Carlos Núñez North American Tour 2017 in Oakville

Galicia’s foremost bagpiper Carlos Núñez returns to Canada with special guests and new music to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of his debut album.

Carloz Núñez is the world’s most famous player of the gaita, the bagpipes of Galicia. To celebrate the 20-year anniversary of his debut album A Irmandade das Estrelas (released in the U.S. by RCA Victor as Brotherhood of Stars), which featured such artists as The Chieftains, Ry Cooder, old Cuban soneros and Portugal’s Dulce Pontes, Núñez has recorded a new track entitled A Irmandade das Estrelas 2. It features 20 young Spanish folk players in their 20s, which legendary film director Carlos Saura included in his movie J: Beyond Flamenco.

One of the highlights in that track is a 21 year-old accordion player named Itsaso Elizagoien, who has been touring in Europe with Núñez ever since, and will join his band for this U.S. tour.

As part of the 20-year anniversary celebrations, Carlos played at Santiago’s Cathedral with 75 musicians, including Early Music luminaries and young folk musicians playing Medieval instruments for the first time, such as Carmen Gallego, who will also be joining the band in this tour.

The third special guest will be Basque star singer of Galician descent Maria Berasarte, who has alredy played with Núñez in several concerts in Spain. This will be her first tour abroad as guest vocalist with the band. Portuguese critics called her first album for Universal Music the best fado album ever recorded by a foreign voice, and she even joined living legend of fado Carlos do Carmo on stage. Her most recent recording, Subita (Sudden), is an ode to her Iberian roots.

Carlos Núñez has become Galicia’s foremost traditional music ambassador, sharing these uniquely expressive sounds with the world. His music goes from ancient Celtic music to Medieval and Baroque.

The gaita is Galicia’s signature sonic symbol, dating back at least to the 11th century, and Carlos’s mastery of this bagpipe has been integral to its rising popularity inside and outside Spain. His ability in fingering the chanter to bend, extend, or cut notes, sustain and change tempos, explore harmonic nuances and tonal colors, and complement and counterpoint other musicians’ playing has earned him the sobriquet “the Hendrix of the bagpipes” (Chicago Sun-Times).

…inventive, brilliant, progressive-minded and a great showman to boot, Núñez fired the imaginations of his own people to such a degree that Spain’s Celtic music scene is on fire.

BBC