Dalla

This article is about the band. For the Italian singer, see Lucio Dalla. For the hill in Kano, see Dalla Hill.

Dalla
Origin	Treggajorran, Cornwall
Genres	Folk World Music
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Dalla Records
Website	http://www.dalla.co.uk
Members
Hilary Coleman Neil Davey
Past members
Simon Lockley

Dalla is a dance band in Cornwall known for providing music for Noze looan dances.

Members play the clarinet, bouzouki, fiddle, guitar, accordion and percussion. They sing in both Cornish and English.^[1]

Various members of Dalla formerly played in Bucca,^[2] Sowena,^[3] and other bands. The music displays influences from these previous sounds. Dalla often appear with many additional instruments, which vary from event to event.

Influences on Dalla

Dalla's Myspace profile cites their influences as:^[4]

Planxty Bleizi Ruz [5] Groupa[6] Bothy Band Ti Jazz[7] Triona Ni Dhomnaill Battlefield Band Tannahill Weavers

Chieftains Jan Garbarek Brenda Wootton Alan Stivell AbDeli Gwerz[8] Lunassa[9] Fela Kuti

Kate Rusby Altan La Bottine Souriante Ayub Ogada Skolvan[10] Bundu Boys[11] Sidney Bechet Ali Farka Toure

I Suonatori[12] Kevin Burke Andy Irvine Stella (Rambisai) Chiweshe The Boys of the Lough Silly Sisters Filarfolket[13] Värttinä and millions more…

Influence of Dalla

Dalla has greatly influenced Cornish music, encouraging the formation of 'Noze looan' bands, particularly by younger people and influencing bands such as The Red Army (band), Pentorr^[14] and Tezen Koynt.^[15] They have been involved in numerous Cornish music projects, run by Cumpas such as 'kick up your heels' in which young people from across Cornwall played in a large underground concert at Carnglaze Caverns, or the 'crowders and horners' project, to encourage processional Cornish music and dance.

Just Cornish ^[16] described Dalla as "possibly the most popular contemporary Cornish music group ever."

Review

In the Cornish Guardian, Bert Biscoe is quoted as saying "There is an intelligence that inhabits and underpins the various activities of Dalla . . . " ^[17]

Members

• Hilary Coleman, clarinet, bass clarinet, vocals
• Neil Davey, fiddle, bouzouki
• Bec Applebee, vocals, percussion
• Steve Hunt, vocals, guitar, crowdy crawn

(Note that though Dalla has a 'core' of two to three members they rarely perform without additional musicians, and on such occasions when there are only two they are usually referred to as the 'dalla duo'.)

Former members

• Simon Lockley

Origins

Dalla started out as a more traditional folk band in the early 1990s called 'The Jack and Jenny Band', to little critical or commercial acclaim. In 1999 they became Sowena, a more professional sounding band with a sturdier core and greatly increased promotion. Two years later, the band underwent a second transformation as remaining additional members left and Neil Davey joined to complete the classic Dalla sound.

Discography

Albums

• A Richer Vein (2001) ^[18]
• More Salt/Hollan Mouy (2004) ^[19]
• Rooz (2007)
• Cribbar (2010)

References

1. ^ Band website
2. ^ A Cornish band named for the supernatural sea deities called Bucca.
3. ^ Sowenna=Success, prosperity: Kesson website:

   A group now sadly defunct, the music of Sowena was solidly rooted in Cornwall's traditions of the land and the sea. Whilst the band retained something vitally Cornish, their individual influences and musical backgrounds were as eclectic as they were outward looking. Formerly the 'Jack & Jenny Band', they often performed with the dance band with display team Otta Nye Moaze. Their only CD, 'A Month of Sundays' was a big hit, and is now a treasured find on the second hand market.

4. ^ Dalla's Myspace profile
5. ^ Stephen D. Winick "Breton Folk Music, Breton Identity, And Alan Stivell's Again" originally in Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 108 No. 429, Summer 1995.

   Bleizi Ruz, whose name is Breton for Red Wolves, is a noteworthy band on the stylistic border between bal breton dance music and folk-rock. 1991 was their eighteenth year, and they celebrated by releasing a live album. The result, Bleizi Ruz En Concert [Escalibur CD 836 (1991)], is quite an energetic album showcasing Bleizi Ruz's great skill as musicians and as entertainers. They do not stick to Breton material, but incorporate Romanian, Bulgarian and American traditional music, while their original compositions show Cajun and Gypsy influences. On the other hand, gavottes, cercles circassiens, and songs are taken from the rich Breton tradition, and many of the original compositions are clearly in Breton styles as well. The most exciting Breton track is the set of cercles circassiens (the Breton adaptation of Irish jigs), which sound like Irish musician Manus Lunny's offbeat compositions.

6. ^ Groupa website
7. ^ Ti Jazz: a jazz influenced Breton band.
8. ^ Gwertz: A Breton narrative song see French Wikipedia article
9. ^ Lunassa: website of Irish band.
10. ^ website of Breton band - Skolvan
11. ^ Bundu Boys: BBC News website on this Zimbabwean band
12. ^ I Suanatori: Dance music of Northern Italy see Italian Wikipedia article
13. ^ Filarfolket link
14. ^ myspace.com/pentorr
15. ^ Kesson:

    "Tezen Koynt feature three of Cornwall's finest young musicians: fiddlers Steph Doble and Faith Coles, and guitarist Tim du Feu. Between them they have performed at festivals in Wales, Brittany, the Isle of Man, Ireland and the USA. Although trying their hand at some Irish material, their material is predominantly rooted in the Cornish tradition, in which the group are exponents of the Kerno-Breton 'Noz Looan' school."

16. ^ Just Cornish online shop.
17. ^ "Dalla are Cornish pioneers", Cornish Guardian 1 September 2010
18. ^ *Review Of 'A Richer Vein'
19. ^ Just Cornish (Online shop) promotional message for "More salt"