Laver Bariu ~ Songs from the City of Roses [Globe Style]

01. Vitori May Your Mother Be Blessed
02. I'll Love You as Long as I Live
03. I'll Take a Gun and Go Hunting
04. Pogonishte Permetare
05. Little Leaf
06. Our Bride in the Dance
07. Lokum With Sugar
08. Dance of Tirana
09. Oh Dear, Bad Raki
10. Old Women's Dance
11. The Many Petalled Rose/O Basil
12. The Permet Bagpipe
13. Emigration Song-Weep, Maro
14. The Face Smiles



Usta Laver Bariu : clarinet, voice, leader
Lefter Nurka : accordion, voice
Ifran Ponoçi : llaute, voice
Ilir Durralliu : second clarinet, voice
Alban Zeqiri : def, voice
Drini Kanani : singer (male)
Evgjeni Culli : singer (female)

Rec. in Përmet, Albania
16 & 17 April 1994

Laver Bariu is arguably the best known Albanian clarinetist of the last half century and an important figure in the development of urban folk music in the south-eastern Albanian region of Toskëria. Born in the southern town of Përmet, Laver was exposed to Përmeti folk music traditions from a young age via his father Bari Nurka, a well known local singer and llautë player. As a youngster he resorted to making his own instruments from any handy materials that he could find and his keenness and passion for music did not go unnoticed by his father. In 1935 the family moved to the eastern town of Korçë, at that time a vibrant and important centre of Tosk Albanian music and culture. Here he mingled with a far wider selection of singers and musicians and gained his first experience of playing in different groups and ensembles.

By the time his family returned to Përmet in 1944, Laver was ready to begin a full-time career as a musician and band leader. He played llautë with Vangjel Leskoviku's ensemble for a year or so before forming his own ensemble. Despite inevitable changes in personnel this ensemble remained active for the next six decades. Along with the Lela Family, Laver Bariu was largely responsible for promoting the Përmet style of urban folk music to the point where it has almost come to symbolise Tosk folk music in general.

He has been recorded several times by Radio Tirana and has also appeared on Albanian television. Foreign engagements were understandably restricted but following the collapse of Communism Laver Bariu was able to record a couple of CDs for labels based outside of Albania, one of which - Songs From the City of Roses - was widely available in the West, having been recorded in Përmet by Ben Mandelson in 1994.

There are two central points for this recording, each inseparable yet distinct. One is the instrumental music, which has echoes of the Balkans, Greece, southern Italy, and the Middle East. This is the music of clarinetist Laver Bariu and his ensemble of accordion, reeds, and percussion. The second element is the singing, a true polyphonic style, with multiple singers moving freely and apart above a single droning voice. The combination is quite unique, with instruments and voices improvising and mimicking one another, creating complex and rich sounds. There are moments where the drone of the accordion and the wail of the clarinet create a soaring, modern sound, only to be pulled down to rich earthiness by the voices. Recorded by the Globestyle team in 1994, these live-to-digital recordings are wonderful documents of a remarkable musique. Laver Bariu was appointed an 'Artist of Merit' in 1979.

320 thx to espilos