3 thoughts on “Kepa Junkera in the Market of Gernika”
This guy is amazing to say the least.He plays with musicians from all around the world and you can hear it in his music.
My Mother sent me his first CD and when I was reading the credits I saw that Bella Fleck was playing Banjo. Well, Bella is to the Banjo what Kepa is to the accordion,an artist with an instrument.Kepa seems to get the best out of all the talent he has around him.
I even named my Great Pyrenees puppy Kepa.He has his own talents.
Hey there, you should know better than to just call it an “accordion”. That’s a “Trikitixa” (tricky TEE sha), or “Triki” for short. Take a bit more pride in the instruments of your heritage and make the effort to educate your public, please.
Besides being played with buttons instead of keys, the triki is diatonic, meaning there’s a range of notes on the push of the bellows and another (as I recall) on the pull, making for some intense playing in the hands of a master like Kepa Junkera or Joseba Tapia (of Tapia eta Leturia “fame”, look ’em up).
The “first” CD alluded to by Mr. Garatea, “Bilbao 00:00h (Zero Hora)” was certainly Kepa’s first released in the US, and a magnificently electic mix of jaw-dropping playing it is, but it’s really his 8th under his own name, outside of several as a contributing member of the iconic and eclectic “folk” group Oskorri (another must-hear, folks). Of these earlier releases, I can heartily recommend looking for “Kalejira Al-buk” for some cooking melodies that really stretch the boundaries of “folk” or “world” music (as later did “Bilbao 00:00h”), and the superb duet album he did with Portuguese mandolin maven, Julio Pereira, “Lau Eskutara” (‘With Four Hands’).
Since Amazon isn’t exactly helpful (nor anywhere near as “international” as it pretends to be) when looking for such Basque obscuria, have a gander over at cdroots.com or, interestingly enough, on the “España” side of the iTunes Music Store (if you’re using iTunes), where you can also get a taste of the ear candy in store (check out the title tune of “Kalehira” and “Senora Moca” from “Lau” above).
Having a peek around over on iTMS Spain, I see you can also download almost the entire Oskorri catalog as well (though over 17 years old now, “Badok Hamahiru” is a GREAT place to start), and the two remarkable CDs Kepa made with Alboka reviver/player Ibon Koteron.
Note also that the two lads who used to accompany Kepa in his band on the Txalaparta (the boards played with sticks seen in the video) recorded a couple of CDs under their own name of “Oreka TX”. Hot stuff if you’re into new audio experiences. I think they can also be found in a few clips on YouTube, so be sure to have a look around.
Anyway, sorry to be long-winded about this, but there’s a lot of treasure out there waiting to be discovered by the adventurous among you.
This guy is amazing to say the least.He plays with musicians from all around the world and you can hear it in his music.
My Mother sent me his first CD and when I was reading the credits I saw that Bella Fleck was playing Banjo. Well, Bella is to the Banjo what Kepa is to the accordion,an artist with an instrument.Kepa seems to get the best out of all the talent he has around him.
I even named my Great Pyrenees puppy Kepa.He has his own talents.
Hey there, you should know better than to just call it an “accordion”. That’s a “Trikitixa” (tricky TEE sha), or “Triki” for short. Take a bit more pride in the instruments of your heritage and make the effort to educate your public, please.
Besides being played with buttons instead of keys, the triki is diatonic, meaning there’s a range of notes on the push of the bellows and another (as I recall) on the pull, making for some intense playing in the hands of a master like Kepa Junkera or Joseba Tapia (of Tapia eta Leturia “fame”, look ’em up).
The “first” CD alluded to by Mr. Garatea, “Bilbao 00:00h (Zero Hora)” was certainly Kepa’s first released in the US, and a magnificently electic mix of jaw-dropping playing it is, but it’s really his 8th under his own name, outside of several as a contributing member of the iconic and eclectic “folk” group Oskorri (another must-hear, folks). Of these earlier releases, I can heartily recommend looking for “Kalejira Al-buk” for some cooking melodies that really stretch the boundaries of “folk” or “world” music (as later did “Bilbao 00:00h”), and the superb duet album he did with Portuguese mandolin maven, Julio Pereira, “Lau Eskutara” (‘With Four Hands’).
Since Amazon isn’t exactly helpful (nor anywhere near as “international” as it pretends to be) when looking for such Basque obscuria, have a gander over at cdroots.com or, interestingly enough, on the “España” side of the iTunes Music Store (if you’re using iTunes), where you can also get a taste of the ear candy in store (check out the title tune of “Kalehira” and “Senora Moca” from “Lau” above).
Having a peek around over on iTMS Spain, I see you can also download almost the entire Oskorri catalog as well (though over 17 years old now, “Badok Hamahiru” is a GREAT place to start), and the two remarkable CDs Kepa made with Alboka reviver/player Ibon Koteron.
Note also that the two lads who used to accompany Kepa in his band on the Txalaparta (the boards played with sticks seen in the video) recorded a couple of CDs under their own name of “Oreka TX”. Hot stuff if you’re into new audio experiences. I think they can also be found in a few clips on YouTube, so be sure to have a look around.
Anyway, sorry to be long-winded about this, but there’s a lot of treasure out there waiting to be discovered by the adventurous among you.
Happy hunting,
A.
Thanks for the clarification Adam. You are right, I should have gotten that correct. Thanks for the very nice post, I appreciate it!