CDs by Jacco Muller, BJ Baartmans (NL) and Cheka (Guinee)
Jacco Müller.
Jacco Müller graduated as a flamenco guitar player at the Rotterdam Conservatory. Besides being a guitar teacher, Jacco is busy with performing, producing and he has his own record label: Mihrab Records. He also works as a composer for orchestras, for which he was awarded the US Masterworks Prize twice, in 2003 and in 2005. In September 2007 a double CD was published with 8 orchestral works by Jacco Müller, recorded by the Philharmonic orchestras of: Kiev, Bulgaria and Czech Republic.
CD: Laberinto van Jacco. Label: Mihrab Records (2000), code: MR00072. Video.
BJ Baartmans.
BJ Baartmans guitar works is a special story. Once described as an unempathetic virtuoso, he controls a playing technique in which various styles melt together.He plays in the tradition of blues, folk, jazz and country but interprets these in his own particular way. Comparisons are often made with famous guitar players like Ry Cooder, Richard Thompson and Eric Clapton. BJs guitar play serves the song and the atmosphere, which makes him a desired “sideman” and session musician.
CD:Wild verbrand van BJ Baartmans. Label: Inbetweens Records (2009), code:IRCD048. Video.
Cheka (Katenen Dioubaté).
At the Dioubaté clan in Kankan, Guinee, the men and women are born to sing. Katenen Dioubaté is a “Griot” of a traditional family line of famous “griots”. There is a high demand for “griots”, not just for ceremonies and parties in Western Africa but in the whole world.
CD: Dielilou van Cheka. Label: Tamala (2010), code: KCD29081. Website.
