TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

C’est magnifique! Wasn’t sure what to expect, but loved them for the energy. My festival favourite so far...

Me too. Joyous and uplifting and, like many bands I see at Cropredy, genuinely happy to be here. Loved them  :D

Second time I’ve seen them and thought they were brilliant. Long time since the signing queue has been that long so clearly went down a storm.

I thought they were great, despite not understanding a word of what they sang.

Third time seeing them, and that was the same level of excellence as before. Superb.

Genticorum play similarly and would be another great booking. If they are still going.

Sorry guys left me a bit nonplussed I’m afraid

The guy tapping his feet throughout the set drove me crazy

That's the whole point of the genre, if it's not your thing then just accept it and do something else.

We didn't appreciate them as fully as others seem to have.

??!!

I thought they were wonderful for me really one of the highlights of the festival.
Others must have thought so, too for when I went to buy CDs of them almost everybody else in there bought one, too

Le Vent Du Nord is a band dedicated to preserving and sharing the musical heritage of francophone Canada: Le Vent du Nord (literally, "wind from the north"). All four of the band's musicians come from musical families, sing and have mastered such instruments as guitar, mandolin, fiddle, piano, accordion, acoustic bass, hurdy-gurdy and foot-tapping board. The group's new CD, Dans les airs, features songs — some more than 400 years old — from Quebec and Acadia, the name given to certain areas along the northeastern coast of America.

Because some of the songs they perform arrived on these shores with early French settlers and date back even more than 400 years, the group is sort of a collector of musical "antiques," preserving and introducing unusual material that has not yet been discovered or recorded, says hurdy-gurdy player Nicolas Boulerice.

"A lot of people call us guardians of the tradition," Boulerice says. "The old people want to know if you are respectful, if you sing those songs in the way of the tradition."

"We don't change the melody or lyrics much, or even the way the old people were playing it — this is its magic," adds fiddler Olivier Demers. "We want to keep the real soul of the fiddle tune." Demers also likes to point out that a lot of this music is not solely French, but a unique blend of French, Irish and Native American influences, with occasional flavoring from the U.S.

The band looks for antique musical gems wherever they go. When they heard about a "very good singer" living in the farming village of St. Guillaume, a short distance from Montreal, they knocked on the nearly 90-year-old singer's door, introduced themselves as musicians, and spent the evening in the kitchen — drinking, singing, and learning some of the precious old songs, such as "La beauté du mariage."

Traditional Quebecois percussion consists of foot-tapping on a special board. Le Vent du Nord's foot-tapper, Demers, explains that it originated in their ancestors' farmhouse kitchens. Saturday evenings were a highlight for the families, many of which had 15 to 20 children.

"Probably there was one fiddle player in every village. Sometimes they put the fiddler on a chair, and put the chair on a table in the middle of the kitchen, because it was the largest room in the house. People would dance around the table while the fiddler played and tapped his feet to keep time for dancing."

Some French songs survive in Canada long after they have been forgotten in France, such as "La fille et les dragons," a song about a young woman who leaves home to live with three dragons (a "dragon" here is not the mythical beast, but a knight or soldier). When her parents come looking for her she tells them, "one brushes my hair, the other one cleans my house, and I'm sitting on the knee of the third one. I'm very happy and don't want to return [home]."

In this song you can hear a kind of French Canadian "scat" singing — called turlutte, in imitation of the flute, which was very popular. It's also called "mouth music," or "mouth reel," and is found in the Celtic tradition as well.

"It's also a way to express joy without anything [without an instrument], and everyone can do it," says Demers. "At that time, with not enough to eat and big families for working in the fields, the early settlers had a hard life. But they had their passion and their joy and the desire to survive. Without any fiddle, without anything, they got together to make this beautiful place called Quebec." And this beautiful music that has survived.

But unfortunately it drives you crazy?

Lively, vibrant, pulsating and life-affirming. Brilliant stuff IMHO

Couldn't have put it better myself Stephen. Loved them!

A highlight for me. Loved there enthusiasm and musical skill. They represent the wonderful diversity that I expect at Cropredy.

Loved them, bought their CDs as they were playing, just so uplifting...

Will always remind me of an hour or two of warmth and sunshine on a Friday afternoon in a field!

Yes, one of the highlights for me...thought they were brilliant.  So good, I bought one of their CD’s!

I've seen them a couple of times before and they were as good as I remembered - played with passion, humour and talent (and a good range of instruments  don't think I saw any other hurdy gurdys, and certainly no foot tapping boards)

They were another of my highlights - I had heard of them, and a few tunes on the radio, but they exceeded my expectations.  Another band that left me with a huge smile on my face.  

One of my sons is a drummer and he's forever tapping and driving me crazy for years. No need to turn it into Pseuds Corner.!

I loved the stomp board percussion myself.  The two fiddlers were taking it in turns to do it, and I can't imagine being able to do that with your two feet whilst also playing the fiddle like that!

I was really looking forward to these, after our dear departed friend Shirl (she of the red feather boa) used to wax lyrical about them. I wasn't disappointed. This is what I like discovering - good traditional music from anywhere in the world, played well and with love and infectious enthusiasm. I was astounded at how the fiddler could keep up the foot-tapping while playing.

Thanks guys for including Le Vent du Nord on the programme, they were perfect for the afternoon slot. I look forward to catching them again somewhere.

Shirl would have loved them!  {:-)

Saw them last year, and really enjoyed them. They didn't disappoint this year either.

Paul

They didn’t do it for me, but am glad they went down well for others.