La Musgaña

La Musgaña is a Spanish folk music ensemble, founded in 1986 by Enrique Almendros, Jose Marti Climent and Rafa Martin. The band incorporates various instruments such as the dulcimer, fiddle, hurdy gurdy, bagpipes, flutes, guitar and bass, and performs traditional music from the Iberian peninsula, mostly from the Spanish regions of Castile, Zamora, Leon, Extremadura and La Mancha. La Musgaña means "water-rat" in Spanish.

Biography

La Musgaña was founded when Almendros, a former Irish music performer, joined Climent and Martin in 1986. Six months later flutist Jaime Muñoz and bassist Carlos Beceiro were added to the line-up.

Their 1988 self-titled debut album made them win the Spanish National Folk Award for young performers and propelled them through the ranks of Spanish music. Their second album, El Paso de la Estantigua, was signed under the Radio Nacional Espana laber in 1989.

Their third album, Lubicán, released in 1991 under Xenophile-Green Linnet label, was their first release in North America and gave them international fame, but later in the year original members Climont and Martin left the band, which replaced them with Cuco Pérez, on the accordion, and composer, percussionist and hurdy gurdy player Luis Delgado. The next they made their first concert in the United States.

A fourth album, Las Seis Tentaciones, was released in 1998, again under Green Linnet.

Members

* Jaime Muñoz (Clarinets, accordion, saxophone, flutes, Bulgarian bagpipe)
* Carlos Beceiro (Bouzouki, guitar, bass)
* Jorge Arribas (Accordion)
* Diego Galaz (Violin)
* Luis Delgado (Hurdy gurdy, percussions)

Former members
* Enrique Almendros (Bagpipes, dulcimer) 1986-2004
* Jose Marti Climent (Violin, bagpipes) 1986-1991
* Rafa Martin (Hurdy gurdy, guitar) 1986-1991

Discography

*1988: "La Musgaña"
*1989: "El Paso de la Estantigua"
*1991: "Lubicán"
*1992: "El Diablo Cojuelo"
*1998: "Las Seis Tentaciones"
*1998: "La Musgaña en Concierto"
*2003: "Temas Profanos"

External links

* [http://www.lamusgana.net/ La Musgaña official website]
* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fxftxqlgldte~T0 La Musgaña at All Music Guide]