Tejedor – Musica Na Maleta (Aris Música, 2006)
Alann Bique – Alann Bique (Duradisc, 2006)
Tejedor is an excellent Celtic band from Asturias in northern Spain. The core of the band is formed by the Tejedor family: José Manuel on Asturian bagpipes, xiblates (whistles) and ulillean pipes; Javier on accordion and bodrhán; and Eva on vocals and pandereta (tambourine).
On the band’s latest CD, Tejedor continues its creative and contemporary exploration of Asturian folk songs. The result is powerful and edgy music, combining the best of Asturian folk with Irish-style arrangements, rock drums, global beats and other modern sounds.
For this recording, the Tejedors had an impressive list of Celtic heavy weights: James McKintosh, Michael McGoldrick, John Joe Kelly, Nial Vallely, and Galician group Faltriqueira.
Alann Bique is a younger band formed by enthusiastic musicians from Madrid and Galicia, who live in separate cities. Despite the distance, the group sounds cohesive. As with Tejedor, the group plays modern Celtic music.
The leading instrument of Alann Bique is the Galician bagpipe. Other leading instruments are the flute and cello. With this unconventional structure, the group blends Galician folk with Scots-Irish music, classical music, jazz and pop.
Buy Musica Na Maleta. Alann Bique is available from www.alann-bique.net.
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
