10 Seconds: Max Baillie
1. Soriba Kouyate - Kanakassi (2'57" - 3'07")
from Soriba Kouyate - Kanakassi (1999)
“I love the chorus effect and whole aesthetic Soriba has on this recording of a traditional griot piece, and the concise, yet mercurial sort of feel to his solo. Linley Marthe’s bass playing is so melodic and nimble. One of my favourite kora connections was being invited onstage by Toumani Diabaté to trade phrases with him at his Cafe Hogun residency in Bamako when I was touring West Africa 20 years ago."
2. Ilona Eibenschutz (Hungarian-Austrian pianist) (0’57” - 1’07”)
from Ilona Eibenschutz talks and plays: Reminiscences of Brahms
"Eibenschutz was a student of Clara Schumann and knew Brahms - here she is playing some Brahms, and I chose this for the beautiful rhythmic freedom in this clip. Classical musicians tend to play so damn straight these days and they’re missing out!"
3. Gwigwi Mrwebi - Nyusamkhaya (1'57" - 2'07")
from Gwigwi Mrwebi – Mbaqanga Songs (1967)
“Gwigwi Mrwebe’s sax solo on Nyusamkhaya —the whole track has the most sublime lilting feel and Gwigwi’s solo just sails right over the top, making any listener (def me!) just pining to be a sax player!! This is where he implies a 4 time over the triplety backbeat. Love it!!!"
4. Ravi Shankar & Vehudi Menuhin (11'55" - 12'05")
from Vehudi Menuhin with Ravi Shankar - ‘East meets West’ (1967)
“At the time, this kind of cross collaboration was unique. When I was a student at Menuhin’s school, one morning the head of music played a track from this album. It blew my mind and has inspired me ever since. My two core live projects are very much in this lineage of different traditions coming together."
5. Ludwig van Beethoven - Eroica Symphony (7'50" - 8'00")
from Beethoven's Symphony No 3
“One of the most dramatic bits of Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony - the most intense clash followed by these chords which I reckon Stravinsky must have lifted for the Rite of Spring a century later… right?!! And this particular recording is on period instruments— those of Beethoven’s time, so the whole sound has a raw immediacy, perfect for such elemental music! Around 12 years ago I played this symphony at the BBC Proms, the whole orchestra playing from memory."
6. Henri Dutilleux - Cello Concerto (Tout un monde Lountain) (3'39" - 3'49")
“I met Dutilleux in the late 90s.. he signed my programme and his signature looks like a hieroglyph. I have it on the wall at home. My dad is a cellist and used to play this piece a lot, and I just love the range of colours Dutilleux gets from the orchestra, and how groovy this clip is, the parts passing between instruments. Such an incredible unbounded imagination for sound and texture!"
7. George Enescu - String Octet in C Major, Op.7 (20'33" - 20'43")
from String Octet in C major, Op. 7, (written 1900, recorded 2009)
“This is the opening of the slow movement of Enescu's string Octet, where all eight instruments gently pulse together almost like a big accordion. This whole piece is one of my all time faves and I imagine it depicting a druidic journey through the hinterlands of eastern Europe. Enescu's musical language brings aspects of Romanian folk music together with French impressionism, and mad circus vibes all in a unique ad soulful mix. Enescu was an incredible multi-talented man and taught my teacher, the legendary Ivry Gitlis who lived to be almost a century old."
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