Kepa Junkera - Bilbao Oo:Oh
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Free Music Notes for Bilbao Oo:Oh
Free Music Review: Happiness in Music
Hit: 5 Stars
Basque accordionist Kepa Junkera takes us to different, wonderful universe of musical joy in this album. He expands the traditional trixitixa (a popular Basque folk-music style) with sounds and musicians from other parts of the world, including such greats as Phil Cunningham, Bela Fleck, Carlos Núñez, Martin O'Connor, Hedningarna, Dulce Pontes, La Bottine Souriante, Paddy Maloney, and a host of Spanish and Basque musicians. These two CDs evoke one word and one word only: Joy for music.Free Music Review: Musical Smorgasboard
Hit: 5 Stars
This is an extraordinary double CD collection from renowned Basque musician Kepa Junkera. What? You've never heard of Kepa Junkera? Well, don't feel bad. American media's deep-seated ambivalence toward music from non-English speaking countries hides the world's greatest musicians from you. Kepa Junkera is a world-renowned (except in the U.S.) Txalaparta (a kind of accordion) player. He comes from the Basque region (northeastern Spain and southeastern France) a melting pot of cross-cultural influences. Bilbao Oo:Oh was one of the best-selling albums throughout Europe and with good reason. It was a massive undertaking: 49 musicians from over a dozen countries collaborating on 23 songs across 2 CDs. Junkera bases his music on traditional Basque music, but is eager to mix it with other influences. On Bilbao Oo:Oh he brings in guest musicians such as Paddy Moloney (The Chieftains), members of Hedningarna (Sweden), Radio Tarifa (Spain), La Bottine Souriante (Canada), Justin Vali (Madagascar), Bela Fleck (U.S.), Phil Cunnigham (Scotland), and Carlos Nuñez (Spain). The range of musicians and influences keep everything fresh and very intriguing.
Every song has a distinctive and very pleasant melody and range from soft sweet ballads to energetic jigs. My favorites though are "Del Hiero A Madagascar," featuring the honey tenors of Pedro Guerra accompanied by Madagascan guitar, "Fali-Faly," an infectious Basque dance number, and "Bok-Espok," a high-energy jam session between Junkera and Swedish folk giants Hedningarna.
A trip around the world with Kepa Junkera as your host is one way to look at this set, but what's truly significant is the way in which musicians from seemingly unrelated cultures were able to play together without submerging their own unique musical flavors. Fans of folk music and world music will prize Bilbao Oo:Oh and it will be a favorite of their collection.
Free Music Review: gora kepa
Hit: 5 Stars
This is a delight from one end to the other. The production of this CD would have you believe that that it is full of multi track, gating effects and the like. Nothing could be further from the truth.To see Kepa Junkera, his fellow musicians and singers live is to understand, it's all real music that can be played and sung by real people as an ensemble. If he requires double accordions for example he will have a second player. His extraordinary command of his instrument, sincerely sounds impossible without the help of hi-tech gadgets, yet it's all done with the instrument, no samplers, no noise gates. As if to stress this, the microphone on some tracks is so close to the sound source that you can hear the gasps of air as it is quickly sucked back inside for the next blast of tune. Incredible finger work, that EddieVan Halen would have trouble keeping up with!
His ensemble features performers from all aver the world; some of them singing in their local languages, though the dominant idiom is Euskera (Basque), as impenetrable as the African dialect featured on another track, but as beautiful to listen to as any aria.
Strangely although there are instruments and artists from around the world, the African sounding xylophone is in fact the behemoth "Txalabarta" instrument, used for communicating across the Basque mendiak (mountains). And the overall sound of the CD, (and Junkera's music in general) is unmistakably Basque rather than simply "world" music, though the whole planet seems to be in there! Could it be described as folk ambient? Too much dance, as in Fandango not rave. However this CD sounds very well when chilling out on a Sunday after the hectic Saturday night before, eyes closed in the stereo position, it will take you away on a journey in the sure knowledge that there's not one quantized midi riff, and that 53 performers are working up a sweat playing while you relax! The fact that this is a double CD is a bonus in these circumstances... as once you've tasted Kepa Junkera you'll want a second helping.
There's very little on the beat thumping rhythm, four to the floor style, which is very refreshing, the tempo rises and falls, a pretty song here and funky jazz folk latin fusion thang there (Zugarramurdi Dantza)., a reel after that, moments later a Fandango transported to an African village (Santimanineka Fandangoa & ioaeoe). The decidedly world music track (Justin Lagun) is a surprising break from the accordion, sending us to Madagascar and the Andes via Anboto.
All titles on the CD are poetically explained in Euskera, Castellano French and English. And the beautifully crafted packaging contains photography and script encapsulating many features of the Basque culture from which this masterpiece has sprung. Eskerrik asko Kepa, gehiago mezedez!
This is an aural orgasm, bai bai bai!.
Free Music Review: not to be missed
Hit: 5 Stars
If you don't buy this, you will regret it...Free Music Review: It's Just Good Music
Hit: 5 Stars
Too often people fall into a trap of wanting to categorize music. Is it rock? Is it folk? No, it's "international" whatever that means. Forget all that. Get this CD. Get it now. Listen to it. You'll discover that the accordian can be cool. You'll learn that just because you've never heard something on the radio doesn't mean that it's not worth hearing. Most importantly, you'll realize that Louis Armstrong was correct when he said that there are only two types of music: good and bad. Bilbao Zero Hour is good music. No, it's very good music.