| CARLOS NÚÑEZ - Musicians in Spain |
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Musicians in Spain CARLOS NÚÑEZ CARLOS NÚÑEZ bagpipes, flutes, whistle, ocarina XURXO NÚÑEZ percussions, drums, keyboards PANCHO ÁLVAREZ bouzouki, bass NIAMH NI CHARRA violin, concertina The piper from Vigo, Carlos Núñez When this disc was first released, I wrote, for Musicweb (now Musicweb International) the following, which I still stand by:- "This disc represents one of my recurring sounds of this summer on the Atlantic seaboard of France and is an indicator of an ongoing musical continuum running down from the Hebrides, through Wales, Ireland and Brittany to "Green Spain" - Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia. The Celtic folk/classical/jazz tradition is alive and well and represented superbly here by Galician maestro Carlos Nuñez and his brilliant collaborators, reviving memories of his extraordinary debut disc, Brotherhood of Stars (RCA Victor 74321 453752), which featured various and significant contributions from The Chieftains and Ry Cooder. Here, as the title suggests, the music is infused with the Breton musical heritage it pays tribute to, from the contributions of various bagadou (pipe bands) to harp doyen Alan Stivell, "el grande", as Carlos describes him, Dan Ar Braz and the charismatic singer-songwriter Gilles Servat. The opening Tro Breizh is, literally, a tour of the Breton lands and their varied musical styles, with Nuñez's flute to the fore, among accompaniments by turns refined and abrasive. Noite pecha and its following Gavotte-Pandeirada were written/arranged with Alan Stivell and here, in the nostalgic melancholia, there are echoes of the latter's recent masterpiece, Au dela de mots. Dan Ar Braz's Une Autre Fin de Terre is a melodic guitar driven instrumental brought to a resounding climax by the pipes and bombardes of the bagadou of Lokoal Mendon and Auray (a companion piece to Green Lands on Nuit Celtique - see below). The great collector and restorer of Breton folk music, Polig Montjarret, is namechecked for the next two tracks which contrast very greatly with each other - Karante Doh Doue is a marvellous choral piece sung by the only male choir in Brittany and bearing great resemblance to the Basque vocal tradition (see Oldarra (Erato Detour 0630-19345-2), whereas Polka de Karnoéd is a brisk, very folksy insrumental piece. In the following ballad, Gilles Servat and Bleunwenn relate another traditional song very winningly, then Nuñez brings together the pipe traditions of his own Galicia with those of Ireland and Scotland in self-explanatory The Three Pipers. Saint Patrick's An Dro is the album's masterpiece (and also featured on Nuit Celtique), with a simple flute based introduction leading to a massively affecting massed piped finale. Eimar Quinn sings the lilting Yann Derrien superbly before Nuñez pays tribute to the Breton influence on Galicia and Dan Ar Braz does the same for him regarding France. The closing Ponthus et Sidoine finds us in a monastery in Catalonia with the great viola da gamba player Jordi Savall, producing a unique piece of music whose only comparator, to my knowledge is the still astonishing Chartres by Swiss violinist Paul Giger (ECM). Ten, fifteen listens later I remain totally entranced by this disc and the simultaneous Nuit Celtique (SAN5111862), a compilation featuring Nuñez but also Stivell, Ar Braz, Gilles Servat, Denez Prigent's astonishing duet with Lisa Gerrard, Gortoz A Ran (featured in Black Hawk Down) and, again, numerous bagadou". Magnificent stuff! Neil Horner The relationship between the music of Carlos Núñez and the world of images is obvious (let us not forget that his international career was launched after working with The Chieftains for the music on Treasure Island). In fact, much of his songs are like soundtracks for imaginary films, for everyone to dream up a script or landscapes to suit them. But Núñez goes effortlessly beyond music for the big screen –The Mission, Barry Lyndon and The Godfather– exploring the limits of the bagpipes with pieces such as the Concierto de Aranjuez, Bach’s Prelude to Suite N. 1 for Cello or Ravel’s Bolero. This is just brilliant. The "Celtic" music of North West Spain has no better ambassador. If you're into Irish/Scottish/NE English music go for this. It is from the same shared roots. There's more to Spain than the Flamenco! Me encanta Carlos Nunez. Spanish Music Store @ Entertainment in Spain More than a million records sold, Premio Ondas, two nominations for the Latin Grammys … Carlos Núñez has been defined as: “the bagpipe’s only star” or “the Jimi Hendrix of the bagpipes”. He is considered one of the greats of popular music for his ability to cross frontiers and bring together music from different countries and styles using solid, original ideas and enormous emotional strength. Other Spanish Musicians Ricardo Gallén Kepa Junkera Muchachito Bombo Infierno José Ángel Hevia Velasco "From Piano to Voice" David Russell Berrogüetto Naiara Castillejo Garcia Musicians in Spain Singer's in Spain Group's in Spain
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