Brazilian Samba, Bosnian Sevdah, New Orleans Jazz, Cuban son – and Albanian Saze! The turn of the last century saw mass migrations to the world’s cities with rural people bringing their music with them, adapting their traditions to new circumstances and modern instruments. Of all these great musical forms, the mesmerizing arabesques, joyful dances and heart-breaking laments of Saze are among the least recorded, and they remain largely unknown outside Albania.

Via Glitterbeat, Saz’iso released last year one of the few recorded Saze albums: the superb ‘At Least Wave Your Handkerchief At Me: The Joys and Sorrows of Southern Albanian Song’.

The virtuoso Albanian musicians in the collective were brought together by producer Joe Boyd, who has previously worked with the likes of Pink Floyd and Nick Drake. Singers Donika Pecallari and Adrianna Thanou, from Përmet (one of the cradles of Saze), already attracted attention in their youth, at local festivals and song competitions. During the turbulent years of the’90s and the fall of the communist government, they left Albania and started a new life in Greece. Adrianna refrained from singing for two decades and only returned to her passion again in recent years. Robert Tralo, the male singer of the collective, also hails from Përmet. After the fall of the communist government, he turned his back on his musical career and decided to become and orthodox priest, permitting himself the occasional performance with a Saze ensemble when outside the boundaries of his parish.

– Donika Pecallari (vocals)
– Adrianna Thanou (vocals)
– Robert Tralo (vocals)
– Aurel Qirjo (violin & vocals)
– Telando Feto (clarinet)
– Agron Murat (llautë/lute)
– Agron Nasi (dajre/frame drum)
– Pëllumb Meta (fyell/flute & vocal)

Coproduction: Ancienne Belgique and Muziekpublique