Nagez Rameurs

Québécois music is fed by rich waters – French, Irish, Scottish, Breton and Maritime traditions are all integral to its cultural rich mix. And thanks to bands such as Genticorum, it has become more prominent in recent years. Nagez Rameurs is their fourth release since 2002's debut, La Galameau, and based around the theme of voyages. There's a wealth of ‘crooked fiddle tunes’, many of them unearthed by song collector and fiddler Pascal Gemme, who first heard traditional Québécois music as a child in Huntingdon, Quebec, where his grandfather was the village fiddler. The flute, guitar and foot percussion of Alexandre de Grosbois-Garand and Yann Falquet weave around the fiddle and their ensemble playing possesses a synergetic energy, drive and delicacy, so that the songs aren’t overwhelmed, but opened.

The album's first song, ‘Tout le Long du Voyage’, is a beautiful circular tune with lyrics from the pen of a former oarsman for the Hudson Bay Company. The reels and dances are among the album's highlights, with some fabulous interplay, especially on ‘Valse des Poelês’, described as ‘a waltz for the stoves and pans of the world.’ The title-track, which translates as ‘Swim, Paddlers’, is a mix of original writing by Gemme and ‘Canadian Boat Song’, by the Irish poet Thomas Moore. That fusing of source material with the contemporary is what drives the Genticorum experience. With the voyaging, pioneering songs of Nagez Rameurs, total immersion is recommended.