HAIZEA

"Hontz Gaua" scores higher in just about every category imaginable, but chiefly in their abandonment of the earnest folk schtick in favour of much less predictable prog folk, embellished by acoustic and even traditional instrumentation. This organic shift is most pronounced on "Egunarn Hastapena" and the 14 minute title track, which translates to "Owl Night". Officially bifurcated, the epic appears to include at least 4 elegant movements that bow to each other, from a cappella to pastoral flute and guitar duet to free (ish) form nature sounds to haunting ballad. The end result is a delicate yet robust ode to the living night, and the closest HAIZEA would come to divulging their unique voice. Highly recommended.

Spain is a country whose progressive rock scene has always caught my attention; they have had lots of great bands through the years, names like Triana, Iceberg or Gotic entered to my ears some years ago and never left my musical collection. But there is a special kind of progressive rock from Spain, which comes from the Basque region (country?), and whose sound is very particular, besides the language, most of those bands blends delicate symphonic sound with hints of jazz, but the main element is the folk, so go figure, here with bands like Itoiz or Haizea, you will have great music, believe me.

Haizea´s second album entitled "Hontz Gaua" saw the light in 1976 and sadly it was their last record. Since I discover it, I felt pleased and thankful to the people who recommended it. Despite the album is relatively short (five tracks - 33 minutes) it is rich in sounds and musical elements. The first track is "Anderea", beautiful female vocals and charming music, great guitars and a wonderful bass sound, the mood is quite mellow and happy, though I don't know Basque so I cannot tell you about the lyrics.

"Egunarn Hastapena" starts with soft wind instruments here and there, then it makes a one- second stop and flutes begin to sound, the folk reminiscence is evident here. This composition is very vast and interesting, the mixture of colors and textures helps the listener enjoying this music. At half the song, acoustic guitars appear and change the music's direction, though the essence, is still the same.

"Argizagi Ederra" starts with that great female voice, but this time the music as background creates a dark atmosphere. Actually, the whole song follows the same path, the thing here is the addition of different elements through the minutes, so despite that dark atmosphere you can focus on other sounds.

"Arnaki" is an excellent track which opens with flute and acoustic guitar, later bass joins and that symphonic-folk sound begins, producing a gentle sound, that seconds later turns more interesting with the addition of drums. Then the music is faster and challenging, the musician's skills are evident here, also worth mentioning that here an electric guitar gives a different flavor to the music. A highlight on this album without a doubt!

The last and longest composition is "Hontz Gaua" which starts with some chanting, and after a minute and a half a beautiful flute sound, accompanied by acoustic guitar appears and begins to build up the song, later percussion appears in order to complement the already exquisite sound, if you are familiar with some of those Basque bands, then you will notice here that peculiar sound of theirs. The song has some stops and changes, after six minutes electric guitar, female chants as background and some percussion appear. The final part is pretty cool, it reminds me to the very first song of this album.

Well, I highly recommend this album to all of those who want to know about Basque folk prog, and actually for those who like folk, jazz and symphonic, give this record a chance. My final grade is four stars.

Enjoy it!

It's also important to notice that this Basque band has a clear Folk sound with a few Prog elements, mostly Psyche, not fully Progressive but extremely beautiful, so may be a bit bland for extreme purists.

Despite the discussion among experts of the importance of Celtic inheritance in the Basque Country, is evident at the first listen of the self titled album that it's more than casual, even when mixed with Spanish elements, the classical pastoral sound of Medieval Celt is present in HAIZEA.

The album is soft and calmed, perfect for relaxation but without falling in the extremes of that bland hybrid called New Age, what is natural and inherited in HAIZEA members, is forced and artificial in New Age, this is why the band keeps the interest of the listener from start to end.

All the tracks are instrumental or with female vocals by the extraordinary Amaia Zubiría except Goizeko Euri Artean which is sung apparently by Xabier Lasa. The album flows gently from start to end not without interesting mixtures of Basque Folk elements a strong Celtic influence and a few Psychedelic passages that add more interest to an already good album.

Every track brings a surprise, but the biggest one comes in the closer Arrosa Xuriaren Azpian the only epic of the album which is practically two songs, the first half clearly Folk and the conclusion full of jamming and captivating sounds but without loosing the soft and dreamy atmosphere.

A good album for fans of STEELEYE SPAN or FAIRPORT CONVENTION, bands in which the Prog element is present but clearly the weight of the composition and the transcendence of the album is in the ethnic component.

As my first experience with the band I rate it with 3 solid stars, that should be 3.5, but the system has it's limits.

Things get better quickly though, and the next track “Egunaren Hastapena” shows some experimentation with intertwined flute and strings (cello and violin I think, but the liner notes don’t say), plus of course the ever-present Spanish guitar. This is a very beautiful instrumental that would hold its own alongside similar works from Los Jaivas, Calix, or even that odd French band Chrysalide. Very ethereal, delicate arrangements with most emphasis on the mood as opposed to a story or theme. “Argizagi Ederra” continues in much the same vein, but here the singer Amaia’s singing and chanting blend seamlessly with the flute.

The band introduces a bit of a rocking sound and electric guitar (or possibly acoustic with metal strings) on “Arnaki”. This is one of those rolling instrumentals with a great sense of melody that just makes you feel a little happier for having heard it. Quite a departure for the band but well done.

And the closing “Hontz Gaua” can probably be considered the band’s magnum opus, or as close as they would ever get since it is both their longest and last song they recorded together. Here the band finally shows some definite Basque tendencies with soft hand drums, pastoral chanting, and several laid back wooden and metal percussive instruments. But the dominant instrument is once again the flute, which persists throughout except in the middle a bit where what appears to be a xylophone is mixed with the guitar in a sort of hypnotic trance passage. The song winds down after fourteen minutes or so with a closing vocal passage by Amaia that I suppose is the finishing up of a tale of some sort, but one has to know the language to tell for sure.

This is a much more experimental and adventurous album than the band’s debut, and it is kind of sad that this is was final release because I think they managed to show their capacity to stretch themselves quite well and would probably have made some really great music had they stayed together long enough for a few follow-ups. As it is this is a four star affair, and is well recommended to fans of folk music and also to world music fans that prefer their sounds on the mellow side.

peace

This is pleasant enough folk music, although it isn’t really Basque and it isn’t actually very progressive. The songs have a sort of non-descript traditional folk feel to them, with the Basque influences detectably pretty much only in the vocals.

Except for the lengthy and closing “Arrosa Xuriaren Azpian” these are all rather short tracks of four or five minutes and are quite similar. The music consists mostly of a couple acoustic guitars (one picking and one strumming usually), a delicate oboe with contrabass setting the rhythm, and the two vocalists. There’s some flute but not as much as one would typically expect from Latin folk music, and occasional uncredited bits of percussion (again, not as much as is typically found in Latin music).

A couple tracks (“Loa Loa” and “Oreina Bila”) are almost all acoustic noodling with lullaby-like vocals, and “Goizeko Euri Artean” sounds like a Basque version of a John Denver tune.

The closing track and “Ura Ixuririk” introduce just a hint of psych guitar which would figure more prominently on the band’s second and final album, but that sound is only hinted at here.

There’s really not much else to say about this album, other than it has an agreeable enough sound, but probably won’t do much to appeal to most progressive music fans. Two stars for fans, but that’s about it.

peace

If their debut album was a quiet pastoral and bucolic affair, this second (and unfortunately last) album is in a much different class and is one of the best folk prog albums from not only Continental Europe but also the whole planet. Unlike some of my fellow reviewer, I do not specifically (outside of the vocals which are in Basque as opposed to English in the debut) detect any major Basque ethnic musical characteristics. Actually the first track sounds quite Fairport Convention (it is also the poorest and shortest of the album) and will remind you of the debut album. If the album as a whole sounds like a typical folk prog album, there are some notable and surprising (and delightful) differences.

The album starts per se from the second track with a delicious flute soon relayed by a cello (actually a bowed contrabass) over wind chimes, the song taking a medieval ambiance that only the flutes can enhance even more to reach a dancing climax and completely unexpected ending. The droning bowed contrabass returns to accompany the superb vocals (in a very pure celtic tradition except for the complex Basque language) but soon quite unexpectedly the electric guitar takes for a short but psych solo into a fade out (strangely reminding me of Amon Duul II's Chris Karrer). Arnaki is maybe my fave track on the first side with a delightful flute leading into an upbeat almost jig-like tempo before the electric guitar takes over but this time less abrupt but for a lengthier exploration.

Liturgical vocals (but sung rather clumsily and oddly chosen when knowing what is to come later on in the track) start the sidelong epic of the second side, with water streams guitar arpeggios and superb flutes lines taking over with bongos and tabla drums making slowly the change into a slightly raga feel. The tracks almost dies out and different bells wake up the electric guitars which takes a bit of time to find its way before changing direction when hearing female vocalist moaning and groaning, and there is more of psychedelic improvisations bordering on free jazz but never crossing the line - not always necessary noodlings but generally charming. Once calmed down the flute comes back with the droning contrabass giving again chilling medieval ambiances before the crystal singing of Amaia takes over. Reminds me of Crimson's Formantera Lady and a pity the album is so short!!!

One of the hidden gems coming from the Spanish federation (if the Basque will allow me) and a small but not flawless chef d'oeuvre. Easily my the top 25 of folk prog albums, IMHO.

This is especially true for the first side of the vinyl except the second track which sounds a bit like Andean folk music. The more interesting tracks are on the second side where there are slight touches of what is to come in their much better second al;bum. From the start Ura Ixuririk sounds slightly more adventuresome and this is confirmed by timid (but noticable) psych electric guitar lines . One finds the same same ambiances but slightly more outlined in the following track and the third track the 9 min Arrosa Xuriaren Azpian is also diverging slightly from the rest of the album and allows a few improvisation around the end.

Although not as exciting as their other one, the album (like its follow-up) is however quite short, and one wishes that the CD releases would've released both albums on one Cd especially that the succession of both album is musically quite an impressive evolution, the last track of the debut album making the perfect intro to the first tracks of the second album.