Tirana 100

Over the last half a century or so there have been many attempts to reveal ‘Europe’s unknown music,’ which usually turns out to be the polyphonic music of southern Albania, which is indeed very fine, but by now hardly a secret. Here, though, is an album of strikingly beautiful Albanian music that truly is a well-kept secret, barely known to the world beyond. There is a belt of musical culture that stretches through the towns of Ottoman European possessions, from northern Bosnia to southern Bulgaria, where maqam- based melodies and Western harmony combine and accommodate one another, marked by emotionally expressive singing and subtle phrasing. The Allstars perform a specific variety, stemming from the capital city of Tirana, but familiar all over central Albania. It’s remarkably varied yet coherent, with sinewy clarinet solos floating over thrusting dance rhythms, delicately shaped vocal lines weaving through a maze of shifting bar lengths, or sobbing melodies stretching above slowly twisting harmonies. The recording, produced by ethnomusicologist Lucy Durán, is charmingly old-fashioned in sonority, taking its lead from the warm and comfortable ensemble sound of older recordings, and the sizeable crew of musicians (some of whom who made them, others who have grown up listening to them) give expert, heartfelt performances.