Cream of Portland Album Song Notes:

Transcription

1 Cream of Portland Album Song Notes: 1. Corcodorian (Corcovado+dorian) Language: Portuguese Lyrics by: Antonio Jobim Arranged by: Ranjani Krishnan Genre: Experimental Translation: A little nook, a guitar This love, a song To make the loved one happy Plenty of calm to think, and to have time to dream Through the window I see Corcovado, how lovely I want life like this always, with you near me, Until the old flame dies out And I, who was sad, disbelieving in this world, Upon finding you, I found out what happiness is, my love. The dorian mode has served many roles in Medieval music and has taken different manifestations and forms in Indian music. My hope is to use the mode to expand on a moment, a moment that is both placid and euphoric. 2. Kaneis edo den tragouda (No one here sings) Language: Greek Composer: Nikos Papazogulou Genre: Greek Folk Today the heart cracks With the baglama It all fell to pieces Like broken glass I remembered, we used to drink At this very table Now who knows where she's running to Who knows what she's looking for No one here sings No one here dances They only hear the tune And their mind drifts

2 If you happen to see her Bring her to the tavern I'll be hidden in the corner To see her a little No one here sings No one here dances They only hear the tune And their mind drifts I have heard two versions of this piece. Glykeria sings it lyrically and longingly whereas Nikos Papazogulou s diction and interpretation of the song seem defeatist and folksy. 3. Chori Chori (Secretly) Language: Punjabi Composer: Unknown Genre: Indian Subcontinental Folk Without anyone knowing about it, I locked my eyes with you Secretly, I... I will keep this love hidden from the rest of this world Nevertheless, the love I have for you is safe Without anyone knowing about it, I locked my eyes with you In the pursuit of eternal love, lovers will even sieve sand Not even a single moment of my life is mine now But the simpleton that I am I sit here, waiting for you to come to me Without anyone knowing about it, I locked my eyes with you Secretly, I This arrangement capitalizes on the fact that highland bagpipes can play a slight variation of the mixolydian mode. Stuart Liddell has added several highland bagpipe embellishments to a folk song from the subcontinent. 4. Scel Lem Duib (Winter tidings) Language: Gaelic Composer: Ranjani Krishnan Genre: Indian Raga and Polyphony I have tidings for you: the stag bells; Winter pours; Summer has gone;

3 Wind is high and cold; The sun is low; Its course short; the sea runs strongly; Bracken is very red; its shape has been hidden; the call of the barnacle goose has become usual. Cold has seized the wings of birds; season of ice; these are my tidings. Can you just hear the snow absorbing all the surrounding sounds except for the geese flying up high? In this song, I wanted to capture bird noises with Indian solfege (swaras). I took an Indian mode (Raga) called Kanakambari, which is characterized by a lot of half steps (close and dissonant intervals) and very few open intervals, to showcase the taciturnity of winter and the poem as well. Debussy-eque piano flurries were created right before the last verse by dropping some notes from the mode/scale to fool (and relieve) the ear into thinking that the song was temporarily modulating to a more open mode. 5. Galuboy Vagon (The Blue Coach) Language: Russian Composer: Vladimir Shainskiy Genre: Soviet Russian Children s Entertainment As the minutes slowly pass by, Don t expect to meet with them again. Surely, we re sad about the past, And yet, all the best is certainly ahead. Spreading like a ribbon, This journey extends in front of us. Everyone should believe in the best, As the blue coach is rolling, rolling on. We may have offended someone by mistake, The calendar will cover up this page of our life. We are rushing toward new adventures, friends! Machinist! Let us move along. Speed on! The blue coach swings as it is running on.

4 This fast train is speeding up its pace. Oh, but why is this day about to end? Why can t we just prolong all the happy times? This song brings back memories for many of my ex-soviet friends. Gena, an animated alligator, sings the song to his friends. 6. Daddy Composer: Jimmie Rogers Genre: American Country I am dreaming tonight of an old Southern town And the best friend that I ever had For I've grown so weary of roaming around I'm going back home to my dad Your hair has turned to silver I know you're fading too Daddy, dear ol' Daddy I'm coming back to you You made my boyhood happy But still I longed to roam I've had my way, but now I'll say "I long for you and for home" Dear ol' Daddy, you shared my sorrows and joy You tried to bring me up right I know you'll still be just one of the boys So I'm starting back home tonight Your hair has turned to silver I know you're fading too Daddy, dear ol' Daddy I'm coming back to you You made my boyhood happy But still I longed to roam I've had my way, but now I'll say "I long for you and for home. I once took a class in the history of American music at a community college in Illinois. It introduced me to the African-American roots of American music and also the father of American Country music, Jimmie Rogers. This song is so simple yet so poignant. It has taken me 7 years since my father died to sing it all the way through without choking up.

5 7. touching your face Lyrics: Tom Leonard Composer: Ranjani Krishnan Genre: Experimental Indian and Renaissance Polyphony with that silence it creates allowing and trusting the allowed; all that's been said and is saying this time breath held between us each time familiar each time new I wrote to the great Scottish poet Tom Leonard to use his words in an original musical composition. He kindly taped the words in his own voice and cadence. After several drafts and his tremendously witty, candid yet constructive suggestions I am honored to present this piece.

6 8. Belaaks (Au Contraire) Language: Arabic Composer: Jean-Marie Riachi Genre: Middle-eastern Jazz Lover1: You told me that you love me and that you will never forget me. So what happened that you behavior in now Lover2: O my love, who told you that I could forget you? Your love is what fills all my time Lover1: If you want to fool around and don t bother with me Lover2: You must defend me in front of all those who call me vain So that they may see that I'm in fact Lover1: My heart aches but you wouldn t understand because you hardly have one You don t understand me so I am thinking of purging you from my mind Lover2: I swear my life is meaningless without. I can't live without you Both: Belaaks is an Arabic take on the famous Quizas Quizas Quizas or Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps song. I was immediately drawn to the Arabic embellishments in this piece when I first heard Jean-Marie Riachi s rendition. 9. Brewed Crowd Composer: Adam Quinn (melody - Blue Cloud), Vijayan Bhaskaran (rhythm)

7 Genre: Scottish Bagpipe Music and Carnatic Rhythm (Solkattu) Adam Quinn wrote this melody (Blue Cloud) for Highland Bagpipes. Stuart Liddell s famous rendition of Blue Cloud on youtube was a key inspiration for me to sing this song. It took a bit of brewing together of voices, a melody and rhythm to get it to sound like the cocktail it is right now.