Nekez Ari was born from love to the traditional Basque chant
In 1972, some friends from Saint Jean Pied de Port
(Garazi) in the heart of the Basse Navarre province
in the Basque Country, motivated by chants,
got together and formed a choir called Nekez Ari.
Their only ambition was to sing traditional Basque chants.Without any
serious thougts and because they wanted to have fun, they decided to
name their band « Nekez Ari» which means
in Basque «without any pretention or hardly».
They are accompanied and supported by a musician who got the first place
at the music conservatory. His name is Jo Maris.
Their first concert took place in 1973 in Saint Jean Pied de Port
In 1975, the band recorded their first LP «zure izena zoin eder» (religious chants) by the request of Father Bruno, a monk from Belloc’s Abbey.
Gaining recognition through the years…
As the years pass by, the quality of the Nekez Ari’s
repertoire is improving and this opens doors to international and french
television. In 1989, Nekez Ari participated in a japanese TV show. In
1992, the choir performed in Bayonne at the “Davis Cup”.
In the years to come, Nekez Ari performances will draw attention at
numerous national and international festivals and conventions like:
- Sandillon(45)
- Mende(48)
- Gruissan(11)
- Auzat(09)
- Malesherbes(45)
- - The Pays D'Orthe(40) and Garindein’s(64) festivals (for a total of eleven participations at this festival which is a reference in Basque chanting)
- d'Oloron(three times)
- Thônes (74)
2000 and 2001 were International years for Nekez Ari
In
2000, Nekez Ari performed at the Santa Lucia’s festival
in Monterrey , Mexico.
The Nekez Ari, was the only men’s choir to be
invited by the festival’s organizers. Ten nations were represented:
Argentina, South Korea, China, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania,
Mexico and the Basque Country.
In 2001, Nekez Ari was also invited to the Santa Clara’s
international festival in Cuba.
We can suppose that Nekez Ari received this official invitation from
Cuban Culture Ministry due to their success during
the Monterrey’s International Festival.
This festival took place in Santa Clara, the capital of Villa
Clara’s province, were Ernesto "Che" Guevara was buried.
There, the music, chanting and dansingn are the best way of expression
for a population that knows how to communicate the enthusiasm and generosity
despite their difficult life conditions.
All the delegations experienced some sadness when the moment to leave
this endearing population arrived.
Nekez
Ari not only accumulates concerts but also albums: within 30
years, the choir recorded 10 albums. Nekez Ari’s high quality
work was enough for them to get preselected at the "Victoires
de la Musique 1996", in the traditional music
category.
Click over this link to listen to the audio samples >>>
Today, Nekez Ari is a 33 year old choir that remains faithfull to it's origins.
The Nekez Ari choir is also active and participates on the organisation of "the Basque Country’s Choir Federation" Iparraldeko Abesbatzen Elkartea (North Basque Country) which has 18 Choirs and belongs to the Basque Country Choir Alliance (north and south) wich that brings together around 250 choir groups.Today, Nekez Ari has 24 singers and 5 musicians all directed by Choir Director Jean-Marie Piolet and his assitant Léon Alfaro. Nekez Ari has always respected and protected their ideals which are:
- Singing while respecting the traditions of the past generations.
- Show that today BasqueCountry still continues to compose and enrich the cultural heritage for the future generations.
" To sing while respecting the tradition passed on by the past generations "