Érik Marchand (born 1955) is a Breton traditional singer and player of the treujenn-gaol (Breton clarinet). Although born in Paris, his family was of

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

origin, hailing from

Quelneuc Quelneuc () is a former commune in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north-western France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the commune Carentoir.Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. Influenced by the music of

Manuel Kerjean Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name), a given name and surname * Manuel (''Fawlty Towers''), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manuel I of Portugal, king of Po ...

, Marchand moved to his family's homeland and studied traditional music and the

Breton language Breton (, , ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic languages, Celtic language group spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albei ...

. He became deeply involved with traditional Breton singing, including the ''

gwerz Gwerz (, "ballad", "lament", plural ) is a type of folk song of Brittany. In Breton music, the tells a story which can be epic, historical, or mythological. The stories are usually of a tragic nature. The gwerz is characterised by an often mon ...

'', a traditional lament. In the 1980s he helped form a traditional music group called which released three albums. In the 1980s Marchand also began to collaborate with

oud The oud ( ; , ) is a Middle Eastern short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument (a chordophone in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification of instruments), usually with 11 strings grouped in six courses, but some models have ...

ist Thierry Robin, producing a fusion of Celtic and Arabic motifs influenced by

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

Discography

*1982 : '' Chants à danser de Haute-Bretagne'', with Gilbert Bourdin ha Christian Dautel, Dastum *1985 : '' Gwerz, nouvelle musique de Bretagne'', Dastum/Gwerz *1985 : '' Chants à répondre de Haute-Bretagne'', with Gilbert Bourdin and Christian Dautel, Le Chasse-Marée *1988 : Gwerz : '' Au-delà'', Escalibur. Priz bras an Akademiezh Charles Cros 1988 *1989 : '' Gwerz Penmarc’h'', with Cabestan, Le Chasse-Marée *1990 : '' An henchoù treuz, chants du Centre-Bretagne'', gant Thierry Robin, AMTA/Ocora, Priz bras an Akademiezh Charles Cros 1990 *1991 : Trio Erik Marchand : '' An tri Breur'', Silex, ffff Télérama *1991 : ''Musique têtue'' gant le Quintet de Clarinettes, Silex, ffff Télérama *1993 : '' Gwerz live'', Gwerz Pladenn *1993 : '' Bazh du '' with le Quintet de Clarinettes, Silex. Diapason d’Or *1993 : Erik Marchand et le Taraf de Caransebes : '' Sag an tan ell'', Silex. Priz bras an Akademiezh Charles Cros 1995 ha ffff Télérama *1997 : Fresu, Pellen, Marchand trio : '' Condaghes'', Silex, Choc de la Musique *1998 : Erik Marchand et le Taraf de Caransebes : '' Dor'', BMG, ffff Télérama, Choc de la Musique, R 10 de Répertoires *2001 : '' Kan'', gant l’ensemble de Mallakaster d’Albanie, Le Tenore de Santu Predu (Sardaigne), Fransy Gonzales-Calvo (Galice) ha Bassey Koné (Mali), fff Télérama *2003 : '' La Route de la Rose'', Attitudes *2003 : '' Le Requiem d’Anna Ac’hmatova '' *2003 Ephéméra Jacques Pellen Naïve *2004 PRUNA Erik Marchand et les Balkaniks Harmonia Mundi 2741260 *2013 Ukronia

Decorations

* Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters (2016)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchand, Erik 1955 births Living people Musicians from Paris Breton musicians Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Breton-language singers