If you haven’t ever heard the txalaparta, you are missing out. Originally an instrument of communication, the txalaparta has become a central part of modern Basque folk music. The txalaparta is a set of planks, often about 5, that two people play together. As such, it is billed as the only instrument in the world […]
The title of this post may strike some as romantic, but really it’s just that it has been so long since Jaialdi and taken me so long to do this post, that indeed I’m working on memories, and I don’t have the best of memories in the first place… For those that don’t know, Jaialdi […]
It is interesting to compare the role that music plays among peoples who are considered national minorities. Given the obvious commonality of interest, it’s surprising how few of these links are easily uncovered. Basques have survived because of their historical cultural isolation, which is now changing. The situation of being outnumbered in one’s own land, […]
QUEEN SOFIA SPANISH INSTITUTE cordially invites you to a recital by Amaya Arberas, Soprano accompanied by Antón Armendariz, Tenor Ana Ruth Bermúdez, Cello & David Shenton, Piano Wednesday, March 3, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. Amaya Arberas began her professional career in 2002, performing recitals throughout her native Basque Country as a lyric coloratura soprano. She […]
David Cox is a frequent contributor to Buber’s Basque Page. Today marks his first article in a new column entitled Altxor Bila (Looking for Treasure), inspired by a Pirritx eta Porrotx song. This series will examine various aspects of Basque music, from current bands to musical history. Ongi Etorri David! A few years ago, I got […]
Jose Antonio Alcayaga III just posted this link on Facebook and it seemed like a great one to share. Badok has a relatively large selection of Basque music available for online listening and I understand that songs can be downloaded in mp3 format. This seems like a great way to explore Basque music. It looks […]
Euskal Musika, (Basque-language pop, rock and folk) has flourished for four decades, but the past 10 years have seen a musical and lyrical maturing. With the end of the era dominated by Negu Gorriak, Hertzainak and Itoiz, Basque music searched for a new touchstone identity and came up with a multitude of them. In this […]
I just saw this on Google Alerts and thought it was great. Whiskey Daredevils, a band out of Cleveland, I think, just toured Europe and their last show was opening for Berri Txarrak in Bilbao. They posted about their last show in Bilbao, which was a while ago in May, on the Cleveland Scene website […]
One of the pioneers of modern Basque music, Mikel Laboa, recently died (Dec 1, 2008). Beginning in the 1960s, Laboa was a cornerstone of much that followed, from the rediscovery of traditional Basque instruments such as the alboka and the txalaparta to influencing even some of the hard rock and heavy metal bands that the […]
I’ve been meaning to share this set of links for a while and just thought I’d “dump” them on you before I either forget or they get outdated. 🙂 Last.fm, an online music station of sorts, has a channel dedicated to Kortatu and similar artists. I haven’t spent a lot of time with it yet, […]
