Flanders Music Centre
V.A. : Folk Music in Flanders 2006 (B,2006)*°°
Thanks to some efforts of many volunteers, journalists included, folk stages, growing folk festivals, and the benefit of a folk label with its own selling point, the last 15 years were a benefit especially to folk music based upon tradition and recognizable patterns. While many of the most creative projects, -which are almost always genre-expanding and fall off everywhere -because their music relies more on pure creativity-, it occurred of course that some of the very valuable talents missed the ball, especially at the first stage of this process, and have fallen from interest almost everywhere, because like every genre in Belgium, new growing folk interests started from a rather conservative vision (to drop the line somewhere, starting from a traditional genre definition) and not from a creative one. To overcome this therefore I personally always preferred to define 'folk' more as 'acoustic foundations' to focus fundamentally on conscious creativity first, which is a slower process to develop as a scene, where the most creative persons all stand alone at first. Growing folk interest in Flanders started from ballrooms, from traditional music in folk bars, and out of successful workshops deep in Flanders fields. This (still) growing process was mostly a social process, and is not based upon just personally achieved creativity. Just like Jazz and Progressive Rock in Belgium, also the folk milieu is growing further like one big family tree, with its own family tree rules on how to fit in well, and what is a development for its original foundations. By this time the musical complexity has grown only very slowly, and still is very unadventurous, but has more and more groups under its wings with professional performers, including the amateur groups which evolve that way.
This double CD is a compilation meant to introduce some Flemish talents to a foreign market for potentional touring and to promote the international recognition of the existence of a Flemish folk scene. I don't think it is in particularly meant to present really the best, because some more recognized names (Kadril, Fluxus, Vera Coomans,..) probably have proven already something and are possibly for that reason not listed. A few professional musicians stand out for me, while several bands I guess are amateurs participating in the scene in a more professional way, of which some of them started to develop a more distinctive vision of their own style.
From the professionals with a distinguished personal style (if many) Didier François* stands out for me, with his individual almost fusion style of nyckalharpa and acoustic guitar. In the traditional instrument playing styles I think Huracan with his performance on Siberic Zither (with a traditional from Khakassia (?) ) and Jacques Vandevelde on a Venezuelan harp showed on the chosen tracks a vision with their instruments.
Some other groups seems to be able to arrange in a creative and warm chamber-like way. Bob, Frank & Zussen are one of the longest living groups in Belgium, performing intimate folk based upon medieval and Renaissance music. I like their earliest private album from 1977 (***°). I saw a concert bythem once. They played nice and safe and they knew very well what they were doing. Ensemble Michel Terlinck combines pretty well old renaissance music with a crossover line leaning towards Turkey, an interpretation which I liked well, and which I found also one of the better tracks on the compilation. Oblomow's* instrumental is almost like theatre music as rather classical chamber-folk music, with a Penguin cafe orchestra association. Also Saltarel's music had a slight chamber character, but has something obvious too, as if this is an amateur band that learned on its way how to play more professionally.
It is worse when all arrangements are recorded at home, and with the help of computers. Traditional styles I think need the contact with the people and the warmth the music can bring them. D&D Productions for instance arranges with overobvious studio-arranged keyboards and percussion based upon folkmusic rendering all necessary warmth redundant. I want to call this articicial genre house-folk. Also Kick'm Jenny uses mainstream easy keyboards in New Age Celtic & Irish tradition, with equally obvious and more amateurish filmic arrangements.
There are also a number of groups who learned their skills obviously from folkstages, and from listening to folkbar entertainment / ambience music. The worst kind of group for me is when beer and folk are associated with one another. Snakes in Exile are such a group. Some styles when performed in bars can sound very acceptable, but when I imagine some groups trying to perform on bigger stages, in foreign countries, it could be an embarassing experience. Keukkojoen for instance sing in Sami tradition (Finland) in a rather amateurish way and they seem also to have a repertoire from Quebec and Tuva. But I don't think they would do well in these countries of origin. One of the things that is for me too accepted in folkbars is the overrepetition of Irish jigs and reels repetitions and melodic interpretations played in folkbars on folk tradition jam evenings, without ever thinking over the best arrangements to suit songs or melodies or dig deeper into the underlying musical content. Strangely enough this kind of melodic jam playing leads to the birth of some groups. Griff, for instance could be such a group derived from folkbar music improvisation, or Lezzamie (with their contribution "Blokhut"), Rawhide (here with amateurish gospel harmonies, they seem to play bluegrass mostly), The Swigshift (with music based upon Celtic Irish and Celtic traditions, with somewhat obvious Irish flute melodies and an overtraditional not very well played bodhran), and Yalan with more quiet listening songs, who obviously played these tracks on free podiums in folkbars too often.
Touche De Bouté is an example of what you get when having followed workshops of traditional music : there you learn to play the most obvious melodic interpretations. What you do more with it is due to personal talent. But, like I said in my introduction, I believe that the family tree traditions will also pick out just anybody who vaguely tries something of his own after the folkstages. And they have the utmost respect for people promoting a kind of social campfire entertainment when these people have certain social abilities to promote it. But in that way even almost Catholic-Church-like-folk interpretations are readily accepted. Zanzare for instance, bring, in a girlish way, interpretations of European and Asian folk. They sound much more amateurish compared to the Finish band Värttina or the Bulgarian folk voices, but they have benefited from the success of the simple ideas of the three girls folk group, Lais. Also two groups from the catholic ? VZW (="society without profit" but with a prophet ?) 'Mens Milieu Muziek' (= Men Environment Music) are listed, with first of all ‘Zingen over de grenzen heen met Hilde Frateur’ (= “singing over borders with Hilde”) which is a project entirely based upon folkstage inspiration, with warm & good-hearted-for-the-people girlish folk sounds, and with MMMuziekstraatjes playing dance folk from Flanders and Europe. These groups I don't think have much musical importance but are possibly all very fine warm-hearted people from the family tree, with folkstages that probably work pretty well. Also very girlish, like Zanzare and Hilde Frateur is Kandoris, listed here with an entertainment gospelcountryfolk track.
Another inspiration that stimulated the birth of several Flemish folk groups in the Flanders are the folkparties. In this category I found The Ballroomquartet* the most interesting group with some fine, diverse and well balanced mix of swinging folk styles creating their own original ballroom folk music. Dilber plays pleasant, slightly danceable Balkan music with their own arrangements. A mixture of podium folk and folkball related entertainment brings Flint with a mix of different melodic traditions from European tradition, here contributing with a nicely arranged track with different variations, called "Bok Espok". Also Clochard has its own compositions based upon various European traditions. Deronderuit is a group from the folkmusicschool, with rather obvious choices of instruments and a ballroom entertaining element, an example which I think was not chosen by the compilers if it was not with a reference and respect to stimulate the school. Other groups within this category are 'k voel me Belg and Zjamoel.
When groups become more and more used to playing on more podiums for serious music, the necessity to only entertain should become less. This would make the qualities more aparant. When still playing outside on more quiet places after a while the change will adapt already some changes that would benefit the musical character. KlezmicnoiZ still play rather obvious klezmer melodies, with brass, but their style could eventually lead to such changes. I heard of course only one track. Amorroma is professional moody folk with Irish flute, harp and intimate jazzy double bass.
I often find the French speaking groups better, probably because they are used to playing more often in serious environments and in cities instead as for a countryside public expecting especially the pure 'entertainment' folk. From French Brussels, Jaune Toujours is vivid folk with varied influences (Balkan, gypsy,tango,..). Also Mairan is a French speaking group with three female voices, which I consider as more city related, here only with an cappella arrangement.
What I always found strange is that in Flanders there are many folk groups who play folk traditions for which we don’t have any roots at all, except hat Belgium always was obliged by historical fact to be very open to other cultures. When Flemish groups play music from too far away countries this can sound very nice, but often I still miss the true passion of these countries, something I can say from Chispas (Cuban song) and from Siempro Moreno (Cuban, Brazilian styles). But even then, I think this interest can be very real and honest, like with Sirin who plays Eastern European folk, and Mec Yek (Brussels) who plays Slovakian gypsy songs and other pieces from Rumania, Bulgaria, Macedonia. Last group in this category is Coloriet (traditional melodic folk based upon West European, mostly Balkan music).
* I checked out the Ballroomquartet album afterwards.
* I also checked out a Didier François album.
* I also heard an Oblomow release, "Sporen" (Wild Boar Music)**, a conceptual cooperation between Moroccan, Iraqi, Turkish and Belgian musicians. It is calm and rather nice, but musically it keeps the ideas rather simple and safe, a slight melancholic shadow of the original powers of lost origins.
