Gwendal — Irish Jig 1974 (France, Celtic Folk/Progressive Folk)

The Band was born in 1972, on the initiative of Jean-Marie Renard, guitarist from the beginning and manager of the Band today, in the wake of a basic musical current launched by Alan Stivell. He brings together five musicians friends of different musical cultures (traditional, jazz, folk, rock’n’roll) around a common passion, the Celtic music, to form the band Gwendal. At that time in France many bands inspired by the Breton and Irish traditional music appeared. Gwendal distinguished itself from the very start by the choice of what will make the continuity of its style during its entire career: a sound mixing melodies of traditional influence, with arrangements and rhythmic strongly influenced by modern musical currents of various times: jazz, rock’n’roll… During its three decades of existence, Gwendal has seen many changes of musicians accompanying the evolution by the group, the flautist Youenn Le Berre, current leader, being the only remaining member since the beginning. As of the first disc (1974: «Irish Jig»), one finds the core instrumental which remained a constant of the sound of the group: metal flute and violin for the melodies, acoustic guitar, mandolin and bass for the rhythmic one. The Band is electric starting from the third album (1977: «Rainy Day») with the addition of the electric guitar and the drums. Parallel to this evolution, the repertoire comprises more and more personal compositions, which will constitute the entirety of the contents of the albums from «Gwendal 4» on.