Dan Ar Braz Toi Et Ceux CD - Import

 Well worth it!
A Toi et Ceux ("With you and these") is a departure from the last effort (2001's all instrumental and Hank Marvinesque "Les Memoires Des Volets Blancs") in that it harkens back to earlier Dan Ar Braz recordings prior to his pivotal "Theme for the Green Lands" or his lead role in the super Celtic group L'Heritage Des Celtes. However the L'Heritage Des Celtes influence remains strong in the arrangements, orchestration, and compositions; and that is NOT a bad thing to have happen. This CD contains a mix of soft ballads, edgier songs, and lush instrumentals. But these new pieces show a much more developed compositional sense and more extensive use of ensemble arrangements than that heard on the pre-Celtes recordings. Where there was once almost a full emphasis on muti-tracked guitar, there now is interplay between instrumental groups. This, the reviewer assumes, is a result of his L'Heritage Des Celtes experiences as well as the time spent working with likes of Donal Lunny, Jacques Pellen, and Didier Squiban over the last 10 very fertile years. Specific highlights to look for are: a) "Mary's Dancing" with the lovely little melody sing along at the start that evolves into a lush instrumental (complete with strings and flugelhorns that is rescued just before cliche by a killer violin and accordion duet to close the song). b) "Dan's Fisel", an instrumental that starts simple with guitar and pipes and quickly develops into the sort of stomper that L'Heritage Des Celtes devotees just love. c) "Les Tribus de Cornouaille" that is quite the adventure in its all to short time (2:58? This should have been about 6:00 just to show off the content). It should be noted that this guy could well be the best guitar "riff" writer alive today... d) "Bretons", the anthemic song that just never seemed to make onto any previous CD (although played live many times). e) Oh yes, we should mention some of the most fluid and tasteful electric guitar work on recordings today. There are few solos and, when you hear one, it is usually short and brilliantly in the context of the song. This is a man who plays almost as if he had no ego. Amazing. There aren't any lowlights but some things could have been little different to make the recording stronger... f) "Orgies Nocturnes", yet another version of the old Dan Ar Braz standard? Great song but the version Dan did with Jacques Pellen's "Les Tombees de la Nuit" is the definitive one and we should leave it at that. This one almost sounds like filler. g) Some odd lyric translations into English (one suspects that the French or Breton words would flow better. A reading of the lyrics in those languages reveal that Dan is actually a pretty good poet). h) String arrangements on some of the ballads are occasionally a bit "over the top" and detract from songs (in an apparent attempt to make them sound like there is more there than there actually is). This is especially apparent in "Je M'en Vais Demain" and "I'm here to stay" and is NOT apparent in "Pas D'Un Pas" (Dan: Do more of these!). So, a summary is in order: BUY THIS. You will be rewarded with well crafted songs, great instrumentals, and the persona of an artist at peace with himself, his abilities, and his place in the music genre. The result is mature music and that is a high compliment.
Submitted by moerne (Louisville, CO)
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