Customer Reviews

Earthbeat

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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Not many years ago, I had the good fortune to see the Dimitri Pokrovksy ensemble live, at one of Paul Winter's "Winter Solstice" concerts. The ensemble, a group of young Russian singers, thoroughly captivated tha audience with their energetic songs and dances that trace their roots back to ancient Russian village music.

Sadly, the event took place only months after Pokrovsky was prematurely lost to them. That Winter Solstice concert became, de facto, a remembrance . It was an experience to remember, and all concerned deserved kudos for making the occasion a celebration of the life of Pokrovsky.

This album is an alternate, and more permanent, celebration of the unique vocal and instrumental sounds that Pokrovsky and Winter combined in creating this music. That the original idea for the collaboration predated the collapse of the Soviet Union by a few years, requiring permission and a co-production from from Melodiya, the Soviet state record company, is all the more remarkable in these days of an open Russia.

The final track, "Garden of the Earth," adding American village choristers coached by the inestimable Susan Osborn to the group of Russian singers, is a fitting conclusion to a good musical time had by all. It brings to mind another garden song of affirmation and hope, Benrstein's "May Your Garden Grow," the concluding song in his opera, Candide. Consider this coincidence, whether purposeful or serendipitous, as high praise.

Speaking of coincidences, it is more than mere coincidence that the opening theme of the TV show "Survivor," titled "Ancient Voices" on that show's theme-music album, is derived literally from "Kurski Funk." Paul Winter and Dimitri Pokrovsky must have had a good idea there, back in 1987, when the album was first released.

Bob Zeidler

In August this year, I attended the yearly Jazz Festival in Eilat, known as ' Jazz in the Red Sea'. I am not a huge jazz fan, so I enjoyed many of the performances but felt no need to buy any of the CDs by the acts performing.

Then, the very last concert of the very last night, went to see The Paul Winter Consort and the Dmitri Pokrovsky Singers. To say that the act was phenomenal is an understatement. It simply blew the competition out of the water - and stood head and shoulders above any other act in the Festival.

Dressed with what I presume are traditional Russian cloths, the Dmitri singers dances, stormed their feet, played the violin (badly - the only weakness in the set), and most importantly sang - raised their voices in wonderful, exotic harmonies, completely unfamiliar to me, someone who listens mostly to Rock, Blues and other forms of music derived from the European and America traditions.

After seeing a whole variety of Jazz acts, The Paul Winter Consort came off as even more impressive. I can't put the finger on what made Winter's group them so great - there were many able pianists, bassists and drummers in the performances, but somehow, the Consort was so much better. No doubt it was because the music was so much better - not just effective, but often sterile Jazz, but wonderful combinations of styles and forms.

Paul Winter (who, due to a malady in the mouth, had a man holding his lips while he played) was not only a fantastic saxophonist but a bandleader extraordinaire, straight forwardly and warmly communicating with the crowd. His Sax lines mirrored and complimented themes from the rhythm section, the Dmitri Singers, and occasionally recordings of whales, wolves, and so on.

It was a fantastic concert, and you can hear much of that charm, beauty and power here, in the record that Winter and the Dmitri Pokrovsky Singers made some 15 years ago during the last days of the Cold War. This is a true epic of World Music and Jazz. You'll love it.

I first heard this recording when I bought the cassette about 12 years ago from a bargain stand. It immediately became one of my most cherished recordings, primarily becuase of the first song, "Kurski Funk", which is one of the most uplifting, rhythmic vocal harmonies I have ever heard. If you are open to it, it reaches down deep inside your soul and awakens something primal. I can almost feel myself leave this planet when I hear it, and I can't sit still. It is trance-inducing. Most of the other songs on the CD have a smiliar effect, their rhythms capturing you, posessing you feet to tap, stomp even. The harmonic choruses are interspersed throughout the entire album. My only complaint is likely a result of the fact that I am NOT a jazz fan, and probably jazz is not even the right word. Although the saxaphone and "Paul Winter" sound is very nicely woven into the songs, I have always been a bit saddened when the singing and dancing melted into the more melodic instumental portions of the songs. The singing in "Kurski Funk" especially could never be prolonged enough for me. Songs such as "The Horse Walked in the Grass" took a little getting used to for me, but now they are part of the whole Earthbeat experience and my innards dance to that tune, as well.

I was so surprised when I heard the "Kurski Funk" on "SURVIVOR"! I felt I had been robbed! My precious jewel of a song that no one I knew had ever heard, and that had been my soul's mate for so many years, had been commercialized! Well, I hope the commercialization will help to spread this music to the world. I misplaced my cassette, and got a car with only a CD player, and have been looking for the last year for the EARTHBEAT CD. Thank heavens I finally found it and my soul can sing again.

The lively, dissonant Russian folk-singing of the Dmitri Pokrovsky Singers is deftly accompanied by saxophonist Paul Winter, keyboardist Paul Halley, cellist Eugen Friesen and guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves, with Russ Landau on bass and Ted Moore and Glen Velez on percussion. The result is a fun, joyful blending of east and west, old and new. The intensity of the Russian tonalities is punctuated by whistles, shouts and even a few wolves and whales (which always sound great in duet with Winter's fluid soprano sax), while the jazz consort smoothes out the dissonances, yielding to their unique character but blending them into compositions with an undeniably modern flavor. The resulting album is a triumph. Fans of world fusion music and innovative musical arrangement, don't miss this one!

Wow! This collection is absolutely fabulous! Paul Winter has so cleverly taken African funk, the American "Buff" improvisation, and the wholesome Russian folk tunes and melded them into one helluva mix. If you don't own this CD, get it!

I have to disagree with the former review. The soprano sax line just heightens the mood of Kurski Funk, and in my opinion is VERY palpable. This is a Paul Winter recording, so what else would you expect from a seasoned, virtuistic sax player.

I have several other Consort cd's as well as some solo Paul Winter, all of which I highly recommend.

Oh, how I wanted to love this CD! I'm a huge fan of Russian and Eastern European music long before Kate Bush introduced us to the Trio Bulgarka, and I am particularly enchanted with the full- throated "shout singing" typical of the vocalists. I also dearly love all kinds of World Music, so when I spotted this collaboration, I snatched it up, eager to hear the possibilities such a mixture would produce.

Unfortunately, I discovered some exceptional folk music with an uninspired soprano saxophone noodling around above it all, like an annoying fly at an outdoor concert. For example, the first track, Kurski Funk, propels you forward on the power of the singers alone, but just when you fully feel the exhilaration of the voices, in sneaks the sax. The energy drop is palpable.

Likewise, some of the original songs have the feeling of rejected "We Are the World" possibilities.

This is the first Paul Winter CD I've listened to, so I hope I'm not being unfair to an artist who clearly seems to have a passion about his work. I just wish all the parts of "Earthbeat" came together in a more cohesive, satisfying way.

I became aware of this landmark in American/Russian musical colaboration in the late 80's and was mesmerized by it--especially by the Dmitri Pokrovsky singers. Like some of the other reviewers, I found Paul Winter's soprano sax "noodling" around a little distracting, but I came to appreciate it. And I loved the way the album combined Russian folk singing, American musicians, and Brazilian jazz beats and harmonies.

Years later I thought I heard something reminiscent of the album in the reality tv show Survivor theme song, "Ancient Voices."

As it turns out, Russ Landau, the bass player with the Paul Winter Consort the time of this album was made, went on to compose music for Survivor. Vocals from the Kurski Funk are apparently sampled in it, but not credited. According to Wikipedia, Paul Winter sued Russ Landau for using those voices. The theme song is slightly remixed each season with a little new "flavor" (vocals, drums, indigenous instruments, etc.) representing the location of that series. But the chorus singers are always the same. How interesting that these Russian folk singers have become the "voice" of all sorts of tropical locations.

Here's a Youtube video of a Russian Singer and a small ensemble doing their cover of "Kurski Funk." [...] It's not clear whether she was one of the original Dmitri Pokrovsky singers.

Great blend of Russian Folk and world jazz. I believe one of the songs is used as the theme song for the TV reality show, Survivor. Highly reccommended.

Unabashedly beautiful celebrations of musical diversity, this world-jazz release still rings true. Despite occasional production clutter and a bit of down time, the instrumentation and composition remain mesmerizing, cynics be damned.

Not many years ago, I had the good fortune to see the Dimitri Pokrovksy ensemble live, at one of Paul Winter's "Winter Solstice" concerts. The ensemble, a group of young Russian singers, thoroughly captivated tha audience with their energetic songs and dances that trace their roots back to ancient Russian village music.

Sadly, the event took place only months after Pokrovsky was prematurely lost to them. That Winter Solstice concert became, de facto, a remembrance . It was an experience to remember, and all concerned deserved kudos for making the occasion a celebration of the life of Pokrovsky.

This album is an alternate, and more permanent, celebration of the unique vocal and instrumental sounds that Pokrovsky and Winter combined in creating this music. That the original idea for the collaboration predated the collapse of the Soviet Union by a few years, requiring permission and a co-production from from Melodiya, the Soviet state record company, is all the more remarkable in these days of an open Russia.

The final track, "Garden of the Earth," adding American village choristers coached by the inestimable Susan Osborn to the group of Russian singers, is a fitting conclusion to a good musical time had by all. It brings to mind another garden song of affirmation and hope, Benrstein's "May Your Garden Grow," the concluding song in his opera, Candide. Consider this coincidence, whether purposeful or serendipitous, as high praise.

Speaking of coincidences, I find it more than a little interesting that now, more than a decade (thirteen years, actually) since the initial release of this album, there are two new (and initial) reviews preceeding this one. It may be coincidence that these new reviews appear at a time when the music for the popular TV show "Survivor" is derived, almost literally, from "Kurski Funk." Then again, maybe not.

Bob Zeidler