BAGAD KEMPER & RED CARDELL

 Eight years later, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Bagad Kemper, their penn-soner Steven Bodénès took up his pilgrim's stick again by meeting Jean-Pierre Riou, the leader and singer of Red Cardell to try a new common adventure called Nerzh. Because these two groups are sacred monsters of the Breton music scene. First of all, the Bagad, which for seven decades has been touring the venues and festivals and travelling the world from Scotland to Africa to the rhythm of its many creations and its diverse and varied encounters with the finest Celtic music - Dan Ar Braz, Carlos Núñez, Erik Marchand, and others - Johnny Clegg. His discography is impressive since the new album is already the twenty-ninth.

On the other hand, Red Cardell, a rock band that is no longer presented, merging French song and world music, with thousands of concerts on the bill. They are also used to touring all over the world. A dynamism that has never been compromised and committed texts have given them a certain aura. They also flirt with a record number of recordings, some twenty albums in their twenty-seven-year career. This time, rather than collaboration between two groups, it would be more appropriate to talk about a group in its own right. Because Nerzh, which translates into strength and power in Breton language, seeks to convey to the audience their desire to move, to create a breathtaking emotion. Eight tracks on this album composed by Steven Bodénès and a few Bagad acolytes for the music and Jean-Pierre Riou for the lyrics. A skilful alchemist's work to combine the sound of bombards and bagpipes with that of the electric guitar, all punctuated by the percussion and drums of both bands. Eight tracks that form a subtle cocktail on which J.P. Riou has put his own words, strong, deep and completely in the Red Cardell lineage.

Recorded in the Bagad lair in Saint-Evarzec (Brittany) in February 2019, the concert from this album was presented at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in August and will be performed again in early October during the Bagad anniversary celebration in Quimper. If it will be difficult to do better than the 4,000 spectators in Lorient, there is no doubt that the public will be present in large numbers once again.

Coop Breizh CD 1164 - www.coop-breizh.fr