Description
The vinyl format of Rhiannon Giddens latest, critically acclaimed album there is no Other, recorded with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi, is set to be released on Nonesuch Records on September 13. Produced by Joe Henry and tracked over an intensely productive five day period in Dublin, Ireland, there is no Other is at once a condemnation of othering and a celebration of the spread of ideas, connectivity, and shared experience. Giddens and Turrisi will perform at the Long Road Festival at Stanford Hall, Leicestershire from September 6 to 9, and return to Europe for a tour in November and December.
Tracing the overlooked movement of sounds from Africa and the Arabic world and their influence on European and American music, there is no Other illuminates the universality of music and the commonality of the human experience. It primarily features only Giddens and Turrisi playing one or two instruments together. The album comprises a mix of original songs penned by Giddens and a diverse set of interpretations ranging from Ola Belle Reeds Im Gonna Write Me a Letter, and Oscar Brown, Jrs Brown Baby, the Italian traditional Pizzica di San Vito to the aria Black Swan by Gian-Carlo Menotti.
Giddens recently told the Irish Times: Its all about movement, for both of usmovements of human beings and how we affect each other. If you just look at our range of instruments, where theyve come from and how theyve travelled across the world, its pretty amazing. The way that both of us approach music is very similar because were both educated about where the music is coming from. But when it comes to playing, were both just playing what we feel.
Rhiannon Giddens is a celebrated artist who excavates the past to reveal bold and candid truths about our present. A MacArthur Genius Grant recipient, she has performed for the Obamas at the White House and acted in two seasons of the hit television series Nashville. She has been profiled by CBS Sunday Morning, the New York Times, and NPRs Fresh Air, among others. Her acclaimed solo albums, Tomorrow is My Turn (along with the EP Factory Girl, produced by T Bone Burnett) and Freedom Highway, received 3 GRAMMY nominations; her work with the Carolina Chocolate Drops (which she co-founded) received a Grammy in 2010. Giddens is also featured in Ken Burns Country Music series coming to PBS this fall and will perform at concerts tied to the series in Nashville and New York City. Songs of Our Native Daughters, a collaborative album featuring Giddens that tells the stories of historic black womanhood and survival, was released on Smithsonian Folkways last month to rave reviews.
Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi defies easy categorization. Called a musical alchemist by the Irish Times, Turrisi is a Turinborn musician whose Dublin base reflects his global sensibilities. With his unique ability to fold early music, pan-Mediterranean modal melodies, and European flavoured jazz into a single repertoire, Turrisi has developed a musical style that crisscrosses cultures and forges musical alliances that are, at once, old and familiar and startlingly brand new. He has performed and recorded with Bobby McFerrin, jazz icon Dave Liebman, early music group lArpeggiata, contemporary ensemble Bang on a Can, Irish sean-nós singer Roisin El Safty, and tarantella specialist Lucilla Galeazzi.
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