LA MUSGAÑA
20
Mad River 1011
The phrase “Celtic music” is problematic on many levels, not the least of which is that it’s largely a marketing invention rather than an actual genre. (The late, great Tommy Makem once remarked that he had never heard the term before 1964, at which point he had been singing “Irish” songs for over two decades!) But we’re stuck with the term, so let’s at least get more mileage out of it. One of the overlooked Celtic lands—defined as regions settled by tribes speaking one of the many variants of Gaelic—is the region of northwestern Spain known as Galicia. And few bands have played its music as well as La Musgańa, an ensemble now in its twenty-first year of performing.
20
Mad River 1011
The phrase “Celtic music” is problematic on many levels, not the least of which is that it’s largely a marketing invention rather than an actual genre. (The late, great Tommy Makem once remarked that he had never heard the term before 1964, at which point he had been singing “Irish” songs for over two decades!) But we’re stuck with the term, so let’s at least get more mileage out of it. One of the overlooked Celtic lands—defined as regions settled by tribes speaking one of the many variants of Gaelic—is the region of northwestern Spain known as Galicia. And few bands have played its music as well as La Musgańa, an ensemble now in its twenty-first year of performing.
La Musgańa is Spanish for “water rat” and, strictly speaking, the group swims in a stream that's more pan-Iberian than Galician, but its instrumental mix of fiddles (including a bellows-enhanced model!), accordion, hurdy-gurdy, hand-held drums, recorders, acoustic guitar, bass, and gaita (Galician bagpipes) makes the Celtic designation appropriate. 20 is a fine introduction to La Musgańa, as it culls from the band’s six-album backlist and offers a sampling of Spanish folk music past and present. You’ll hear majestic suites, pastoral folk melodies, jazzy instrumental breakouts, and neo-Renaissance music, all from a region whose influences include peasant herders, North African travelers, the Jewish Diaspora, nomadic Celtic tribes, and the contemporary imagination. Plus you get to hear the gaita—also popular in Portugal. It looks like a set of Highland pipes, but its sound is less shrill, its drone is capable of playing a second octave, and it meshes well with hurdy-gurdy. This—and a preference for 6/8 rhythms—gives Galician dance music a distinctive sound.
Click here for a very nice YouTube video of the band performing live.
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