(headline image: Isaac et Nora – Photo by Jean-Marie Jagu)
However one chooses to define “World” music, there are a few certainties applicable to the genre. One such is the fact that artists who gain a foothold in it can do so by thinking and acting outside a perceived box, or take the opposite path by deciding to go even deeper into their roots. The same is true for any number of music styles, really. The common ground is that both approaches can have admirable results.
I must admit, I never wondered how it would sound if two youngsters of French/Korean heritage decided to have a go at performing Latin American music. And even though we live in an era so saturated with YouTube sensations that the very term quickly became shopworn, the story behind brother and sister duo Isaac et Nora (surname Restoin) is truly sensational. They were 12 and 7 years old respectively when an unassuming 2019 video of them performing the classic Cuban bolero “Veinte Años” in the garden of their home in northwestern France racked up multi-millions of views. Since then, they have released two albums, including Latin & Love Studies, and toured South America and the U.S.
Their growing repertoire now includes further Latin classics, songs composed specifically for them, and covers of songs originally done by artists as diverse as Manu Chao and Stevie Wonder. I’m being a little disingenuous here, since the only CD of theirs to grace my collection is a 16-track sampler intended for promotional purposes. But, oh my, what a great cross-section it is.
Nora handles accordion, guitar, ukulele, and lead vocals; Isaac plays guitar, requinto and trumpet and sings backup. Joined by other players (including their dad Nicolas on guitar) and vocalists, the siblings craft sweet songs that mainly echo their vintage Cuban style beginnings but also handily branch out, on tunes by Chico Buarque and Natalia Lafourcade. Nora’s lead voice sounds childlike, make no mistake, and be just as sure that it has style, grace, nuance and up-and-coming power all the same. There’s plenty of online information about this remarkable pair, so do yourself a favor and investigate. If you’ve already done so, you know what I’m on about. If not, prepare to be impressed.
British/Kurdish-Alevi singer Olcay Bayir debuted mightily with the album Neva (Harmony) in 2014. That one featured reconfigured folk songs and a multilingual approach. Her latest, Tu Guli, (ARC Music, 2024) features traditional songs (and mainly instruments as well), this time focusing on specifically Kurdish and Alevi music based around both secular and sacred sources.
Although various parts of the disc were recorded in England, Turkey, Greece and Armenia, the end result is seamless and beautiful. Bayir’s voice hits all the right emotional heights whether the songs are lively or pensive, and she often steps back vocally into the arrangements so that her singing is very much an instrument in the larger sonic picture. Love songs and female-centric perspectives abound, but subjects such as the Armenian Genocide and forced child marriages get their due also.
Tu Guli is a magnificent musical statement through and through, and thus highly recommended.
Author: Tom Orr
Tom Orr is a California-based writer whose talent and mental stability are of an equally questionable nature. His hobbies include ignoring trends, striking dramatic poses in front of his ever-tolerant wife and watching helplessly as his kids surpass him in all desirable traits.