The potential buyer encountering this release by Yo-Yo Ma and the Silkroad Ensemble is apt to form several mistaken impressions of its contents. From the track list and accompanying description you will learn that it is "the companion album to the Morgan Neville documentary The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble." And the long list of "featured" artists suggests the type of lazy, all-star album famous artists tend to phone in during the later stages of their careers. Neither of these impressions corresponds with the considerable riches here. The music is entirely effective independently of the little-publicized film. And, more importantly, the real "featured artists" here are not the named stars (who skew toward younger members of the new acoustic scene like bluegrasser Sarah Jarosz), but the members of the Silkroad Ensemble themselves. The structure of the album, as with so many of the creations of these remarkable artists, is unique. The Silkroad members, and a few visitors, select music of personal significance to them, many of them related in a general way to the theme of home. Then, a guest musician with skills appropriate to the music was added. With a range of source material running from Heart and Soul to Mali to the Balkans to East Asia, the resulting fusions are never less than interesting and are often marvelous. Sample the much-recorded St. James Infirmary Blues (track 11) in its unique realization here with accordionist Michael Ward Bergeman (one of the guest Silkroaders), Chinese yangqin player Reylon Yount, and the wonderful blues-country vocalist Rhiannon Giddens, a border crosser herself. The album gives insights into the histories of the Silkroad players, and indeed into the musical and personal depth that has made this ensemble one for the ages, and its leader a true musical exemplar of our time. by James Manheim
Tracklist:
1 Green (Vincent's Tune)
Arranged By – Johnny Gandelsman, Ljova
Bass – Shawn Conley
Bass Drum, Caxixi – Shane Shanahan
Cello – Yo-Yo Ma
Drum [Flower Pot] – Joseph Gramley
Featuring, Vocals – Roomful Of Teeth
Gong [Beijing Opera, Wind] – Haruka Fujii
Kamancha [Kamancheh, Shah-Kaman] – Kayhan Kalhor
Pipa – Wu Man
Shakuhachi – Kojiro Umezaki
Sheng, Suona, Flute [Bawu], Vocals – Wu Tong
Viola – Nicholas Cords
Violin – Colin Jacobsen, Johnny Gandelsman
Written-By – Wu Man
2 O'Neill's Cavalry March
Arranged By – Colin Jacobsen
Bass – Shawn Conley
Cello – Yo-Yo Ma
Featuring, Fiddle [Irish] – Martin Hayes
Kamancha [Kamancheh] – Kayhan Kalhor
Pipa – Wu Man
Shakuhachi – Kojiro Umezaki
Viola – Nicholas Cords
Violin – Colin Jacobsen
Written-By – Traditional Irish
3 Little Birdie
Arranged By – Colin Jacobsen
Bass – Shawn Conley
Cello – Yo-Yo Ma
Featuring, Vocals – Sarah Jarosz
Pipa – Wu Man
Sheng – Wu Tong
Viola – Nicholas Cords
Violin – Colin Jacobsen, Johnny Gandelsman
Written-By – Traditional American
4 Ichichila
Arranged By – Shane Shanahan
Bass – Shawn Conley
Caixa, Rattle, Scraper – Mark Suter
Calabash, Caxixi, Rattle, Scraper – Shane Shanahan
Featuring, Balafon – Balla Kouyate
Featuring, Kora – Toumani Diabaté
Kamancha [Kamancheh] – Kayhan Kalhor
Marimba – Joseph Gramley
Shaker – Haruka Fujii
Shakuhachi – Kojiro Umezaki
Viola – Nicholas Cords
Violin – Colin Jacobsen, Johnny Gandelsman
Written-By – Traditional Malian
5 Sadila Jana
Arranged By [Instrumental] – Kyle Sanna
Arranged By [Vocal] – Sarah Small
Cello – Yo-Yo Ma
Featuring, Vocals – Black Sea Hotel
Shakuhachi – Kojiro Umezaki
Viola – Nicholas Cords
Violin – Colin Jacobsen
Written-By – Traditional Macedonian
6 Shingashi Song
Arranged By – Haruka Fujii
Bass – Shawn Conley
Bass Drum, Caxixi – Shane Shanahan
Bells, Cymbal [Chinese], Shaker, Congas, Drum [Shime-Daiko], Cymbal [Chappa] – Haruka Fujii
Cello – Yo-Yo Ma
Crotales, Bongos, Tom Tom – Joseph Gramley
Featuring, Taiko – Kaoru Watanabe
Shakuhachi – Kojiro Umezaki
Sheng – Wu Tong
Tabla – Sandeep Das
Viola – Nicholas Cords
Violin – Colin Jacobsen
Written-By – Traditional Japanese
7 Madhoushi
Cello – Mike Block
Featuring, Sitar, Vocals, Arranged By – Shujaat Khan
Kamancha [Kamancheh] – Kayhan Kalhor
Tabla – Sandeep Das
Violin – Colin Jacobsen
Written-By – Ustad Vilayat Khan
8 Wedding
Bass – Jeffrey Beecher
Cajón – Mark Suter
Cello – Eric Jacobsen
Clarinet – Kinan Azmeh
Drum [Arabic Rig, Turkish Tef], Percussion [Darbuka], Davul, Drum [Frame] – Shane Shanahan
Featuring, Vocals – Dima Orsho
Percussion [Darbuka] – Joseph Gramley
Shakuhachi – Kojiro Umezaki
Viola – Nicholas Cords
Violin – Colin Jacobsen, Jessie Montgomery
Vocals – Wu Tong
Written-By – Kinan Azmeh
9 Going Home
Arranged By – Jeremy Kittel
Cello – Yo-Yo Ma
Clarinet – Kinan Azmeh
Featuring, Cello, Banjo, Vocals – Abigail Washburn
Lyrics By – William Arms Fisher
Music By – Antonín Dvořák
Sheng, Vocals – Wu Tong
Translated By – Keith Lipson
Translated By [With] – Wu Tong
Viola – Nicholas Cords
10 Cabaliño
Arranged By – Evan Ziporyn
Bagpipes [Gaita] – Cristina Pato
Bass – Shawn Conley
Cello – Yo-Yo Ma
Drum [Doira] – Shane Shanahan
Featuring, Accordion – Roberto Camesaña
Featuring, Hurdy Gurdy [Zanfona], Arranged By – Anxo Pintos
Featuring, Tambourine – Davíde Salvado
Kamancha [Kamancheh] – Kayhan Kalhor
Written-By – Traditional Galician
11 St. James Infirmary Blues
Bass – Jeffrey Beecher
Cello – Yo-Yo Ma
Clarinet – Kinan Azmeh
Featuring, Accordion, Arranged By – Michael Ward-Bergeman
Featuring, Vocals – Rhiannon Giddens
Featuring, Yangqin – Reylon Yount
Marimba – Joseph Gramley
Shakuhachi [Shakulute] – Kojiro Umezaki
Violin – Colin Jacobsen
Written-By – Traditional American
12 If You Shall Return...
Bass – Shawn Conley
Bass Drum – Shane Shanahan
Cymbal – Haruka Fujii
Featuring, Guitar – Bill Frisell
Shakuhachi – Kojiro Umezaki
Sheng – Wu Tong
Tabla – Sandeep Das
Vibraphone – Joseph Gramley
Viola – Nicholas Cords
Violin – Colin Jacobsen
Written-By – Hu Jianbing, Kojiro Umezaki, Sandeep Das
13 Heart And Soul
Arranged By – Rob Mathes
Bass – Jeffrey Beecher
Cajón – Mark Suter
Cello – Yo-Yo Ma
Clarinet – Kinan Azmeh
Cymbal, Tambourine – Joseph Gramley
Drum [Rig], Snare – Shane Shanahan
Featuring, Vocals – Gregory Porter, Lisa Fischer
Piano – Cristina Pato
Pipa – Wu Man
Shakuhachi – Kojiro Umezaki
Sheng – Wu Tong
Viola – Nicholas Cords
Violin – Colin Jacobsen
Written-By – Frank Loesser, Hoagy Carmichael
