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Written in fRoots issue 227, 2002


ALBOKA
Lorius
Resistencia RESC 126 (2001)

Fiddles, bouzouki, mandola, accordion, a tune with hints of The Jolly Beggarman; hey, must be Celtic music. But actually the opener is in the Basque musical form of an arin-arin, “with a certain international flavour”, written by Alboka fiddler Juan Arriola, and as the album proceeds, while sometimes the instrumentation and treatment gives a celtic-revival surface texture, Euskal Herria claims no Celtic credentials, and the raw material here is all traditional Euskal in source and form, even the five band-compositions which include the song Luma Txurikoa in the particularly distinctively Basque 5/8 zortziko rhythm.
      The long-established Euskal band now comprises Arriola, accordionist Joxan Goikoetxea, and Alan Griffin, flautist, clarinettist and player of the two-tubed horn-pipe that gives the band its name. For this release, they’re joined by guests contributing txalaparta, txirula, txanbela, rabel, fiddle, mandola, bouzouki, flamenco guitar, bass and sundry percussion, but also joining the band for five numbers (well, four and a solo), and currently doing shows with them live, is Hungarian singer Márta Sebestyén. She sings in Euskera, although unless they read the sleeve-notes this fact is probably non-obvious to those who understand neither the it nor Hungarian.
      Sebestyén’s involvement is a significant feature in the album’s promotion, but while many of Iberia’s roots record companies seem enamoured of large guest rosters and international collaborations, and sometimes such things do raise interest abroad - look what happened with Kepa’s Bilbao 00:00h on the same label - what ultimately counts is whether the cross-fertilisation creates sparks that strengthen the music. Certainly a fresh, foreign ear or voice can stimulate new thinking, and Sebestyén brings a different approach to the material from that of Basque singers heretofore, as well as her presence encouraging the brisk instrumental texture to open out to allow room for the characteristic halo of stillness around her singing.
      Nevertheless there’s much else here, on what could be the album that boosts appreciation at home and abroad for a band that has long devoted itself to exploring the shapes and connections of the music of Euskal Herria, with its songs and social, sword and ceremonial dances and distinctive living instrumental traditions including alboka, txistu and txalaparta, and show that there’s more to these lands than just trikitixa (though of course Alboka goes in for some of that here too).


© 2001 Andrew Cronshaw
 

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