In review--Music of the Atlantic Diaspora
Folmusica
My sister introduced me to Galicia, a Spanish province, over
a decade ago when she loaned me her copy of Paulo Coelho’s The Pilgrimage, but Angel Romero, Founder of World Music Central,
introduced me to Galician music several years ago. When many people think of Spanish music they
think of flamenco or gypsy music. I have
not met many people outside of music journalism and world music audiences who
even realize the diversity of musical traditions hailing from Spain’s
provinces. For instance, in Asturias and
Galicia, bagpipes and large frame drums are prominent, but so are various types
of lutes, accordions, strings, and instruments from other folkloric
traditions. The music ranges from jaunty
sends-ups to haunting ballads. At times,
music of northwest Spain resembles other Celtic music of Scotland and Ireland.
Multi-instrumentalist Pancho Alvarez features mostly
original compositions on Sonche Atlàntico,
and similar to Galician musician Uxia, this musician prefers to spice up his
songs with influences from Africa (North mainly), Portugal, Brittany while also
including inspiration from South America.
Alvarez performs most of the instruments on this album which include:
violin, viola, guitars, accordion, viola de gamba, Venezuelan cuatro,
hurdy-gurdy, bass, percussion, bouzouki while coming off as a one-man
orchestra. He handles most of the vocals
too with Maria Solleiro pitching in vocals on the bouncy A Cantiga da Segada de Miranda.
Danceable songs such as, A Camposa
and the Arabic-tinged Rumba de Alì appear
along side, misty-eyed songs, (Galicia
Malicia).
Hispanic listeners not familiar with Spain’s Gallego dialect
might feel lost while following the text, but anyone looking for an authentic
Spanish folkloric experience will feel at home with this album portraying the
Atlantic Diaspora.
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