I spent a few days in Romania about 10 years ago visiting a friend in Bucharest (see photo above), then driving across Transylvania (not stopping on account of the vampires...) to Cluj-Napoca and onwards to Hungary. It's a beautiful country from what I have seen and there is plenty of good music to discover.
Historically Romania is divided into 9 historical regions, of which we will explore a few starting in the east with West Moldova. First stop there is the village of Zece Prăjini, home to gypsy brass band Fanfare Ciocărlia. Sons of farmers this 12-piece (24-legged) brass band has single-handedly revived Balkan brass sounds in Romania and the wider region with their frenzied rhythms and infectious party sound. What a great first encounter with the sounds of Romania! Their song Asfalt Tango was their first international hit and features on their 2009 Best of album and also on this set for the NPR Tiny Desk series:
Fiddler Aurel Mandache was born in 1933 in the village of Răcăciuni and died in 2013 while hunting for mushrooms (not sure if he ate the wrong ones, fell off a cliff or died of unrelated causes). He played his fiddle at weddings and events of the local Moldovan population as well as for Hungarian and Gypsy minorities. Here's a tune from his 2003 album Fiddle Dance Music from Moldva, which is no longer available, called Serény Magyaros:
Next we are entering the region of Transylvania, home to Count Dracula or Vlad the Impaler, although I'm reliably informed that most vampires have now migrated to become politicians around the world... As we mop the sweat off our brows from dancing along to Fanfare Ciocărlia, here comes something altogether calmer from singer/songwriter Lizabett Russo, who is originally from Braşov, but is now based in Scotland. She combines gentle folk songs from her native country with contemporary jazz and avant-garde sounds. She sings in both English and Romanian accompanied by gentle instrumentation. Here is a short piece from her 2019 album While I Sit and Watch This Tree, Vol.1 called Valuri si Ganduri (Waves and Thoughts):
Next we are heading to the city of Târgu Mureș where singer/songwriter and actress Ada Milea was born in 1975. Much of her work has been written and performed for theatre productions and her performances certainly have a theatre vibe, albeit of the absurd and comical variety. In fact I recommend that you just type in her name on YouTube and there's a wealth of really funny stuff, even if you don't understand any Romanian. She plays an acoustic guitar, but is often accompanied by her 'band' that play toy instruments, fridge doors and anything else that comes to hand, while looking dead serious. It's difficult to describe, so here are a couple of examples:
Accordionist and Roma manele singer Nicolae Guţă was born in Aninoasa in 1967. Manele is a genre of folk-pop music from Romania. His first mainstream hit was a song called De când te iubesc pe tine (Since I've been loving you), and features on the 2008 The Rough Guide to the Music of Romanian Gypsies:
It is well known that Transylvania has a sizeable Hungarian minority, but what is less known is that historically there was also a large Armenian minority in the region working mostly as traders and entrepreneurs. The latter group largely disappeared by the 20th century or got assimilated into the Hungarian population, but some of their culture has been kept alive. I don't know much about Alex Száva, except that he is of Transylvanian-Armenian heritage and has released an album in 2007 entitled Armenian Folk Songs from Transylvania. On it he plays various instruments himself, such as the accordion, mandolin, udon and flute. Here's a song from the album called The World's Deceitfulness:
That's it for today from Romania, we'll continue our virtual journey next time. In the meantime, as usual, you can track my trip on my Tripline map
After Moscow we are heading due west to the town of Usyaty in the Pskov Oblast. This is where button accordionist Ekaterina Trusova has recently released an album of traditional music of the region called Usyaty: Russian Music From Pskov Region in Modern and Archival Recordings. It's a slightly bizarre album. The modern recordings are Trusova playing traditional tunes on the accordion, but the archival recordings were made by her in the 90's and are of bad quality, especially those of her father Dimitry Kozintsev, so we'll play a tune from the first and better quality half of the album, a short tune called In the Village at the River:
Next for something a bit more polished we are heading to the city of Pskov itself where gusli player and harpist Olga Glazova was born in 1993. Her speciality instrument the gusli is an ancient east Slavic multi-stringed zither. On it she plays her own interpretations of Russian folk songs accompanied by her own voice. Here is a song from her 2023 album Live in Alexandrinsky Theatre called Memories:
Next we are heading into St. Petersburg itself, the second largest city in Russia and the birthplace of the Russian Empire, formerly known as Leningrad. Here's a picture of the above-mentioned Alexandrinsky Theatre:
First up is the fun folk-rock band Otava Yo(Отава Ё). They started life around 2003 as a Pogues-style Celtic punk-folk inspired band called Reelroadъ, but have since moved onto Russian folk with their own energetic rock. Their breakthrough came through their funny YouTube videos, having them dance madly in costume and tell fun stories that are understandable even to those who don't speak Russian, although they often do come with English subtitles. It is also worth pointing out that they have publicly spoken out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Here's the opening track to their 2018 album Do You Love / Любишь ли ты called Once Upon a Time in a High Hill / Как на горке, на горе:
The 3 original members of klezmer and Balkan band Dobranotch (Good Night) are all from St' Petersburg but originally met busking on the streets of Nantes in France in 1997. They left Russia in 2022 in opposition to the invasion of Ukraine and are now based in Germany. Their main raison d'etre is klezmer with a good dose of Balkan brass, Gypsy tunes and Russian folk. Here is a song from their 2019 album Mercedes Kolo called Ya Rayah:
Russia's coolest female band, according to Russian Rolling Stone, folk-rock outfit Iva Nova were formed in 2002 in St. Petersburg. Whilst rooted in Slavic folk, don't expect traditional Russian songs, these ladies rock with a real urban grunge. Apart from Russian they also sing songs in Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Georgian and Tatar languages. Here's the opening track from their 2021 live album Snow White Concert called Don't Want It! / Не хочу!:
Gypsy band Loyko were formed in 1990 by Sergei Erdenko initially as a duo, then a trio, sometimes with the addition of his niece Leonsia Erdenko on vocals. Sergei was actually born in eastern Siberia in 1958 into the sub-group of Servitka Roma, but started this project in St. Petersburg. What this man can't do on a fiddle is yet to be determined, from lightning fast pizzicatos to making train noises, bird calls, horse trots and other effects. Whilst gypsy music is at the core of the group, they are not afraid to cross over into other genres such as flamenco, Celtic music, Hungarian folk or classical. Here's a song from their 2012 album Gypsy Times for Nunja called Gypsy Street:
Finally we head west a bit towards the Estonian border stopping at the town of Kingisepp, where composer and accordionist Evelina Petrova was born in 1974. Whilst vaguely rooted in Russian folk, she very much veers off into experimental music and world fusion genres. Her singing is mostly in made up language and includes hollers and whoops. One of her projects is the Evelina Petrova Trio formed in Oslo together with Norwegian trombonist Andreas Rotevatn (also supplying electronic effects) and California Hardanger fiddle player Laura Ellestad. This unusual combination took the form of an experimental lab where everything was permitted and nothing left untested. Here is a live version of the opening track Farewell from their 2019 album First Dance. Ellestad is replaced by Scottish fiddler Sarah-Jane Summers (whom we met in Oslo) on this occasion.
So much for European Russia for now.. I'm sure there's a lot more to find in this vast country, but a lot of websites there seem to be blocked here in the west and it's not easy to find stuff. Next stop is going to be Estonia, until then you can follow my virtual travels on my Tripline map.
Photo credit: By Ludvig14 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31764182
We arrive in Russia's capital Moscow, home to the Kremlin, the centre of power, and unsurprisingly a rich music scene. We'll just scrape the surface with some local acts. First up is all female ethno-experimental quartet FolkBeat, who started life in 2012. They combine traditional Russian folk songs with contemporary pop idioms using beatbox techniques and loop stations incorporating hip-hop, drum'n'bass, jungle and punk influences. Here is a song from their 2016 album FolkBeat & Friends - The Joyful Meeting called I Can't Stand It:
Folk & jazz composer and performer Sergey Starostin was born in Moscow was born in Moscow in 1956 and is famous for his modern interpretations of archaic Russian, Tuvan and Sámi folk music often combined with jazz. He went through several phases from traditional to more jazz influenced music and back to his original roots. He collects and makes some of his own instruments including various flutes such as the kalyuka overtone flute and reed instruments. During his research he recorded thousands of tracks of authentic songs and instrumental compositions. On his 2004 album Easy As Pie he combines with percussionist Mario to produce a very pared back folk album, which was a result of a jam session. It includes a version of this song called Deep:
Singer/songwriter Inna Zhelannaya (b. 1967 in Moscow) started her career in rock music as part of various bands and writing her own material. In 1989 she began collaborating with the above mentioned Sergey Starostin, who introduced her to folk music. In 1994 she founded her own rock band called Farlander, with whom she performed for nearly two decades. In 2013 she changed direction again with a new band, incorporating more folk elements as well as psychedelic rock, producing her own psych folk style. Her 2014 double album Izvorot (The Bending) received much critical comparing her to King Crimson meeting Russian roots. This a song from the album called Palisade:
Experimental singing group the Dimitri Pokrovsky Ensemble was founded in 1973 in Moscow by Dimitri Pokrovsky himself and his wife Tamara Smyslova to research, collect and perform traditional Russian village music. Pokrovsky has since died in 1996, but the choir goes on and has recently celebrated its 50 birthday. Here's a track from their 1991 album The Wild Field (re-released in 2019) called Mosquito:
Gypsy guitarist Vadim Kolpakov was actually born in Saratov in 1981 near the Caspian Sea, but is now based in Moscow. He is the third generation in his family playing the 7-string gypsy guitar. Together with his uncle Alexander he formed the Kolpakov Duo. Here are the 2 opening tracks of their 2010 album Introducing the Kolpakov Duo called Suite of Gypsy Tunes and Dui,Dui:
In the mid 1980's, when Perestroika and Glasnost began to bloom in the old Soviet Union, 4 students around Igor Yuzov got together playing music in their dorm. Rock'n'roll was still banned, but having a rebellious streak they combined Russian folk with this decadent western genre to create their own Russian folk'n'roll. They called themselves Limpopo after the river in Southern Africa, because it sounded exotic. They were having a lot of fun together and at their peak performed at a Soviet/American peace walk. That's where Igor met an American woman, got married and emigrated to California. Soon the other band members followed him and they reformed, initially busking on the streets of Santa Monica, adding ridiculous dance moves and a good dose of humour to their performances. They became so popular that they were discovered by a producer who invited them to record their song. They went in for one session in which they recorded 20 songs, which became their debut album Crazy Russian Folk'n'Roll in 1991. Later they entered a talent competition, which they won. Nowadays they go under the name of the Red Elvises with some changes in personnel. Here is the winning entry to the talent show called Korobeyniki, which features on the debut album:
I can't find out much about singer Anna Hoffman, other than she is based in Moscow and specialises in Sephardic music, the music of the Jewish community that inhabited the Iberian peninsula until they were largely expelled by the late 15th century. They spoke their own Spanish dialect called Ladino and mixed cultural influences from Spain, North Africa, Turkey and the Balkans. Hoffman's voice is strong and expressive as her backing band Romancero Sefardi subtly accompanies her. Here is a short concert of hers showing women's songs of the sephardic tradition, some of which feature on her 2013 album Juego de Siempre:
Finally the all female vocal ensemble and internet sensation Beloe Zlato (White Gold) originally formed in the city of Norilsk in deepest Siberia, but are now based in Moscow. They all studied music and got together over their shared love of traditional Russian folk. They made a name for themselves on YouTube performing in romanticised rural settings, wearing simple dress, sometimes traditional costumes, sometimes just jeans and T-shirts, singing in beautiful harmonies a Capello or accompanied by a balalaika. Their recorded music is not available on the usual channels, but their videos are a joy to watch, as they exude a fresh and carefree energy. Here is an example of a song called A Week:
That's it from Moscow, next we're heading towards St. Petersburg. As usual, you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.
We arrive in Denmark our first stop in Scandinavia. It's apparently home to the most content people in the world. I have visited a few times, but mostly just travelling through on my way further north, so don't know the country that well.
We start along the west coast first. Guitarist and composer Preben Carlsen was raised in a windy village of west Jutland, the main peninsula forming the country of Denmark, which could essentially be anywhere along the west. His first musical love was the blues and he soon discovered the West African roots of the blues. He travelled around Africa extensively and has recently started a collaboration with Gambian percussionist Sal Dibba to form the duo Ba Balance. They released their debut album Around the Crocodile Pond in 2020 and this is the opening track called Djembe:
The village of Sønderho on the island of Fanø off the west coast of Jutland may only have 299 inhabitants, but it has it's very own 300 year old folk and dance tradition. Det Yderste Hav (The outermost sea) is a folk trio endeavouring to keep this tradition alive and has released an album in 2015 of the regional dance tunes and songs called Sønderhoninger, led by classical guitarist Jørgen
Bjørslev. Generally the guitar features more in Danish folk compared to other Scandinavian traditions. This is a song from that album called Skal vi gå til fremmed' lande (Shall we go to foreign lands):
Singer/songwriter Lars Lilholt was actually born in Herlev near Copenhagen in 1953, but in 1982 he founded the popular folk rock band Lars Lilholt Band in Aalborg, which is still active recording and touring. Here is a track with a distinct Irish feel to it called Den Magiske
Møhårspensel (The magic hairbrush) from their latest 2021 album Decameron:
Next we are heading to Hirtshals in the far north of Denmark, where singer/songwriter and comedian Niels Hausgaard was born in 1944. All his songs are preceded by a long monologue in Danish or even in the dialect of his home region of Vendsyssel known as Vendelbomål, which can be a bit frustrating for non-Danish speakers (I only speak a very rudimentary Pidgeon Scandinavian...). I found one of his songs at least partially sung in English Called No Balls Blues, which is evidently about spineless politicians:
That's it for today. Hirtshals is also the departure point for the ferry to the Faroe Islands and Iceland, where we will be heading next before returning to Denmark. In the meantime you can follow my virtual rambling on my Tripline map.
We conclude our virtual trip around Germany in the state of Schleswig-Holstein in the far north of Germany, a flat and mostly rural landscape framed by both the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east. I cycled around the state as a 16 year old and haven't been there much since, so any photos I may have taken then have long been lost in the historical archives. Our first stop is the small town of Rendsburg, where 'folk'n'roll band Speellüüd have been playing music for the last 43 years. They started off as a traditional folk band singing in Low German, but after some changes in personnel, they more recently concentrated on covers of old rock songs translated into Low German, a regression methinks. They only seem to have released 3 albums of their original stuff, which are no longer easily available. Here is a drinking song from their 2000 album Wesseljohrn called Toveel Drinkt Wie Nie (We never drink too much):
There was a strong Viking influence in Schleswig-Holstein, being almost part of Scandinavia, which is evidenced in the archaeological site of Haithabu near the village of Hedeby. This and the fictional modern village of Torfmoorholm is were many of the songs of folk rock band Torfrock are about. They were founded around 1976 and initially played covers of rock songs in Low German, but soon added humorous songs about Rollo the Viking chieftain and his motley crew of hard drinking, fighting and pillaging Vikings as well as modern characters of turf cutters, fishermen, steamroller operators and others in modern Northern Germany. They sing their songs in a bit of a modern pseudo-Low German dialect, rather than pure Low German. One of their biggest hits was Volle Granate, Renate, which is about a feisty red-haired Viking woman, who participates on a journey to America and distracting some of the crew. It features on their 1991 compilation album Torfrock oder Watt and this is a later live version:
Singer-songwriter Knut Kiesewetter (1941-2016) was actually born in Sczcecin in modern day Poland, but was then Stettin in then Germany. After the war his family fled to Hamburg, but he later settled in Garding in North Frisia, where he bought himself a thatched farmhouse, his Fresenhof. He started his musical career aged 15 and by the age of 18 played at the Indra Club in Hamburg alongside the Beatles. During his long career he played genres ranging from rock, soul jazz, blues and gospel, but he became most famous for his folk recordings sung in Low German. His biggest hit was a love song to his chosen home, the Fresenhof, which featured on his 1976 album Leeder vun mien Fresenhof:
Our final destination in Germany is the small town of Breklum in North Frisia, where singer-songwriter Fiede Kay (1941-2005) was born. Very much of the same generation as Knut Kiesewetter, the 2 of them often collaborated. He also sang traditional songs and own compositions in Low German and in Frisian. He moved 3 km from his birthplace to open a pub in Bredstedt, and the square in front of the pub has subsequently been named in his honour. Here is a traditional song off his 2014 post-mortem collection Fiede Kay Singt, Vol.4 called Dat du mien Levste büst (That you are my dearest). It is about two clandestine lovers meeting in the night, while her parents are asleep.
That concludes our virtual tour of Germany, next up we're heading to Denmark, the Faroe Islands and the rest of Scandinavia. In the meantime you can follow my ramblings on my Tripline map.
Our first stop in the state of Saxony is in the city of Dresden. Here is a view of the inside of Dresden railway station which I took during my 1987 visit of East Germany.
Dresden of course was subjected to the allied carpet bombing at the end of World War II and much of the historic centre was destroyed (not to mention 100's of thousands of people). Although much of it has been rebuilt since, in 1987 the destruction was still visible. One of my most vivid memories is of an international group of about 20 of us going to a cellar bar, the top floors of which were just a pile of rubble. As beer in the old GDR was classed as basic food, and therefore subsidised, it was dirt cheap, about 50 East Pfennigs for half a litre. At that price about half the group decided to buy a round for everybody at the same time and about 200 beers turned up on our table. It turned into quite a jolly night...
I'm sure Dresden has changed somewhat since then as is also evidenced by the international flavour of music emanating from the city. Arabic jazz band Masaa are based here and includes musicians from Germany Lebanon and Israel. Here's a song from their 2020 album Irade called Fadai:
Next stop is the city of Leipzig, which I also visited back in 1987. I haven't been since, but at the time it certainly hadn't been as sympathetically restored as Dresden, with many socialist style functional buildings. This is a display window of a shoe shop from back then. The caption reads: "Men must go dancing".
Leipzig was the home of one of East Germany's first and best known folk bands called Folkländer. Established by some students in 1976 they went through various personnel and name changes including Folkländers Bierfiedler and finally just Bierfiedler until they finally disbanded in 2008. The original name was a pun on Vogtländer, because 2 of the original members were from the Vogtland, a historical region covering parts of Bavaria, Thuringia and Saxony. Some of their songs are sung in the Vogtland dialect. Initially they sang inoffensive songs from the romantic era, but later increasingly used more political material, which could have been interpreted as Socialist in the real sense or as criticism of the real conditions in the GDR. It got them into trouble as their folk opera Die Boten des Todes (The Messengers of Death) was banned in 1982. In 2018 a compilation album of some of their songs was published under the title Wenn man fragt, wer hat's getan... (When one asks, who did it...). This is a song from the album called Der Desserteur (The Deserter):
Moving on to the university city of Göttingen in Lower Saxony, where musical comedy duo Die Feisten hail from. They sing own compositions or rip-offs of popular songs with humoristic lyrics. Here is a popular blues song of theirs called Nussschuesselblues (nut bowl blues), which describes the perils of eating the complimentary bar nuts offered in a pub:
Finally we move on to East Frisia in the far northwest of Germany. The East Frisians are the butt of jokes in Germany, much like the Irish in England or the Belgians in the Netherlands and France. East Frisia has its own dialect of Low German, which is undecipherable to other Germans and has more in common with the Scandinavian languages and Dutch. Folk band Malbrook started originally from a one album project of the same name by Emden native Wolfgang Meyering in 2004, but their success encouraged them to carry on as a touring band, which includes violinist Vivien Zeller (of Trad Töchter) and harpist Merit Zloch (of Harfenduo Zirla), both of whom we have already met in Berlin. Malbrook's music is a mixture of northern German and Scandinavian folk. Their name in East Frisian translates as Mad Trousers and is a term to describe a person dancing like mad. Here is a song from their original album called Winterleed (Winter song), in line with the the weather outside my window today:
That's it from the 2 Saxonies, next up the cities of Bremen and Hamburg, which might feature some music by myself even... Until then you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.
When I set out this blog, I said I'd stop in every country, so I better give Liechtenstein a mention (although I draw the line at Vatican City!). I have on a number occasions accidentally visited Liechtenstein, usually when trying to avoid a traffic jam in one of the tunnels in Switzerland and suddenly realising that the number plates on the cars looked different. On one occasion I ended up in a traffic jam in rush hour Vaduz instead, so had a bit of time to look at the place as well.
The majority of the population are either bankers and/or play in the international football team plus their respective partners. There are a few alpine skiers as well, so it doesn't leave many people making music. There is one guy called Al Walser who has become a bit of a pop star in Los Angeles and there is gothic metal band Erben der Schöpfung, and that is about it to my knowledge. In time honoured fashion of rock bands, they have had numerous infights and split with one of the founders retaining the rights to the original band name, whilst the rest carried on under the name Elis, after the title their first single. Here is said song:
So much for Liechtenstein and before you know it you have crossed another border and end up in Austria.
Now my memories of Austria are altogether more positive than those of Switzerland: delicious cakes in Vienna, racy white wines in ancient cellars in the Wachau region around Krems and unctuous desert wines on the Lake Neusiedl in the east. But for music? Here is an abridged history of music in Austria:
18th-19th century: Vienna is the centre of the musical universe with classical composers from everywhere drawn to the city with it's most famous son Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the centre.
Intervening period until 1980's: Some yodelling
1986: Falco sings Amadeus
2014: Conchita Wurst, the lady with the beard, wins the Eurovison Song Contest
So in other words, Austria is not exactly famous for music in the modern era, not sure why this is. We begin our journey in the west of the country in Hall in Tirol, where composer and jazz musician Werner Pirchner was born (1940-2001). He seemed to have had a wicked sense of humour. The following is a short extract from a film called Der Untergang des Alpenlandes (The fall of the Alpine country), for which he composed the music. In the intro they bemoan the fact that traditional dance hasn't changed for hundreds of years and propose a new form of dance...
About 10 years ago, when we lived in Italy, we were joined on our land by a young volunteer from Klagenfurt in Austria called Steph. She told us of her dreams of travelling the world and becoming a musician. She had already represented Austria in the junior Eurovision Song Contest, a fact she was slightly embarrassed about. Now 10 years and many travels later she has just released her first album under her artist name She Got Salty Bones called Ocean Shores. Here is a short album preview. You can buy it directly from her website if you feel like supporting a young artist.
Hubert Achleitner is so proud of his home town of Bad Goisern that he renamed himself Hubert von Goisern. The singer/songwriter certainly has been around, from South Africa, Canada and the Philippines to Tanzania and Tibet. He is friends with primatologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall and the Dalai Lama. All this has influenced his music style which he incorporates into the traditions of his native Austria. His genre is often described as Neue Volksmusik (New Folk), but more often as Alpenrock (Alpine Rock), which probably better describes it. From the mid-80's to the mid-90's he was accompanied by his band Die Alpinkatzen. This track, Da Juchitzer, which can be found on his album Eswaramoi 1992-1998, features some wild yodelling over some rock rhythms:
The duo Attwenger were formed in 1990 in the city of Linz, consisting of drummer Markus Binder and button accordion player Hans-Peter Falkner. They combine the traditional folk music of the Upper Austrian region with hip-hop, singing in their local dialect. During the early days they literally took traditional Austrian songs and put a punk spin on it, but as they evolved over the years, they began writing their own material, mixing in electronic elements, rap and dub. Here's a song from their 2011 album Flux called hintn umi (round the back):
Composer and electronic music pioneer Hubert Bognermayr (1948-1999) was born in Linz. He was one of the founder of the Ars Electronica festival in 1979 and founding member of Austrian rock band Eela Craig and founder of the Blue Chip Orchestra. He is even credited with influencing Mike Oldfield. With the Blue Chip Orchestra he created a New Age electronic sound inspired by Native American music, which is sensitively interwoven into the music. Here is the opening track to the 2000 re-issue album Enigmania (not sure if it is still available) called Ate Heve Lo!
I'll leave it at that for today and will give the capital Vienna a separate post. In the meantime, as usual, you follow my virtual trip in my Tripline map.
We arrive in Bayern or Bavaria on our virtual trip. I have always been very suspect of this state. Traditionally the Bavarians have always been closest to the stereotype of Germans, lack of humour, lederhosen, Octoberfest with ladies in dirndls serving beer in 1 litre jugs, etc... My ultimate Bayern experience was many years ago when I visited a friend deep in the Bavarian mountains, who was doing a placement as a forester and living in a log cabin. One day we were invited by the woodworkers who were celebrating the day of their patron saint for a breakfast. As we arrived on my friends Heinkel scooter even deeper in the forest, we were greeted by 5 portly men with bushy moustaches and in Lederhosen and Tyrolean hats and served a breakfast of pretzels, white sausages and beer... at 9 am!
As we were sitting and eating and drinking I was having trouble following the conversation as it was held in the broadest Bavarian dialect. So being slightly bored I cracked open another beer. My friend raised an eyebrow and said: "having another beer this early?". To which I flippantly replied: "Well Bavarian beer is alcohol-free anyway," referring to the fact that Bavarian beer is slightly lighter than Northern German Pilsener styles. That of course offended our host who promptly challenged me to a drinking competition. Thankfully we ran out of beer before I slid under the table. I've been avoiding Bavaria ever since.
Anyway back to the music, first stop is Fürstenfeldbruck just west of Munich where the band Biermösl
Blasn were founded in 1976 by brothers Hans, Christoph and Michael Weil. At first glance they are your typical Bavarian folk band, dressed in traditional garb, singing in Bavarian and yodelling accompanied by accordion and alphorns. However their lyrics are satirical and very political, protesting against nuclear power, environmental destruction and political corruption. Due to the dominant political party of Bavaria being the right wing Christian Social Union, they were long banned by Bavarian state radio. I saw them live at the anti-nuclear festival in Wackersdorf in 1986 I keep mentioning. Incidentally here is a photo of myself being at the festival:
Myself on the right
When during their set the power failed, they simply grabbed their alphorns and were heard even without amplification at the back of the 100,000 crowd. It sounded something like this:
And here a live performance of their interpretation of the traditional Bavarian dance the Schuhplattler or as they call it, the Kung Fu-Plattler:
Moving on to the capital of Bavaria, Munich or München. Staying on the traditional theme we meet folk band Fraunhofer Saitenmusik, whose members first met at an historic Munich pub called Fraunhofer. They play instrumental numbers on a number of stringed instruments such as the hammered dulcimer, harp, guitar, various zithers and double bass. Their repertoire includes folk tunes from all over Europe, such as Ireland, Scandinavia and the Balkans as well as from more local alpine traditions. Here's them playing Appenzeller Choscht in a typical Bavarian pub:
Right, let's leave stuffy pubs behind and find something a bit fresher. Contemporary Balfolk duo TradTöchter (Trad daughters) consists of fiddle players Vivien Zeller and Ursula Suchanek. They re-interpret traditional songs and tunes and pen their own material in a lively and fresh manner. Their music is currently not available as a download, but they are promising to put it on BandCamp soon. Their only album to date Liebeslieder im Rahmen der Möglichkeiten (Love songs within the realms of possibilty - sounds like a good title for lockdown...). Here is a wee tune, which doesn't feature on the album, Warten aud den Meister (Waiting for the master):
Now for some yodelling, but not as you know it. Multi-instrumentalist and 'voice acrobat' Albin Paulus was born in Munich in 1972 of Austrian decent. His speciality is the Jews harp as well as yodelling, body percussion and overtone singing. He sometimes performs solo sometimes with his band Auli, which makes his performances something of an Alpine version of Riverdance. Quite spectacular really. Here is the band version of his song Maijodler, which features on the 2019 album Voices of the Ancestors:
Here is the solo version of the same song, which skill-wise is even more impressive, yodelling and playing Jews harp simultaneously and doing some body percussion:
We'll leave it at that and continue our journey around Bayern next time. In the meantime you follow my virtual trip on my Tripline map.
As we come back to the province of North Brabant, the eastern half this time, we arrive in Ravenstein, where singer/songwriter Alex Roeka was born. Training and working as a psychologist initially he came to music relatively late in life during the 1990's. His music is mostly about his poetry, which I'm not going to translate here, but it's in style the closest the Dutch have to chanson. Here's a song from his 2008 album Beet Van Liefde (Bite of love) called Wat Is Toch de Liefde (What is that love)
Singer/songwriter Gerard van Maasakkers was born in 1949 in Nuenen in the province of North Brabant and sings folk in his own regional dialect of Brabants. He has been active since the 1970's and has released his latest album Ik Loop (I'm walking) in 2019. Here is the title song from the album:
Next we are heading to Helmond in North Brabant, where the members of Jazz trio the Rosenberg Trio, Stochelo, Nous'sche and Nonnie Rosenberg, hail from. The band has been going since 1989 and they are inspired by the Gypsy jazz of Django Reinhardt. They have collaborated with many great musicians from all over the world, including Jan Akkerman, Stéphane Grapelli, Herman van Veen, Toots Thielemans, Shirley Bassey, Randy Crawford and Luciano Pavarotti. Here's a tune featuring on their 2007 album Roots called Valse a Rosenthal:
Brabant humoristic folk band Dommelvolk was mostly active between 1977 and 1984 with a brief revival between 2000 to 2005 in Eindhoven. They finally called it a day with the death of their lead singer Ad van Genechten. They took their inspiration from farmer's songs and didn't take themselves too seriously. Their albums are hard to get hold of these days, but their most successful one was Ptazzie. Here's a live version of a song from that album called Woensel Kermis with a rather long intro in Brabant Dutch, so apologies to non-Dutch speakers, which I hope will give you an impression of their fun style. It's essentially about the going-ons at a fun fair in the Eindhoven district of Woensel.
Accordionist Carel Kraayenhof was born in Aalst in North Brabant. His specialist subject is the tango and he plays any kind of squeeze box. His big idol was Argentinian tango accordionist Ástor Piazzola, who peronally urged Kraayenhof to come to Broadway to work on the musical Tango Apasionando. Here's a recent piece in duo with folk singer Leoni Jansen called Cucurucucu Paloma:
And finally for something completely different from Maastricht in the province of Limburg. This is where psychedelic band Yin Yin hail from around Kees Berkers and Yves Lennertz, who share a fascination of Thai sounds. They place their music somewhere on a tropical island between the Netherlands and Southeast Asia. They released their debut album in 2019 entitled The Rabbit That Hunts the Tiger. Here's a hypnotic funky dance tune from the album called One Inch Punch:
That's it from the Netherlands, next we'll head into Germany, where I have spent most of my youth. As usual you follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.
'Psychedelic Turbo Folk' band Don Kipper proclaim to be playing 'traditional music of North-East London', which is one of the most culturally diverse parts of the city. They started off in 2013 as a klezmer band around Greek/Serbian singer Dunja Botic, but incorporate many Eastern European and Balkan influences. The name of their latest album released in 2018 is Seven Sisters, which is a sub-district of Tottenham, which they claim as their spiritual home. Here's a mad song from that album called Opa Ela:
Folk singer and avid collector of traditional songs of Britain and Ireland Sam Lee was born in Tufnell Park, North London. He picked up his love of folk music during summer camps as a kid. Son of Jewish parents he has a particular interest in songs from the Roma and travelling communities. His latest album released in January this year is called Old Wow and this is the opening track from it called The Garden of England (Seeds of Love):
Indie folk band Patch and the Giant consist of 5 multi-instrumentalists based around Highgate in North London producing sometimes a foot-stomping, clap along sound, sometimes more melodious songs. This is from their 2017 album All That We Had, We Stole and is called Flowers:
North London is also home to a large Jewish community, especially around areas of Golders Green and Finchley. From these areas sprung Oi Va Voi in 2000, playing Klezmer fused with indie-rock and alt-folk. 'Oi va voi' is an exclamation in modern Hebrew roughly translating as 'oh my gosh!'. Here's a song from their 2018 album Memory Drop called Vanished World:
English folk musician and composer Andy Cutting hails from Harrow, a suburb to the northwest of London. The melodeon player was part of Blowzabella and Fernhill and is known to perform both traditional English and French material as well as writing his own compositions. Apart from the above bands he also extensively collaborated with guitarist Chris Wood and many others within the folk scene. In 2015 he formed an Anglo-French band called Topette, which we will revisit once we hit France. He has only one solo album to his name, which is the self-titled Andy Cutting released in 2010. These are 2 tunes from that album: Old Light and The Abbess:
Moving a little beyond the commuter belt of London we hit Bedford, where we meet two musicians. First up is '1940's compere and all round dapper chap' Thomas Benjamin Wild Esq., who went viral a while ago with his witty song I've No More ... to Give. He performs in a smart suit playing a mandolin banjo singing some hilarious lyrics, some of everyday funny situations, others throwing ridicule at the political establishment. In case you have missed his most famous song, here it is, and it features on his debut 2018 album Awkward Encounters While Walking My Dog:
Secondly from Bedford is Jack Sharp, who, after 13 years of fronting psych folk band Wolf People on guitar and vocals, has recently released an album of more traditional folk songs inspired by his native Bedfordshire and pared down to just acoustic guitar and singing. The album is called Good Times Older and this is a collection of songs off it.
This is it for today. Next time we will finally complete our tour of the British Isles and forthwith bravely head onto the rest of Europe. As usual you can follow my virtual ramblings on my tripline map.
We're back over the currently invisible border into Northern Ireland. County Fermanagh is famous for its lakes and it is where songwriter Mickey MacConnell hails from. Born in 1947 in Bellanaleck near Enniskillen, after a career as a journalist he moved to Kerry and devoted his life to music. He recorded only 3 CD's, 2 of them currently unavailable, but his often humorous songs are recited in sessions up and down the land. The following song, The Ballad of Aldi & Lidl, has not made it onto any recordings, but went viral on YouTube:
In the County of Tyrone we meet The Whistlin' Donkeys, a band combining traditional Irish tunes with upbeat Celtic rock influences. This is their song of their home town Pretty Little Girl From Omagh, off their 2013 album Kiss My Ass.
From Derrytresk in County Tyrone hails singer and guitarist Niall Hanna. Here is a song about Lough Neagh, the largest lake on the British Isles, part of its shore is in County Tyrone. This is a photo of me with my dog and a Colombian friend on the shores of Lough Neagh.
From Dungannon hails uilleann piper Jarlath Henderson, who was the youngest ever BBC folk musician of the year in 2003. Here he is playing a rousing live set with long time collaborator Scottish piper Ross Ainslie:
Finally I can't go to Dungannon without visiting my friend singer-songwriter Wendy Jack, although she actually lives on Rathlin Island these days. She once played in my yurt in Portaferry back in May 2015.
My favourite song by her is called Fairies, which is on her recently released album Sunsets available on bandcamp.
That's it for today. As usual you can follow my virtual journey on Tripline. See you next time in Donegal.
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