Tzigan and Breton music - a rare blend....

500 people last night attended a concert starring Erik Marchand and the Taraf de Caransebes. Within the walled garden of the Bishop's palace, the Breton singer's pure and nasal tones blended with the frenzied Hungarian gypsy brass accompaniment. As the show progressed, Balkan music alternated with Breton dancing and Erik Marchand's own compositions.
"We are going to finish with a dance of diverse origins; it has a bit of Morbihan in it, and a bit of the country we used to call Yugoslavia." One of the most beautiful traditional Breton voices took up its melodic refrain in time with the brass section, as always, raring to go. The dance was melancholy, but relatively swift in tempo; wistful, and absorbing.
After a second encore, the singer took his Breton clarinet (a dreujenn-gaol) and all the musicians, including the violinist Jacky Molard and the Breton bagpipe player left the stage still playing, as the audience stomped and clapped.
"Wonderful! We never have these mixed-genre kind of musical performances at home", explained one couple from the Alps. "The brass section gives a fresh kind of sound and goes incredibly well with the bagpipes", Gwénolé, a bell-ringer from Guingamp observed. "And the voice is so fundamental to a concert..." 90 minutes of concert later, and the stage was once again empty among the flowering lime and magnolia trees, and a very satisfied audience moved off towards the tavern in the gardens... the music went on until 2.00 am.

(Realaudio)