El grupo ALBOKA, uno de los más sólidos y representativos del folk vasco, presenta LAU ANAIAK, su cuarto trabajo discográfico, publicado por Elkar en otoño de 2004.
Han sido nominado 2 veces para los Premios de la música por la Academia de las artes y las ciencias de la música (SGAE – AIE ) y seleccionado por la revista alemana FolkWorld entre los mejores discos europeos. En Alboka, la banda liderada por los reconocidos músicos Joxan Goikoetxea y Alan Griffin ha realizado una labor de recreación de canciones –cantadas e instrumentales-, algunas basadas en los romances tradicionales vascos y otras de nuevo cuño, aunque siempre fieles a la música popular.

El grupo Alboka

 

ALBOKA, one of the most established and representative Basque folk groups, released their fourth album, ‘LAU ANAIAK’ (Four brothers), on the Elkar label in Autumn 2004. The band led by the great musicians Joxan Goikoetxea and Alan Griffin have done a wonderful job of presenting old music, both sung and instrumental, in a new guise, as well as composing new material in a convincingly traditional style.

’LAU ANAIAK’ is the fruit of Joxan and Alan’s common dream of combining old and new Basque music into a seamless whole. The final result has turned out to be something of a surprise even for themselves, with its unexpected juxtaposition of hard-edged, dark songs and cheerful, lively dances.

1994 saw the founding of the group ALBOKA, as a group which would compile and perform acoustic instrumental traditional music. The combination of guitars, mandolins, bouzoukis, ttunttun, accordion, alboka, bagpipes, flutes and crumhorns, and a carefully chosen selection of dances and airs taken from the living tradition and from the great Basque music collectors, gave rise to a first disc which was something new in a Basque folk music scene more accustomed to vocal recordings.

In 1997 the group widened their repertoire to include both vocal material and newly composed tunes in the traditional style. These developments are reflected in their second CD, ‘BI BESO LUR’, which also includes important guest musicians and confirms their distinct acoustic style in the treatment of instrumental Basque music.

In 2001 ALBOKA, augmented their core members for their third CD ’LORIUS’, an album bristling with new ideas, delighting and surprising with its carefully chosen combination of traditional material and original compositions. This CD boasts contributions from a number of star performers, not least of whom is Hungarian singer Márta Sebestyén, singing in Basque on five of the fifteen tracks which make up the CD, and who also performed with ALBOKA in their dynamic live act. Márta's fame has spread even further through her performance on the Oscar-winning soundtrack of ‘The English Patient’.

With many prestigious festivals and concerts all over Europe and in Africa and America under their belts, ALBOKA have honed their creative and performing edge to a point where they can be considered one of the most compelling traditional bands in the Basque Country and beyond.

Euskera Spanish Français

Alboka (1994)	Bi beso lur (1998)	Lorius (2001)	Lau anaiak (2004)