TRIO DHOORE - August
Trad Records TRAD004
This is the fourth album in six years from the three young brothers from Flanders. They only started playing together as a band in 2010, but they grew up in a family where making music was encouraged and folk music was never far away. Having been lucky enough to have reviewed every album of theirs so far, it has been pleasing to see how their playing has developed technically and emotionally and how much their composing and arranging skills have developed alongside this.
The three are Koen playing hurdy-gurdy, Hartwin on diatonic accordion with Ward contributing electric and acoustic guitars and adding bits of synthesiser and other electronic effects. All the compositions and arrangements are jointly attributed to all three, and this is all instrumental music. The notes tell that they sometimes lock themselves away for a couple of days for intensive work on composition and arranging. One of these was in a farmhouse with really impressive views. One of the pieces that came out of that time was Heuvelland, and that gave the name to the longest, most complex and most enjoyable track here.
Though their tunes are based on traditional dance rhythms, on the evidence of their albums, they are very much a concert band rather than one that would play for dancing. This album follows a discernible recent trend for shorter CDs; it only runs for 35 minutes - but never mind the length, feel the quality!
www.triodhoore.com
Vic Smith
This review appeared in Issue 131 of The Living Tradition magazine