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PHOTOGRAPHS |
OSKORRI
BIOGRAPHY
Oskorri is a clean,
fresh, spontaneous and lively musical proposal. The perfect balance between the
vocal and the instrumental, between the ballad and the fiesta, the acoustic and
the electric, traditional instruments and modern instruments. This is why
Oskorri’s music is so difficult to categorise. It is music without labels, full
of modern sounds rooted in traditional music. Eclectic music that avoids being
monolithically traditional. It has its own particular sonority, created by the
sensibility of each of the seven members of the band.
Oskorri’s
musical career stretches over thirty years and has been characterised by its
richness, quality and universality. Curiously enough, Oskorri has been described
as the best folk band in Spain, but its origins go back to an urban, industrial
environment.
In October
2003, the band decided to turn its back on immobilist aesthetic, musical and
ideological positions. When the new members settled in, Oskorri left an
exceptionally creative period behind and went into the studio to record the new
themes of the Desertore album.
An excellent
team collaborated in that album. Luis Lozano was the producer; Andoni Egaña,
Maialen Lujanbio, Harkaitz Cano, Jon Sarasua and Unai Elorriaga (among others)
were the lyricists, and Leturia, Faltriqueira and Eliseo Parra some of the
collaborating musicians. Desertore was considered one of the best latest
records of the band, and chosen as one of the best twenty world music albums by
the European World Chat Music.
Two years
earlier, Oskorri released the album Vizcayatik... Bizkaiara, with the material
recovered by bertsolari or verse singer Xabier Amuriza. It is a selection of
colouristic Biscayan themes which portray 19th-century society. Musically
speaking, the album has been conceived for fiesta and dancing, for playful and
spontaneous enjoyment. Some songs are carefree and daring, others tender and
intimate, but the result is always brilliant. Among the collaborators we can mention
co-producer Eliseo Parra, Kepa Junkera (trikitixa or Basque accordion) and
Michel Bordeleau’s rhythmic "tapping" (La Bottine Souriente).
The band’s
former work, Ura (Water) was acclaimed as one of the best albums by European
specialised critics in the year 2000, due to its musical quality, freshness and
design.
Oskorri’s
musical career has been marked by unforgettable moments. One of the most
important ones came after the two new members of the band settled in: Oskorri
celebrated its 25th Anniversary with an anthological concert. The band paid
tribute to linguistic diversity, inviting 16 musicians from different countries
to sing in their own language. Among the artists participating in the concert
we can name Juan Carlos Pérez, Kepa Junkera, Ruper Ordorika, Joseba Tapia, Jon
Sarasua, Niko Etxart, Fermín Muguruza, Mikel Laboa, Anton Reixa (Galicia),
Albert Pla (Catalonia), Patrick Vaillant (Occitan), Robert Le Gall and Youenn
Le Berre from Gwendal (Brittany), Martin Carthy (England) and Liam O´Flynn (Ireland).
In turn, these artists repaid Oskorri’s invitation by singing in Basque. The
band played 25 of its hits with new arrangements, in a nostalgic tour around
its twenty-five years of history. This great concert took place in September
1997 at the International Folk Festival of Getxo. A double CD album was
released, along with the video 25 Kantu Urte.
In November
1997, Oskorri went on tour around South America (Uruguay and Argentina), and
released the 25th Anniversary album for the American market. During the 25th
Anniversary tour, the band also performed at the most important stages,
theatres and folk festivals in Spain.
Oskorri
published more than ten albums during the 1990s. It also gained wide popularity
abroad, touring around many countries. In 1996 the band participated in the
Lovaine Festival (Belgium); in 1994 it presented the album Badok Hamahiru in
Paris, as well as in Portugal (Lisbon, Evora, Guimeraes, Coimbra). In 1991
Oskorri performed in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia.
The 1980s were
the years of change; new musicians joined the band, and helped create its
characteristic sonority. They were also the years of tireless work: Oskorri
gave hundreds of concerts, recorded a good number of albums, received several
awards and both the critics and the public acclaimed it unanimously.
In the spring
of 1978 Oskorri went on a European tour, which would be the first of the many
to come in its long professional career.
It gave
concerts in Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, Cologne, Hanover, Bordeaux, Strasbourg,
Stuttgart, Brussels, Corsica, Nuremberg, Zurich... Oskorri became the Basque
folk band with the greatest international renown. The prestigious Folk Freak
Pläne record label released a compilation album with Oskorri’s work in several
European countries, achieving great success. In addition, Oskorri represented
the Basque Country in the anti-Eurovision Song Contest held in Belgium. The
band received many awards and gave a lot of concerts before finally gaining
popular recognition.
In 1975,
Oskorri signed a contract with CBS to publish the themes it had been playing
live for some time. The first single was quickly released, and shortly after
the band started recording its first album,
Gabriel Arestiren Oroimenez. The album, a tribute to poet Gabriel Aresti,
was a selection of ten of the forty songs that the band composed from his
poems. The simple instrumentations and melodies of these themes already pointed
at the band’s great prospects.
Oskorri is also
renowned for its valuable "research" work. For instance, the album Hi
ere Dantzari contains songs from traditional dances which in some cases had not
been recorded and were about to disappear. The band has released two albums for
children. In Katuen Testamentua, it recovered almost forgotten children’s songs
from Biscay, gaining the recognition of the youngest fans. The tour of the
album was organised with the Kukubiltxo theatre group, offering a great show of
light, colour and sound. The second album for children, Marijane Kanta Zan,
pays homage to the Navarrese writer Marijane Minaberry, and its tour also
included a tremendously successful show with Kukubiltxo.
But Oskorri’s
work to recover old songs does not end here. The leader of the band, Natxo de
Felipe, is a lover of Basque traditions and culture and has spent many hours
doing research. He has compiled several hundreds of traditional songs,
capturing them in eight live albums called Oskorri & The Pub Ibiltaria.
Several members of the band usually play these songs in a kind of “pedagogic
concert” for schools, conservatories, etc.
Throughout its
long musical career, the band has accumulated a great deal of technical
experience and wisdom. Oskorri is increasingly turning its back on traditional musical
structures, in a constant and blatant attempt to achieve a contemporary Basque
sonority. However, Oskorri has not lost an inch of its freshness, its
optimistic and bright good sense. It is the same old band, and at the same time
a band in constant evolution. Oskorri has a quality label, a guarantee of
origin.
Oskorri has
released twenty-eight albums (three of them double) and the book "111
kantu", published in 1.990 and containing one hundred and eleven songs.
This huge amount of work shows the extent of the band’s importance.
The
members of Oskorri are:
NATXO DE FELIPE (Percussion, guitar, voice)
ANTÓN LATXA (Acoustic guitar, voice)
BIXENTE MARTINEZ (Electric guitar,
mandolin)
XABIER ZEBERIO (Violin, voice)
GORKA ESKAURIAZA (Electric bass)
IÑIGO EGIA (Percussion)
JOSU SALBIDE (Alboka, txirula, bagpipes)
IKER GOENAGA (Trikitixa)