I am hoping to re-locate to France in the not too distant future and I will be spending quite a lot of time in Brittany this year house hunting in and around the Dinan area.
I hope to get a chance to do some playing while I'm there and I am interested in learning some Breton tunes. Can anybody out there point me in the right direction of some recordings and possibly tune books?
Have we any members from that area, who play regularly?
Anything By "Kornog" or the members of that band. Jean Michel Veillon's 1st recording is one on the best flute CDs I've ever heard, and for fiddle , Christan Le Maitre's "Ballade a'l'Hotesse" is superb. There are many bands which have been discussed elsewhere in the "Session". Try a search, and I'm sure you'll come up with the names of several good bands. And don't ignore the "bagads" ! Bonne Chance !
I'll give you a list of groups and individual players, most of whom are/have been members of those groups:
Gwerz
Den
Stolvan
Skorvan
Kornog
Pennou Skoulm
Archetype
Trio Eric Marchand
Barzaz
Tri Yann
Ar Re Yaouank
Dan ar Braz
Gwendal
Bleizi Ruiz
Bagad Kemper
Wigawag
My favourite recordings are probably:
Gwerz! Live
Pennou Skoulm (eponymous CD)
Den - Just around the Window ;one track - Lorient est grand - is worth the price alone, although hard to get your hands on
Kornog - Live, although they now have a second live recording which I haven't heard (recorded in Belfast, funnily enough) .
Another excellent recording is Deliou - Molard brothers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some players you might want to consider listening to are:
Jacky Molard, Padraig Sicard, Christian Lemaitre - Fiddle
Patrick Molard, Ronan Le Bars - pipes
Dominique Molard - Percussion
Soig Siberil, Jacques Pellen, Jean Guichen, Dan ar Braz, Gilles Le Bigot- guitar
the inimitable Jean Michel Veillon, Yannick Allory, Sylvain Barou - Flute
Alan Stivell - Harp
Eric Marchand,Yann Fanch Kemener - song
Jamie McMenemy (+vocals) - Bouzouki
Alan Genty - Bass Guitar
Didier Squiban - piano
I know quite a few Breton tunes but don't get much opportunity to play them unfortunately so I'm quite envious of your situation. :¬)
All the best in Brittany and hope you make the most of this chance to immerse yourself in the tradition.
Nice one "Mr Bloop"! ;¬) Surprised you didn't point out my error - I should have said FRED Guichen rather than Jean - especially a man of your "ka-lyber".
Thanks for your help guys I will order a selection of the CD’s recommended and get listening.
What I probably should have mentioned is that I am a non-French speaking Irishman, however, I have signed up for my first French language course.
Mandolman I had a problem with the site you linked me to for transcriptions, as I could not understand the content.
I need to find some dots to get the bones of the tunes can any body help me? Are there any tunes in the session archives that I should be looking at?
I met a fiddler called Fred Samzun over here last year and he joined us for a session. He was a lovely player and I believe he plays regularly with a harpist called Soazig Kermabon, I have a copy of one of their CDs. I have tried to contact Fred without success and I was wondering if there was anybody out there who knows him or how I might be able to contact him?
For Dastum it's here in "archive sonore" ->chants et musique"
It can take a few times ( depends your FAI) http://archive.dastum.com/
you've got another one http://www.kelt-partitions.com/ (go in Connexion and create a Login and a password, after go on the flag of Brittany (black & white)
Whilst we're on the subject, here's a poser: During two years I spent in Latvia, I came upon a tape of an extraordinary Breton band. The tape was given to friends of mine by friend of theirs in St. Petersburg, whom I never cot the chance to ask about it. All it said on the label was 'Bretanskaya Muzika' (Breton music). I had to leave the tape in Latvia, and since coming back to England, I have tried, without success, to track down this band. Their material sounds traditional Breton, some of it perhaps newly composed in a traditional style. What is particularly ingenious about them is that they introduce a cool, jazzy feel to their arrangements, yet retaining the structure and overall sound of Breton music. Their instrumentation is an eclectic mix of traditional and non-traditional: bombarde, biniou, fiddle, button accordion, uillean pipes, saxophones, bass clarinet and electric guitar.
Any ideas who they might be, and where I can get their recordings? Perhaps they're not even from Brittany.
While we're adding to the list of recordings one must listen to, I heartily recommend Yann-Fanch Perroches and Fanch Landreau's "Dhou a Dhou" (it's spelled something like that): it's the most excellent fiddle & box CD I've heard in any genre. Also the band Karma's most recent CD is quite astounding.
Yes... here is Karma's myspace page with a few tracks on...
They mix jazz and other strange things in too but the trad playing is easily good enough to shine through..
www.myspace.com/karmabzh
These guys are also good ~ www.myspace.com/obistrio
and DAVID PASQUET is a great bombarde player
www.myspace.com/davidpasquetgroup
BRETON TUNES
BRETON TUNES
I am hoping to re-locate to France in the not too distant future and I will be spending quite a lot of time in Brittany this year house hunting in and around the Dinan area.
I hope to get a chance to do some playing while I'm there and I am interested in learning some Breton tunes. Can anybody out there point me in the right direction of some recordings and possibly tune books?
Have we any members from that area, who play regularly?
Thanks
Conrad
# Posted on March 30th 2004 by darnoc
Re: BRETON TUNES
Yes, Welcome in Brittany
Here some transcriptions http://breizhpartitions.free.fr/
http://www.dastum.net/
Remember a lot sheetmusic are in Bb ( because the tuning of Bombarde and Bagpipe) You can translate.
It's a hard choice there is a lot of good musicians :
Try here to listen
I like Ar Re Yaouank, Carre Manchot, Jean Michel Veillon, Kornog, Barzaz, Didier Squiban, Baron-Anneix, Bagad Kemper....
http://www.arbedkeltiek.com/bonjour.htm
Kenavo
# Posted on March 30th 2004 by Mandolman
Re: BRETON TUNES
Anything By "Kornog" or the members of that band. Jean Michel Veillon's 1st recording is one on the best flute CDs I've ever heard, and for fiddle , Christan Le Maitre's "Ballade a'l'Hotesse" is superb. There are many bands which have been discussed elsewhere in the "Session". Try a search, and I'm sure you'll come up with the names of several good bands. And don't ignore the "bagads" ! Bonne Chance !
# Posted on March 30th 2004 by Kenny
Re: BRETON TUNES
There you are. Mandolman beat me to it!
# Posted on March 30th 2004 by Kenny
Re: BRETON TUNES
Where do you start??
I'll give you a list of groups and individual players, most of whom are/have been members of those groups:
Gwerz
Den
Stolvan
Skorvan
Kornog
Pennou Skoulm
Archetype
Trio Eric Marchand
Barzaz
Tri Yann
Ar Re Yaouank
Dan ar Braz
Gwendal
Bleizi Ruiz
Bagad Kemper
Wigawag
My favourite recordings are probably:
Gwerz! Live
Pennou Skoulm (eponymous CD)
Den - Just around the Window ;one track - Lorient est grand - is worth the price alone, although hard to get your hands on
Kornog - Live, although they now have a second live recording which I haven't heard (recorded in Belfast, funnily enough) .
Another excellent recording is Deliou - Molard brothers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some players you might want to consider listening to are:
Jacky Molard, Padraig Sicard, Christian Lemaitre - Fiddle
Patrick Molard, Ronan Le Bars - pipes
Dominique Molard - Percussion
Soig Siberil, Jacques Pellen, Jean Guichen, Dan ar Braz, Gilles Le Bigot- guitar
the inimitable Jean Michel Veillon, Yannick Allory, Sylvain Barou - Flute
Alan Stivell - Harp
Eric Marchand,Yann Fanch Kemener - song
Jamie McMenemy (+vocals) - Bouzouki
Alan Genty - Bass Guitar
Didier Squiban - piano
I know quite a few Breton tunes but don't get much opportunity to play them unfortunately so I'm quite envious of your situation. :¬)
All the best in Brittany and hope you make the most of this chance to immerse yourself in the tradition.
Yeched'mat!
Conán
# Posted on March 30th 2004 by Conán McDonnell
Re: BRETON TUNES
this would be the place to find all of the above and more-
http://www.arbedkeltiek.com/saozneg/records.htm
# Posted on March 31st 2004 by JimR
Re: BRETON TUNES
Nice one "Mr Bloop"! ;¬) Surprised you didn't point out my error - I should have said FRED Guichen rather than Jean - especially a man of your "ka-lyber".
See you next time...
C
# Posted on March 31st 2004 by Conán McDonnell
Re: BRETON TUNES
Fred is the box playing brother.Its Jean Charles that plays the guitar.I decided to let you away with the Charles omission!
J
# Posted on March 31st 2004 by JimR
Re: BRETON TUNES
Does that make me wrong twice or does one cancel out the other?
Ah Blootered (à plus tard)
C
# Posted on March 31st 2004 by Conán McDonnell
Re: BRETON TUNES
Thanks for your help guys I will order a selection of the CD’s recommended and get listening.
What I probably should have mentioned is that I am a non-French speaking Irishman, however, I have signed up for my first French language course.
Mandolman I had a problem with the site you linked me to for transcriptions, as I could not understand the content.
I need to find some dots to get the bones of the tunes can any body help me? Are there any tunes in the session archives that I should be looking at?
I met a fiddler called Fred Samzun over here last year and he joined us for a session. He was a lovely player and I believe he plays regularly with a harpist called Soazig Kermabon, I have a copy of one of their CDs. I have tried to contact Fred without success and I was wondering if there was anybody out there who knows him or how I might be able to contact him?
Again thanks for all your help guys.
Regards
Conrad
# Posted on March 31st 2004 by darnoc
Re: BRETON TUNES
Ok, the breton tunes are here Breton - Bretagne ( country)http://breizhpartitions.free.fr/p_bretagne.php
Take it in Gif, midi.......
For Dastum it's here in "archive sonore" ->chants et musique"
It can take a few times ( depends your FAI) http://archive.dastum.com/
you've got another one http://www.kelt-partitions.com/ (go in Connexion and create a Login and a password, after go on the flag of Brittany (black & white)
Some listen music http://www.tamm-kreiz.com/ go at the bottom and click on "groupes à l'honneur"
Here good music
http://www.telennvruk.com/toutes%20les%20pages/Airs/Airs%20bretons/gavottes/liste%20gavottes.htm
# Posted on March 31st 2004 by Mandolman
Re: BRETON TUNES
Whilst we're on the subject, here's a poser: During two years I spent in Latvia, I came upon a tape of an extraordinary Breton band. The tape was given to friends of mine by friend of theirs in St. Petersburg, whom I never cot the chance to ask about it. All it said on the label was 'Bretanskaya Muzika' (Breton music). I had to leave the tape in Latvia, and since coming back to England, I have tried, without success, to track down this band. Their material sounds traditional Breton, some of it perhaps newly composed in a traditional style. What is particularly ingenious about them is that they introduce a cool, jazzy feel to their arrangements, yet retaining the structure and overall sound of Breton music. Their instrumentation is an eclectic mix of traditional and non-traditional: bombarde, biniou, fiddle, button accordion, uillean pipes, saxophones, bass clarinet and electric guitar.
Any ideas who they might be, and where I can get their recordings? Perhaps they're not even from Brittany.
# Posted on April 1st 2004 by granama
Re: BRETON TUNES
Perhaps :
Ti Jazz http://tijazz.free.fr
or Gwenfol Orchestra
http://gwenfol-orchestra.chez.tiscali.fr/cadre.htm
# Posted on April 1st 2004 by Mandolman
Re: BRETON TUNES
While we're adding to the list of recordings one must listen to, I heartily recommend Yann-Fanch Perroches and Fanch Landreau's "Dhou a Dhou" (it's spelled something like that): it's the most excellent fiddle & box CD I've heard in any genre. Also the band Karma's most recent CD is quite astounding.
# Posted on June 2nd 2004 by danfran
Re: BRETON TUNES
Yes... here is Karma's myspace page with a few tracks on...
They mix jazz and other strange things in too but the trad playing is easily good enough to shine through..
www.myspace.com/karmabzh
These guys are also good ~ www.myspace.com/obistrio
and DAVID PASQUET is a great bombarde player
www.myspace.com/davidpasquetgroup
thanks for all the links....
# Posted on October 28th 2007 by paulflute