In 1997, Willy Schwarz, having spent a good part of the 70’s studying Indian Classical and folk music styles from master musician-teachers, returned to the subcontinent to fulfill a long-held dream; to record his original songs, in settings combining eastern and western elements. He traveled to Pune, bringing only his accordion and eight reels of blank tape, and a head full of musical ideas. Soon, he was writing scores in Devanagari , rehearsing with both schooled Classical virtuosi as well as barefoot brass band players, all under the experienced counsel of producer Warren Senders.
After two months of rehearsing and recording nearly all live sessions, he took the now-filled tape reels back to his native Chicago, into sponsor Dan Pritzker’s high-tech studio, and invited the crème of the crop of local musicians to finish the project with him, overdubbing the basic tracks, again in live sessions.
Live for the Moment, released by EFA/Clearspot in 1999, entered the All-Europe World Music Charts at #6, and received unanimous glowing reviews all over the continent, being hailed as a milestone in polycultural songwriting; unique, revolutionary and deeply affecting.
Willy Schwarz; vocal, accordion, piano, doira, santur, sarod, bass, bells
Atul Keskar; sitar, dilruba, surbahar Ajit Soman; flutes
Ramakant Paranjpe; violin
Rajiv Devasthali; tabla
Rajendra Durkar; dholak, duggi, naal
Rajecndra Zawalkar; tabla, tabla bols
Dilip Kale; santur
Pramod Gaekwad; shanai
Nikhil Sohoni; manjira
Vijaya Sundaram; guitar
Sripad Solapurkar; saxophone
Sarjaino Yaidande; clarinet
L.N. Tashewalle; clarinet
H.L. Bajantri; trumpet
Lakshman; trumpet
Alla Kungoll; euphonium
H. Bajantri; euphonium
Allaudin; bass dhol
Ram Mane; snare drum
Jahangir; katchi dhol
Kashinath Bansode; thapa dhol
Father Edwin Vas; engineer
Paul Wertico; drumset
Larry Gray; bass
Don Stiernberg; guitars
Stuart Rosenberg; fiddle
Howard Levy; pennywhistle
Thomas Keany; bass
Alejo Poveda; drumset, latin percussion
Jose Valdez; piano
Tomas de Utrera; flamenco guitar
Edgar Gabriel; violin
Steve Gibbons; violin
Bill Kronenberg; viola
Eric Remscheider; cello
Bob Bowker; backup vocal
Joanna Klein Hettinga; backup vocal
Judy Story; backup vocal
Warren Senders; backup vocal
Scott Steiner; engineer
“ ...a
real jewel among the annual outpouring of mass productions...”
—INTRO
“
. . .utterly glorious. When Schwarz gets a good rant going, like ‘Masters’ or ‘Lord
Why Me?’ he’s utterly irresistible…”
—MOJO
“ ...folk,
mantras. Jazz, delicious eccentricity...”
—ASOBLANCO
“ ...Through
Willy Schwarz we get to know the love of a musician for the music and cultures
of the world, as if centuries of diverging traditions
all flow
together...”
—SCHALLPLATTENMANN.DE
“...sonorous
and atratospheric instrumentalization and lyrics which express the sensitive
and the positive. A fin-de-siecle Bhagavad Gita to
take home. Don’t miss it!...”
—LA
VOS DE ASTURIAS
“...good-time
music in the best sense, a party-colored mélange of
Afro-pop, singing in the style of Branduardi, Cajun, and Indian ragas;
actually a bit of everything. Great texts, too; one of my favorite
records of this summer...”
—WESTZEIT
“...so
witty and oblique a combination of Indian, Irish, Samba, Chanson, etc.
as
this CD has never yet been found...”
—STEREO
“...as
individual as it is universal, and already one of the most beautiful CDs
of the year...”
— FRANKFURTER RUNDSCHAU