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