Amplitude

The concertina is as versatile as it is portable – hence its pivotal role in American, Argentinian and South African music. In northern Portugal it rivals the gaita (bagpipes) and is an integral part of the national folk scene, with Danças Ocultas – a concertina quartet – having played a key role over the last quarter of a century in raising its profile as a virtuoso instrument. Playing either as a quartet or with accompaniment from a percussionist, they deftly conjure up evocative sounds of the sea, the church nave and passing trains. On this live recording from May 2015, supported ably by the massed talents of the Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras, the humble squeezebox is shown to be a subtle source of both rhythm and melody and to have considerable authority and range. In a sense, the beauty of this show is that the pressure to over-perform is off, freeing the four lead accordions to drift in and out of the soundscape and offer delicate contrapuntal ideas, individually or surging as a single body. The guest turns by fado singer Carminho, folk duo Dead Combo and Madredeus’ Rodrigo Leão add further colour, as well as layers of emotion, to this exhilarating experiment.