Like Nightingales in the Spring

The north Albanian town of Shkodër, lying between lake and mountains, embraces multiple cultures and histories. While it was still part of Turkey-in-Europe (until 1913), the local music was mostly brass bands and itinerant bards from the highlands, but Shkodër still saw itself the country's cultural capital as it had built a reputation for hosting Italian opera, which was furthered by Shkodër resident Prenk Jakova, who wrote the first Albanian opera in 1958. The town developed its own distinctive musical language, aheng, reminiscent of the Slav sevdalinka, which stretches across the Balkan peninsula but breathing a distinct air. Marked by long melodic spans and frequent, fluid changes of rhythm and tempo, these songs are barely known outside the country, and they well merit the splendid performances found on this recording from a band of veteran singers and musicians, coordinated by the same team that brought us Songlines Award winners the Tirona-Tirana Allstars.

Their experience shows in the sound of the band, like a bunch of old friends, but closer listening reveals the subtleties of the accordion, violin and clarinet leads. The influence of opera shows in the soprano vocal of ‘Në Zaman Të Asaj Furie’, and the centuries of Ottoman rule in the chromaticism of many of the melodies.