Matthew Olwell – CyberTrad (2016)
Celtic music and beatbox beats come together in a fascinating album titled CyberTrad. Multi-instrumentalist Matthew Olwell uses several types of flutes to deliver a mix of Irish and Breton traditional pieces, along with original compositions backed by body and vocal percussion.
Although the combination is uncommon, the result is very satisfactory. Celtic music goes well with frame drums and hand percussion and the talented Shodekeh Talifero does a fabulous job with his beatbox and vocal rhythms.
Matthew Olwell grew up listening to music on a boombox radio. The mix included his parents’ wide-ranging tape collection, as well as radio programs like National Public Radio’s Celtic music show The Thistle and Shamrock.
His father, Patrick Olwell is a renowned Irish flute maker and both his parents and brother played flute, so there were always musicians around. The Olwell family was active in the United States’ East Coast Irish music scene, regularly attending the Washington D.C. Irish Festival and Irish Week at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West Virginia.
This splendid music community gave Matthew an appreciation for many folk traditions, including Canada’s Quebecois, old time, and Cajun music. Through this festival scene, Matthew met Eileen Carson-Schatz and The Fiddle Puppet Dancers at Augusta, and ultimately joined the later incarnation of that group, Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble. From 1994 to 2004 Matthew performed with Footworks, touring internationally, situating him on a pathway to a career in music and dance.
The lineup on CyberTrad includes Matthew Olwell on wooden and bamboo flutes, vocals, cornamuse and bodhran; Shodekeh Talifero on human beatbox, vocal percussion and panpipes; Aimee Curl on vocals and upright bass; Simon Lepage, the bass player of famed Quebecois band Matapat; Aimee Curl on vocals and upright bass; Jaige Trudel on cello, and Joey Abarta on uilleann pipes.
Cybertrad is a superb alchemy of flutes from the Celtic regions and the contemporary human beatbox tradition.
Buy the digital version of Cybertrad
Buy the Cybertrad CD
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
