Post #196840 by professahhummingflowah on Mon, Nov 7, 2005 11:30 AM

Apparently there are many other alternative versions of "Taboo" (made popular by Arthur Lyman's band and a million others), but I wanted to see if anyone is familiar with the arrangement done by contemporary composer OSVALDO GOLIJOV for the KRONOS QUARTET's album Nuevo. This album also has a fantastic arrangement, also by Golijov, of Esquivel's "Miniskirt."

Space-Age Pop has a page listing a ton of versions, but they don't have the Golijov/Kronos arrangement. (www.spaceagepop.com/taboo.html).

It's interesting to compare the Lyman, Denny, and Golijov arrangements. I also have a copies of the Marty Wilson version and Clyde Borly versions.

To me, the Lyman version is the most "exotic," with its birdcalls, sparse harmonies, and percussion usage. Also, Lyman alludes to "Quiet Village" by having percussion (after the perc. solo) play the rhythm of the QV bass line.

Denny's version starts off Latin-ish, but all throughout the head, it has that classic "we're about to swing" vibe, and then... ta-da!! The guys are swinging like we're in a jazz club, and then we go for a paraphrase of the head in 6/8! Woo-hoo! Maybe a little ironic that the father of exotica has a version of "Taboo" that's relatively square?

Mr. Golijov's arrangement is perhaps my favorite, but maybe that is because I'm a string player, and a big fan of the Kronos Quartet. Man, John Sherba and David Harrington really set the stage for mysteriousness as they play ponticello and sul tasto - two different ends of the spectrum, man I'm holding my breath the whole time! Just goes to show that ensembles of any instrumentation can play the exotic...

As a side note, if any of you have the WAITIKI album, we allude to "Taboo" in my original tune "Dew Drop Inn" -- see if you can find the references (there are a couple)!

Anyways, let me know what your favorite version of "Taboo" is and why!

-Randy a.k.a. WAITIKI's Professah Humming Flowah