BETHANY & RUFUS RELEASE CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED
DEBUT CD ON HYENA RECORDS
“Unbelievable!” is the word most used by audiences when first hearing Bethany & Rufus whose cello and voice duo breaks new musical ground, sliding with seamless ease between groove, jazz and a gritty, unvarnished approach to traditional folk music. With its often exuberant and sometimes achingly sad songs, their debut CD, “900 MILES” blends Bethany Yarrow’s hauntingly beautiful yet explosively powerful voice with the mind-blowing, genre-bending cello playing of Rufus Cappadocia, pushing the boundaries of American roots music far into unexpected territory where intense groove meets sweet, heartbreaking soul. “900 MILES,” which was released on January 30th on Hyena Records, is an intentionally spare production, its sounds chosen with exquisite care and an unflinching honesty that honors the songs’ history, bringing them a new relevance to today’s world and tomorrow’s ears.
It often seems that the best music being made today completely defies category, and Bethany & Rufus do just that, mixing influences from dusty American field recordings to modern jazz, from delicate folk pop to the Griot traditions of Africa. By reaching back to traditional folk songs, Bethany & Rufus take a surprising step forward, blending their vast influences through the minimalist combination of voice and cello on traditionals such as “St. James Infirmary,” “East Virginia” and “Linin’ Track.” The results on their debut CD “900 MILES” are both haunting and utterly gorgeous, drawing comparisons as easily to Cassandra Wilson and Nina Simone as to the Cowboy Junkies and Jolie Holland.
“I guess the folk music tradition from which my dad comes is alive and well amongst people of his generation”, says Bethany Yarrow, daughter of folk legend Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul & Mary), “but there aren’t too many younger people who hear these old folk songs as relevant to today’s music. It has been an incredible experience to re-interpret this music, to stand on stage and feel like I’m riding a wave with 200 years of history behind it and really hold that place in the present. We live in crazy times but this music grounds me – there is no denying its ‘reality’ and it’s an amazing well from which to draw.”
Bethany & Rufus first met in 1999 at a friend’s late night gig at the Knitting Factory in New York City. The two of them began experimenting with old folk songs as a lark, but quickly realized that the unadorned cello and voice combined with the rooted power of dirt-under-the-nails work songs, blues, spirituals, chain-gang songs and ballads from the dust bowl created a starkly beautiful sound that defied the words “folk music” as they’re perceived today and reached across musical genres and generations.
Although Bethany absorbed much of this music by osmosis in her early years, it is her born-to-perform, mesmerizing stage presence coupled with her deep knowledge of this material that validates her and Rufus’ approach as they turn roots songs inside out, finding a vibrant inner pulse that resonates with an “in the blood” authenticity that used to characterize the music of decades past, but is all too rare in today’s music scene. This fresh approach to folk music brought rave reviews to Rock Island, the CD that Bethany released in 2003 under her own name. Rock Island featured the traditional slave lullabies and prison songs that lie at the core of the American musical vernacular, yet re-imagined, she says, as "a kind of electronic pop that I called deep folk music." Blending an edgy contemporary style with banjos, dulcimers, harmonicas, slide guitars, gospel choirs, and even the voices of great blues singers, Bethany charted a unique musical terrain that she and Rufus continue to explore in ways faroutside of any conventional music box.
Rufus Cappadocia is both a musical maverick to the bone and one of the leading voices of cutting edge cello today. His jaw dropping technique and musicianship inspire awe in even the most discerning critics, who have characterized his playing as “powerful…exploring territory that is positively otherworldly.” He has toured throughout the Americas and Europe with both fringe and famous groups that are legion amongst those who search for peerless musicianship, and is celebrated for his unique collaborations with artists from across the globe -- from the Balkans to the Caribbean, from West Africa to North America. Rufus has toured as a founding member of numerous groups such as Urban Tap and The Paradox Trio; has co-produced a CD with Barney Mcall (piano Gary Bartz) and Badal Roy (tabla Miles Davis); and has just finished recording and co-producing a new project, Vodou Drums of Haiti, with “Bonga” Jean-Baptiste as well as a CD of unaccompanied solo cello, called “Songs for Cello.”
"My journey into American folk music has been an unexpected revelation. Although I have worked with roots music from Haiti to Mali to India to Bulgaria, it wasn't until I began exploring the American folk tradition that I understood the connection between all the different styles I had been playing; there is a deep commonality to all these folk styles that speaks directly to the heart," states Cappadocia. "I think that is why the simplicity of the cello and voice duo has had such a profound effect on audiences when we play around the world. Even those who have never heard these traditional songs before respond to the purity of emotion contained in the two voices. It’s something undeniable."
New York Newsday hailed a Town Hall performance by Rufus (at the Black Rock Coalition’s Tribute to Hendrix Concert) as “the evening’s most mesmerizing moment,” and Rufus has made a career of going where few cellists have gone before, appearing on CD’s with Ross Daly, Kif with David Fiuczynski, DJ Cheb i Sabbah, Esma, The Paradox Trio, Odetta, Michael Blake, and Tamalalou, among others. Rufus has also performed with Kasse Mady, Aretha Franklin, The Black Rock Coalition, Theodossi Spassoff, Seamus Egan, Eileen Eivers, Cheick Tidiane Seck, Vernon Reid, and many more. After years of experimentation and creative revision, Rufus plays a self-designed five-string electric cello that extends the bass range of the cello and through amplification expands its tonal possibilities, creating new sounds by what was once known only as a classical music instrument.
Bethany & Rufus have been touring throughout 2006/2007 in support of “900 MILES.”
"Bethany delivers low, smoky tones that call to mind Nina Simone or Cassandra Wilson delving into field recordings...Cappadocia bows and plucks [his] cello with dramatic tension and stately grace. With stunning imagination, Bethany & Rufus move music linked with her father's era in arresting new directions. Bravo!"
-- GOLDMINE MAGAZINE
"Nearly all the songs are traditional, but every one is reinterpreted in a way that takes them to a place you’ve never dreamed of, no matter how many times you’ve heard them before... leaving you utterly transfixed... where the cumulative effect and intensity are simply astonishing."
-- AMERICANA UK
