Guillaume Yaouank grew up in the maritime air of Lorient and sings with nothing but his voice and a guitar. His repertoire is maritime folk song in its purest form, with a Breton seafaring flair and a detour to his Irish cousins. Five albums and years of touring in France and abroad sit behind the set. He plays the Café Théâtre des Ballons Rouges, a small room in Lamballe-Armor.
Tag: live-music
Emma Tribute plays Matmatah at the Triskell, Meucon
Emma Tribute is five Morbihan musicians who play the repertoire of Matmatah, and the Groupe Interquartiers Meucon Musique has booked them into the Salle du Triskell. The association files the evening under rock celtique et tradi, the Breton strand of the genre. The set runs from “Lambé An Dro” to “Brest-même”, songs a crowd here can sing back. A food truck and a bar stand outside the hall.
Fest noz with Kelt Ha Breizh at l’île aux oiseaux
A fest noz comes to l’île aux oiseaux at Corn Er Pont, in Guern, with Kelt Ha Breizh playing for the dancers. The evening marks the fourth anniversary of L’École aux Oiseaux, and it departs from the venue’s usual concert format: the floor goes to dancers, not to an audience in seats. Kelt Ha Breizh carry the dance music in two sets. A shared meal of chicken supreme, fries and salad opens it, and places are taken by reservation.
Dremmwel : quarante ans de scène
Dremmwel is a traditional-music group based at Quimper, and this concert marks the forty years it has spent on the road. The programme reworks part of its repertoire and honours the musicians who shaped it. The storyteller Patrik Ewen holds the narrative thread on the theme of the horizon, which is what dremmwel means in Breton. The guests around him include the harpist Klervi Rivière and the Bigouden ensemble Bagad Cap Caval.
Session de musique bretonne at Mar’mousse
Musicians gather at Mar’mousse, a kav, bar and resto in Plérin, to play Breton tunes together. The invitation is to come and play, not to listen: newcomers are eased in on an easy stretch first, and the session proper is launched afterwards. Anyone who would rather dance than play is welcome to, which is what the repertoire is for. The house signs its own pages in Breton, Produet e Breizh hag e brezhoneg gant karantez. Entry is free.
Conférence-concert de Brieg Guerveno et Maïlys Princé
The Micro-folie at Ploërmel puts a talk and a concert in one evening at Les Carmélites. Maïlys Princé, a Breton content creator from the area, opens on the cultures and languages of Brittany as social media carry them, and on what digital mediation does to intangible heritage. The singer Brieg Guerveno then takes up the question « Pourquoi chanter en langue minorisée ? ». His concert of new work in Breton closes the night.
Fest-deiz au Danouët, Bourbriac
A fest-deiz is an afternoon of dancing, run here by the association restoring the chapelle Notre-Dame du Danouët. An open stage gives the floor to local players, among them the Musiciens du Danouët, and a jam open to any musician closes the day. The repertoire is the plinn, the dance that names the hamlet’s own festival. The associations behind that festival take the afternoons in turn, from the Cavan sound centre to the Guingamp hospitaliers.
Rock-sur-Meu: an all-Breton bill in Montfort
Four Breton rock acts share the bill at the Salle du Confluent in Montfort-sur-Meu. Sons O’Flaherty play Celtic rock, Apes O’Clock brass rock, Xarpi grunge and Sinbad a French strain of alternative rock. Food, drink and vendor booths run alongside the sets, with entertainment through the evening. The festival returns to the same hall after a previous bill that drew more than four hundred people, and its line-up is Breton from end to end.
Perros Jazz Festival: BLAZ at the Café Breton
The duo Blaz plays a dinner-show at the Café Breton for the Perros-Guirec Jazz Festival. David Hopkins and Clément Vallin work from original compositions between jazz, world music and contemporary sound. Improvisation carries the set: percussion, bass and samples build groove and dance rhythms close to trance. The café cooks its own food; a 10 € artistic contribution per person helps compensate the artists and support a festival dedicated to traditional music.
B.R.E.T.O.N.S, Breton Music in Trad-Rock
B.R.E.T.O.N.S gathers fourteen artists around one aim: keeping Breton music alive by playing it with contemporary energy. The set threads traditional tunes of Brittany, Ireland and Scotland through the standards of Celtic music, arranged with trad-rock leanings. Bombards, bagpipes, violin, guitars, percussion and voices share the stage. The players come out of Kervegans, Digresk, EV and Soldat Louis, beside the singer Jessica Delot.