I would never have seen the cultural or artistic similarities between the Sami of Norway and the people of the Spanish region of Catalonia, but Catalán musician Guillem Ballaz did. And he incorporates a couple of Sami singers including the world renowned Mari Boine into his new project Substrat.
I love the description of the multi-instrumentalist in his publicity material: “Guillem Ballaz is a multi-instrumentalist musician who seeks inspiration on the margins of tradition, rescuing what has been banished to put it at the service of new lyrics and forms …” In the case of this album that means Ballaz is focusing on songs that incorporate the Catalán square tambourine or frame drum called the pandero quadrat. Since 2003 he’s been a member of the ensemble Sol i Serena which brings Catalan music to the rest of Europe and the world. And in 2012 he released an album called Projecte Pandero, his first to explore old Catalan pandero songs.
This new album from what I can tell is a bit more accessible to the World Music audience. The production and arrangements have more of a modern sound and feel, while retaining the grit of the originals. The slightly awkward nature of the English translations of the Catalán press materials make it a bit frustrating to grasp all the details, but as near as I can tell at least part of the album was recorded live in the studio. One in particular is the collaboration with the Sami singer Mari Boine on “Estaís.” On this duet between Boine and Ballaz that features the pandero front and center, Ballaz links Boine’s words about the effects of climate change in polar regions with similar issues affecting the Mediterranean.
On another track, the singer Catalina Marí (about whom I can find nothing online) sings the joik “Jovenet Agraciat.” Unexpected and wonderful! He also collaborates with Spanish jazz trumpeter and singer Andrea Motis on the Basque lullaby “Aurtxo txikia,” where she plays a couple of nice between-verse trumpet solos and accompanies him vocally on one of the melancholy-sounding verses. Definitely one of my favorites here. And he enlists Catalán guitarist Adrià Dilmé on the much livelier “Cançó de tambó. I’m not sure who’s accompanying him on “Sant Jaume Del Correro” where he sings in a very deep Leonard Cohen register backed by acoustic guitar and bass plus the pandero and some violins, but the effect is delightful. This may be another lullaby. Also notable is the closing track “Baro,” which sounds quite a bit like a Mexican ranchera – accompanied by strummed acoustic guitar and violin, with “ai-yi-yi!” type shouts in the background – but with an unusual five-beat rhythm rather than the more standard three or four beats.
Even though it’s described in somewhat academic terms, the music here is anything but. Substrat is excellent, full of lively and beautiful music and singing, and should appeal to anyone who likes Latin or World music. Another winner from the excellent label Microscopi.
(Microscopi, 2023)
