This review by Stephen Hunt was originally published on Green Man Review.
Storvan, An Deiziou Kaer (Keltia Musique, 1996)
Storvan, Digor ‘N Abadenn (Join in the Round) (Keltia Musique, 1991)
Storvan is another lovely Bteton band that I’m looking at. It is the tightest of the groups here as it consists of but four members — Christian Lemaître on fiddle, guitar; Franck Le Bloas on Bouzouki, bass pedal; Hervé Guillo on Transverse wooden flute; and Christian Faucheur on Bombards, low whistle. Many of you will know Christian Lemaître from the great Breton group, Kornog. (Note to record companies — all of these can’t be Brittany’s best loved traditional ensembles!) Storvan does not use diatonic accordions as the core sound, but rather relies on violins and woodwinds, along with the ‘new’ Celtic instrument, the bouzouki, to create a lighter, more breathy feel. If you’ve heard Kornog and liked them, you’ll love Storvan. Unlike some of the earlier fest noz bands, their sound’s quite tight. Christian Lemaître is one of the greatest fiddle players in Brittany. He recorded a solo album Ballade à l’Hôtesse and is a member of the fabulous Celtic Fiddle Festival along with Kevin Burke and Johnny Cunningham.
Storvan’s first CD is Digor ‘N Abadenn which in English means ‘Join in the Round’. And what a round it is. A round is a song containing a phrase that is sung repetitively in a circular or ’round’ fashion by two or more groups of vocalists. Each new phrase is staggered or offset from the previous one. An example:would be ‘Row, row, row your boat/ Gently down the stream’ which be offset from ‘Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily/Life is but a dream’. They must have been a great fest noz group, but sadly are no longer with us as one Breton Web site noted in 1999: ‘This evening, the village hall of Cléguérec accommodates three formations of high fame: Skeduz, Storvan and Pevar Den. It is the association Neulliac Basketball-Club which organizes this evening. But this time, the fest noz will be of a particular nature, the last fest noz of the group Storvan, well-known of unconditional of the fest noz. After 14 years of music, the group chose Kleg before leaving the scene definitively.’ Sigh.
Digor ‘N Abadeen does catch the feel of Storvan playing at a fest noz – lively, a bit ragged, and full of vim ‘n’ vigor. It appears that with the exception of ‘Ronds de St. Vincent’, everything here is traditional in origin. [Steven Brust, in Cowboy Feng's, said 'The more astute among you may notice that many of the above songs are labeled 'Traditional,' which is supposed to mean that they grew out of the ground, as it were, and appeared without the intervention of human beings in their creation. Others have the names of authors, which is supposed to mean that no one else has ever modified a melody note or a word, and that these songs must be performed precisely as transcribed, otherwise they aren't authentic.']
I like everything here from ‘Hanter Dro’, a lively wench of a dance tune, to the previously mentioned ‘Ronds de St. Vincent’. And Storvan also does lovely gavottes! Cool! Their only other album was An Deiziou Kaer which dates from three years before they broke up. There’s a bit of overlap between the recordings — both have ‘Hanter Dro’ and ‘Kas a Barh’, but there’s much new to enjoy here. ‘Marche et Larides’ is traditional tune that Blowzabella does, called ‘La Ride’; and ‘Danse de Bitekle’ is another lively lass of a tune. Buy both CDs — that’ll give almost two hours of great music!
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