Carolina Moon

Concert sous influences (English Translation below)
Publié le samedi 26 mai 2012 à 03H00

Il reste un soir pour découvrir, c’est le mot, un univers d’une richesse culturelle aussi profonde que l’époque qui l’a engendrée.?La chanteuse néo-zélandaise Carolina Moon fait renaître le répertoire de la communauté juive de l’Espagne du Moyen Âge.

La prestation trouverait toute sa place dans le festival Femmes funk. Depuis jeudi, et ce samedi encore, Carolina Moon décline au centre culturel les morceaux de son dernier album, Mother tongue. A la chaleur d'une voix taillée pour le jazz, la chanteuse néo-zélandaise ajoute la complicité vis-à-vis du public, l'alchimie avec de grands musiciens, une ambiance un peu bohême...

LADINO...?Elle déploie surtout une soirée cosmopolite dans ses sonorités. L'invitée de l'AMJ-Beca (*) reprend des chants créés par les Juifs d'Espagne entre le IXe et le XIIe siècle. Un Moyen Age qui a vu la communauté cohabiter dans une grande tolérance avec ses voisines chrétienne et musulmane.

Ces compositions chantées en ladino, la langue judéo-espagnole, en gardent de profondes empreintes et on comprendra mieux pourquoi des influences arabes, espagnoles, tziganes, celtiques aussi, ne cessent de planer au-dessus du concert.

Cette « musique très très belle, sensuelle » comme la présente la chanteuse s'adresse parfois à la jeune promise, parfois à la belle-mère. Elle sait aussi plonger la salle de Boulari dans la spiritualité.

CLOCHETTES...?Carolina Moon complète un tableau déjà très riche en s'accompagnant aussi bien de castagnettes que d'instruments du Moyen-Orient - une cordelette de clochettes ou de petites cymbales. Sans oublier que l'artiste d'origine anglaise s'appuie sur un guitariste new-yorkais (Nigel Gavin, qui démarre le show à la guitare à onze cordes), un contrebassiste allemand (Matthias Erdrich), un batteur canadien (Ron Samsom) et le Kiwi Roger Manins, qui manie en virtuose le saxo soprano, la clarinette basse ou la flûte. Parmi la quarantaine de spectateurs venus au premier soir, Maea n'est qu'enthousiasme : « Ça me représente moi, qui suis un grand métis. C'est magique ! » « Je ne m'attendais pas à ces sonorités », avoue Yves Guichet. Ce Mondorien, lui-même musicien, pensait se déplacer pour du jazz ou de la musique celtique. « En fin de compte, j'en suis très content. Carolina Moon a une voix superbe. Je regrette juste que celle-ci soit couverte par la musique. »
La star de trois soirs s'était déjà produite sur cette scène en 2010. Elle rendait alors hommage à Billie Holliday. Dernière date ce samedi soir, à 18 heures.

(*) Association des musiciens de jazz et de blues pour les échanges et la création artistique.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Concert under the influence
Published Saturday, May 26, 2012 at 3:00


It remains one evening to discover is the word, a universe of cultural richness as deep as the time that engendered. New Zealand singer Carolina Moon revived the directory of the Jewish community of medieval Spain.

This presentation would be well placed in the festival 'Femme Funk'. Since Thursday, and again this Saturday, Carolina Moon performs at the cultural center, pieces from her latest album, Mother Tongue. In the warmth of a voice cut in jazz, the singer adds New Zealand complicity vis-à-vis the public, creating an alchemy with the great musicians, and an atmosphere a little bohemian ...

LADINO....? She creates in particular a cosmopolitan evening with its sounds and textures. The guest of l’AMJ-Beca (*) she takes the songs created by the Jews of Spain from the ninth to the twelfth centuries – a period in the Middle Ages which saw the community live in tolerance with its Christian and Muslim neighbors. These compositions sung in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish language, retain deep impressions and we can better understand why Arabic influences, Spanish, Gypsy, Celtic also continue to hover over the concert. This "music - very, very beautiful and sensual" as - Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes

Concert sous influences (English Translation below)
Publié le samedi 26 mai 2012 à 03H00

Il reste un soir pour découvrir, c’est le mot, un univers d’une richesse culturelle aussi profonde que l’époque qui l’a engendrée.?La chanteuse néo-zélandaise Carolina Moon fait renaître le répertoire de la communauté juive de l’Espagne du Moyen Âge.

La prestation trouverait toute sa place dans le festival Femmes funk. Depuis jeudi, et ce samedi encore, Carolina Moon décline au centre culturel les morceaux de son dernier album, Mother tongue. A la chaleur d'une voix taillée pour le jazz, la chanteuse néo-zélandaise ajoute la complicité vis-à-vis du public, l'alchimie avec de grands musiciens, une ambiance un peu bohême...

LADINO...?Elle déploie surtout une soirée cosmopolite dans ses sonorités. L'invitée de l'AMJ-Beca (*) reprend des chants créés par les Juifs d'Espagne entre le IXe et le XIIe siècle. Un Moyen Age qui a vu la communauté cohabiter dans une grande tolérance avec ses voisines chrétienne et musulmane.

Ces compositions chantées en ladino, la langue judéo-espagnole, en gardent de profondes empreintes et on comprendra mieux pourquoi des influences arabes, espagnoles, tziganes, celtiques aussi, ne cessent de planer au-dessus du concert.

Cette « musique très très belle, sensuelle » comme la présente la chanteuse s'adresse parfois à la jeune promise, parfois à la belle-mère. Elle sait aussi plonger la salle de Boulari dans la spiritualité.

CLOCHETTES...?Carolina Moon complète un tableau déjà très riche en s'accompagnant aussi bien de castagnettes que d'instruments du Moyen-Orient - une cordelette de clochettes ou de petites cymbales. Sans oublier que l'artiste d'origine anglaise s'appuie sur un guitariste new-yorkais (Nigel Gavin, qui démarre le show à la guitare à onze cordes), un contrebassiste allemand (Matthias Erdrich), un batteur canadien (Ron Samsom) et le Kiwi Roger Manins, qui manie en virtuose le saxo soprano, la clarinette basse ou la flûte. Parmi la quarantaine de spectateurs venus au premier soir, Maea n'est qu'enthousiasme : « Ça me représente moi, qui suis un grand métis. C'est magique ! » « Je ne m'attendais pas à ces sonorités », avoue Yves Guichet. Ce Mondorien, lui-même musicien, pensait se déplacer pour du jazz ou de la musique celtique. « En fin de compte, j'en suis très content. Carolina Moon a une voix superbe. Je regrette juste que celle-ci soit couverte par la musique. »
La star de trois soirs s'était déjà produite sur cette scène en 2010. Elle rendait alors hommage à Billie Holliday. Dernière date ce samedi soir, à 18 heures.

(*) Association des musiciens de jazz et de blues pour les échanges et la création artistique.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Concert under the influence
Published Saturday, May 26, 2012 at 3:00


It remains one evening to discover is the word, a universe of cultural richness as deep as the time that engendered. New Zealand singer Carolina Moon revived the directory of the Jewish community of medieval Spain.

This presentation would be well placed in the festival 'Femme Funk'. Since Thursday, and again this Saturday, Carolina Moon performs at the cultural center, pieces from her latest album, Mother Tongue. In the warmth of a voice cut in jazz, the singer adds New Zealand complicity vis-à-vis the public, creating an alchemy with the great musicians, and an atmosphere a little bohemian ...

LADINO....? She creates in particular a cosmopolitan evening with its sounds and textures. The guest of l’AMJ-Beca (*) she takes the songs created by the Jews of Spain from the ninth to the twelfth centuries – a period in the Middle Ages which saw the community live in tolerance with its Christian and Muslim neighbors. These compositions sung in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish language, retain deep impressions and we can better understand why Arabic influences, Spanish, Gypsy, Celtic also continue to hover over the concert. This "music - very, very beautiful and sensual" as - Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes

Concert sous influences (English Translation below)
Publié le samedi 26 mai 2012 à 03H00

Il reste un soir pour découvrir, c’est le mot, un univers d’une richesse culturelle aussi profonde que l’époque qui l’a engendrée.?La chanteuse néo-zélandaise Carolina Moon fait renaître le répertoire de la communauté juive de l’Espagne du Moyen Âge.

La prestation trouverait toute sa place dans le festival Femmes funk. Depuis jeudi, et ce samedi encore, Carolina Moon décline au centre culturel les morceaux de son dernier album, Mother tongue. A la chaleur d'une voix taillée pour le jazz, la chanteuse néo-zélandaise ajoute la complicité vis-à-vis du public, l'alchimie avec de grands musiciens, une ambiance un peu bohême...

LADINO...?Elle déploie surtout une soirée cosmopolite dans ses sonorités. L'invitée de l'AMJ-Beca (*) reprend des chants créés par les Juifs d'Espagne entre le IXe et le XIIe siècle. Un Moyen Age qui a vu la communauté cohabiter dans une grande tolérance avec ses voisines chrétienne et musulmane.

Ces compositions chantées en ladino, la langue judéo-espagnole, en gardent de profondes empreintes et on comprendra mieux pourquoi des influences arabes, espagnoles, tziganes, celtiques aussi, ne cessent de planer au-dessus du concert.

Cette « musique très très belle, sensuelle » comme la présente la chanteuse s'adresse parfois à la jeune promise, parfois à la belle-mère. Elle sait aussi plonger la salle de Boulari dans la spiritualité.

CLOCHETTES...?Carolina Moon complète un tableau déjà très riche en s'accompagnant aussi bien de castagnettes que d'instruments du Moyen-Orient - une cordelette de clochettes ou de petites cymbales. Sans oublier que l'artiste d'origine anglaise s'appuie sur un guitariste new-yorkais (Nigel Gavin, qui démarre le show à la guitare à onze cordes), un contrebassiste allemand (Matthias Erdrich), un batteur canadien (Ron Samsom) et le Kiwi Roger Manins, qui manie en virtuose le saxo soprano, la clarinette basse ou la flûte. Parmi la quarantaine de spectateurs venus au premier soir, Maea n'est qu'enthousiasme : « Ça me représente moi, qui suis un grand métis. C'est magique ! » « Je ne m'attendais pas à ces sonorités », avoue Yves Guichet. Ce Mondorien, lui-même musicien, pensait se déplacer pour du jazz ou de la musique celtique. « En fin de compte, j'en suis très content. Carolina Moon a une voix superbe. Je regrette juste que celle-ci soit couverte par la musique. »
La star de trois soirs s'était déjà produite sur cette scène en 2010. Elle rendait alors hommage à Billie Holliday. Dernière date ce samedi soir, à 18 heures.

(*) Association des musiciens de jazz et de blues pour les échanges et la création artistique.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Concert under the influence
Published Saturday, May 26, 2012 at 3:00


It remains one evening to discover is the word, a universe of cultural richness as deep as the time that engendered. New Zealand singer Carolina Moon revived the directory of the Jewish community of medieval Spain.

This presentation would be well placed in the festival 'Femme Funk'. Since Thursday, and again this Saturday, Carolina Moon performs at the cultural center, pieces from her latest album, Mother Tongue. In the warmth of a voice cut in jazz, the singer adds New Zealand complicity vis-à-vis the public, creating an alchemy with the great musicians, and an atmosphere a little bohemian ...

LADINO....? She creates in particular a cosmopolitan evening with its sounds and textures. The guest of l’AMJ-Beca (*) she takes the songs created by the Jews of Spain from the ninth to the twelfth centuries – a period in the Middle Ages which saw the community live in tolerance with its Christian and Muslim neighbors. These compositions sung in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish language, retain deep impressions and we can better understand why Arabic influences, Spanish, Gypsy, Celtic also continue to hover over the concert. This "music - very, very beautiful and sensual" as - Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes

Concert sous influences (English Translation below)
Publié le samedi 26 mai 2012 à 03H00

Il reste un soir pour découvrir, c’est le mot, un univers d’une richesse culturelle aussi profonde que l’époque qui l’a engendrée.?La chanteuse néo-zélandaise Carolina Moon fait renaître le répertoire de la communauté juive de l’Espagne du Moyen Âge.

La prestation trouverait toute sa place dans le festival Femmes funk. Depuis jeudi, et ce samedi encore, Carolina Moon décline au centre culturel les morceaux de son dernier album, Mother tongue. A la chaleur d'une voix taillée pour le jazz, la chanteuse néo-zélandaise ajoute la complicité vis-à-vis du public, l'alchimie avec de grands musiciens, une ambiance un peu bohême...

LADINO...?Elle déploie surtout une soirée cosmopolite dans ses sonorités. L'invitée de l'AMJ-Beca (*) reprend des chants créés par les Juifs d'Espagne entre le IXe et le XIIe siècle. Un Moyen Age qui a vu la communauté cohabiter dans une grande tolérance avec ses voisines chrétienne et musulmane.

Ces compositions chantées en ladino, la langue judéo-espagnole, en gardent de profondes empreintes et on comprendra mieux pourquoi des influences arabes, espagnoles, tziganes, celtiques aussi, ne cessent de planer au-dessus du concert.

Cette « musique très très belle, sensuelle » comme la présente la chanteuse s'adresse parfois à la jeune promise, parfois à la belle-mère. Elle sait aussi plonger la salle de Boulari dans la spiritualité.

CLOCHETTES...?Carolina Moon complète un tableau déjà très riche en s'accompagnant aussi bien de castagnettes que d'instruments du Moyen-Orient - une cordelette de clochettes ou de petites cymbales. Sans oublier que l'artiste d'origine anglaise s'appuie sur un guitariste new-yorkais (Nigel Gavin, qui démarre le show à la guitare à onze cordes), un contrebassiste allemand (Matthias Erdrich), un batteur canadien (Ron Samsom) et le Kiwi Roger Manins, qui manie en virtuose le saxo soprano, la clarinette basse ou la flûte. Parmi la quarantaine de spectateurs venus au premier soir, Maea n'est qu'enthousiasme : « Ça me représente moi, qui suis un grand métis. C'est magique ! » « Je ne m'attendais pas à ces sonorités », avoue Yves Guichet. Ce Mondorien, lui-même musicien, pensait se déplacer pour du jazz ou de la musique celtique. « En fin de compte, j'en suis très content. Carolina Moon a une voix superbe. Je regrette juste que celle-ci soit couverte par la musique. »
La star de trois soirs s'était déjà produite sur cette scène en 2010. Elle rendait alors hommage à Billie Holliday. Dernière date ce samedi soir, à 18 heures.

(*) Association des musiciens de jazz et de blues pour les échanges et la création artistique.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

Concert under the influence
Published Saturday, May 26, 2012 at 3:00


It remains one evening to discover is the word, a universe of cultural richness as deep as the time that engendered. New Zealand singer Carolina Moon revived the directory of the Jewish community of medieval Spain.

This presentation would be well placed in the festival 'Femme Funk'. Since Thursday, and again this Saturday, Carolina Moon performs at the cultural center, pieces from her latest album, Mother Tongue. In the warmth of a voice cut in jazz, the singer adds New Zealand complicity vis-à-vis the public, creating an alchemy with the great musicians, and an atmosphere a little bohemian ...

LADINO....? She creates in particular a cosmopolitan evening with its sounds and textures. The guest of l’AMJ-Beca (*) she takes the songs created by the Jews of Spain from the ninth to the twelfth centuries – a period in the Middle Ages which saw the community live in tolerance with its Christian and Muslim neighbors. These compositions sung in Ladino, the Judeo-Spanish language, retain deep impressions and we can better understand why Arabic influences, Spanish, Gypsy, Celtic also continue to hover over the concert. This "music - very, very beautiful and sensual" as - Les Nouvelles Caledoniennes

Mental alarm bells might start ringing when one reads the marketing blurb on the CD case of Caroline Lynn's The Shaman's Kiss: apparently this album is a fusion of tabla, drone, jazz and exotic rhythms. But you can cast all expectations of shallow new age noodlings aside with just one listen.

New Zealand-born jazz singer Caroline Lynn clearly possesses a remarkable and versatile voice. She sounds at home grappling with the microtones of traditional Spanish song (opening Nana) as playing the role of a Celtic sorceress (The Moor Sighs).

Although recorded in Sydney with an Australian band, a key reference point for The Shaman's Kiss appears to be the recordings of European jazz label ECM. Fans of saxophonist Jan Garbarek's excursions into eastern tonalities will be instantly at home with Rick Robertson's fine horn playing. And there are moments where Lynn's purity of tone reminded me of English singer Norma Winstone. And it is rare to hear an antipodean jazz album that is so well produced: Hugh Frazer's acoustic bass is fat and round, and the rhythm section sounds well integrated within the mix. All in all, The Shaman's Kiss is a well constructed and intelligent album that will reward the careful listener.

Richard "Cheese" Cotman
- Amplifier

Mental alarm bells might start ringing when one reads the marketing blurb on the CD case of Caroline Lynn's The Shaman's Kiss: apparently this album is a fusion of tabla, drone, jazz and exotic rhythms. But you can cast all expectations of shallow new age noodlings aside with just one listen.

New Zealand-born jazz singer Caroline Lynn clearly possesses a remarkable and versatile voice. She sounds at home grappling with the microtones of traditional Spanish song (opening Nana) as playing the role of a Celtic sorceress (The Moor Sighs).

Although recorded in Sydney with an Australian band, a key reference point for The Shaman's Kiss appears to be the recordings of European jazz label ECM. Fans of saxophonist Jan Garbarek's excursions into eastern tonalities will be instantly at home with Rick Robertson's fine horn playing. And there are moments where Lynn's purity of tone reminded me of English singer Norma Winstone. And it is rare to hear an antipodean jazz album that is so well produced: Hugh Frazer's acoustic bass is fat and round, and the rhythm section sounds well integrated within the mix. All in all, The Shaman's Kiss is a well constructed and intelligent album that will reward the careful listener.

Richard "Cheese" Cotman
- Amplifier

Music review: The Shaman's Kiss, Caroline Lynn (Newmarket)

This expansive tapestry of jazz, world music, tabla beats, Gaelic dance, displaced rhythms and free-flowing evocative lines from the Sydney vocalist is way outside conventional jazz boundaries - wherever these might be - but jazz threads hold things together. Behind the understated quality in this blend of originals, Spanish song and pieces from Mike Nock and Ralph Towner, there is a riot of improvisation where the familiar is torn down and refashioned into new and unexpected shapes. Her piece Walk Soft morphs into different configurations: her voice pure as moonlight, turning percussive across a steady pulse before it returns to melody. On Dance of the Silverfish, wordless vocals double with Rick Robertson's sax before melting into a spoken incantation over sensual rhythm. The best parts come here from tensions between seemingly simple melodic conceptions and complex rhythms. And from Steve Elphick's and Hugh Frazer's work on acoustic bass, Tony Lewis and Blair Greenberg on tabla and percussion, with Chris Cody and Matt McMahon sharing the honours on piano. -- Leon Gettler, The Age
- The Age reviewed by Leon Gettler

Music review: The Shaman's Kiss, Caroline Lynn (Newmarket)

This expansive tapestry of jazz, world music, tabla beats, Gaelic dance, displaced rhythms and free-flowing evocative lines from the Sydney vocalist is way outside conventional jazz boundaries - wherever these might be - but jazz threads hold things together. Behind the understated quality in this blend of originals, Spanish song and pieces from Mike Nock and Ralph Towner, there is a riot of improvisation where the familiar is torn down and refashioned into new and unexpected shapes. Her piece Walk Soft morphs into different configurations: her voice pure as moonlight, turning percussive across a steady pulse before it returns to melody. On Dance of the Silverfish, wordless vocals double with Rick Robertson's sax before melting into a spoken incantation over sensual rhythm. The best parts come here from tensions between seemingly simple melodic conceptions and complex rhythms. And from Steve Elphick's and Hugh Frazer's work on acoustic bass, Tony Lewis and Blair Greenberg on tabla and percussion, with Chris Cody and Matt McMahon sharing the honours on piano. -- Leon Gettler, The Age
- The Age reviewed by Leon Gettler

CD review: Caroline Lynn, The Shaman's Kiss,
Newmarket (NEW 3113.2)

“This album oozes the tingling excitement of a new love affair, or a holiday where each day is charged with new sights and adventures. Track by track Caroline Lynn unveils a fresh perspective on her broad musical world, which like so much of the best contemporary music blends jazz and folk influences.
She opens with the exotic scales and textures of the traditional Spanish Nana, her voice rising and falling hypnotically, calling up the exquisite sound and dramatic contours of Rick Robertson’s soprano saxophone. This instrument returns on Walk Soft to ride on the expansive bass of Steve Elphick, before Lynn duets with the tabla of Tony Lewis. A highlight of her live shows has been the Celtic inflected The Moor Sighs, here cleverly produced to capture its unsettling, theatrical quality, a context ideal for Robertson’s storming tenor. Lynn has set her own lyrics to Mike Nock’s tender Kiss, which Matt McMahon embellishes with a lovely piano solo. The metaphoric Dance of the Silverfish flashes with more soprano and Lewis’s hand-drumming, while Lynn shows what an effective improviser she can be, and there is a charming reading of Ralph Towner’s timeless Icarus. Fans of Towner, Azimuth and Jan Garbarek should find much to enjoy.
- ABC Limelight Magazine

Caroline Lynn [Carolina Moon], a very different Australian singer and writer, is positioned in that area where folk music from the East and West are incorporated in a contemporary idiom that also draws from jazz and, in more subtle degree, rock.

Lynn is scholarly in a completely relaxed way, and often powerfully expressive, particularly when she uses Spanish/Moorish and Gaelic rhythms and pitches. Her song The Moor Sighs uses fragments of Gaelic incantations from the long era of witch hunts (beginning circa 1450), and is quite scary.

Beside other songs of her own she presents lovely melodies (which require a
couple of hearings for their special feeling to come across) by Mike Nock and Ralph Towner. She has set words to these.

The clarity of detail and space that characterises this disc is created by Lynn's voice, and by the exceptional Australian musicians she has chosen. Bassists Steve Elphick and Hugh Frazer are among the most expressive anywhere, and they lay resonant, springing and decisively hewn lines under some superb, spacey pianism from Matt McMahon and Chris Cody. Rick Robertson, best known in the band d.i.g., is a second, plangent voice on soprano saxophone, Tony Lewis and Blair Greenberg join their tabla and world percussion organically to John Bartram's drums.
- Sydney Morning Herald reviewed by John Clare

Caroline Lynn [Carolina Moon], a very different Australian singer and writer, is positioned in that area where folk music from the East and West are incorporated in a contemporary idiom that also draws from jazz and, in more subtle degree, rock.

Lynn is scholarly in a completely relaxed way, and often powerfully expressive, particularly when she uses Spanish/Moorish and Gaelic rhythms and pitches. Her song The Moor Sighs uses fragments of Gaelic incantations from the long era of witch hunts (beginning circa 1450), and is quite scary.

Beside other songs of her own she presents lovely melodies (which require a
couple of hearings for their special feeling to come across) by Mike Nock and Ralph Towner. She has set words to these.

The clarity of detail and space that characterises this disc is created by Lynn's voice, and by the exceptional Australian musicians she has chosen. Bassists Steve Elphick and Hugh Frazer are among the most expressive anywhere, and they lay resonant, springing and decisively hewn lines under some superb, spacey pianism from Matt McMahon and Chris Cody. Rick Robertson, best known in the band d.i.g., is a second, plangent voice on soprano saxophone, Tony Lewis and Blair Greenberg join their tabla and world percussion organically to John Bartram's drums.
- Sydney Morning Herald reviewed by John Clare

It is a remarkable album by Auckland’s Carolina Moon called Mother Tongue and is probably the most eclectic CD to come out of New Zealand this year. or any other year for that matter. It was launched at WOMAD and the album’s ‘subtitle’ gives a hint of the wonders on store within: ‘Songs from the medieval heart of Judeo Spain’.
There you go. Music you didn’t know you didn’t know. Here’s a brief background. 1100-1492AD is considered the ‘Golden Age’ of Spain, a kind of renaissance when peace existed between Christians, Moslems and Jews and the cross-pollination resulted in fresh heights of cultural expression. In 1492, a new catholic regime ended it all by expelling Spain’s Jews, resulting in the Spanish Diaspora and the songs here – written during the Golden Age in the ‘mother tongue’ Ladino – being scattered across Europe, and being assimilated into the cultures they settled in.
So what you have here are songs from Spain from around the 13th century, sung in their original language, played by some of New Zealand’s finest musicians.
Told you it was eclectic.
The result is stunning. The melodies and language may be unknown, but the sound is beautiful and haunting, the rhythms elusive yet strangely familiar and the performance throughout superb.
Carolina’s singing carries a haunting lilt and guides you through the unfamiliar territory with ease and the virtuoso playing, Nigel Gavin on guitar and the very evocative glissantar (sounding somewhere between a guitar and sitar), Roger Manins on sax and wind instruments, Kevin Field on piano, is simply outstanding.
I could go on at length about individual songs, but it probably wouldn’t get you any closer to what the album sounds like. What is most important is that the emotion of the music and of the lyric carries you across the language barrier and through the exotic sounds on a journey of strange and heartfelt discovery. Those seeking ‘world music’ that is more than disco rhythms and a few anthropologically obscure instruments should indulge immediately. Mother Tongue is available at all good shops through Ode Records.
- The Weekend Sun reviewed by Winston Watusi

This was an amazing night of music.... Carolina is quite something on her ‘Mother Tongue’ recording but to see her perform live is to experience much more. She is a singer who should be experienced live because she is also a stellar performer. The intricate sinuous hand gestures as she sings, create an added texture to an already rich and evocative music.
This band is first class and what they brought to the music was simply wonderful. Having two of Auckland’s best drummer/percussionists in the one band did not hurt at all. They were similar in style to Manu Katche and Nano Vasconcelos who have often performed together in such Jazz/World music. It was the second time that I had caught Chris O’Connor at a gig and I can see why he is so in demand – especially for intricate drum work like this. Ron Samsom’s skill on the drum kit was already very familiar to me and it was fascinating to watch these two percussion masters swap roles throughout the performance.
Roger Manins did not play his usual tenor saxophone but showed his chops on the bass clarinet (Eric Dolphy and others used this axe to great effect). The deeper and woodier sounds were entirely appropriate for this ancient music and Roger still managed to stretch out convincingly. He also played the more traditional clarinet and the flute.
Nigel Gavin used a resonator guitar and a manouche guitar, and he stunned with his combination of lightening speed and middle eastern modal riffs. Although his guitars were amplified and had the usual array of pedals, his contributions were so well placed and appropriate to the music that it was hard to imagine the pieces without him. Kevin Field (piano), Matthias Erdrich (bass) and Jessica Hindin (violin) performed their parts with ease and this underscores their musicianship as none can have been that familiar with such diverse musical genres.
Apart from the Sephardic music we heard songs in Hebrew, English and Gaelic. There was also a standard, ‘Black is the colour’. This old english ballad was so beautifully executed that the audience seemed to hold their breath at each phrase. No one wanted to miss a single note.
A version of Garbarek’s arrangement of the traditional Nordic piece ‘Gula Gula‘ from ‘I took up the Runes‘ was played. It was the best version you could ever hope to hear and Carolina who is a gifted linguist had learned the Gaelic pronunciation of the song. During this piece the band stretched out and went crazy. It was one of those moments when you hoped that the music would never stop. If I have one plea it would be; perform more Garbarek compositions and arrangements please – perhaps with a bowed electric bass Eberhard Weber style. - Jazz Local 32 reviewed by John Fenton

This was an amazing night of music.... Carolina is quite something on her ‘Mother Tongue’ recording but to see her perform live is to experience much more. She is a singer who should be experienced live because she is also a stellar performer. The intricate sinuous hand gestures as she sings, create an added texture to an already rich and evocative music.
This band is first class and what they brought to the music was simply wonderful. Having two of Auckland’s best drummer/percussionists in the one band did not hurt at all. They were similar in style to Manu Katche and Nano Vasconcelos who have often performed together in such Jazz/World music. It was the second time that I had caught Chris O’Connor at a gig and I can see why he is so in demand – especially for intricate drum work like this. Ron Samsom’s skill on the drum kit was already very familiar to me and it was fascinating to watch these two percussion masters swap roles throughout the performance.
Roger Manins did not play his usual tenor saxophone but showed his chops on the bass clarinet (Eric Dolphy and others used this axe to great effect). The deeper and woodier sounds were entirely appropriate for this ancient music and Roger still managed to stretch out convincingly. He also played the more traditional clarinet and the flute.
Nigel Gavin used a resonator guitar and a manouche guitar, and he stunned with his combination of lightening speed and middle eastern modal riffs. Although his guitars were amplified and had the usual array of pedals, his contributions were so well placed and appropriate to the music that it was hard to imagine the pieces without him. Kevin Field (piano), Matthias Erdrich (bass) and Jessica Hindin (violin) performed their parts with ease and this underscores their musicianship as none can have been that familiar with such diverse musical genres.
Apart from the Sephardic music we heard songs in Hebrew, English and Gaelic. There was also a standard, ‘Black is the colour’. This old english ballad was so beautifully executed that the audience seemed to hold their breath at each phrase. No one wanted to miss a single note.
A version of Garbarek’s arrangement of the traditional Nordic piece ‘Gula Gula‘ from ‘I took up the Runes‘ was played. It was the best version you could ever hope to hear and Carolina who is a gifted linguist had learned the Gaelic pronunciation of the song. During this piece the band stretched out and went crazy. It was one of those moments when you hoped that the music would never stop. If I have one plea it would be; perform more Garbarek compositions and arrangements please – perhaps with a bowed electric bass Eberhard Weber style. - Jazz Local 32 reviewed by John Fenton

Having known Carolina Moon for several years, having been around her at the start and through most of the life-cycle of this project, I was very happy to see the final product come to life. As rewarding as that was though, even more rewarding is the final musical result.

After the first listen I commented on Graham Reid’s Elsewhere website “World class music from Carolina and the band. This is as good as anything you will hear coming out of Europe on the specialist “World Music” labels. Excellent playing, arrangements and production proving that NZ has passionate, exceptional musicians.” and after several repeat hearings it still holds true.

Carolina has a wonderful rich tone that coupled with her passion for the lyrics makes this a stand out piece of work. Fusing music and lyrics that were composed in medieval Sephardic Judeo Spain between 1100-1492 with 21st Century instruments and New Zealand musicians could quite simply have resulted in a discordant mishmash that was neither true to the original nor representative of modern interpretation. However, rest assured that this is not the case. The music sounds fresh. The solos from all band members across the 13 tracks on this CD sound as if they were written as part of the original compositions, but of course they were not, and that is what really lifts this release from a mere vocal-lead CD to a true fusion of traditional and improvised music.
“Como La Rosa” is the standout ballad track for me with Carolina throwing in to the mix a few bars of jazz-like scatting and Nigel Gavin moving things along with wonderful guitar backing (as he does throughout the release). Easily the best “world-jazz-folk-fusion” piece of music to come out of New Zealand (or anywhere else for that matter) for many years is the stunning track “Tres Hermanicas”. On this track we not only hear exceptional playing from all band members, including a beautiful soprano sax solo from Roger Manins, but also the quality of the recording, mixing and final mastering of the CD. That is why this CD deserves recognition and acclaim far beyond the shores of New Zealand; it is a complete package; musicianship, arrangements and production. - Creative Jazz Club reviewed by Mark Robinson for UK Jazz Radio

Having known Carolina Moon for several years, having been around her at the start and through most of the life-cycle of this project, I was very happy to see the final product come to life. As rewarding as that was though, even more rewarding is the final musical result.

After the first listen I commented on Graham Reid’s Elsewhere website “World class music from Carolina and the band. This is as good as anything you will hear coming out of Europe on the specialist “World Music” labels. Excellent playing, arrangements and production proving that NZ has passionate, exceptional musicians.” and after several repeat hearings it still holds true.

Carolina has a wonderful rich tone that coupled with her passion for the lyrics makes this a stand out piece of work. Fusing music and lyrics that were composed in medieval Sephardic Judeo Spain between 1100-1492 with 21st Century instruments and New Zealand musicians could quite simply have resulted in a discordant mishmash that was neither true to the original nor representative of modern interpretation. However, rest assured that this is not the case. The music sounds fresh. The solos from all band members across the 13 tracks on this CD sound as if they were written as part of the original compositions, but of course they were not, and that is what really lifts this release from a mere vocal-lead CD to a true fusion of traditional and improvised music.
“Como La Rosa” is the standout ballad track for me with Carolina throwing in to the mix a few bars of jazz-like scatting and Nigel Gavin moving things along with wonderful guitar backing (as he does throughout the release). Easily the best “world-jazz-folk-fusion” piece of music to come out of New Zealand (or anywhere else for that matter) for many years is the stunning track “Tres Hermanicas”. On this track we not only hear exceptional playing from all band members, including a beautiful soprano sax solo from Roger Manins, but also the quality of the recording, mixing and final mastering of the CD. That is why this CD deserves recognition and acclaim far beyond the shores of New Zealand; it is a complete package; musicianship, arrangements and production. - Creative Jazz Club reviewed by Mark Robinson for UK Jazz Radio

Although this enchanting album, songs of the Sephardic Jews of Spain might seem a departure for Auckland-based jazz singer Carolina Moon, she has previously explored what we might call world music, although never with this depth and resonance.

These glorious songs -- intimate, yearning, emotional -- come from centuries ago but are here arranged for delicate piano (Kevin Field), guitars (Nigel Gavin), violin (Jessica Hindin), upright bass, hand drums and saxophones (Roger Manins). The effect is ancient music which sounds contemporay, and Moon has the vocal dexterity to
explore the subtle glissandi of the style. Where these effect a perfect marriage -- as on Como La Rosa where Moon stretches into jazz phrasing and embellishment, Yo Hanino tu hanina with keening violin and sax, the traditional Israeli song Yad Anuga, they can be quite transporting and you could imagine yourself outside the wall of the Alhambra.

An album which embarks on a courageous journey but which will take you along for an exotic, often quite moving, voyage of discovery. - Elsewhere - reviewed by: Graham Reid

Although this enchanting album, songs of the Sephardic Jews of Spain might seem a departure for Auckland-based jazz singer Carolina Moon, she has previously explored what we might call world music, although never with this depth and resonance.

These glorious songs -- intimate, yearning, emotional -- come from centuries ago but are here arranged for delicate piano (Kevin Field), guitars (Nigel Gavin), violin (Jessica Hindin), upright bass, hand drums and saxophones (Roger Manins). The effect is ancient music which sounds contemporay, and Moon has the vocal dexterity to
explore the subtle glissandi of the style. Where these effect a perfect marriage -- as on Como La Rosa where Moon stretches into jazz phrasing and embellishment, Yo Hanino tu hanina with keening violin and sax, the traditional Israeli song Yad Anuga, they can be quite transporting and you could imagine yourself outside the wall of the Alhambra.

An album which embarks on a courageous journey but which will take you along for an exotic, often quite moving, voyage of discovery. - Elsewhere - reviewed by: Graham Reid

Subtitled : “Songs from the Medieval Heart of Judeo Spain”, on Mother Tongue Moon takes ancient scripts and tunes and has the gall to reinterpret them, given the specific accents of superb Auckland players like Nigel Gavin, and percussionists Ron Samsom and Chris O’Connor.

Local label Ode has released its share of lame-ass albums over the years, but raises the bar spectacularly with Mother Tongue, on which Moon breathes new life into these lovely Sephardic ruminations.
Taking inspiration from an era in which cultures merged and infiltrated each other’s music, with Arabic, Hebrew and Spanish influences to the fore, Moon and her musos work in jazz, together with subtle infusions of other contemporary styles, to create an odd shift in time and place. - METRO Magazine reviewed by: Gary Steel

Subtitled : “Songs from the Medieval Heart of Judeo Spain”, on Mother Tongue Moon takes ancient scripts and tunes and has the gall to reinterpret them, given the specific accents of superb Auckland players like Nigel Gavin, and percussionists Ron Samsom and Chris O’Connor.

Local label Ode has released its share of lame-ass albums over the years, but raises the bar spectacularly with Mother Tongue, on which Moon breathes new life into these lovely Sephardic ruminations.
Taking inspiration from an era in which cultures merged and infiltrated each other’s music, with Arabic, Hebrew and Spanish influences to the fore, Moon and her musos work in jazz, together with subtle infusions of other contemporary styles, to create an odd shift in time and place. - METRO Magazine reviewed by: Gary Steel