Tradition 2.1
Tradition 2.1 (ARC Music EUCD 2538, 2014)
There’s a compact statement, “Tradition 2.1.” Creative people will see a release with that title by a band that’s emerged from Basque folk music and wish they’d come up with that idea, themselves. It would work for any group acknowledging the present and the past equally, as long as it’s a group that can really fulfill and express that goal instrumentally. Were the early Jethro Tull transplanted to today from their English folk music tour days, for example, they could use that album title. Or the reigning kings of live rock, brought to the present from the days when they were concerned that their name (“The Rolling Stones”) might make people mistake them for something other than the American blues purists they were at that time.
That’s impressive comparison, not given lightly, especially to a fairly light-sounding band using the following core instrumentation – trikitixa (diatonic accordion), alboka (double reed), mandolin, percussion, electric bass guitar, augmented by a dozen other instruments and backing vocals provided by Korrontzi members and studio guests.
One online site describes their sound as being “similar to Celtic,” and that is vaguely so. To zero in on the similarity a bit, one might picture the drone of bagpipes being provided by string instruments in tight harmony merging with an accordion smoothing out single-note guitar or banjo parts for a result that’s … What? … “bluegrassy?” … Except that the next song has the band changing instrumentation a bit to take listeners to a square on the Left Bank in Paris, where they chance upon a visiting Zimbabwean choir. So to that extent, Korrontzi’s sound on “Tradition 2.1” is “similar to Celtic.”
Beyond encouraging readers to seek and experience this act, words fail in direct ratio to how good and how different they are.
Author: Arthur Shuey
Arthur has been reviewing music for publications since 1976 and began focusing almost exclusively on world music in 2012.
His musical background includes past presidencies of the Cape Fear Musicians Association and Blues Society of the Lower Cape Fear, founding membership in nine other blues societies, service on 17 music festival planning committees, two decades of teaching harmonica to individuals and groups, operating a small recording studio and performing solo and in combos for 30 years.
Arthur has written professionally since 1975, pieces ranging from short fiction to travel articles, humor to poetry, mainly for local and regional entertainment media. His blog,” Shuey’s World,” is featured at www.accesswilmington.com.
