CAFƒANTARSIA ENSEMBLE

Songs ofthe Table

Innova 684

 

NikosBrisco: vocals,gypsy guitar, Greek bouzouki, baglama, Cretan laouto, & bass

RuthMargraff: lyrics, vocals,accordion

RonRiley: guitar,tzouras, vocals

RamiEl-Aasser: darbukah,riq, frame drum, bells, ashiko, vocals

 

  1. White Tortoise Lute [2:46]
  2. Three Graces [3:53]
  3. Kill Me Standing  [3:29]
  4. Djelem (Romani/Gypsy intro) [1:42]
  5. JasminÕs Veil   [3:25]
  6. Black Sheep Daughter [3:27]
  7. Book of Tea  [2:59]
  8. Lemon Blossoms  [4:36]
  9. Corcoduce  [2:29]
  10. 1000 Times - IÕve Seen Your Ghost [2:54]
  11. Crows & Angels [4:10]
  12. Rakija Waltz [2:40]                         

album time: 38:59

 

Produced, Engineered, Mixed& Mastered by Kevin Johnson at Prosonic Audio (Pagosa Springs, Colorado) Summer 2006. 

CD cover& portraits by J.R. Delia, back cover & inside jewel box by DavidLittle Smith

 

With special thanks to Dan Prall (Dallas & Istanbul), Wild Blooms(Austin, Texas), Carol Turner for time, talent, energy & expertise, BarbRiley, Cristian Amigo, Philip Blackburn & Innova Records, New Dramatists, EuroAmericaRecords, Elyse Singer/Hourglass Group (NYC), Fulbright Foundation (Greece), DahTeatar,  Max ManicÕ & family, DraganRistic/Amala School & KAL (Serbia) www.VoiceofRoma.com,Yiannis Bizas/Hotel Argo (Paros), Athens Centre, Aristotle University ofThessaloniki, University of Athens, ITI/Hellenic Centre (Greece), JR Delia& Jess Haynie, JoeÕs Pub/New York Gypsy Festival, Montreal Guitar Trio,Xenofontas @ Melodia FM (Athens, Greece), the Kardasi, Lapata, Brisco & Margrafffamilies, Bob Ferrante, Joanne Jacobson, Roxana Cruz & David Little-Smith,Cheri Magid, Panos Venzelous, Bobby Jack Pack, Susan Schulman, NikosKazantzakis, Milorad Pavic, Townes Van Zandt, Markos Vamvakaris, SabanBajramovic, Les Tziganes Ivanovitch, CafŽ Noir (Dallas, Texas),  Fred Cohen & Kate Duffy, Fred Ho,Dear friends at Steve Brown, Marcy Arlin, TCG, TWB, MTC, TMUNY, AEK Athens,Rakija, Magges (NYC), Raquy, Catalin O. Jurim, Liron Peled, Maria Hnaraki, Pearlat the overlook, Bill Hicks, the Dude, the Ba, Chris Crenshaw, Steve Taylor,Blue & Carrie, London Egg (NYC), the dervish Karem Hanine.  Nikos Brisco uses handmade acoustic instruments made byluthiers:  Dio Dinos, MauriceDupont, David Enesa, Nikos Rompogianakis, Tasos Theodorakis, AthanasiosMitrentsis, Karlos Tsakirian & Ioannis Alexandris. Lyrics deeplyinspired by wandering the streets, cafŽs and taverns of Sarajevo, Belgrade,Valjevo, Sibiu, Istanbul, Thessaloniki, Athens, Crete and Astoria,ÒNayis-Tumenge sorro le volime Rroma anda lasho muzika! Yiassou Michales!!Ó

 

www.cafeantarsiaensemble.com

www.NikosBrisco.com     www.RuthMargraff.com

www.myspace.com/cafeantarsiaensemble

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.  WHITE TORTOISE LUTE (Margraff/Brisco)

Trampled puddlesof wine color

Are his shallowweary eyes

Sleep the sisterof his death

Born of poets,bred by thieves

 

Heholds no shadow

Only fingers tenand tail

For devilsriding devils

In the weltedtortoise shell

 

Ifwe leave behind

Ourlutes of lovely tortoise shell

WeÕll walk oncemore as tortoises

Upon theBlackest Sea

 

Ifwe roar like bulls,

Theblood of heaven. Will flood the graves

ThatweÕve forgottenÉ 

Inthe dead we canÕt remember of before

 

Spreadlike dung across the darkness

Red the cobwebhooves of mourning

Blind withnight, the thunder crying

 

Triple-breastedbeast of hell

Wing of falconswiftly swelling

ÔTil we standstill in the felling

Stain of angelsin the well

 

WedonÕt know and we wonÕt know

Sang the lutebeneath his hand

ÔTil the devilscome by forest

And the riflesturn to brothers

 

Andthe widows dip their apples

In the table ofthe wine

 

2.  THREE GRACES (Margraff/Brisco)

In the hour ofthe doorsÉ

Where we hadworn three peepholes

Pressing ourfaces for the three of us

Threegraces.   We longed forevening.

To nameeverything a name

From which itwould never shake free

 

Chorus: 

In thebloodwings passing over

Tablesset with the ash of Crete

In the scatterof our fathers on the sea

That tore thetears across our cheeks

 

Ifhis hand had never broken

Where he brushedagainst the PashaÕs horse

Hot and wet, itsbosom heaving

From a crest ofAyia Sofia jewels

We know all theriddles of the streetsÉ(Chorus)

 

Ifwe push against the graves

To bury one moreiron angel

Loose the snakesto swallow

Golden wings andflaming sword

Black with thepowder of the rebel

Where his rootswere cutÉ(Chorus)

 

Ifwe drag the last embrace

To fell anothershrieking widow

Wrestling Charosin the bloodwings

Black and wetupon the stones

It was the PashaÕshorse that called to Michales

ÉMore than thecrested letter

 

3.  KILL ME STANDING (Margraff/Brisco)

Sometimes I diewhere I am standing

Look down at mysoul that cannot break me

Throw my limbsinto the river

 I take root and goÉ toÉ sleepÉ

 

Iwas a girl who cleaned the trains 

And wouldnÕtdance

Thought IÕdsomeday catch on fire 

Burn slow as IÔmburning

 

Sometimeswhen you follow me

I throw my hairinto the fountains

On my wingŽdhorse, across the smiting sun

Hearths andhomes are for the others

 

Iwill never danceÉ 

Unless I catchon fireÉ

Where I amflyingÉ 

Look down as IÕmburning

 

Sometimesthe mountains mock us 

Snap theminarets with me

Let the bloodrise higher than the horseÕs belly

Take life andthenÉ goÉ freeÉ

 

Iam a girl who cleans the trains

And I wonÕtdance 

If I ever catchon fire 

Burn you as IÕmburningÉ(Repeat)

 

(Letme die in the air,

Letme die in the flame

Let me soar tothe heavens,

An arrow ofgrace)

           

4.  DJELEM – ROMANI/GYPSY INTRO (Bajramovic arr. Brisco/Riley)

 

5.   JASMINÕS VEIL (Margraff/Brisco)

Where is hercopper jar?

Where is thewoman at the well? It can't be Jasmin.

Without thatlittle black lamb at her feet

YouÕd be damn'd Romanijealous

Of Jasmin'sOttoman boutique

 

Jasmin'sveil is spinning slow

Across theburning windows

She sings a girlwith roses in her tears

Rolls her curseof bulls that lay there dying

Jasmin draws thedemons to the wine

 

Jasmin'sveil is lifting slow

With ghost violafingers

Silt is risingfrom the Dead Sea on its back

Red sky hangingflatter than a curtain

Jasmin calls theblack lambs to the Vine

 

Thick-as-a-man's-waist-tall-as-a-house-by-morning!

I've-been–feeling-strangely-toward-you-for-some-time!

 

Jasmin'slace is growing thick

Across theburned out windows. 

Ghosts stillflung across the marketplace

And blood stillrushing in the bookstore 

Flood thesegraves to keep us Byzantine

 

Thick-as-a-man's-waist-tall-as-a-house-by-morning!

I've-been–feeling-strangely-toward-you-for-some-time!

           

Jasmin'slace is growing thick

Across the blownout windows

Sabers rushingbirds torn in the air

Jasmin'splanting all the boots with roses

Jasmin's draggingslit lambs to the wine

 

Jasmin'sveil is growing thick

Across theburned out windows

Ghosts stillflung across the marketplace

And blood stillrushing in the bookstore 

Flood her graveto keep us Byzantine

 

6.     BLACK SHEEP DAUGHTER (Margraff/Brisco)

As if her Daddy'sblack lung

Choked down onher song

And called upbullfrogs in her throat

So she keptsighinÕ there and clawinÕ

At the coversall night long

For some velvetshe could treasure

In her ribcageiron skillet

She'd keepstokinÕ like a stovepipe

ÔTil the crackof every dawn

 

Asif her Daddy's whiskey sour

Sunset wasstanding still

Against thetracks across the hills

Where the trainswould pressure down

On the faces ofthe pennies

And the fossilof a girl

Straining at thefeast of families

To keep theblackberries from her gown

 

Andshe would press so many four-leaf clovers

In the Biblesthat he later had to burn.

Andhe showed her how the sun could turn

And burst itsliquor open still and rise again,

How to lift herhair up from the dew

Of prehistoricpromises so green

With weepingwillows and fatted calves and feasting

 

Asif we never would see lava coming down

In rock hardfeathers all across the sky

Turn the yellowcake to smoke

And gold toliquor.  As if we'd always find him

Putting out thefleece again tonight

Waiting for his blacksheep daughter

To cross hismindÉ

 

AndDaddy I know I should've crossed your sepulcher

WearinÕ timbrelsevery time it thundered

I should'vepoured you somethinÕ sweeter

Than the day farspent in the slate

I wanted my ownway then. But now my will is brokenÉ

Can I pleasecome in? And stay in the extra room?

ExtraÉExtraroomÉ

 

Asif the same old whiskey sour

Sunset wasstanding still

In the fossilprinted darkness

Pressin' intopeacock diamonds

In the rough...for you to believe

 

7.     BOOK OF TEA (Margraff/Brisco)

When heavenstruck its head

On the vaultedtwilight

Split the bluedome jade to stars

And the moon wasflung across the night

 

ThereÔrose a grace upon the sea

With horns anddragon-tail that spun

Dark rainbows inher cauldron

And she told mewhen she built the sky

 

Sheleft two crevices undone

Forthe rolling of lovers

For the rollingof hope

For the rollingof teaÉ. (Repeat)


8.  LEMON BLOSSOMS (Margraff/Brisco)

Is this theCrete / This is the Crete

My fatherwatered with his blood      

 

WasI born to crush the blossoms

Of these lemonsin the window

Was I born totoast the Pashas

And the taintedhenna hands

 

WasI born to seize the lions

By the loins ofrotting gallows

And cursing ChristÉAndcurse Mohammad

As the dead sinkdown within a man

 

ThereÕsno room in my house

For my swollensoul tonight

And thereÕs noroom in my Raki glass

To break it withmy knife

 

ThereÕsno room on the lemon tree

To hang anotherbroken face

ThereÕs no roomin the mountain sage

For all thedevilsÉAman, Aman, Aman

 

Isthis the Crete / This is the Crete

My motherwatered with her tears   

                                               

WasI born to Samsons springing

From the wormsof milk abounding

To work thepestle, work the mortar

Work the scornof threshing floors

 

IÕmnot a man to let the fly

Run up and downthe saber (Repeat)

 

ThereÕsno room in my house

For my swollensoul tonight

And thereÕs noroom in my Raki glass

To crush it withmy knife

 

ThereÕsno more room on the lemon tree

To hang anotherbroken face

ThereÕs no roomin the mountain sage          

For all thedevilsÉAman, Aman, AmanÉ

 

9.     CORCODUCE (Brisco) meaning Òunripe plumsÓ inRomanian

 

 

10.  1000 TIMES – IÕVE SEEN YOURGHOST (Margraff/Brisco/Riley/El-Aasser)

Whatmadness!  How can it be!

What horror, ohwhat horror

This...astranger's voice                                 

A bell struckhard too many times

A bell withvoices in it...ringing

I was a smallboy / A baby's cry

A thousand timesI've seen your ghost

A thousand timesI've seen your ghostÉ(Repeat)

 

Whatmadness has befallen

Every generation/ Oh what madness!

For I am the sonwho yielded             

To the Rose Torment/ Oh my beloved!

I am the bedouinwho wanders         

In thewilderness afar / My love, my love!

From my beloved/ I have searched for you

In every marketplace/ Every vineyard

Every garden / Everygrave

A thousand timesI've seen your ghost

A thousand timesI've seen your ghostÉ(Repeat)

 

11.   CROWS & ANGELS (Brisco)

Oh woe is me howwill she ever respect me?

IÕm just awayward bramble my law is my guitar

The only thing Isee is whatever is before me

One day I stoleinto her eyes, now I see nothing more

 

Ohwoe is me when I hear the road a-calling

When I feel theocean rolling its tide in my bones

She says sheÕllgo there with me but oh I have no money

She says itdoesnÕt matter, she says our love is strong

 

WhatI failed to mention is my loveÕs a Gypsy princess

And when sheplays her accordion crows and angels sing in key

From the forestsof Romania they say her father slept with witches

That her motherdied in birth, speaking an ancient tongue

 

Ohwoe is me IÕm just a wayward Christian

 Far from my little village where mymother prays for me

 

Ohwoe is me everywhere I go the birds paint her face with melody

Themoon lights my way back home

Here I amtonight in a field drinking wine

Living anancient riddle, singing an ancient rhyme

 

Intoher arms I find me running like a child

And between herlegs I find the songs that from youth once drove me wild

Andthe crows and the angelsÉ have all been good to me

Six strings onmy guitar now six children call me father

 

12. RAKIJA WALTZ (Brisco)