France - Bretagne

 Brittany in the northwest of France has a rich cultural heritage with its Celtic connections to Wales, Cornwall and Ireland and its own language.  Hence we are only going to be able to scratch the surface of the music of this region.  We start off in the village of Saint-Tréphine, where Breton traditional singer Yann Fañch-Kemener was born.  He was an early collector of songs from the oral tradition and was instrumental in the folk revival of Brittany.  Sadly he died last year at the age of 61.  Here he is colaborating with harpist and singer Ann Auffret from nearby Bulat-Pestivien from their joint 2013 album Roue Gralon ni ho salud - Profane and Sacred Songs of Brittany.  The song is called Ar Prins ar yaouank:

Eugénie Goadec (1909-2003) was part the vocal group the Goadec sisters (Les Soeurs Goadec in French, Ar C'hoarezed in Breton), who also sprang to fame during the folk revival of the 1970's.  She was born in Carhaix-Plouguer and outlived her 2 sisters and continued her singing career, partnering with Louise Ebrel.  This is a fun little song that featured on the 2003 album The Rough Guide to France, which is called Deomp D'an Unvet:

From Finistèrre originated the band Skolvan in 1984.  They combine traditional Breton tunes with some more contemporary influences.  Their 1994 album Swings and Tears won best folk album of the year in France, Britain and Portugal.  This the opening track of that album called Boules et Guirlandes:

Singer/songwriter and harpist Cécile Corbel was born in Pont-Croix in 1980.  She doesn't restrict herself to Breton folk, but has rather a more generic Celtic theme, although she sings in numerous languages.  Her song La Fille Damnee features on her 2014 Best of SongBooks album:

Roland Becker's father came to Brittany as a World War II German prisoner of war, but decided to stay on and settled in Auray, where Roland was born in 1957.  He became a musician, composer and arranger playing oboe and saxophone and specialising in Breton music with contemporary, sometimes jazzy, sometimes electronic influences.  In 2000 he recorded an album with the Orchestre National Breton called Er roué Stevan, from which this track is taken, which includes some wild sounding chanting: Er havidelleu-houarn (Les Cages de Fer / The iron cages):

Breton 5-piece band Ampouailh are based around Guérande, which actually is just outside the region of Brittany in the Pays de la Loire region.  Their name translates as rascal and they play mainly Breton dance tunes with a modern twist.  Here's a song called Saint Vincent performed live, a version of which features on their 2009 album Fest-noz ar Gêr Wenn under the title Bukolik Express! (rond de Saint Vincent):

Another Breton outfit from outside the borders of Brittany in the Pays de Loire are Folk rockers Tri Yann from Nantes.  Incredibly the band founded in 1969 still includes its 3 founding members.  They are famous for their rather flamboyant outfits they wear on stage.  Here's a live version of a song called Franzosig, including some energetic dancing.  It is features on a compillation album called Âme de Bretagne:

That's it from Brittany / Bretagne for today.  As usual you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.