| Kornog |
 |
| - |
| | |
| The members of this band are |
|
In 1980, Singer and bouzouki player Jamie McMenemy, one of Scotland’s most respected musicians, along with fiddler Christian Lematre and guitarist Sog Sibril, started a band for the concert stage instead of the dance hall. They would perform traditional Breton music and ballads from McMenemy’s native Scotland with an emphasis on a strong harmonic foundation and intricate arrangements. They soon added pioneering flute player Jean-Michel Veillon and quickly became a tour de force of traditional Celtic music.
The band was an almost instant success, performing concerts and festivals in Britain, Holland, Spain, Italy and Brittany. Through Jamie’s contacts with musicians in Scotland and the US, the band set up a tour of North America in 1983. As critics raved and audiences flocked to their shows, it was suggested that the band record a live album during the tour, and the result was Premier, which has become one of the most popular and applauded recordings in the genre. Two subsequent tours of the States were equal successes and the band released two more critically acclaimed albums :
Ar Seizh Avel [On Seven Winds] on Green Linnet,
Kornog IV which was not distributed in the US
By 1987, the individual members of the band, being some of the most in-demand musicians in Brittany, had become involved in so many other projects that they decided Kornog had run it’s course. Their last performance was as an opening act for the Chieftains in western Brittany.
Throughout the late 80s and 90s the members stayed in contact, often playing together in duos and with other popular Breton ensembles such as Penno Skoulm, one of the most popular Breton fest-noz bands
Demands from promoters and festivals for a reunion tour in the States were almost constant until they finally succumbed to requests from their US agent, Herschel Freeman, to reform. Original guitarist Sog Sibril was unavailable, so Nicolas Qumener, one of the finest guitarists in Brittany was recruited to take his place. They have recorded a new album, Korong so named for the river next to the studio where the album was recorded, and a convenient anagram of Kornog. It is still the same incredibly tight and virtuosic sound as before but like Celtic music in general, they have matured over the last decade or so. Experience, better production values and higher expectations have lifted them to a new mastery of Breton and Scottish traditional music.
Kornog was one of the most influential Celtic bands of the 1980s and they are now poised to reclaim and extend their legendary status.
Recordings:
Kornog Excalibur, Arfolk (BUR 811) BZH 1983
Premiere Green Linnet Records (GLCD 1055) USA 1983
Ar Seizh Avel/On Seven Winds Green Linnet Records (GLCD 1069) USA 1985
Kornog IV Adipho (KG01) BZH 1987
Kornog IV reissued on CD by An Nar Produksion (CD 404) BZH 2000
Korong Green Linnet Records (GLCD 2029) USA 2000
Korong Keltia Musique ( KMCD 117) BZH 2001
You may find this artist, this band or this organism in the following works :
|
|
|
| The music of Kornog unites dynamically fiddle and flute to the
encompassing impressive harmonic interlacing of bouzouki and guitar.
All of this is carried then to further heights
by the inimitable stories and Scottish ballads, uniquely arranged and sung by Jamie MC MENEMY. |
| CD ANNAER_404 37 minutes |
| US$ 17,65 |
|
|
|
