Philippe Le Gallou & Pierrick Lemou/Paziou Dañs/Coop Breizh/2023

Personnel:

Philippe Le Gallou: guitare, dobro

Pierrick Lemou: violon, alto violon 

In Paziou Dañs, guitarist Philippe Le Gallou and violinist Pierrick Lemou  present a refined interpretation of Breton music in a ten-track album.  The duo makes a mark with carefully chosen material, highly developed arrangements and expressive and lively performance. Like a couple of sonneurs de couple (most typically the pairing of biniou and bombard), playing together is at the heart of their artistic approach.

A well-known figure in the Breton milieu, Pierrick Lemou has appeared on a number of duo recordings such as Seizh Hun with accordionist Patrick Lefebvre, Reabaterien with Dominique Trichet, and Accordéon Diatonique Et Violon with Etienne Grandjean. Lemou has earned  a certain place in the world of Breton violin. He does not have the smooth turn of ornament and phrase of Christian LeMaitre or the soaring highs of Fañch Landreau, and he does not play with the virtuosic power of Jacky Molard. What he does have, and displays to enormous effect on this recording is a deeply sensitive tonality. Looking at the recording’s notes sees mention of his use of an ‘alto violon’, or octave violin, which are rare and intriguing instruments. This might explain the unique approach he uses on this recording of playing quite high in the violin’s range for a couple of times through a melody, and then switching to a very low section. This works extremely well and really provides interesting contrast.

While Lemou, through his many recordings and groups such as Djiboudjep, Cabestan, La Godinette, Archetype, and Gwenva, is somewhat of a known commodity, Le Gallou is not and he is the revelation of this recording. Le Gallou’s tasteful guitar parts provide a unique and beautiful counterpart to Lemou’s tender violin. Rather than strum along as a mere accompanist might, he presents a  panoply of approaches that provide an immensely interesting sound. It is no accident that all of the material on this recording credits him for the arrangements, which are fantastic. He employs complex fingerstyle sequences, switches to play the melody with a pick, or provides beautiful and unique figures that include perfectly placed chords that give the material tremendous depth. His guitar parts are wonderfully recorded - full, warm, and rich, and add a quality to this recording that Lemou has not found with some of his previous partners. 

On track 4, Androu, he also uses Dobro. The use of Dobro always puzzles me in this genre of music, because the vast majority of the time it sounds out of place and just doesn’t work. Here, it’s… not bad at all, and that’s something. Like Androu, many of the tracks here are named after their tune/dance type. Other standout material includes the first two tracks, Ronds de Loire Vilaine and Kas ha-barh, and the seventh track, Suite de Ronds de Loudia, all of which have quite captivating melodies.

The third track, simply named Jabadou, marks the appearance of a musical instrument that Lemou manages to interject into most of his recordings. The jaw harp, jew’s harp, mouth harp - it is a little contraption that goes by various awkward names and it makes a ‘boing boing boing’ sound when you bend and release a small metal tong. Lemou clearly loves it. I definitely do not, so let’s leave it at that.

This recording is the fruit of a collaboration anchored in a gentle blend of sensitive performance and really detailed, gorgeous arrangements. Without a lot of fanfare or hoopla, it is one of the most charming recordings to come my way in some time.

-Fañch