Marc Egea's 21st century hurdy-gurdy
Marc EgeaMelanocetusGalileo/Efimeras (www.galileo-mc.com)
The zanfona is an instrument that dates from the ninth century but fell out of favour over the 18th and 19th, and one with almost as many names as it has varieties of designs (including hurdy-gurdy, vielle à roues).
The ancient relative of both the violin and the bagpipe, it was played in Spain's Galicia until the 19th century and in parts of France and Hungary until the 20th. The French and Spanish variety, with its odd-sounding buzzing bridge, has a distinct sound that is both ancient and somehow futuristic. As technology developed, other instruments were thought to have more versatility, relegating the hurdy gurdy to an image of poor peasantry.
But this once-maligned instrument has made a recent comeback. In the hands of the Catalan ex-philosophy student Marc Egea it proves to be an instrument of many qualitites.
When Egea (now a professor of hurdy-gurdy and fabiol in Barcelona) took it up, the zanfona had a very short history in his native Catalunya. Thanks to the luthier Sedo Garcia and the performers Xavier Macaya and Eduard Casals, the instrument had gained some popularity and had been used in the interpretation of traditional Catalan songs in the last century.
But the approach of Egea, a former member of El Pont d'Arcalís, and veteran of a number of other Barcelonin musical ventures, is altogether different. On Melanocetus (named after a fish), Egea presents an original nine-element instrumental composition that is neither folk, classical, jazz or any other genre one could name. If the twentienth century wasn't over, I might call it 20th C. Experimental.
Each tune, if one can use the term, is a kind of a movementn in a symphony featuring certain orchestral elements like bassoon and cello, folk elements like bandoneon, and jazz sounds with the double-bass. Egea, together with a collection of mostly Catalan musicians, enchants and challenges the listener.
With a nod to Catalunya's long contact with Eastern civilizations, through the Mediterranean, "Possible" opens the set by combining zanfona, bagpipe and percussion. While it's an up-tempo piece, with a vaguely Middle-Eastern feel, to say it rocks would be an exaggeration. On "Fagocitandum" the hurdy-gurdy, percussion and double bass weave in and out in a kind of dance.
The jazz influence is also evident, particularly on three tracks: "Sichler: Muntanya de Pedra" features a fiesta of eclectic percussions. On "Ginkgo Biloba" the bassoon and the hurdy-gurdy perform a duet. "Bressolada" features Sandrine Robillard on the cello. There are also some primarily solo hurdy gurdy pieces, notably "Nunc Stans" (accompanied only by a frame drum) enough to demonstrate the wide possibilities of the instrument.
Other performers appearing on this 53-minute CD include Enrique Tellería on bandoneon, Enric Canada, cajon and bendir, the Venetian Franco Molinari, double-bass, Ana Losantos, bassoon and Jordi Vallverdú, Catalan bagpipe. None have the kind of resume as Egea, but all aquit themselves well.
This isn't traditional or roots in any sense, other than the lineage of the main instrument. Nor is it immediately accessible with ready hook lines and catchy phreases, though it does sometimes come perilously close. But it is worthy of interest and an investment of time. Egea is out to explore the limits of his instrument. It's an interesting and worthwhile journey. - David Cox
CD available from
cdRootsArtist web sites:
www.marcegea.com
www.pontdarcalis.com
Labels: hurdy-gurdy vielle roux fabiol vielle à roues
ErsatzMusika: a musical Voice Letter from Russia
ErsatzMusikaVoice LetterAsphalt Tango (www.asphalt-tango.de)
Living in a big city, everything is strange, impersonal and anonymous. You are longing for family, home and all the things you used to have. All you want to have is a little piece of home, like the smell of mother's kitchen, the tales father used to tell, the feeling of places you know like the back of your hand. Maybe just a letter will bring it all back, some news from those you love, sharing some old memories.
ErsatzMusika send such letters.
All the members of the ensemble were born and grew up in the former Soviet Union. They moved to Berlin in the early 1990s, where Irina Dobrovskaja founded the band in 2006. In the name of the band and the album title, Dobrovskaja tells of a music scene in Russia that was very different. They grew up with Russian pop, but also central Asian music and Gregorian chant. There was also a kind of underground music scene; anonymous songwriters, who recorded their songs at home and passed them around on tape. That is what in the end they called Ersatzmusika. The band started playing songs just for a few friends scattered all over the world after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They shared their common memories and news by recording their letters as songs. The more they shared the music, the more their friends suggested they should publish their Voice Letters.
ErsatzMusika and the unique music they play is hard to categorize. They hardly fit in the gap between folk and world music. Although you find some of the typical sounds of their Slavic roots, like accordion, harmonica, hand organ or xylophone, it is all a bit slower, more thoughtful - reduced.
To listen to Dobrovskaja sing is to feel the sadness, melancholy and disinterest that is deep in the songs. The stories ErsatzMusika tell, and the ways they are told, are as versatile as the intricate history of their homeland. They are about longings of an gulag prisoner, waiting for a crane to come and pass him a message; about a Russian singer who emigrated to Canada, recorded some songs and then disappeared. All of the songs, whether they are telling a story or offer a poem set to music, are surrounded by a beautifully sad mood, slightly sprinkled with humor. It is what you feel when you think about home, when you really miss it. It is smiling with tears in your eyes. - Andrea Meyer
CD available from
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La Musgana - The Water Rats of Spain
La Musgana
Temas Profanos
Lubican (Mad River Records 2007)
Castilla y Leon is the part of Spain that is left when you take away the rest; areas that identify as strongly with their region-province-nation as with Spain, and have a distinct culture. Like England's home counties within the UK, or Ontario within Canada, Castilla often searches for its own identity.
Hailing from this area, La Musgana (The Water Rat) comes into a bit of a void. Years of dictatorship left Castilla y Leon's people almost without their own songs and stories. Music from nearby Galicia, Asturias and the Basque Country is better known in world roots circles.
So, fittingly, La Musgana have spent 20 years trying to reconstruct this musical culture, adding elements from Celtic, Basque, and other influences, and whatever else fits. But not for any political purpose, just for the music itself. Even the group's name says 'don't take us too seriously,' but together, it makes a fine and fun mix.
This is the group's sixth effort in 20 years together, and its first in six. At the time the recording was made they were a trio: Galician musical whiz Carlos Beceiro on hurdy gurdy or cittern (also bass, bouzouki); Enrique (Kike or Quique) Almendros, on the tabor and three-holed flute that keeps things going and gives the band its signature; and Jaime Munoz (clarinets, flutes, accordeon, sax).
With the flutes, accordeons and tabor, La Musgana might be pigeonholed as Celtic, since Castilla y Leon's own traditional music isn't really known anywhere, least of all in Castilla y Leon itself. In fact, the idea for the band formed when Almendros heard a Celtic-sounding song, sung in Spanish, on the radio; it turned out it wasn't Celtic, but came from nearby Salamanca. This set him off on a 20-year journey.
On this 16-track CD of mostly instrumental tunes, different dances and songs from across Castilla y Leon are featured. Tunes come from villages in the provinces of Zamora, Salamanca, Segovia, Leon, Caceres, Valadolid, Avila, Madrid, and Burgos. These are the dances and songs of everyday village life in Northern Spain. Many of these smaller villages are now depopulated, or the people now tuned into the modern rhythms of pop music. Only a few remember the old songs. If the storship had lated a few more years, it would have been too late.
La Musgana breathes life into these songs. Besides the flute and tabor, and other signature sounds of the band, there is some variety. On "Espejo Sol y Luna" women's voices --those of Aragon's Carmen Paris, backed by Maite Dono and Celia Bergara are featured on a dance from Salamanca, which shows Moorish influences.
"Aires de Burgos" with Diego Galaz on violin, and Munoz on flute, has a contemplative and almost Scottish sound; the lively "Danzantes" and the happy Segovian melody "Chane" could easily be mistaken for the work of their frequent collborator, Basque accordion whiz Kepa Junkera.
"Pindongos de Montehermoso," a song from Caceres, shows a Gascon influence in La Musgana's arrangement with the hurdy-gurdy, flute and tabor. Other songs seem to show an Italian feel, rather like La Lionetta, especially when Munoz gets out the clarinet. "La Rueda del Tiempo" is one such track, and it is Munoz's chance to really shine.
And one more treat: On the bonus track, "Rogatilla de Valdestillas" Joaquin Diaz sings and Beceiro plays a lovely accompaniment on cittern. It's actually a prayer for rain, short and sweet. In all, that makes 66 minutes to enjoy.
Unfortunately, there is tragedy in this tale as well: Quique Almendros suffered severe health problems soon after this disc was recorded and he has not been touring with the band. The absence of such a heart-and-soul contributor to the Spanish folk scene has been profound.
All the expanatory notes in the CD package are in English. While no lyrics are included in the booklet, a concise explanation is given for each track on this professional, enjoyable and worthwhile disc. -David Cox
Listen to "La Rueda del Tiempo"
The artists' web site: www.lamusgana.net
World music CDs available from
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