LLARIEGU

Published by DEIA, May 12, 2011




Just a few days ago I visited the city of Gijon because I collaborated in recorded a CD - DVD on behalf of the Band of Gaitas of Llariegu. I know that it sounds a little bit as a topic but every time that I visit Cantabria, Asturias or Galicia, for a concert or to collaborate with musicians of the area, I feel very special things because of the different encounters and at the same time being unique. And I say that after traveling through so many countries in which I feel very comfortable, yet there is something in these communities and in their people that fills me with energy and makes me feel just as in home.

In this occasion I was going to spend a few days collaborating with the band of bagpipes due to the complexity of the project: Preparation, rehearsals, concert, etc. Now what really caught my interest are the passion and the desire that each and every members of the band had in every moment. The Gaitas's Band of Llariegu is an amateur band, of enthusiastic people having much talent that has nothing to envy any professional group since by not living by the music doesn’t sincerely make a difference at the time of effort and to embroider a project as we were doing.

Our first encounter was in their site of rehearsal, in Sariegu, where for the first time I felt the true potential of the group with the percussions and the bagpipes clobbering to the maximum. What a sound! How much strength! It is incredible to feel yourself wrapped up with so much energy and to be able to contribute with your own that, at the same time, multiplies by moment.

The concert was in La Laboral of Gijon, ancient university recycled now in a building for several activities and with a very special charm. A curious and shocking place all at the same time. The repertoire was of the most interesting and in my case I played several themes of the Breton culturehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif while we interpreted some parades it reminded harmoniously to me our arin-arin.

The first impression, so many times, is the one that counts, although, at times, we make a great effort in dimming our feeling with our minds.

I drew a smile the first day that I listened to them and I thought: “It is clear that the musical travels by air ...” Let's not give it a second thought.

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IKUSTEZINA

May 27, 2010

The music or sound occurs because a body vibrates and it is transmitted into the environment. There have been many who have tried to clarify the reasons for why the music and the sounds exercise such power inside of each and everyone of us. How can something so present in our lives be so unknown? For many years, my life has been and is linked to everything that has to do with music and anything that is related to the world of the seven notes and their various combinations awakens my curiosity to an almost endless thirst for knowledge. In ancient times, the music was used to communicate with the gods, and in Greece it was closely linked to the mathematics, specially, thanks to Pythagoras assigns the seven musical notes and talks about the number 7 as the perfect number, calling his attention that the music, as the gods, creates emotion and being invisible, that is, something that cannot be seen but produces visible effects. Today it is known that the music is able to heal both mentally and physically, that each note has its own vibration and that vibration may change a heart rate, creating in us an altered state of consciousness and it can even get us mad. The music is to feel it, embrace it and make it our own so it can become part of us in an exciting adventure into our inner selves. Clearly it is a language, a method of communication but at the same time it is science and art and as such we should take it into consideration when creating a better and advanced society. We can not pass up the opportunity to continue on seeking its knowledge and, above all, its understanding. We must go further on and discover all the richness that lies within that accompanies us daily in our lives in which we take as a common everyday thing. We must evaluate it much more, because it is an important part of ourselves and what surround us.


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JAIALDIA

May 20, 2010

Our backgrounds, our roots, a sense of belonging are an importance in the human being. We all feel the urgent need to belong to something, to feel that we share a common origin and in a similar way to feel and live it. But when the individual, for whatever reason, has to travel far and continue his existence in a different place from where he was born this feeling invades his soul stronger, even forcing him to carry out a series of actions to offset somehow his “hunger” for his roots, his essence. Throughout the past week I’ve been in Boise, Idaho recording, performing and enjoying the party in which it has become for me my stay there. The truth is I’ve been totally amazed at the dedication, love and the attitude of the people there. It’s a shame I can not stay at “Jaialdia”, a festival that the Basque community in Boise celebrates every five years and this year it will be from July 26 till the 1st of August, in which 2005 the festival attracted over 30,000 people. There are various performances of music, Basque dances, rural sports, etc… bringing together thousands of people seeking their roots in a place to meet. A real Basque party, thousands of miles away from the cultural epicenter of it. This is the magic of the people far away from their homeland experiencing our same backgrounds in a passionate way. Their feelings, that maybe because of the distance or the absence produced a healthy envy in me making me live a very special feeling, as unique as the American men and women of Basque descent live it. Here no one asks if he can dance the Basque dances, if you know our history, or if you speak the language and even whether you have Basque descent. All that is required is an absolute respect, the major of passions and the maximum excitement about sharing with others the only thing that makes them different, their love for the Basque. To live like this, to the fullest, is what I always look for and without any doubt in Boise…
“I lived it!”


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INGUMA (Magical Goblin)

May 13, 2010

Being the first in anything is something I’ve have never lost a good night sleep, in fact, being able to achieve something before anyone else doesn’t particularly attract me. What really is important that, in any area of life, is not to do thinks quickly or even get there before anyone, instead in how and what has been done to get to it. There are always many roads to follow to reach the same destiny and we are who choose on or another depending on the needs and efforts that we are willing to give. The extraordinary guitarist and living legend of flamenco, Paco de Lucia, has been invested Doctor Honorius Cause at the age of 63 by the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston (USA). Emulating musicians such as Sting, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin or my friend Pat Metheny, the author of “Entre dos aguas” or “La Barrosa” has become the fist Spanish citizen to receive such recognition. But in my opinion, what does stand out is that someone like Paco de Lucia, who has devoted his life to the art of flamenco and the guitar, has achieved something so important. Until recent years, the flamenco musical style was not only minority but also stigmatized, but the example of the “maestro” his efforts and those of many others, this very particular musical style has achieved a more consistent level of recognition in its essences, as in the words of Paco “I have spent many years fighting for things like this to happen.” They say all things are impossible while you think they are and I would add that anything is possible if you dream and believe in yourself. Zorionak! “Maestro” , with or without a doctorate you were, is and will remain, an unique artist with a real flamenco “magic” in your soul, which exudes humility, had work and effort because nobody can reach the peak only armed with talent. In the best case, it’s inherent in our being and it is the work and our effort that transforms this talent into genius and that, my friend you know well.

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LUX AURUMQUE

April 29, 2010

While watching the video that a friend of mine just sent me through e-mail, a deep emotion comes over me remembering the experience that we did at the Technological Park in Zamudio. At that time we divide our band into two rooms: txalaparta, drums and alboka in one room and in the other the guitar, bass and the accordion, using a sophisticated technological system we could play at the same time, four songs of our repertoire. I have to say that, that experience really caught my attention, showing me that with advance science we have an infinite of possibilities open to us to create. On this occasion I was invited to visit an Internet site in which this video was absolutely fascinating. In it, the American orchestra director, Eric Whitacre, directs 185 singers from 12 different countries singing “Lux Aurumque” a song composed by him. So far, normal, right? Now what is so curious about the whole affair is that the members of this virtual choir recorded their performances at their home! They later sent their recording to the director for further post-production. To do this, Eric published the scores and a video with him directing the theme for all those interested in participating in the choir, to then be used to record their voices in it. The final result was an original virtual choir, innovative and open up to anyone who was interested in taking part in. I think that things in life should be exploited to the fullest. Normally we all have the idea that technology and scientific advances thwart us in a way, and that our creativity is already given out to us. But somehow I think we should advantage of it turning things around. Let’s just say that these advances can serve us as impetus for our imagination in using them to develop an exponentially creative project, for example, this choir. The music, image, space, assembly, editing and effects are perfectly talented, the imagination and the creativity of the human being.

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LAS MIL TONÁS

April 22, 2010


Fortunately, the frontiers, those imaginary lines created to separate or delimited cities, towns, regions or countries are really just that, imaginary and nonexistent. Although circumstantial and even administratively try to define the bounders, we have to surrender to the evidences that the customs, the languages or the cultures are not classifiable in such a drastic way. Among the people and the neighboring regions there is always a closer cultural relationship, a much greater complicity. Throughout the years 2008 and 2009, the Cantabrian journalist Maxi de la Peña held a series of 51 interviews of renowned names of the Cantabrian folk, all collected and published in his book, “La tierra de las Mil Tonás”. From the veterans as Lines Vejo, Adela Gómez, El Malvís de Tanos, etc. to younger names as Chema Puente, Begoña Lozano, Miguel Cadavieco or Alba Gutiérrez, having them all participated as witnesses of a musical reality unknown to most of the public. My friend Maxi is a curious person, filled with many inquietudes, throwing him into an unusual fervor to what he is passionate about. That’s what most captivated me of him when we met. Some time ago he mentioned his idea along with Dulce Pontes, Uxía, Luis Delgado, Ana Alcaide and Paco Díez to write a short pretext for his book. This book is a collection of testimonies over the musical human journey in which shows, as well said by Dulce Pontes “folklore is a musical array expression of the people, for excellence”. Maxi de la Peña has done a great job in favor of their traditions and their culture. I hope that this book will be an open door to future projects, to complement the musical cultural map of a region, as rich and varied as ours, in which people from Basque Country, Asturian, Galician, Castile and Cantabrian etc… sharing a common essence and understood in a thousand different ways.


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ESTATUAK

April 9, 2010


In July 2001, the orchestra’s director, Daniel Barenboim, born in Buenos Aires, with Russian roots, being Spanish and Israeli Citizen, created a huge controversy by directing a musical by the German Composer Richard Wagner in Israel, being accused of pro-Nazi and fascist by some of the people. The worst of the conflicts is to be categorized by our fellow men, as into being good or bad under our sole judgment. The last example is what happened in Wigmore Hall, located in central London, where offered a concert in charged by the Jerusalem Quartet, consisting of musicians of the West-Eastern Divan, the famous orchestra of Daniel Barenboim in which brings together Arab and Israeli musicians. In 10 minutes after the beginning of the concert several persons belonging to a Pro-Palestinian group began to “break” the performance, under the grounds that the Quartet is a “cultural ambassador for Israel” carrying slogans against the occupation and the “apartheid state” that plagues the Palestinian people. I’m not going into judging the conflict itself. For many years this area of the world has been suffering like many others, a useless war, cruel and ruthless. And what I disagree is in the misuse, again, of categorizing the people. I do not think that these musicians are guilty of anything and less is the echo of a classical music concert is going against anyone’s rights. Besides this quartet that has worked closely with Daniel Barenboim, which is the first person in the world being Israeli and having an honorary Palestinian citizenship at the same time, after the concert in Ramallah in 2008, “I wish that my new status holds as example of Israeli-Palestinian coexistence,” said by Barenboim. But sometimes by ones or by others, the only thing conflicts do is to pollute and entangle everything they touch. I really do think that music is a tool to unite, an artistic expression that should be above all political ideals, religious or skin colors. Let us fight for it! No doubt we will succeed.

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COLORADO

April 2, 2010

INSPIRATION a word that is the artistic discipline that mostly stirs up mixed emotions. Each one of us looks for it differently. I am among those who believe that the constant work and seeking new experiences as a mean of personal enrichment. Feeling, experiencing them is the key that leads me to my inspiration where the notes, words, colors, etc… flows. Taking advantage of my trip to California I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit the legendary Grand Canyon. The desert is a real special place that has always attracted men’s attention, the nakedness and the haunting loneliness is, at the same time, thrilling and engaging. Taking off on a helicopter from a nearby village from Las Vegas we flew to the Grand Canyon. During the flight I noticed the strength of the landscape shaped by the Colorado River and their tributary, which for thousands of years has been burrowing into the ground become one of the most incredible natural wonders of this planet. Upon arriving you get a creepy feeling of smallness seeing the huge canyon and you being to experience a great amount of amazing sensation. We reached the edge of a cliff and you were afraid to look down. It’s spectacular! Suddenly you begin to imagine the Haskiri and the Zuri´s Indians living and being part of this authentic geological museum, this immense work of art, 350 kilometers long with a depth of 1600 meters and nearly being 2 million years old. This is pure inspiration! It is so awkward to find that near the artificial city as Las Vegas can exist a magical and energetic place as the Grand Canyon. Today we begin our Easter vacation in which we can take advantage of these days to visit, discover and enjoy different places, living unique sensation. The contact with nature awakens our earthly side. It is very important to develop that part of our being, because that way we will stay in touch with whom we are, an essential part of the universe.

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URMENETA

March 26, 2010

Months ago I was looking for a gift for a special friend, trying to find something different but at the same time sharing with him some complicity. One day, without meaning to find that gift, I came upon the store, Kukuxumusu. I love these people! They have their proper identity and you can easily see it on their designs, opening themselves to the world without any kind of complexes. I walked in and just got carried away with their articles. After a while I found what I was looking for, a dark blue T-shirt with a wolf disguised as a bishop who is giving the absolution to a group of sheep, which no doubt will soon be added to the list of victims of the canine prelate. These days I have been in New York recording some of the songs that will be part of my next album “HERRIA” (Country). New York is an exciting city and in one of his main thoroughfare I met Mikel Urmeneta, Co-founder and Creative Director of Kukuxumusu. Interesting what life has prepared for one! These days beside Mikel have been really special. He has helped us out in everyway possible in our project, lively it as intensely as we do. Mikel is a passionate, active and energetic person. He took pictures, recorded videos, sharing everything we did on his blog, browsing through the studio, observing the musicians and singers who participated in the recording, in short terms, he was learning at every minute a world very different from his, but loving it. It is an incredible honor to share with someone like Urmeneta different experiences in a cosmopolitan city as New York. I had already visited before the Big Apple but this city is so incredible that there are always things to discover. Mikel has showed me a different view of the city and has shared with us all his energy and optimism. HERRIA sparkles with the magical potion of this incredible city and with the essences of a unique human being that mixed together can be explosive. We are leaving New York but knowing that we can count with a true friend who lives in this universal city in which we have become true ambassadors.

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PAJAROS DE PAPEL (BIRDS OF PAPER)

March 19, 2010

When you have a project in your hands it holds much of responsibility but also the dedication and effort of many others being the final result the pure talent of all. We were recording the song “Din Don – Din Don” for the album ETXEA and it was Emilio Aragón´s turn to sing. After the recording Emilio talk to me about his idea of directing a film in which the trikitixa was going to have an important role in the movie and invited me to participate in it. Last Friday, Emilio Aragón’s film “Pajaros de Papel “(Birds of Paper) debuted, a tender and touching tribute to all the comedians who lived the post-war years. Imanol Arias, Lluís Homar, Roger Princep and Carmen Machi are the leading actors who in an incredible way manage to convey so many unbelievable amounts of sensations. I am a passionate of the cinema and in addition of interpreting part of the soundtrack of the movie, totally composed by Emilio, himself, I also helped out giving my advice to Imanol, Lluís and Roger on how to play the trikitixa, where the fingers or the hands should be etc…to be able to live this close and be part of it has been a huge experience for me. While walking home I couldn’t stop thinking about that with all the technological advances we have today the feelings and the sensations that we sense when going on stage is not that far from those that lived 70 years ago, the trips, rehearsals, thinking about new shows, facing the live audience. So many memories come to my mind! You can tell that Emilio has lived all this since his childhood. With exquisiteness he narrates everything, nervousness, homesickness and the difficulties but also hope. This film is an adventure to discover our proper essences with the belief that one must always go forward whatever the circumstances are. Do not pass by without seeing “Pajaros de Papel”. The comedians await, the rehearsals have been long and life, sometimes sweet and sometimes bitter, continues behind the curtains of this story in which what there is, is what you see.

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ZIURTASUNA

February 25, 2010

Today, many people are heading to this type of belief, which is enacted that each one makes their own reality, the same as, what one thinks and believes in somehow designs what may become their future. I do think in a way there is a point to it but the true of the matter is a little bit more complicated than all that. It is true that there are times in life that one without knowing why feels the absolute security that what he thinks and wants will become reality. Something like the famous phrase, “faith can move mountains” but adapted to the XXI century. I’m a big admirer of the trikitixa or the diatonic accordion and the tambourine playing simultaneously. It’s simple but very powerful but at the same time I harbour a dream of those so called “impossible”. Tomorrow, Friday at the Kursaal Palace in San Sebastian and to mark the 50th anniversary of the Basque Bank, Caja Laboral I will share stage with the Euskadi´s Symphony Orchestra and a few friends who will accompany me on this important event. To step on stage and to feel the orchestra behind you, stirs up mixed feelings, on one hand the huge responsibility it holds but also the perfect opportunity to live the music intensely, trying to break barriers and experience a dream that seldom becomes true in the career of a traditional musician. I want to thank Caja Laboral for their efforts and also for remembering the Euskadi´s Symphony Orchestra as for me in such an important day. When I started in this music, at that time in which the diatonic accordion was considered a “humble” instrument, not to say some else, little could I image that years later I would see myself on stage accompanied by the maestros of Euskadi´s Symphony Orchestra to play my composed music, arranged of course for this occasion. In life there are lessons to be learned and not to be forgotten. One important is that complexes and limits, contrary to popular belief, are not created by the circumstance but by oneself. The sooner we believe in this, the faster we will be able to reach our goals.

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SOINUAREN BIDAIA (THE ADVENTURE OF AN ACCORDION)

Febuary 11, 2010


All of us the musicians that we throw our heart into a particular instrument, reaching a special bond with him, doubting if that inert being that seems to be an extension of our body doesn’t have life itself. So after countless hours of travel and experiences with him, we begin to name it, and so on. But even as Annie Proulx´s narrates in her book “Accordion Crimes” that thrilled me to see that in her book she mentions one of my songs “Zolloko San Martinak” in where our instrument can become a protagonist of an amazing story. Edna Annie Proulx was born in Connecticut (USA) 1935. After majoring in history, she became a journalist until her appearance in the literary world. Some of her books have received the Pulitzer or the National Book Award. One of her best known novels is Brokeback Mountain but the book that has captivated me is “Accordion Crimes”. Sicily 1890, a craftsman and his son travel to America carrying with him only, his masterpiece a button, ivory and varnished lid accordion. From there on different characters will be appearing, their dreams and their failures, showing us a stark reality of a country in full effervesces. Africans, Polish, Italians, Swedes, Irish, Basque and so on will provide the fuel for a big lie, that of anyone who knows that becoming an American will reach wherever they longed. The price is a change of a name, a language, a culture, at the end, your personal essence. Those who refused to change suffered the consequences but also who did “sell” themselves for the promise of something better spectacularly failed. The real success is based on the inside pride of yourself and not on selling something that does not exist. Bringing out the magic we have within is the real secret of success and our best weapon is the power of our mind to achieve our goals, because the mind, our mind is the only one that can become whatever we want to be.