Composer and Musician, Kepa Junkera, one of the most internationally recognized Basque musicians; has realized 17 albums, on of which, “Hiri” (2006), was selected as the Best World Music Album in Europe, by the World Music Charts.
Mr. Kepa Junkera will honor us with an evening of Basque music with a variety of traditional musical instruments. He will be introduced by eminent writer, Bernardo Atxaga, our disitinguished Eusko Ikaskuntza Visiting Professor of Basque Culture.
Our backgrounds, our roots, a sense of belonging are an importance in the human being. We all feel the urgent need to belong to something, to feel that we share a common origin and in a similar way to feel and live it. But when the individual, for whatever reason, has to travel far and continue his existence in a different place from where he was born this feeling invades his soul stronger, even forcing him to carry out a series of actions to offset somehow his “hunger” for his roots, his essence. Throughout the past week I’ve been in Boise, Idaho recording, performing and enjoying the party in which it has become for me my stay there. The truth is I’ve been totally amazed at the dedication, love and the attitude of the people there. It’s a shame I can not stay at “Jaialdia”, a festival that the Basque community in Boise celebrates every five years and this year it will be from July 26 till the 1st of August, in which 2005 the festival attracted over 30,000 people. There are various performances of music, Basque dances, rural sports, etc… bringing together thousands of people seeking their roots in a place to meet. A real Basque party, thousands of miles away from the cultural epicenter of it. This is the magic of the people far away from their homeland experiencing our same backgrounds in a passionate way. Their feelings, that maybe because of the distance or the absence produced a healthy envy in me making me live a very special feeling, as unique as the American men and women of Basque descent live it. Here no one asks if he can dance the Basque dances, if you know our history, or if you speak the language and even whether you have Basque descent. All that is required is an absolute respect, the major of passions and the maximum excitement about sharing with others the only thing that makes them different, their love for the Basque. To live like this, to the fullest, is what I always look for and without any doubt in Boise…. “I lived it!”
Junkera told Euskal Kazeta that his visit to Chino will coincide with a recording session in Los Angeles, where he will perform with blues musicians. He also hopes to work on a new music video while he is in the area before returning to the Bay Area after the Chino concert. In recent months, Junkera has been trying something new by recording with artists from a variety of genres. The songs have been in Euskera, the Basque language.
Junkera is probably the best internationally known Basque musician. He won his Latin Grammy in 2003 for Best Folk Album.
Raised in the Basque province of Bizkaia, Junkera has temporarily relocated his family to the Bay Area while he works with different artists in the U.S. and Latin America.
Information gathered by the http://euskalkazeta.com
Being the first in anything is something I’ve have never lost a good night sleep, in fact, being able to achieve something before anyone else doesn’t particularly attract me. What really is important that, in any area of life, is not to do thinks quickly or even get there before anyone, instead in how and what has been done to get to it. There are always many roads to follow to reach the same destiny and we are who choose on or another depending on the needs and efforts that we are willing to give. The extraordinary guitarist and living legend of flamenco, Paco de Lucia, has been invested Doctor Honorius Cause at the age of 63 by the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston (USA). Emulating musicians such as Sting, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin or my friend Pat Metheny, the author of “Entre dos aguas” or “La Barrosa” has become the fist Spanish citizen to receive such recognition. But in my opinion, what does stand out is that someone like Paco de Lucia, who has devoted his life to the art of flamenco and the guitar, has achieved something so important. Until recent years, the flamenco musical style was not only minority but also stigmatized, but the example of the “maestro” his efforts and those of many others, this very particular musical style has achieved a more consistent level of recognition in its essences, as in the words of Paco “I have spent many years fighting for things like this to happen.” They say all things are impossible while you think they are and I would add that anything is possible if you dream and believe in yourself. Zorionak! “Maestro” , with or without a doctorate you were, is and will remain, an unique artist with a real flamenco “magic” in your soul, which exudes humility, had work and effort because nobody can reach the peak only armed with talent. In the best case, it’s inherent in our being and it is the work and our effort that transforms this talent into genius and that, my friend you know well.
BOISE – Basque button accordion player Kepa Junkera, above left, is in Idaho working on a three-year project to record Basque music with musicians and singers from all over the world.
In Boise, he’s recording with pianist Paul Tillotson, right, and singer Curtis Stigers, as well as bass player Rod Wray and drummer Spencer Martin from the Basque band Amuma Says No.
“Kepa is bringing Basque music and having American musicians interpret music in their own way,” said Boise producer Gloria Totoricaguena. “Stigers and Tillotson grew up with Basque people; they know Basque culture and the Basques know them.”
Junkera will give a free solo accordion concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Basque Center. “Indescribable,” says Totoricaguena. “His accordion is his voice, his interpretation. It’s a real lesson in artistry.”
News and picture gathered from www.idahostatesman.com May 14,2010
Kepa Junkera collaborated being interviewed and writing the preface for Maxi de la Peña´s book; “La tierra de Mil Tonás”.
Here is more information about the book published by the daily journal “El Diario Montañes” translated:
EL DIARIO MONTAÑES
“Folklore is the musical expression array of the people’s culture for excellence. It represents the cycles of life, the work with the land, and the feast after the harvest.” This reflection made by the Portuguese singer and songwriter Dulce Pontes is one of the preface of the book “La tierra de Mil Tonás” written by the journalist of the “El Diario Montañes” native of the city of Santander, Maxi de la Peña. The new novel will be presented Thursday at 8:00pm at the Ateneo, a ceremony in which will assist, among the proper author, the journalist and student of traditional culture of Cantabria, Jesus Garcia Preciado.
The Portuguese artist Dulce Pontes, who will release her new album in a couple of day, prefaces the book written together with five other renowned musicians: Kepa Junkera, Uxía, Luis Delgado, Ana Alcaide and Paco Díez. Also, the director of the Culture section of this newspaper, Guillermo Balbona, gives us a journalistic profile of the work. The book just published b the editorial “Librucos” and distributed by ‘Cantabria Tradicional Distribución’ collects 51 interviews conducted between 2008 and 2009 in the “El Diario Montañes”.
Throughout this time in the States which as become something like my headquarters, I have come to meet so many interesting people, for many different reason. For the Basques, America has become a very special place. There were many who one day decided to leave everything and embarked on the adventure of looking for a better future for them, far away, on this continent which then became a habor of dreams, promises and opportunities. Today I will talk about an “authentic person” like many others, showing us that human beings are capable of anything when he proposes it. Ramon Echeveste, born in Doneztebe, Navarre who currently lives in Firebaugh California, dedicated to sheep raising. But the story that interests us begins when Ramon at the age of 20 decided to leave his home to try his luck in the United States with nothing but what he had on, 2 coins in his pocket and a heart full of dreams and illusions. He arrived in Fresno from the hand of the Western Range Association created by Basques in charge of bringing people of Euskal Herria to America in order to find them work among them in the different businesses. He began working as a shepherd for different farmers until one day he realized that he actually ran the company on his own but without the benefits of it so then bravely he takes the chance and creates his own sheep company. Those years were tough, exciting and every intense, working from sunrise to sunset, battling coyotes, adverse weather conditions and the worst of all, the loneliness. Within time he founded a family, with his thousands of sheep and today he is a recognized successful sheep raiser in the area. In this own way, Ramon has also created something from the nothing. The necessity sharpens the wit, they say “beharra” (Basque word meaning necessity) Ramon says, and the truth is that from my experience I would say it is. Echeveste is a self-made man, like many others, tanned in a thousand battles that exemplify the extraordinary ability of the human being to overcome the difficulties, something we all have inside, right?
An incredible journey inside the mind of Kepa Junkera, his concerns, curiosities, amazing people, emotions…anything he believes to be fascinating. But also without forgetting all the updated information on his music; new releases, productions, concerts, etc…
Kepa Junkera will be visiting the 
t this time in the States which as become something like my headquarters, I have come to meet so many interesting people, for many different reason. For the Basques, America has become a very special place. There were many who one day decided to leave everything and embarked on the adventure of looking for a better future for them, far away, on this continent which then became a habor of dreams, promises and opportunities. Today I will talk about an “authentic person” like many others, showing us that human beings are capable of anything when he proposes it. Ramon Echeveste, born in Doneztebe, Navarre who currently lives in Firebaugh California, dedicated to sheep raising. But the story that interests us begins when Ramon at the age of 20 decided to leave his home to try his luck in the United States with nothing but what he had on, 2 coins in his pocket and a heart full of dreams and illusions. He arrived in Fresno from the hand of the Western Range Association created by Basques in charge of bringing people of Euskal Herria to America in order to find them work among them in the different businesses. He began working as a shepherd for different farmers until one day he realized that he actually ran the company on his own but without the benefits of it so then bravely he takes the chance and creates his own sheep company. Those years were tough, exciting and every intense, working from sunrise to sunset, battling coyotes, adverse weather conditions and the worst of all, the loneliness. Within time he founded a family, with his thousands of sheep and today he is a recognized successful sheep raiser in the area. In this own way, Ramon has also created something from the nothing. The necessity sharpens the wit, they say “beharra” (Basque word meaning necessity) Ramon says, and the truth is that from my experience I would say it is. Echeveste is a self-made man, like many others, tanned in a thousand battles that exemplify the extraordinary ability of the human being to overcome the difficulties, something we all have inside, right?
An incredible journey inside the mind of Kepa Junkera, his concerns, curiosities, amazing people, emotions…anything he believes to be fascinating. But also without forgetting all the updated information on his music; new releases, productions, concerts, etc…
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