In What Language?

In What Language?

In What Language?

ASIN: B0000CG8FW

Editorial Reviews
New Yorker
"[Ladd] is one of hip-hop's most restless minds."

Product Description
Pi Recordings is proud to release In What Language?, the stunning collaboration between pianist-composer Vijay Iyer and polymath poet-performer Mike Ladd. Improvisational in nature and hybrid to the core, this groundbreaking project features an eleven-piece ensemble of musicians and speaking voices. The poems of In What Language? comprise a series of darkly lyrical monologues by people of color negotiating the hyper-globalized setting of a 21st-century international airport. It takes its title from the pre-9/11 experience of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who, transiting through JFK in spring 2001, was wrongly detained by INS officials. Panahi's description of this ordeal was widely circulated online. Sent back to Hong Kong in handcuffs, he wanted to explain his story to fellow passengers. "I'm not a thief! I'm not a murderer! I am just an Iranian, a filmmaker. But how could I tell this, in what language?"

Commissioned by the Asia Society, Iyer and Ladd worked intensely on the material for over a year, and debuted their "song cycle" in May 2003. With this project, they have inspired each other to reach far beyond what either has done previously. Taken together, their influences cover the entire spectrum of modern music. The mesmerizing sonic miniatures range from the ominous funk of "Security" and the luminous jazz orchestration of "Taking Back the Airplane" to the rugged electronic programming of "TLC" and the noble cello-and-piano hymn of "Plastic Bag." A bold first foray into non-instrumental music for Pi Recordings, this project features the creative sonic techniques of versatile engineer/co-producer Scotty Hard (a.k.a. Scott Harding), who has imbued the album with a genre-bending variety and flair.

In What Language?

In What Language?,Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd,Pi Recordings,Jazz,Jazz Music,M-Base,Pop,World Fusion
Body Talk: The Language of Love 1965-1995 - Just for You
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Body Talk: The Language of Love 1965-1995 - Just for You
    Various artists , Whitney Houston (S)/The One That You Love - Air Supply (S)/If Ever You're In My Arms Again - Peabo Bryson (S)/Without You - Harry Nilsson , Slow Hand - Pointer Sisters (S)/Even Now - Barry Manilow (S)/Suddenly - Billy Ocean (S)/Do What You Do - Jermaine Jackson , 4:52 edit)/Midnight Blue - Melissa Manchester (S)/Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight - James Taylor (S)//I'll Always Love You - Taylor Dayne (S)/A Woman Needs Love Sailing - Christopher Cross (S)/All By Myself - Eric Carmen (S , Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio (S)/Living Inside Myself - Gino Vannelli (S)/La La Means I Love You - Delfonics , Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me - Gladys Knight & Pips (S)/Songbird - Kenny G (S)/I Knew You Were Waiting , Aretha Franklin & George Michael (S)/Seasons Change - Exposé (S)/Sara Smile - Daryl Hall & John Oates , and This Way Again - Dionne Warwick (S)/Dream Weaver - Gary Wright (S)/Biggest Part Of Me - Ambrosia
    Manufacturer: Arista Special Products
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music
    ASIN: B000NHUFF0

    Product Description

    R834-02 (Arista Special Products 14511) - Body Talk: The Language of Love 1965-1995 - Just for You - Various Artists [1996] (2-CD set) Greatest Love Of All - Whitney Houston (S)/The One That You Love - Air Supply (S)/If Ever You're In My Arms Again - Peabo Bryson (S)/Without You - Harry Nilsson (S)/Slow Hand - Pointer Sisters (S)/Even Now - Barry Manilow (S)/Suddenly - Billy Ocean (S)/Do What You Do - Jermaine Jackson (S)/Sailing - Christopher Cross (S)/All By Myself - Eric Carmen (S, 4:52 edit)/Midnight Blue - Melissa Manchester (S)/Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight - James Taylor (S)//I'll Always Love You - Taylor Dayne (S)/A Woman Needs Love (Just Like You Do) - Ray Parker Jr. & Raydio (S)/Living Inside Myself - Gino Vannelli (S)/La La Means I Love You - Delfonics (S, original stereo mix)/Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me - Gladys Knight & Pips (S)/Songbird - Kenny G (S)/I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me) - Aretha Franklin & George Michael (S)/Seasons Change - Exposé (S)/Sara Smile - Daryl Hall & John Oates (S)/I'll Never Love This Way Again - Dionne Warwick (S)/Dream Weaver - Gary Wright (S)/Biggest Part Of Me - Ambrosia (S
    In What Language?
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Opera for a new age
    • yes
    • Jazz and Poetry Collaberation
    • New music for a new age (but definitely not New Age music!)
    • A Brilliant Song Cycle
    		 In What Language?
    Vijay Iyer & Mike Ladd
    Manufacturer: Pi Recordings
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD

    GeneralGeneral | International | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Jazz | Styles | Music
    Jazz FusionJazz Fusion | Jazz | Styles | Music
    GeneralGeneral | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
    Pop RapPop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
    Similar Items:
    1. Still Life with Commentator
    2. Father Divine
    3. Panoptic Modes
    4. Reimagining
    5. Negrophilia: The Album

    ASIN: B0000CG8FW
    Release Date: 2003-10-21

    Tracks:

    1. The Color Of My Circumference I
    2. The Destiny Of The 19th Century
    3. Security
    4. Rentals
    5. Security
    6. DeGaulle
    7. TLC
    8. Three Lotto Stories
    9. The Color Of My Circumference II
    10. Iraqi Businessman
    11. Taking Back The Airplane
    12. The Color Of My Circumference III
    13. Innana After Baghdad
    14. In What Language
    15. Asylum
    16. The Color Of My Circumference IV
    17. Plastic Bag

    Album Description

    Pi Recordings is proud to release In What Language?, the stunning collaboration between pianist-composer Vijay Iyer and polymath poet-performer Mike Ladd. Improvisational in nature and hybrid to the core, this groundbreaking project features an eleven-piece ensemble of musicians and speaking voices. The poems of In What Language? comprise a series of darkly lyrical monologues by people of color negotiating the hyper-globalized setting of a 21st-century international airport. It takes its title from the pre-9/11 experience of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who, transiting through JFK in spring 2001, was wrongly detained by INS officials. Panahi's description of this ordeal was widely circulated online. Sent back to Hong Kong in handcuffs, he wanted to explain his story to fellow passengers. "I'm not a thief! I'm not a murderer! I am just an Iranian, a filmmaker. But how could I tell this, in what language?"

    Commissioned by the Asia Society, Iyer and Ladd worked intensely on the material for over a year, and debuted their "song cycle" in May 2003. With this project, they have inspired each other to reach far beyond what either has done previously. Taken together, their influences cover the entire spectrum of modern music. The mesmerizing sonic miniatures range from the ominous funk of "Security" and the luminous jazz orchestration of "Taking Back the Airplane" to the rugged electronic programming of "TLC" and the noble cello-and-piano hymn of "Plastic Bag." A bold first foray into non-instrumental music for Pi Recordings, this project features the creative sonic techniques of versatile engineer/co-producer Scotty Hard (a.k.a. Scott Harding), who has imbued the album with a genre-bending variety and flair.

    Customer Reviews:

    4 out of 5 stars Opera for a new age.......2005-08-09

    Inspired by a pre-9/11 incident in which Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was wrongly detained by INS officials at JFK airport in New York and eventually deported without cause, "In What Language" explores the myriad experiences of fellow "brown-skinned" travelers negotiating the new international playing field that is the contemporary airport.

    Underground Hip-Hop / Spoken-Word artist Mike Ladd teams up with visionary Jazz pianist Vijay Iyer to deliver an iconic song cycle of lives in transit, with international airports as the staging area for these multiple perspective, first-person tales of arrival and departure.

    With seven instrumentalists at his disposal, Iyer weaves an intricate combination of color and texture into Ladd's spoken word meditations. Numerous guest vocalists represent various perspectives found within these tales of transition, veering from the mournful to the angry. An Indian porn shop owner, a Yemini lottery booth attendant, an Iraqi businessman, a refugee from Sierra Leone and even the airport's Jamaican X-Ray machine operator among others contribute complex and multilayered elucidations of their situations. Each of these tales is bolstered by a rotating roster of musicians with accompaniments that vary from atmospheric to agitated. An iconoclastic blend of Hip-Hop breakbeats, ambient electronics, minimal but harmonically complex piano chord voicings, swinging upright bass vamps and kaleidoscopic Jazz improvisations from sax and trumpet all combine to reveal an organic, innovative new sound.

    Not quite spoken word, Hip-Hop or Jazz, but an invigorating mix of all three, "In What Language" addresses our modern society in all its imperfection. Comparable to the work of Steve Reich on "Different Trains" and some of Laurie Anderson's more complex narrative pieces, Ladd and Iyer have created a modern Opera of sorts, one whose thematic concepts are painfully representative of the world we live in. Our world is not color-blind, and may never be, but at least there are artists who have the foresight to challenge the status quo. A fascinating release and definitely, in the immortal words of Duke Ellington ... "beyond category."

    5 out of 5 stars yes.......2005-06-17

    yes yes yes..
    this album is something really special.
    I'm glad that arrogant fool wrote that clueless comment a couple comments before this. It's indicitive of the struggle two very talented , very aware , very genius and yes brown people have undergone to "validify" art. You dont owe him nothing or anyone anything. This art is real and solid. Keep keeping it REAL .
    From a brother who was touched , moved and inspired by both album and perfromance

    5 out of 5 stars Jazz and Poetry Collaberation.......2004-12-06

    This recording cannot be dismissed as a "rap" record. In fact, it is more in the tradition of jazz and poetry collaberations pioneered by Charles Mingus--his Scenes in the City, the Clown, Freedom, Don't Let It Happen Here, and Weary Blues. The heart of the recording is, however, not the words, but the music of Vijay Iyer, whose composition and playing here can only be described as brilliant. This record is proof that there are still innovators in jazz.

    5 out of 5 stars New music for a new age (but definitely not New Age music!).......2004-07-07

    Some folks (or one person at least) have said some dumb things about this album, so I want to clear up a couple of things right off the bat: 1) If you hate spoken words (as opposed to sung words) in combination with music (which is like saying, "if you hate saxophones, categorically"), you might not like this disk, but to write this album off as "rap" or "hip-hop" is stunningly ignorant.
    2) It has also been suggested that this album basically amounts to whining about inconsequentials in the face of the true horror of 9/11. By this logic, due to the enormity and injustice of 9/11, no one should point out or complain about any other injustices in the world, ever. Well, that's just dumb too.

    So what do I think about this album? It's brilliant. And it works on so many levels. To start with, the music is like nothing else you've ever heard. Even though many of the tracks are in odd time signatures, it's music that makes you tap your foot if not just get up and move your body (which is true of most of the music Vijay Iyer writes). On this album even more his others, Vijay seems to delight in creating dense polyrhythmic patterns with just a few notes or just a couple chords, which lends itself very well to the sparse melodies and ambiant harmonics that create the base for the spoken word artists. But there's some serious blowing on this album as well, with fine solos from Vijay, Libertry Ellman and Rudresh Mahanthappa (not to mention killer drums from Trevor Holder that constantly dice up the odd time signatures and still sound seriously funky). And the album also works as an integration of "spoken word"/"rap" and "jazz", an accomplishment that many a fine artist have tried to do and failed miserably. Part of why it works so well is that many of the pieces are less like "rap" and more like recited poetry to music. It's not that the spoken parts don't have the rhytmic delivery of rap. It's more like the artists involved figured out that if you're going to mix "jazz" and "rap", it shouldn't sound like Chuck D is sitting in with MJQ (though
    I suspect that that would be an interesting listen). Both forms are changed by they're mixing, and changed into something that is therefore no longer categorizable in either of the original forms. It's really beautiful.

    Now as for the lyrics, which is another level on which this album works. The lyrics are not about ""people of color" having trouble at airports following 9/11" (which is dumb thing number three that was said about this album, for those of you counting at home). True, Mike Ladd addresses some of the more unfortunate, to put it mildly, effects of a John Ashcroft as enforcer-in-chief world. But the thematic material for this album is so much broader and more interesting than just that. The songs explore the new geography of a world where borders are being fortified and broken down simultaneously, and the international airport as a symbol for both human connections and economic disparity and discrimination.
    It could and should be required reading/listening for introductory courses on "globalization". But this album is far from being some over-reaching "high-concept album"; it is smart, but it's also really cool to listen to and absorb as just really good music.

    5 out of 5 stars A Brilliant Song Cycle.......2004-04-19

    This is a wonderful work of art. Duke Ellington said that much great music is "beyond category" and that is true of this release. It's a song cycle about travel, globalization, the treatment of people of color in zones of interaction such as airports, and the many scrambled cultures that make up the shrinking world we live in. It is artistically political and politically artistic, literate, layered and nuanced. It draws from many forms - jazz, hip-hop, beat(nik) poetry, classical influences. The musicians and vocalists are both women and men and come from multiple ethnic backgrounds, and this also informs the complex texture of the whole. Mike Ladd's trenchant lyrics could stand alone as well crafted poetry (they are included in a booklet), but the words are even better as recited by Ladd and others with the music. Vijay Iyer's excellent and often beautiful music provides a compelling context, ever-changing to meet what the lyrics are communicating and providing dramatic tension. The songs cover a vast emotional range and suggest how the world looks from many points of view. Iyer and Ladd say in the liner notes that it is their "attempt to make sense of the tumultuous world around us." Sense or not, they have grasped the essence of that world and somehow gotten it onto this disc through the magic of their words and music.
    Movietime Scrapbook
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		Movietime Scrapbook

      Manufacturer: Empress
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD

      Film ScoresFilm Scores | Theatrical, Incidental & Program Music | Forms & Genres | Classical | Styles | Music
      Chamber MusicChamber Music | Forms & Genres | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
      General ModernGeneral Modern | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
      Vocal & SongVocal & Song | Modern, 20th, & 21st Century | Historical Periods | Classical | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
      Modern & 20th CenturyModern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
      Movie SoundtracksMovie Soundtracks | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
      Traditional Vocal PopTraditional Vocal Pop | Broadway & Vocalists | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Vocal Pop | Pop | Styles | Music
      Traditional PopTraditional Pop | Oldies | Pop | Styles | Music
      GeneralGeneral | Soundtracks | Indie Music | Stores | Music
      SoundtracksSoundtracks | Imports | Stores | Music
      ASIN: B00002MMYG
      Release Date: 2002-09-24

      Tracks:

      1. Anchors Aweigh-(All Of A Sudden) My Heart Sings - Kathryn Grayson
      2. Let's Fall In Love-Bread And Butter Woman - Danny Kaye/The Andrews Sisters
      3. Big City-Ok'l Baby Dok'l - Betty Garrett
      4. Golden Earrings-Golden Earring - Jack Fina
      5. If Winter Comes-If Winter Comes - Johnnie Johnston
      6. Road To Rio-You Don't Have To Know The Language - Bing Crosby/The Andrews Sisters
      7. Casbah-It Was Written In The Stars - Art Lund
      8. Anchors Aweigh-The King Who Couldn't Dance/The Worry Song - Gene Kelly
      9. The Kissing Bandit-What's Wrong With Me - Kathryn Grayson
      10. Fun And Fancy Free-Lazy Countryside - Johnnie Johnston
      11. Easter Parade-It Only Happens When I Dance With You - Art Lund
      12. The Kissing Bandit-Love Is Where You Find It - Kathryn Grayson
      13. Hit The Deck-Sometimes I'm Happy - Lena Horne
      14. Going My Way-Swinging On A Star - Bing Crosby
      15. Can't Help Singing-Any Moment Now - Deanna Durbin
      16. Secret Life Of Walter Mitty-Anatole Of Paris - Danny Kaye
      17. Strike Up The Band-Our Love Affair - Judy Garland
      18. Voice Of The Stars - Gracie Fields/Charles Laughton/Leslie Henson/Albert Burdon/Evelyn Laye/Stanley Lupino...
      19. British Film Festival Of 1946-Scene From Notable British Pictures Of The War - Leslie Mitchell/Stanley Holloway/Raymond Huntley/Hugh Burdon/Michael Redgrave/Roasamund John....
      Eastman Americn Music Series, Vol. 5
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        		Eastman Americn Music Series, Vol. 5

        Manufacturer: Albany Records
        ProductGroup: Music
        Binding: Audio CD

        GeneralGeneral | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
        Fleming, ReneeFleming, Renee | C to G | Featured Performers, A-Z | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
        GeneralGeneral | Songs & Lieder | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
        GeneralGeneral | Classical | Styles | Music
        ASIN: B000006A6J
        Release Date: 1998-02-24

        Tracks:

        1. Leaden Echo, Golden Echo: Leaden Echo
        2. Leaden Echo, Golden Echo: Golden Echo
        3. Alte Liebeslieder, Book IV: I. What Language
        4. Alte Liebeslieder, Book IV: II. The Invisible Moon
        5. Alte Liebeslieder, Book IV: III. Dreaming Fingers
        6. Alte Liebeslieder, Book IV: IV. Burn Off This Sleep
        7. Alte Liebeslieder, Book IV: V. Your Body is a Dance
        8. Alte Liebeslieder, Book IV: VI. Sweet Suicide
        9. Some Changes: In the Times of My Heart
        10. Some Changes: Halleluja (amplifier feedback solo)
        11. Some Changes: For Somebody to Start
        12. Some Changes: What Happens?
        13. Some Changes: Juice of a Lemon
        14. Some Changes: Celebration (Interlude)
        15. Some Changes: The New Pieta...
        Deceptively True
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          		Deceptively True
          True Margrit
          Manufacturer: Bobotunes/Armin Hammer Productions
          ProductGroup: Music
          Binding: Audio CD

          GeneralGeneral | Pop | Styles | Music
          Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
          GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
          GeneralGeneral | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
          GeneralGeneral | Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
          ASIN: B000056149
          Release Date: 1999-08-11

          Tracks:

          1. Connect The Dots
          2. Sympathetic Magic
          3. The Thirty Words For Snow
          4. All Of The Atoms Strung Together
          5. Deceptively True
          6. Devour The Past
          7. You Are Here
          8. Blind Man's Bluff
          9. Heat Lightning
          10. Farther Astray
          11. I Don't Mind
          12. Streets Of Firenze
          13. Divine Comedy
          14. Hey We Are Driving
          15. New Constellations
          16. Jamie
          17. Walk Into The Room
          18. One Out Of Many
          19. Delusions of Grandeur
          20. Waiting For The Wind

          Album Description

          Piano/keyboard-based original super-melodic songs with sweet& sultry female vocals. Wry words sung over grooves that range from poignantly wistful to infectiously catchy.

          Announcing the first full length album from San Francisco's True Margrit. 20 songs (over 74 minutes) from True Margrit's 10 year history! Tracks from "Peut-etre la fenetre" and "Sympathetic Magic," plus over a dozen new and never-before released recordings, all making their first appearence on compact disc . Includes a deluxe color 12-page booklet with full lyrics.

          Jazz Music:

          1. Introducing Kenny Burrell: The First Blue Note Sessions [Original recording remastered]
          2. It's About Time
          3. Kirkatron/Boogie-Woogie String Along for Real
          4. La Vie en Rose [Original recording remastered]
          5. Libera Me [Import]
          6. Live Gonzi II [Live]
          7. Meet the Jazztet
          8. Midnight Mood: Live in Stockholm [Live]
          9. More Questions Than Answers
          10. Mosaic Select: Grachan Moncur III [Box set]

          Jazz Music

          Jazz Music