Albania

 I had a trip booked for last autumn of a tour of the western Balkans, which included a few days in Albania.  Sadly due to my health issues, I had to cancel and still have not been to Albania and it remains on my bucket list. For a long time the country was shut off from the outside world due to it's particularly strict communist regime that aligned with China and Maoism, rather than the Soviet Union.  Since the fall of the regime in 1989, the country has slowly opened up, but still feels like an undiscovered corner of Europe.  Their language also seems impenetrable to outsiders and isn't closely related to any other languages.

We start in the south with Albanian super-group Saz-iso, whose members hail from the cultural centres of Përmet (the singers) and Korçë (the instrumentalists) respectively.  These two historic cities are home of a musical genre known as Saze, often referred to as Albanian Blues.  Saz-iso is a collective of the finest folk musicians of the region and they are currently fundraising to release their second album.  Here's the opening track to their 2017 debut album At Least Wave Your Handkerchief at Me - The Joys and Sorrows of Southern Albanian Song. The song is called Tana, as performed on Later with Jools Holland:

Next we are heading to the capital Tirana and we start with Balkan brass band Fanfara Tirana, who started life back in 2002 from a group of friends who were previously in the Albanian Army Band.  They are very much in the same vein as Balkan brass bands such as Fanfare Ciocarlia from Romania and have had some international success.  Here is a live version from their 2007 debut album Albanian Wedding called Medeterranea (At First Sight):

The Tirana-Tirona Allstars were founded in 2020 to celebrate Tirana's 100th anniversary as the capital of Albania.  They dedicated themselves to preserving the historic emotional folk-pop and urban modalities of Tirana.  The result was the album Tirana 100 which was released in 2021 and here is a song from the album called Besh çaje Besh (sit down girl):

Cellist and composer Redi Hasa was born in Tirana in 1977. He was born into a musical family and initially studied music in Tirana, before fleeing the civil war in 1997, taking him to Lecce in Southern Italy. There he incorporated his Balkan traditions with those of Puglia as well as classical elements and collaborating with the likes of Ludovico Einaudi amongst many others, including Robert Plant. His debut solo album Stolen Cello was released in 2020 and this is a tune from it called Seasons Going By:

Jazz singer and composer Elina Duni was born in Tirana in 1981, but she moved with her family to Switzerland aged 10. She studied singing and composition at the University of Bern, but from 2004 onwards her main influence became Albanian folk music, when she formed her own quartet. Here is a song from her 2012 album Matanë Malit (Across the Mountain) called Ka Një Mot (loosely translated as 'it's been a year and a half'):

Heading north we arrive at the city of Shkodra (or Shkodër) on the shores of Lake Shkodra. Here we find a distinct style of music known as Aheng, which is traditionally performed at weddings and is reminiscent of the Slav Sevdalinka style, which is prevalent all over the Balkans. In 2021 an ensemble was formed, the Orkestra Shkodra, with the express purpose to preserve this music and make it better known outside the region. Here is an extract from their 2022 debut album Like Nightingales in the Spring. Sadly the leader of the group Agim Molla has since passed away.

Also originally from Shkoder is folktronica duo Shkodra Elektronike. The duo was formed in 2019 by Kolë Laca and Beatriçe Gjergji, who both grew up in Italy, but had a longing for the music of their home city.  However they took some of traditional elements and added their own electronic twist on it.  This song is their 2024 single called Vaj si kenka ba dynjaja in collaboration with Fanfara Tirana:

So much from Albania, next we are heading into Montenegro.  As usual you follow my virtual ramblings on my tripline map.