Music Reviews

Duo Carvou/Bizien, An Amzer Gwechall , 2012

05/03/2012

Duo Carvou/Bizien, An Amzer Gwechall, 2012

A new release from veterans Malo Carvou ( Flûtes ) and Bernard Bizien (Guitare ) adds another volume to the genre of Breton flute and guitar originally pioneered by Jean-Michel Veillon, who is thanked in the liner notes. With the recording following the duo’s advertised formula of ‘Musique Bretonne, Irlandaise, Swing Musette’, the listener can expect the musical journey to cover a wide amount of stylistic territory.

Carvou and Bizien have been playing together for a long time, and it shows. Both were part of the original lineup of the great Fest Noz group Penn Gollo on their first recording Splamb!. The two remained together along with vocalist Armel an Héjer as the Ozan Trio, as well as with the expanded lineup of the same group that goes under the name Deus’ta. More recently they joined Jamie McMenemy’s aptly named group “Jamie McMenemy 4”.

An Amzer Gwechall starts off in full Breton mode with a sound and even material strongly reminiscent of Veillon’s earlier work with Yvon Riou. Carvou has a dense, complex flute tone perfectly suited for these pieces. A slight ‘gypsy-jazz’ influence in Bizien’s syncopated guitar accompaniment for faster tunes is distinguishably unique and works very well. After a couple of tracks the recording shifts into a startlingly different gear, however, with the introduction of swing musette, the first tune of which is penned by Gus Viseur.

In any recording, the program represents the private world of the musicians, which typically are reflective of a given genre or genres with shared qualities and instrumentation which the listener can understand as a coherent whole. The coherence in An Amzer Gwechall across the chasm from Breizh to Musette rests solely upon the instruments and musicians, for the aesthetics and mood of these genres are markedly divergent. The divide is a pretty wide one. Does it work; does the bold duo succeed in seamlessly crossing this aesthetic chasm?

Not really. Having said that, let me be clear – I am a musician who performs Breton music and a listener who owns hundreds and hundreds of recordings of Breton music. Of the musette or gypsy-jazz genre, I own less than ten. For someone else, who loves both genres equally and doesn’t mind the surprising shift from mournful, minor key Breton melodies to the sweet, jazzy flavors of Gus Viseur the answer might very well be yes. Because the musette material is actually played very well – there can be no question of the integrity of the performers here.

So all in all, as an appreciator of Breton music, and in particular the flute-and-guitar sub-genre which works so magically well with the material, this recording is worth a close listen because these two players are quite good. I must admit, though, to hitting the ‘fast forward’ button on the musette pieces after a couple of listens when a deeper appreciation of them failed to take root. They are not bad – but to this bombard player’s ears they are not great either, unlike the material from Brittany which is lovely and moving.

-Fañch

Wipidoup: Kailh a gorrion (Bemol Productions)

02/02/2012

Wipidoup/Kailh a gorrion/Bemol Productions/2012

Personnel:

RégisHuiban: accordeon chromatique, accordina

Pierrick Tardivel: contrebass

Gildas La Buhe : saxophone, vocals

Philippe Gloaguen: guitar

“In its new opus, Wipidoup is devoted explicitly to the transmission. From the first call to the dance to the final call to sleep, children both young and old are taken by the hand to discover the melodious richness of musical instruments and the poetic delirium of the impassioned Breton voice.”

Kailh a gorrion, the eagerly anticipated third release from the dark, jazzy Fest Noz group Wipidoup (which means double poison in Breton) has finally come out from Bemol Productions. Wipidoup’s lineup retains the hugely talented chromatic accordionist RégisHuiban (Kof ha Kof, Tan Ba’n Ti, Skolvan), upright bassist Pierrick Tardivel (Darhaou, Dibenn, Bill Ebet, Kej), vocalist and woodwind player Gildas La Buhe (Termajik, Bill Ebet) and adds guitarist Philippe Gloaguen (Kej, Tan Ba’n Ti, RégisHuiban Quartet ). Kailh a gorrion demonstrates a further refinement and evolution of their signature sound. Kailh a gorrion is a richly imagined storybook; quite literally in the gorgeous and extensive book contained in the CD, and in the cycle of tunes and musical stories that make up the CD. While definitely not a straightforward work of dance music as were their previous efforts, it is wildly imaginative, gorgeous, complex, and dare I say, magical. La Buhe’s spoken word pieces, previously confined to brief opening statements, have here expanded to full tales or ‘contes’ with musical accompaniment and are powerfully evocative.

Wipidoup takes to a pleasant extreme a quality present in much good Breton music – dark, sinuous minor key melodies and a tonally and harmonically rich, trancelike presentation – an aesthetic made even more explicit with the use of suggestive titles such as L’Opium du danseur and so forth. Kailh a gorrion is no different. Huiban and Tardivel continue to exhibit the jazz-inflected, rhythmic and harmonic perfection that is the foundation of this band’s sound. The addition of Gloaguen, who has already played with these two in earlier groups, adds a significant amount of depth and interest. Having only one mouth, obviously Gildas La Buhe can only either sing or play the saxophone at any given moment. In previous Wipidoup recordings, his gravelly vocals, while moody and powerful, were not always quite compelling enough to compensate for the decreased instrumentation in the mix while he sang – something more was needed to flesh out the band’s sound. Gloaguen’s guitar is that something more. As a quartet, the increased level of instrumental depth behind La Buhe’s vocals elevates the group’s efforts from good to great. Yes, this is a great recording; classy, seductive, beautifully arranged, subtly produced and with charming and clever storybook graphics continuing the all-too-appropriate theme of puppets who are slaves to the dance.

As mentioned earlier, this and all of Wipidoup’s recordings to date are available from Bemol Productions. Bemol’s online store or “VPC” is not the easiest to find on the web, so here is the link: http://www.bemolvpc.com/

- Fañch

Kentañ: Son al leur… Coop Breizh, 2011

11/03/2011

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

Kafe Koefet, Trouz Ba’n Davarn, 2010

10/28/2011

Kafe Koefet/Trouz Ba’n Davarn/November 2010

Personnel:

Cyril GUIGUIAN : guitare

Erwan QUINTIN : violon

Ludovic RIO : accordéon chromatique

Invités :

Dimitri ALEXALINE : bugle

Lucien BÉGO : binioù koz

Yannick DABO : chant

France DARMOIS : chant

Thomas FORTIN : bombarde

Raphaël GOUTHIÈRE : soubassophone

Anthony QUILLIVIC : guitare

Wow. Right from the opening notes of the Paris-based group Kafe Koefet’s first CD Trouz Ba’n Davarn (Noise in the Tavern), the listener knows they are in for something really special. While it sometimes seems that all too often a famous act promises greatness but disappoints by delivering stilted results in the interest of doing something novel or different, a relative unknown like Kafe Koefet (which means ‘coffee cocktail’ in Breton) can come along and save the day with a delightful, fresh blast of Breton music.

‘Pariz’, as it is known in Breton, is rather far from Brittany in many ways and the casual listener might well be surprised to learn that this CD is Parisian in origin. Like other great cities around the globe Paris has been collecting immigrants from far-off regions for some time and it has boasted a substantial Breton community for more than a century, now estimated at 1 million.

At its core Kafe Koefet is a trio with accordion, guitar, and violin. They also perform as a quartet with Thomas Fortin on bombard. Fortin appears frequently on this recording and his playing is a delight that simply bursts with energy. Ludovic Rio’s chromatic button accordion playing and superior arrangements of the material are truly remarkable. By turns deeply melancholy, tender, swinging or intensely rhythmic, the sound he draws out of his accordion in this recording is unmistakably like no other: masterful, complex and powerful. Cyril Guignan’s tasty guitar meshes perfectly with the accordion and provides a rhythmic and melodic counterpoint that always fits the mood regardless of whether the track is a high-intensity dance-floor burner or a more reflective piece. The third member of the group, Erwan Quintin, is another musician with a unique sound. His playing can be aggressive to the point of ferocity, at times threatening to come apart under the intense, raspy attack of bow on strings. At other times, he provides soaring counter-melodies that wind themselves vibrantly around the lines coming out of the accordion. I would love to hear more from this man in a studio setting, where the control over the sound might soften some of the edginess of his live playing that emerges when he is really and truly belting it out.

Besides Fortin’s bombard, an array of guest artists flavor the core sound on a few tracks without overwhelming it. Most noticeable are two vocalists, Yannick Dabo and France Darmois, singing in Breton and Gallo. Both have infectious voices that make their appearances here a treat. The vocal tracks are part of a perfectly varied program that really make this disc shine under repeat listens. There is so much of interest going on sonically, and the shift from wild intensity to dark, rich moodiness creates an incredibly rich palate for the listener that leaves you wanting much more. If you have only a few recordings of Breton music, I encourage the reader to purchase this one as it is truly and uniquely engaging, worthy of being filed in a special category with just a few others as a masterpiece of Breton culture.

Translation from an interview with Erwan Quintin by Stéphane Julou, on tamm-kreiz.com

Q: Coming from Paris, is it a handicap to find dates in Brittany? Is it difficult to exist as a Fest Noz group in the area of Paris?

A: A handicap already exists inside Brittany when a group wants to play outside of their own area. Paris is a little further off, so it’s probably a little more difficult. But I also feel that the Breton public is curious about what a Fest Noz group from Paris is able to produce.

As for the Paris region, there are a million Bretons there and the cultural world is dynamic. Apart from holiday periods or long weekends (during which Bretons come home to visit), there are Fest Noz every weekend. It often happens that there are 2 or 3 on the same night. And there are also many Fest Deiz as well. So there are many opportunities to perform in the region.

- Fañch

Bro Dreger VIII; Flute Traversiere en Tregor (Coop Breizh), 1996

06/21/2003

Bro Dreger VIII; Flute Traversiere Tregor (Coop Breizh), 1996

Bro Dreger VIII is one of an ongoing series of Breton folk music collections from the Tregor area in the north of western Brittany. This excellent instrumental recording is particularly influenced by the work of producer Jean Michel Veillon, who brought the wooden flute into the mainstream of Breton folk music and who also appears on one track here. Each tune features a duet of wooden flute and another instrument such as standup bass, bouzouki, violin, accordion, and guitar. This duet format works very well in capturing the haunting beauty of the traditional Breton repertoire, and adds a unique flavor and musical partnership to each tune. Other notable artists include Stéphane Morvan, Jean-Luc Thomas, and luthier and musician Jil LeHart.

-Fañch

Bro Dreger VIII; Flute Traversiere en Tregor (Coop Breizh), 1996

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