Kentañ: Son al leur… Coop Breizh, 2011

Kentañ/Son al leur…/Coop Breizh/2011

Personnel:

* Jean-Marie Lorans: Bombard

* Riwall Jego: Binioù-Kozh

* Emilien Robic: Treujenn gaol (Clarinet)

* Jérome Guillarme: Akordeoñs Kromatek

* Samson Dayou: Gitar-boud (Bass)

* Mathieu le Rouzic: Gitar, Bouzouki

Invités:

* Sylvie Rivoalen: Kan (voice)

* Romain Dubois: Fender Rhodes

* Glenn le Merdy: Percussion

My interest in Kentañ (which I believe translates from the Breton as “First” or “Excellent”) was first sparked a few years ago when their MySpace page presented a few quickie photos and some decidedly lo-fi but very intriguing music. What stood out immediately was the gorgeous clarinet playing of Emilien Robic, which combined the distinctive old-fashioned Breton clarinet sound (which Klezmer players might find not too unfamiliar) with formidable technical skills, especially when paired with the chromatic button accordion of Jérome Guillarme. Even in these unpolished recordings I could hear a large, solid band with a good mix of instruments.

Unlike the MySpace recordings, the sound is big and lush, gorgeously mixed with finely detailed attention paid to an ever-shifting tableau of instruments coming to the fore and fading back, quite an accomplishment given the highly ornate arrangements and a six-plus piece band. Kudos for the beautiful and imaginative ‘mixage’ are due to the legendary Alain Genty, a very welcome presence in the production of this CD.

Given that we frequently describe things by reference to other things, I can quickly sketch the sound of this band by placing it somewhere between the sonic worlds of the two groups Darhaou and Skeduz. The band has similar instrumentation and feel to Darhaou in a classic recording such as Ur sulvezh ba’ Langoned. The similarity to Skeduz comes from the sense of complex, mature arrangement and an infectious swing and rhythmic solidity that Skeduz evinced on the great recording Couleur/Livioù. Especially noticeable in this regard is the lively bass ofSamson Dayou, about whom a musical colleague referred when listening to this recording “Man, that guy is all over the place, just amazing.”

The core of the arrangement technique is based on the alternation between bombard/biniou and then clarinet/accordion as the central paired melodic presence, although that is a gross simplification. As an example, the very first track on the recording, the ton simpl section of a Ronde de l’Oust et du Lie/Rond du Loudia uses a full panoply of sounds and textures to build incredible excitement. Ronde begins with paired bouzouki and biniou playing a tight, fast melody, a spare bass line running underneath. Suddenly Jean-Marie Lorans’ bombard powerfully takes center stage with an insistent melody, the bass switches to complex walking figures, and bouzouki and accordion enter into highly rhythmic roles. The bombard/biniou fade out after a bit, leaving just bouzouki and bass playing a driving melodic pattern. The clarinet and accordion duo then float into the foreground over the top of this intense rhythm – a thrilling change in sound and feel.

Change in timbre and mood is also used to especially great effect on tracks such as Melodie: Ton Pier Boudouin. Melodie is a journey which begins as a moody, gorgeous trio of clarinet, accordion and bass, slowly transforms into a driving 70s jazz-sounding piece propelled by the Fender Rhodes keyboard of Romain Dubois,and then glides back to earth with just clarinet and accordion. As I have mentioned elsewhere, it seems all too common for bands to try their hand at delivering something markedly and marketably different on a few tracks of every recording – a unique gimmick. Unlike many of these experiments, the presence of the Rhodes here is not bad; its rich and understated sound somewhat fits in with what the band is doing. Perhaps I still might have enjoyed the recording more without it, but it’s actually kind of cool. Less ambiguously cool is guest vocalist Sylvie Rivoalen on the closing gavotte Frajilite an dud yaouank, the only vocal track on the recording. Rivoalen’s voice is both beautiful and old fashioned, a surprising presence from someone I haven’t heard of before.

Son al leur... is a satisfying recording. While it is only Kentañ’s first, the group has been playing since 1998 and it shows in the great depth of sound, startling and tasteful arrangements and swinging, infectious sense of rhythm. Boasting superior production values on top of strong material, Son al leur..., as the hyperbolic blurb on the Coop Breizh site proclaims “…reveals musicality through a disk where gwerzioù and dance come together with unparalleled ease.”

This CD can be purchased from Coop Breizh, http://www.coop-breizh.fr

- Fañch