Voices of Life
After listening to the Bulgarian Women's Choir one might think Bulgaria is the most wondrous country on the planet. And in some ways it is. Geographically it lies where the origins of the Western musical scale developed, but the music made there was isolated for centuries after the Eastern Orthodox Church split from the Roman Catholic Church. The result is a choral ensemble such as BWC, whose sound is born somewhere between the medieval Byzantine church and the Eastern European mountains. While the vocals are piercing and plaintive, they're also heavenly and childlike, and this is the complex beauty of the Bulgarian Women's Choir.Recorded in 1999 for a forthcoming documentary,Voices of Lifebeautifully displays the ensemble's bold harmonics, wavering tonality, and yodel-like whooping. The effect is chilling when the pitch drastically fluctuates under their masterful throat control, as on "Pilentze Pee," or when the sorrow explodes forth via a soloist, as on "Kalimanko Denko." Unlike the collaboration with Africa'sRay Lemaor the electronic dance treatment ofFrom Bulgaria with Love, this collaboration with writer-producer Eddie Jobson is not a miss. In fact, it's a direct hit, thanks to Jobson's deep understanding of and respect for this style of Bulgarian music. Listen, and be amazed.--Karen K. Hugg