COMPOSERS: Oskorri
LABELS: Elkar
PERFORMER: Oskorri
CATALOGUE NO: KD-645
The nationalism of Oskorri is more robust. In Desertore it puts into practice the sentiments of the concluding song, an odd waltz-like paean to the Basque tongue, by banishing any other language in the booklet notes to summaries of the songs in minute type.
The music has much in common with Celtic contemporary musicians from the Galician bagpiper Susana Seivane to present-day Irish groups, with sweeping tunes, jigging rhythms, lots of pipes and a succession of mellow and hoarse male voices. Exhilarating stuff, looking outward from a secure tradition: several tracks begin with a tabla, and there’s a twanging bouzouki in the ensemble, again paralleling a trend in Ireland.