El Pont d'Arcalis and Ariondassa - Del Piemont als Pirineus

El Pont d'Arcalis and Ariondassa - Del Piemont als Pirineus
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cd cover El Pont d'Arcalis and Ariondassa
Del Piemont als Pirineus
$16.99

El Pont d’Arcalis (from Catalana, Spain) and Ariondassa (Piemonte, Italy) joined together for a live performance that traces the common roots of both the music and laguage of their respective homes. It ranges from elegant to raucous, from small and genteel to huge and over the top, as they show the commonality and conflict of two related cultures.

"I really can't praise this CD too highly - it's all delightful songs, beautifully sung and played, and a couple of tunes thrown in for good measure. Furthermore, the 'two-similar-but-different-cultures' aspect of the concert makes the whole enterprise doubly interesting. It's rather a shame that the booklet is only in Catalan (except for the Piemontese song texts), and that we learn little of the provenance of most of the songs, but that certainly won't stop anyone thoroughly enjoying this lovely music." - Rod Stradling (You can read Rod's detailed review of this recording in Musical Traditions)

Listen:
Ciamo Scusa
Ed Ho Girato
O j'e tre bel fije'

Also by Ariondassa

The musicians:

Ariondassa
Simone BOGLIA : piffero, gralla, cornamusa, clarinetto, flauti.
Lorenzo "Lampo" BOIOLI : piffero, gralla, cornamusa, flauti.
Rinaldo DORO : organetto diatonico, ghironda.
Vincenzo "Ciacio" MARCHELLI : canto, organetto diatonico, fruja.

El Pont d'Arcalis Artur Blasco i Giner: Veu, acordió diatònic, concertinapandero i canya
Marc Egea Ger: viola de roda, flabiol, taragot, flauta contralt, ocarines i veu
Jordi Fàbregas: Veu, guitarra, gralla, i buzuki. Arranjaments i direcció musical
Isidre "Tito" Pelàez: Tenora, tarota, flauta travessera, flautí, ocarina
Quim Soler i Pujades: Bateria, percussions i veu

Press from the record label
"Del Piemont als Pirineus: Directe a l'Espai" is the testimony of the meeting of two excellent bands: El Pont d'Arcalis, one of the most acclaimed traditional Catalan music combos, and Ariondassa, a gifted ensemble working hard to perpetuate the popular culture of the Piemonte, in Italy. Two groups, one stage, and the evidence of a shared cultural inheritance in between them. One of them, El Pont d'Arcalis, coming from the Pirineus (Pyrenees), the other band, from the Maritime Alps. In between, common roots, the Occitania culture, and the irrefutable evidence of how political frontiers in the full-color map of Europe can not always hide the links between people.

Catalan language is close to Italian and even closer to the language of the Piemonte. Not so surprisingly the similarities continue. Similar instrumentation (pipes, accordion, whistles. . .), similar melodies and, sometimes, even the same songs! The repertoire of both El Pont d'Arcalis and Ariondassa is made of ancient songs, mostly nearly lost in the darkness of oblivion for a long time. So well, finally, many of these songs are equally part of the traditional music culture of the Piemonte and Catalonia's mountains as the bands show playing astonishing medleys in which they play alternatively (each one using their own language) the same song with just some light differences. In addition, El Pont d'Arcalis and Ariondassa play their beautiful, captivating music in a concert that should be an absolute must for any one interested in European folk.

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