This
disc represents one of my recurring sounds of this summer on the
Atlantic seaboard of France and is an indicator of an ongoing
musical continuum running down from the Hebrides, through Wales,
Ireland and Brittany to "Green Spain" - Cantabria, Asturias and
Galicia. The Celtic folk/classical/jazz tradition is alive and
well and represented superbly here by Galician maestro Carlos
Nuñez and his brilliant collaborators, reviving memories
of his extraordinary debut disc, Brotherhood of Stars (RCA
Victor 74321 453752), which featured various and significant contributions
from The Chieftains and Ry Cooder.
Here,
as the title suggests, the music is infused with the Breton musical
heritage it pays tribute to, from the contributions of various
bagadou (pipe bands) to harp doyen Alan Stivell, "el grande",
as Carlos describes him, Dan Ar Braz and the charismatic singer-songwriter
Gilles Servat. The opening Tro Breizh is, literally, a
tour of the Breton lands and their varied musical styles, with
Nuñez's flute to the fore, among accompaniments by turns
refined and abrasive. Noite pecha and its following Gavotte-Pandeirada
were written/arranged with Alan Stivell and here, in the nostalgic
melancholia, there are echoes of the latter's recent masterpiece,
Au dela de mots. Dan Ar Braz's Une Autre Fin de Terre
is a melodic guitar driven instrumental brought to a resounding
climax by the pipes and bombardes of the bagadou
of Lokoal Mendon and Auray (a companion piece to Green Lands
on Nuit Celtique - see below).
The
great collector and restorer of Breton folk music, Polig Montjarret,
is namechecked for the next two tracks which contrast very greatly
with each other - Karante Doh Doue is a marvellous choral
piece sung by the only male choir in Brittany and bearing great
resemblance to the Basque vocal tradition (see Oldarra
(Erato Detour 0630-19345-2), whereas Polka de Karnoéd
is a brisk, very folksy insrumental piece. In the following ballad,
Gilles Servat and Bleunwenn relate another traditional song very
winningly, then Nuñez brings together the pipe traditions
of his own Galicia with those of Ireland and Scotland in self-explanatory
The Three Pipers. Saint Patrick's An Dro is the
album's masterpiece (and also featured on Nuit Celtique),
with a simple flute based introduction leading to a massively
affecting massed piped finale. Eimar Quinn sings the lilting Yann
Derrien superbly before Nuñez pays tribute to the Breton
influence on Galicia and Dan Ar Braz does the same for him regarding
France. The closing Ponthus et Sidoine finds us in a monastery
in Catalonia with the great viola da gamba player Jordi Savall,
producing a unique piece of music whose only comparator, to my
knowledge is the still astonishing Chartres by Swiss violinist
Paul Giger (ECM). Ten, fifteen listens later I remain totally
entranced by this disc and the simultaneous Nuit Celtique
(SAN5111862), a compilation featuring Nuñez but also Stivell,
Ar Braz, Gilles Servat, Denez Prigent's astonishing duet with
Lisa Gerrard, Gortoz A Ran (featured in Black Hawk Down)
and, again, numerous bagadou. In addition to the quality
of the music in these two discs, the fact that Sony would release
such an inflammatory version of The Foggy Dew by Servat
and ex-Dubliner Ronnie Drew is the source of some comfort to me
- maybe "old Europe", via Japan(!), still has at least some sort
of artistic leverage against the right-wing, "Protestant", "born-again",
materialistic, militaristic, hypocritical claptrap that now appears
to dominate every aspect of mainstream America, and, if the powers
that be had their way, would do so in the UK as well, in these
sad and desperate times.
"And in the trees of Brittany, all the birds are singing for you,
…for freedom blooming in the dew".
Neil
Horner
Carlos Nuñez
and his band with:-