known instrument as the mandolin, the ‘local’ melodies (from Eppegem, Hever, Zaventem, Elewijt …) become timeless and universal. Even, a trained ear will find it difficult to locate some of the origins. Echoes of Appalachia? Northumbrian sprightliness? Melancholy from Lisbon? Cape Verdean elegance? No, nothing like that: the wonderful instrumental music of MANdolinMAN stems from Flanders and its environs. I can’t imagine a more fitting tribute to Hubert Boone and his work.”
“I contacted the musicians to come and participate in the project. I knew them because Belgium is, shall we say, very small! I chose the tunes and it sounded so nice playing them together that we were convinced to go for it. To be honest the record’s first main goal was a surprise for my father’s 70 birthday! It started as a one off gig and CD. But the story went its own way. Today it has become an international story.”
Andries fills me in on the MANdolinMAN quartet’s personnel. “Dirk Naessens is mostly known from playing with Urban Trad. Maarten Decombel is known from his solo work and of course from the folk bands Snaarmaarwaar and Naragonia Quartet. Peter-Jan Daems played with Snaarmaarwaar untill January 2013. They all have clocked up an impressive service in folk music. Maarten is also one of the best guitar players in Flanders. Dirk received a ‘government medal’ on fiddle at the Brussels conservatory and played with many excellent bands in Belgium, though Urban Trad was the best known.”
Het zonnige Braziliaanse strand lonkt, maar net als met de voorganger hebben Andries Boone (mandola en mandoline), Peter-Jan Daems (mandoline), Maarten Decombel (mandocello) en Dirk Naessens (mandoline) ook aan dit genre hun eigen draai gegeven.