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classical, folkloric, theatrical and improvisato- ry strains from Argentina, Brazil, France (their current domicile), Italy, Spain and the African continent. Their eclectic lyricism, evocative vocal harmonies and inventive stretching and recombination of cello and clarinet technique reveal a sublime poetic mastery that defies categorisation. The mostly original material also makes room for a bit of reimagined Atahualpa Yupanqui (Los Ejes De Mi Carreta), Homero Exposito (Yuyo Verde) and Alfredo Zitarrosa (Pollera Azul De Lino). There is more unassuming passion, beauty and wisdom in these 13 tangos, canciones, chacareras, milongas and a closing bagüala than many artists can claim in a lifetime; cased in a smartly illustrated 64–page hardcover book- let with notes in English, Spanish and French.


www.snailrecords.nl Michael Stone


NISOS Nisos Own label, no cat no


ALI FUAT AYDIN & CENK GÜRAY Bir Felmay fy8186


Two new releases that in different ways bub- ble with verve across the illusory boundaries between Greek and Turkish musics, and other similarly porous adjoining musical cultures.


‘Nisos’ – ‘island’ in Greek – is a superb and enjoyable self-titled debut by a promis- ing and accomplished young group who find themselves a cultural and musical island in their Czech Republic base. Several of the key members have grandparents who relocated to Czechoslovakia, being on the communist or left-wing losing side of the Greek civil war following WW2. In addition the group have family links of Bulgarian, Turkish, Jewish, Cre- tan Greek, as well as Czech origin.


Their palette seamlessly draws on all this musical heritage, but they’ve created a purely acoustic modern synthesis that sounds time- less: simultaneously springily contemporary


Nisos


and ancient (in their Byzantine and Ottoman influences). Unusually and admirably they’ve composed and created all the music and lyrics themselves; Greek language lyrics are mostly by vocalist Sofia Prusali, who has echoes of Savina Yannatou (but without Savina’s extraordinary agility) in her beautiful, clear but non-earthy delivery. Several of the songs deal with displacement: characters separated by war, economic necessity or ethnicity from loved ones, sounding a plangent, soulful, yearning tone, yet by turns optimistic and upbeat. A listener would have to glean this from feel though as only one song lyric is given (also in a patchy English translation): The Waves Of Crete, an elegiac slow glide of a song with a lasting melody. As they put it: “The aim of Nisos is to speak by the means of music regardless of the origin of language.”


Tunes, mostly by group leader Nikos Koulouris, are varied andmemorable with nimbly inventive arrangements drawing on many instruments from the seven core mem- bers, plus some guest contributions on kanun, Turkish male vocal, and trumpet (the latter giving opening track Aidoni a Balkan flavour over its Greek base)


Anyone already enjoying kindred musical travellers such as Ross Daly, Martha Mavroidi, L’Ham de Foc/Aman Aman, should be beguiled by what is a rare good example of an ‘album’: a group of songs all with strong dis- tinct melodies and arrangements, with a sense of an integral aesthetic or vision and (often overlooked) a sensible running time for listening to in one go, in this case 35 minutes.


Nisos should continue to evolve as they take on concerts in Turkey where they find straightaway a good fanbase, and as they do, it may be beneficial if they roughen up their slightly ‘art house’ precise sound with some grittiness and fire. But for now, they sound fresh, bright and appealing just as they are


www.myspace.com/nisos


Bir (‘one’ in Turkish) is an accomplished and unique collection of Zeybek tunes per- formed on baglama saz and divan saz (the bassier long-neck version of the baglama). The Zeybeks were an Aegean-based irregular militia/guerrilla culture formed during late


Ottoman times to defend villagers against landlords, bandits and tax collectors. They created many dances both slow and fast, famously solo but also for groups; and their romantic songs of bravery as well as dances, are still widespread currency in both Turkey and Aegean Greece. The extensive English sleevenotes, typical of the Felmay label’s quality, also make reference in passing to Albanian, Kurdish, Serbian, Kazahkstan and even African influence.


Ali Fuat Aydın has become a specialist in collecting Zeybek music and transferring the melodies and rhythms – often variations of nine-time, and often from the zurna and- davul instrument pairing – over to baglama. Divan saz specialist Cenk Güray may be known to some as a member of the super- skilled Dem Trio who released The Fountain on Felmay a few years ago. Fittingly, given the new ground being broken, they’ve dedi- cated the album to the legendary recently deceased saz virtuoso, inspirer, pioneer and educator Talip Özkan.


For fans and players of baglama this recording will be a delight, as it is refreshing- ly different from the extensively recorded Anatolian Asik and Alevi repertoire, where similar riffs are often recycled, sometimes leading to musical déjà vu. For newcomers it may be a bit dense as the two saz combina- tion (no vocals or other instruments) can lead to a certain sameness of timbre over the 43 minutes, although offset to an extent by the vibrant and beautiful recording quality.


Of the 14 tracks, certain tunes leapt out for me in their vitality of melody or rhythm (Yagmur Yagdi Zeybegi and Yeragotikos are just two of several that I’ll be often returning to), while others remained more earthbound with an academic musical feel (but then, as some are slow dances , it’d be interesting to hear them in live context played for dancers). Which tunes are most attractive is a subjective notion though, and there’s no doubt that this is a landmark recording, opening up new vistas for baglama and Aegean Turkish-Greek music.


www.felmay.it Chris Potts


MUZSIKÁS Fly Bird, Fly Nascente NSDCD031


In my dotage, it would be very heaven recounting, death-clutching a glass of robust and red bór, how listening to Hungaroton LPs put me on the Hungarian folk trail. After all, did I not swoon to Hungaroton’s vinyl boxed set Anthology of Hungarian Folk Music/Mag- yar Népzenei Antológia II. – The North/Észak (1986)? Or sway to Living Hungarian Folk Music 5/Él Népzene V. – Táncház II./Folk- dancing Room (1978), with its credits appar- ently from a time before Sándor Csoóri, Péter Éri, Dániel Hamar and Mihály Sipos (featuring Márta Sebestyén) began trading as Muzsikás?


Alas, it was Joe Boyd, the compiler of this monumental double-CD anthology, who introduced me to Muzsikás and Márta Sebestyén. That collective re-imagined Hun- garian folk traditions afresh. Boyd’s Hannibal releases whetted and further fed my appetite for Hungarian folkways at a time when Hun- garoton releases were nigh impossible to track down. Muzsikás transported. As a docu- ment, this 26-track compilation is pretty much faultless. It might omit their Living Hungarian Folk Music 5 barn-stormings, but it does include the Hungaroton-licensed Play- ing the Jew’s Harp (Dorombjáték) from that year. Boyd casts his net wide. He includes Magneoton material with the Danubia Sym- phony Orchestra and two hitherto unre- leased tracks. Above all, Fly Bird, Fly captures the expanse of this ensemble’s vision. It runs from the exuberance of wedding song, dance and unbridled love through to the devastat-


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