Like Galicia in Spain, Brittany (in northwest France) nurtures a Celtic culture that is far removed from the Gaelic peoples that most Americans think of as Celts. And like that of Galicia, the Celtic music of Brittany has developed into a style all its own. The Breton style hasn't had many famous exponents over the years; in the 1970s the harper
Alan Stivell made himself a household name thanks to extensive international touring and a folk-rock playing style, and guitarists
Gabriel Yacoub (of
Malicorne) and
Dan Ar Bras are still spoke of with reverence in folkie circles. The only other Breton band to make a splash on the international folk scene was
Kornog, which was organized in 1981 by the Scots singer and bouzouki player
Jamie McMenemy, with guitarist Soig Siberil and fiddler
Christian Lemaitre (flute player
Jean-Michel Veillon joined shortly thereafter). The group disbanded in 1987, which makes Korong a reunion album of sorts, though Siberil was absent from the sessions due to scheduling conflicts. The band's music is as beautiful as ever, still an entrancing combination of familiar Gaelic elements and the strange, indefinably mysterious flavor of Breton music. "Child Noryce" staggers gracefully in and out of 7/8 time; "Ar Plac'h Diw Wech Eureujet" is a slow air played in an Irish style but with a melody that sounds almost Balkan; and the group's rendition of "Lassie Wi' the Yellow Coatie" is strangest of all -- the music sounds as if it's being played at twice the speed of the sung melody, turning it into a sort of Celtic adaptation of drum'n'bass. This is a stunning album; it's great to have
Kornog back again.