Category: Music

If someone can identify the vocalist in the recording below, I’d be happy to credit her. I can’t even recall where I got this recording (I’ve collected probably too many recordings over the years and some, like this one, have been through too many stages of archiving for all the data to just be there). I don’t want to step on the artist’s toes or anything, so I’d be very glad to purchase another copy.

[audio:dance.mp3]

I danced in the morning when the world had begun
I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun
I came down from heaven and I danced on earth
At Bethlehem I had my birth

Dance, dance, wherever you may be
I am the lord of the dance, said he
And I lead you all, wherever you may be
And I lead you all in the dance, said he

I danced for the scribes and the Pharisees
They wouldn’t dance, they wouldn’t follow me
I danced for the fishermen James and John
They came with me so the dance went on

Dance, dance, wherever you may be
I am the lord of the dance, said he
And I lead you all, wherever you may be
And I lead you all in the dance, said he

I danced on the Sabbath [“Sunday” as sung] and I cured the lame
The holy people said it was a shame
They ripped, they stripped, they hung me high
Left me there on the cross to die

Dance, dance, wherever you may be
I am the lord of the dance, said he
And I lead you all, wherever you may be
And I lead you all in the dance, said he

I danced on a Friday when the world turned black
It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back
They buried my body, thought I’d gone
But I am the dance, and the dance goes on

Dance, dance, wherever you may be
I am the lord of the dance, said he
And I lead you all, wherever you may be
And I lead you all in the dance, said he

They cut me down and I leapt up high [diff. from sung]
I am the life that will never, never die
I’ll live in you if you’ll live in me
I am the Lord of the dance, said he

Dance, dance, wherever you may be
I am the lord of the dance, said he
And I lead you all, wherever you may be
And I lead you all in the dance, said he

…if you can.

🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPwDJM5ON0A

For some reason, John Gorka’s rendition is new to me. *shrugs* I guess I can’t have heard it all, eh? (This year’s Xmas music playlist is right at 40 hours long, now. Maybe I’ll stop… after cataloging and adding another 8 hours or so? Maybe. And maybe 40 hours is a good place to stop… for this year.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P64tdKrQiY4

The album this was taken from was remastered and reissued in 2010, IIRC. Good stuff.

The homage to Brubeck that starts the clip above is… tasty.

I really do “get” the carbon fiber cello, given the location. Oh, I also enjoy the treatment of the tune. Going on one of my Xmas playlists (the one with lots of Wynton Marsalis Xmas music and such ;-))

(Thanks for the tip, Kat)

With Helmut Lotti, so perhaps you understand the “Sort of” in parentheses in the post title. After all, while the guy is talented, he just doesn’t have the voice–or the musical chops as a whole–to pull off a “classical” anything. Face it, he experienced success too quickly as an Elvis impersonator in a rather loose European pop venue (“loose”?!?–I can think of no kinder term for a field where David Hasselhoff has experienced massive success as a pop music performer. Just sayin’). While he has a nice enough voice, certainly better than 90%-plus of successful American pop “singers,” he carries the atrocious “Elvis (crooner) scoop” into songs where it’s higly inappropriate, has some really unfortunate vowel production, 50s-60s pop consonants (swallowing his unfortunate vowels from time to time, for example, making them even worse), etc.

Too bad, really, since the arranging and instrumental performances are top notch, while Lotti’s vocal performances are just OK. Here’s a snippet for an example:

[audio:Helmut-Lotti-God-Rest-Ye-Merry-Gentlemen-excerpt.mp3]

See? Not offensively sung, exactly, just mediocre. Good enough for many Xmas Eve services at small local congregations, but worth just a little more than I paid for it (I got the album as a free promo *heh*).

Here’s an example of a 34-year-old Lotti taking some tutoring from a 64-year-old Cliff Richard in 2003:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHTaPjVUtYw

I’m no big Cliff Richard fan (especially his histrionics), but he’s certainly got some chops, and it’s interesting to listen to how Lotti pretty much mimicked him, as best he could.

One of the best Christmas gifts I’ve recieved in the past several years was a “stocking stuffer” from my Wonder Woman, Songs of Joy & Peace, Yo-Yo Ma & Friends In addition to being full of songs appropriate (though not always “Christmas” songs) to the Christmas season, it’s an example of how real musicians aren’t constrained by any particular style or genre but only by their own well-developed musical “chops,” good taste and the drive to impeccable performances. Try these examples on for size:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUm_Gs2SDOo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=-5jufFWvp4w

And a video featuring a recording session for one of the cuts on the album:

Note that Alison Krause makes some vowel choices I’d drill (if necessary) a voice student or a choir to avoid, but… she appears to have made them with an understanding–conscious or unconscious–of her own unique vocal characteristics, and so they mostly work quite well, especially within the genre. *shrugs* That’s just part of talent intersecting with LOTS of hard, hard work of the “blood and toil and sweat and tears” variety that’s necessary for music to be made at this level of excellence.

For further demonstration of crossover excellence, an exploratory session with one of the instrumentalists from the album–not a recording session so much as a jam session with a classical cellist, a bagpiper and an accordianist–among others. Yes: a bagpiper and an accordianist can gift us with musical excellence.

Fo gigure.

Lastly, one more from the album:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_-5gfsDOiA

Oh, just click on over to Amazon.com and buy the album. You know you want to. (Nope: I’ve not “monetized” the link to “gimme a payoff”.)