Txalaparta - Players

Players

Txalaparta was about to die out when it was called back from the cold limbo by activists concerned with the Basque culture. By then, only a few players remained, namely, Miguel and Pello Zuaznabar (Lasarte), Asentsio and Ramon Goikoetxea (Astigarraga), Jose and Jose Mari Zabalegi (Martutene), who every so often performed traditional txalaparta. In the 60s, in step with the Basque cultural and musical revival movement, Josean and Juan Mari Beltran, a founder of the School of Hernani himself, took up txalaparta and encouraged its expansion. Another pair of brothers teaming up to play txalaparta were Jexux and Jose Anton Artze, who should be considered within the wider framework of the Ez dok amairu cultural movement, made up notably of musicians, poets and theoreticians of the Basque culture (Jorge Oteiza...).

After establishing the School of Hernani, a steady expansion of txalaparta ensued in the 80s among younger generations and out to other regions of the Basque Country. The Txalaparta Festival was established in 1987, adding to the interest for the instrument and acting as a showcase for fresh trends. Josu Goiri should be cited here, from Arrigorriaga, who adopted a pretty mystical approach on the instrument and has released several books on the topic. Another significant couple that got together in the 80s is Gerla Beti, standing for Perdi and Ruben, from Araia. They started to try new materials with the txalaparta.

In the 90s and later, new couples have come out from the txalaparta school network linked to the Txalaparta School of Hernani in the area of Donostia, besides establishing new schools and workshops all over the Basque Country. A few txalaparta projects of this period worth highlighting:

  • Tomas San Miguel (Gerla Beti): The piano and accordion player teams up with Gerla Beti and they perform together since 1984. In 1994, the album Lezao is released featuring txalaparta to critical acclaim. Two further txalaparta related albums have been released since, Ten (1996) and Dan-Txa (2005), so wrapping up the trilogy. In this latest album, the swinging duo Ttukunak, i.e. young twin sisters Maika and Sara Gomez, has taken over the sticks from Gerla Beti.
  • Ttakunpa: In 2003, the 8-people group releases an album under the same name. They feature a txalaparta made of wood and marble blended with various African (Mali, Senegal...) percussion instruments, songs and influences, such as djembes, kenkenis, sanbaghs.
  • Felipe and Imanol Ugarte: After taking up txalaparta at the beginning of the 90s, Felipe trains brother Imanol and in no time they start playing in the streets and festivals. They are renowned for their performances at the Donostia Boulevard in summer, they have toured several times all over the world and have edited a couple of albums under their own label.
  • Oreka TX ("Balance Tx(alaparta)"): Igor Otxoa and Harkaitz Martinez de San Vicente team up late in the 90s out of other couples and join the Kepa Junkera band in his concerts and album releases, mostly playing along with trikitixa accordions and other folk instruments of the ensemble. They feature a txalaparta tuned along the notes of a score (melody) and made of exotic wood. After a period of rest, under the patronage of Kepa Junkera they draw up the album Quercus Endorphina (2000) with the contribution of many celebrated folk musicians, e.g. Phil Cunningham. Then, they engage in a more independent project, taking to travel to various countries (India, Finland...) trying to blend txalaparta with other instruments and cultures, with a view to highlighting diversity and mutual comprehension among the peoples of the world. The result of the experience, the documentary Nomadak TX (2006), proved an outright success, earning them numerous awards in Film Festivals around the world.

Read more about this topic:  Txalaparta

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