Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Portrait of Andalusia - Rec. 1956 by Deben Bhattacharya





Portrait of Andalusia - The Living Tradition
Recordings 1956 by Deben Bhattacharya
Argo Record Co. - ZRG 560 - P.1968


A Street In Andalusia


The Roman Marchers In The Procession


The Cross Bearer In The Procession


Easter Procession In Puente Genil

A Close Up From The Procession

Penitents In Puente Genil



Side A

A1 Saetas et tambours assourdis 4'12
A2 Soleá 3'50
A3 Procéssion de Paques à l'église de la Macarena 8'34
A4 Serrana 4'04



Side B


B1 Cantiñas de Cadiz 3'46
B2 Soleá 3'15
B3 Alegrias de Cadiz 2'34
B4 Saeta mozarabe 1'03
B5 Improvisation à la guitare 8'44
B6 Soleá "Apolá" 3'01





Julian De Cordoba - (B2)


Juan Garcia (B6)
Accompanied by Jose Bedmar (A2,A4,B1,B2,B3,B6)


Antonio Fernandez (A2, B1, B3)



I really like this record very much and I think it is partially because I like the singing of the Saeta so much. There are some other great recordings of Saeta music and as Easter is approaching maybe there will be time to post something more of that. I have to say again that I find the earlier recordings by Deben Bhattachariya to be the most enjoyable and maybe it is the time that has passed and maybe it is partly the fresh and eager recorder himself. This record is in my opinion very pleasant as a whole and hopefully there will be more of his excursions in Andalucia unearthed before we have found all the records he produced. There is a gypsy music collection that may have some more. If you know anything more let me know and that is also in general if you find some of his recordings that are not here already I would be most happy if you shared them with me! This record comes with a four leaf inlay of accompanying notes and you have just seen all the photos from that folder.

After this one, I have just a few more of his recordings so maybe there will be a break from Deben for a while. There is no shortage of music however, just to little time to prepare the posts. I think I will share some more religious and ritual music as it has been a long time interest of mine and I have a big collection from many parts of the world and representing many of the faiths, religions and practices.

This record I got from Barraka, a long time friend who shares, if not all, so at least very many of my musical tastes. We first met already in the early seventies I think, looking for rembetika and demotica in a shop called Zorba, that like so many record shops are no more. It was run by a very jovial fellow by the name Costas.

Maybe you can guess that there will be much more Greek music later on...






7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, another amazing rare post, many thanks for this snapshot from my favourite place in the world

bolingo69 said...

As alway,s you are most welcome to Luobaniya! My favourite place in the world!

Stephen said...

Definitely, Luobanya's one of my favourite places too :) Thanks for the Semana Santa music, perfectly in time!

arvind said...

I agree with what you wrote in your post, bo. A wonderful album, and already one of my favourites from Deben's recordings. After one listen, its difficult to say which songs I like the best, but the Saetas and the general atmosphere captured from the Easter procession in A3 really took me half the way to Seville :)

Beautiful music to listen to on repeat! Thank you!

RAMDEB said...

Hello.
My name is José Antonio Bedmar. I´m grandson of José Bedmar. He is my dear grandfather. He sings with Juan García. I´m interesting in obtaing one copied of that disk.
Pleased answer me.

jabedmar@gmail.com

Juan García Accompanied by Jose Bedmar
(A2,A4,B1,B2,B3,B6)

RAMDEB said...

I forget to say Thank you

RAMDEB said...

Dear Sir:
I want to thank you again for sending me this memory of my grandfather who has filled us with joy during this whole past time.
I would like to share other songs of my grandfather and my family, I've managed to glean from the old tapes that were recorded in lives of my grandfather José Bedmar El Seco.
Surely you will love to hear these unreleased songs from my grandfather.
I await your reply.
A hug
My email is jabedmar@gmail.com.