Digdig

Amazon.com
Bob Brozman is a true ambassador of the Hawaiian slide guitar, island hopping from Martinique to Okinawa to collaborate with other top musicians little known outside their own countries. His fluid and occasionally witty steel guitar finds its perfect foil in the hyperactive rhythms of René Lacaille, a guitarist, accordionist, singer, and composer from the Indian Ocean island of Reunion. Lacaille alternates between tropical Gallic pop suggestive of a steamy cabaret and fiercely energetic homegrown dances that percolate with African influences. Among the liveliest pieces are the instrumentals that comprise about half of the disc, and these mingle the inevitable island-trader-route cross currents as suggested by the high-speed, high-octane mix of Arabic modalities and homegrown sega rhythms on "An Dio." Brozman and Lacaille exchange and mingle licks as briskly as the beat of a hummingbird's wings. The rhythms rise from a lickety-split local 12-beat foundation, which Brozman says alters the hearing of a song depending on your count--either via two-pulse or three-pulse units. Good luck keeping track, but in the gleeful delirium you probably won't bother counting. Lacaille plays South American charango guitar on some of the tracks, while a backing acoustic band adds furious percussion. As Brozman proved on two collaborations with Okinawan singer Takashi Hirayasu, his lush slide guitar sounds perfect in any milieu, and once again he and his collaborator have carved out a brave new genre. --Bob Tarte

Product Description
L'Ile de la Réunion is the alluring volcanic island situated 600 miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean and is home to a vibrant culture that is passionate, joyous, sexy and rhythmic. Digdig unlocks the shimmering beauty of this island's music with this magical collaboration between La Réunion's accomplished accordionist and guitarist René Lacaille and musical explorer, Bob Brozman. Digdig presents the music that evokes the natural elements of fire, wind and ocean at work on the beautiful island of La Réunion and also pushes boundaries with pleasant surprises around every corner.

Tracks:

Zok
5 O.P. (Syncope)
An Dio
Lang La
Oh! Le La O
Fraka
Zi Bi Pi Blues
Pondaurat
Place D'Youville
Loze
Ti Guitar La
Debussy A La Reunion
Mam'zelle Rico
K Ba
Maria Ya Ya

Amazon.com

Bob Brozman is a true ambassador of the Hawaiian slide guitar, island hopping from Martinique to Okinawa to collaborate with other top musicians little known outside their own countries. His fluid and occasionally witty steel guitar finds its perfect foil in the hyperactive rhythms of René Lacaille, a guitarist, accordionist, singer, and composer from the Indian Ocean island of Reunion. Lacaille alternates between tropical Gallic pop suggestive of a steamy cabaret and fiercely energetic homegrown dances that percolate with African influences. Among the liveliest pieces are the instrumentals that comprise about half of the disc, and these mingle the inevitable island-trader-route cross currents as suggested by the high-speed, high-octane mix of Arabic modalities and homegrown sega rhythms on "An Dio." Brozman and Lacaille exchange and mingle licks as briskly as the beat of a hummingbird's wings. The rhythms rise from a lickety-split local 12-beat foundation, which Brozman says alters the hearing of a song depending on your count--either via two-pulse or three-pulse units. Good luck keeping track, but in the gleeful delirium you probably won't bother counting. Lacaille plays South American charango guitar on some of the tracks, while a backing acoustic band adds furious percussion. As Brozman proved on two collaborations with Okinawan singer Takashi Hirayasu, his lush slide guitar sounds perfect in any milieu, and once again he and his collaborator have carved out a brave new genre. --Bob Tarte

Album Description

L'Ile de la Réunion is the alluring volcanic island situated 600 miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean and is home to a vibrant culture that is passionate, joyous, sexy and rhythmic. Digdig unlocks the shimmering beauty of this island's music with this magical collaboration between La Réunion's accomplished accordionist and guitarist René Lacaille and musical explorer, Bob Brozman. Digdig presents the music that evokes the natural elements of fire, wind and ocean at work on the beautiful island of La Réunion and also pushes boundaries with pleasant surprises around every corner.

Customer Reviews:

Very cool........2005-09-20

I have several of Bob's cd's, and I think this is my favorite. Like Vincent Vega's experience with Amsterdam and Paris, the music on this set has "little differences"...It's accessible- it's not particularly "strange", but it is interesting (in a good way!). There's a nice variety of ensembles. very cool.

Exotic and lyrical.......2005-06-15

Rene Lacaille is a multi-instrumentalist from the scenic French island of Reunion east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. His chief instruments are accordion and guitar, although he is now also the proud possessor of a South American charango, a small mandolin-like guitar, given to him by his collaborator on this album, Bob Brozman. Bob is an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Music at Macquarie University in Sydney and a brilliant guitarist, using National Reso-phonic and Hawaiian guitars. With them are two percussionists playing a rouleur or bass hand drum, and a kayamb, a wide flat shaker filled with sugar cane flower stalks.

The spicy music on the album is mainly in two local styles - sega and maloya. Maloya is the older one that uses modal harmonies and has a fairly strong African influence with a touch of blues, while sega is more French, adopting musette diatonic harmonies with a touch of jazz. There are also "binaire" songs that have a Caribbean feel, although they are strictly local.

Intense rhythms and virtuoso guitar playing characterise this interesting album. The music is all newly composed, and with the South American charango occasionally thrown in to the mix, this ground breaking collaboration is world music in its truest sense. No two tracks sound alike. Considering how few musicians there are, and how quickly the music came together, the sound is remarkably full and rich. The pulsating beat is often highly complex, and always infectious, while the singing is alternately mellow and passionate.

While Rene's long history in local styles provides the basis for the music, Bob has been researching and recording island music for the last twenty years and has a knack of fitting in perfectly with anyone. So their amazing talents thrive together on this recording, recommended to all world music lovers. After hearing it you'll be looking at the atlas wondering how you might get to this island paradise.

Superb Introduction to Non-Western Time Signatures.......2003-03-27

This is one of the few CDs in my collection that I can listen to several times in succession without finding it repetitive. This is my first CD with either Brozman or Lacaille, and I learned of its existence after hearing Brozman interviewed by Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air. The interview discussed time signatures in great detail, and this album is an excellent introduction to non-Western time signatures (I don't think you'll find a single 4/4 piece). The CD packaging itself is exceptional, with great liner notes (since the songs are sung in different languages, the liner notes kindly provide a translation). One of the best music purchases I've made in the last 5 years.

a flawless, joyous album.......2002-04-13

Unique, evocative, and after the second listen, irresistable. Track 12's intensely bouyant version of Debussy's Toccata describes perfectly the way I feel about my wife and child. Be sure to turn up the base!

Mood-music for people in a great mood!.......2002-04-02

With this release Bob Brozman proves to me once again why he is one of my favorite musicians. There are alot of "genre-blending world music" cd's out there in the last decade and many of them fall flat, being merely a bland "middle ground" mish-mash of the music of two or more cultures. This isn't one of those! This is distinct, vibrant music with character. Not just a lazy-sounding mixture of a bit of this and a bit of that...

I love the mood of DigDig. To me it sounds as if a little French village evolved in the middle of a tropical oasis where Africans and Hawaiians joined in to create the perfect danceable music for locals to groove the night away as the colorful sunset reflects off of the ocean. Depression, anxiety, and stress are completely foreign to this wonderful music.

Unfortunately I have never heard Rene Lacaille outside of this cd yet so I can't compare DigDig to his other cd available here, Patanpo. I will get that soon enough though based on how much I love this cd.

I think there's something for everyone on this cd (everyone who may like this to begin with, that is). There are tracks with vocals (in Creole or French), some of which make me imagine some sort of goofy European comedic film (I mean that in a good way), and then there are the grooving instrumental tunes which I think will probably be most peoples favorite tunes on the disc.

A couple years ago Takashi Hirayasu and Bob's cd "Jin Jin" was hailed as one of the best cd's of the year. I disagreed although I still think the title-track is brilliant. Whether you loved Jin Jin or not, I recommend buying DigDig. DigDig blows Jin Jin away.

Yes the year is young and no one knows what the future holds, but as of right now (4/2/02) this is my favorite release of the year.

World Music: