Niko Etxart

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Niko Etxart
Niko etxart 001.jpg
Background information
Origin Altzürüku, Basque Country,
Genres pop-rock, traditional folk music
Years active1974 –

Niko Etxart is a Basque singer-songwriter and musician born in 1953 in Altzürükü, Soule, Basque Country. He's widely reputed in the Basque area for being a forerunner of Basque rock [1] and bridging the gap between Basque old tradition and modern music trends.

Aussurucq Commune in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

Aussurucq is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of south-western France.

Soule Place in France

Soule is a former viscounty and French province and part of the present day Pyrénées-Atlantiques département. It is divided into two cantons of the arrondissement (district) of Oloron-Sainte-Marie, and a part of the canton of Saint Palais.

Basque Country (greater region) cultural and historic land of the Basque people

The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people. The Basque country is located in the western Pyrenees, straddling the border between France and Spain on the coast of the Bay of Biscay. Euskal Herria is the oldest documented Basque name for the area they inhabit, dating from the 16th century.

Contents

Early life

Niko Etxart was born in Altzürükü. When he was two years old, his parents moved to Paris. However, unlike many others, he received the Basque language and culture as a child, in particular through the Basque centre in Paris. When he left school in 1972, his only wish was to be a singer. By this year he founded a group named Tinka with two other friends. [2]

Music

After living in Paris since his early childhood, moved out in 1974 to the rural land of his parents in Soule with brand new ideas about music, taking up rock and roll and singing in Basque. He put together the band Minxoriak in 1976 without giving up his solo career as a musician, so besides working with the band till the mid-80s, Etxart staged performances on his own as well as releasing various albums. Some of his songs have attained considerable popularity both in the Southern and Northern Basque Country.

Basque language Language of the Basque people

Basque (; euskara[eus̺ˈkaɾa]) is a language spoken in the Basque Country, a region that straddles the westernmost Pyrenees in adjacent parts of northern Spain and southwestern France. Linguistically, Basque is unrelated to the other languages of Europe and is a language isolate to any other known living language. The Basques are indigenous to, and primarily inhabit, the Basque Country. The Basque language is spoken by 28.4% (751,500) of Basques in all territories. Of these, 93.2% (700,300) are in the Spanish area of the Basque Country and the remaining 6.8% (51,200) are in the French portion.

Southern Basque Country

The Southern Basque Country is a term used to refer to the Basque territories within Spain as a unified whole.

French Basque Country Region in southwestern France

The French Basque Country, or Northern Basque Country is a region lying on the west of the French department of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. Since 1 January 2017, it constitutes the Basque Municipal Community presided over by Jean-René Etchegaray.

In the late 1990s and the 2000s, he has taken up composing traditional pastorals, as well as staging traditional vocal songs along with his father Dominika and Robert Larrandaburu. When performing with instrumental background, he's supported by the band Hapa-Hapa (Zuberoan Basque for 'panting'). Among his most abiding hits Euskal Rock'n Roll, Baga biga klik, Tumatxa, Eperra (traditional) can be counted, to mention but a few.

Pastoral (theatre of Soule) theatre genre from the Basque Country

The pastoral is a traditional kind of play from the Basque Country held in the region of Soule, France. It features a set range of characters and acts repeated on all pieces. This kind of theatre represents a dualism between the wicked and the righteous. On every new creation, a different story is staged, where verses are recited in Zuberoan Basque by the players following a pre-established stance and steps on the scene. Singing and dance play an important role too, the performance actually culminating with a choral staging where the collective spirit is voiced. The development of the story is supported by a brass-band and/or the xirula and the psalterium (ttun-ttun).

Significance

In a time when the Southern Basque Country still remained under the yoke of Franco's dictatorship, with Basque language and culture quickly losing ground to French, and Basque society struggling between modernity and loyalty to conservative old traditions, not only did Etxart switch to new contents but more controversially he brought along new forms: electric guitar, jeans, long hair, secularity, etc., which didn't go down well with Basque conservative circles and political and cultural activists.

The musician showed a rocker outlook, even releasing a hit, "Euskal Rock'n Roll", that made it to the 17th position in the Spanish charts ( Los 40 Principales ). However, thereafter he has evolved into gentler tunes, while sticking to rocky manners and look.

Audio sample

Discography

Albums [2]

Single [2]

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References

  1. Watson, Cameron (2003). Modern Basque history: eighteenth century to the present. University of Nevada Press. p. 425. ISBN   978-1-877802-16-4 . Retrieved 8 June 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 www.badok.info (in Basque)