Troubadour Dorothy Carter

Album review

The cover of this 1976 debut album by Dorothy Carter is subtitled "Hammered Dulcimer & Psaltery" and while those two traditional stringed instruments are definitely dominant, the actual contents within are far from the archivally faithful folk renditions one may expect from such a description. Troubadour absolutely is an album steeped in the language of traditional American folk music, but Dorothy Carter's dedication to counterculture experimentation ensures that it is also an adventurous and singular approach, more in line with late '60 and early '70s transcendentalism than with the literalist renditions of the '50s and early '60s folk revivals. Carter has, with the recent resurgence of interest in New Age obscurata (especially that of fellow cosmic dulcimer player Laraaji), had her work rediscovered and 2023's reissue of her second album, 1978's Waillee Waillee, was justifiably celebrated for its more experimental and explicitly psychedelic tendencies. Troubadour is more obviously connected to folk traditions and is less experimentally droney than Waillee Waillee, but it is still quite possessed of its own unique and intentionally cosmic level. Improvisation is at the heart of what Carter does, taking her years of itinerant exploration of folk music and her penchant for musical collaboration and combining them into a richly organic sound that sounds both steeped in centuries of tradition and incredibly individual. Troubadour is mostly instrumental (only a handful of tracks have vocals, and we only first hear them on fourth song, "Make a Joyful Sound"), with Carter's unpolished voice providing an earthy counterweight to the swelling, psychedelic drones of dulcimer and sitar that provide the song's foundation; it's ecstatic music in the classic sense. Likewise, the driving, trancelike pulse of "The King of Glory" also features vocals, but the powerful woodwind melody is much more dominant. There are also more gentle, subtle pieces, such as the angelic "The Morning Star" and the winding, dramatic "Tree of Life" (which features the briefest of vocal performances), making Troubadour as dynamic and surprising as it is singular. © Jason Ferguson/Qobuz