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Mayo Longo 2000

A fresh, brave album, with sounds that range from the most current pop to the most ancestral traditional music, with the quality and eclecticism that have become a personal hallmark of the work of the Vigo-born piper.

Description

Songs

A popular and exquisite album

Carlos Núñez returns to the music scene with his third album, “Mayo Longo”, by the producer of the moment in Spain, Alejo Stivel. A fresh, brave album, with sounds that range from the most current pop to the most ancestral traditional music, with the quality and eclecticism that have become a personal hallmark of the work of the Vigo-born piper…

Luxury voices

Mayo Longo” is an album with many songs, thanks to the discovery of the young Anabela, the new great voice that comes to us from Portugal thanks to the producer Guilherme Inês, who presented Dulce Pontes. For the first time on one of Carlos’ albums, the same vocalist performs almost all the songs, and she will also accompany him on tour with his new band, which includes Irish musicians.

Another of the surprises of the new album is that Carlos even dares to compose for the first time, and entrusts the lyrics of one of his songs to none other than his friend Roger Hodgson. The unmistakable voice and style of the legendary Supertramp singer are easily discernible on “The Moon Says Hello”.

Preparation of the new album

The album began to take shape on tour in Japan last Christmas, and little by little pieces began to emerge “on the road”: New Year’s Eve in Barcelona, New Year’s Eve in Dublin, Epiphany in Naples, Glasgow… On returning home, to work in peace, Carlos took refuge in a 17th century stone house in San Adrián de Cobres, opposite the Vigo estuary, which inspired a large part of the album. He soon realised that he had plenty of material ready to record. He was accompanied in that intense month of creation by his indefatigable twenty-something brother, Xurxo Núñez, who revealed himself to be an expert with computers and an excellent multi-instrumentalist – he plays all kinds of Galician and Celtic percussion, drums, keyboards, guitars… – and, of course, his eternal companion Pancho Álvarez, a true historic figure of Galician music and the king of string instruments: bouzouki, guitar, violin, mandolin, electric guitar, bass…

Studies and musicians

Two months later they had already been to Dublin, Lisbon, California, New York, Washington, Paris, London, Madrid and Vigo, the album was recorded and on the way, they had been joined by other inseparable travelling companions, the great Irish musicians who have been able to combine the purest tradition with the current sonorities: “The” Irish producer Dónal Lunny, “The” accordionist Sharon Shannon, “The” piper Liam O’Flynn, “The” bassist Eoghan O’Neill, “The” drummer Ray Fean… as well as the versatile vocalist Liam Ó Maonlaí of the Hothouse Flowers and “Captain” Ronnie Drew of the historic Dubliners.

An album full of songs

The variety and richness of sound is once again the characteristic note of Carlos Núñez’s third album, an album in which the artist from Vigo once again pays tribute to the Galician language and literature, setting to music two poems by Rosalía de Castro, “Astros, fuentes y flores” – in Spanish – and “Mayo Longo” – in Galician – which gives its name to the album. The Galician sailors who disappeared at sea are remembered in the song “Nana Lluvia”, and in another track -both written by people from Vigo-, he recounts the amusing visit of “Captain Nemo” to Vigo in the Nautilus, as told by Jules Verne in his novel. And there is also space on the album for pop without complexes, “El Pozo de Arán”, in which Carlos Núñez makes it clear why he is known as the Jimi Hendrix of the bagpipe.

Faithful to the Galician tradition

Carlos remains faithful to his roots and with the help of all the aforementioned friends, he manages to bring to light true treasures of Galician traditional music, such as the “Marcha do Entrelazado de Allariz”, “A Moura”, or the “festeiro” “Pasacorredoiras”. He also continues to experiment with the most ancestral Galician music, combining it with the latest trends in the “Foliada dos Aires da Terra” with his friend the avant-garde composer and producer Hector Zazou (Suzanne Vega, Bjork…). He revives the nowadays scarce bagpipe duets of his Rías Baixas in the traditional muiñeira “Vento das Cíes”. He shows us the most dreamy side of Galician music with “Canto de Seitura”, or the most grandiose part with the historical version of “Aires de Pontevedra” recorded with a big band of Breton bagpipes in Paris in front of many thousands of people. He also offers us the primitive version of this same classic of Galician tradition, played in the old style, in the form of “Alborada”, with a unique instrument over 100 years old, built by maestro Villanueva, the first of a true dynasty of pipers from Pontevedra, from whose repertoire several of the tracks on this album are taken.

The result is “Mayo Longo”, a balance between tradition and modernity, ancestral echoes and contemporary sounds; in short, a new musical jewel from one of this country’s great artists.