THE NORTHERN BREEZE, by MICHEL BALATTI

THE NORTHERN BREEZE

by MICHEL BALATTI

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
it comes as a 4 pages digipaxk with a 8 ful color pages in English, short presentation of each piece with full credits and line-up, and artist's photos

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Full Digital Discography

5

releases

Get all 5 BIRKIN TREE releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of 4,0, Five Seasons, A Cheap Present, THE NORTHERN BREEZE, and VIRGINIA. , and , .

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1.	The Cloon 04:04	info	buy track
2.	The price of my Pig 03:12	info	buy track
3.	Coleman's march 05:06	info	buy track
4.	For Johnny 05:23	info	buy track
5.	Over the edge 03:59	info	buy track
6.	Swedish Waltz 04:16	info	buy track
7.	The Humours of Giulia 05:35	info	buy track
8.	Eleanor Plunkett 04:45	info	buy track
9.	Harvest Moon 03:26	info	buy track
10.	The air tune 03:37	info	buy track
11.	Agata 04:54	info	buy track

about

The Northern Breeze is the debut solo album of Italian flute and whistle player Michel Balatti, driving force of bands such as Birkin Tree and Liguriani. The core of the album repertoire is Irish music: from traditional tunes to a selection of reels, jigs and slow airs by some of the predominant contemporary composers within the tradition. The album features Scottish guitarist Michael Bryan, multi instrumentalist Fabio Biale on most tracks. Guest appearances by Irish flute player and singer Nuala Kennedy, Irish concertina player Caitlin Nic Gabhann and harpist Elena Spotti.
Simple artistic production and minimalistic arrangements were chosen to highlight the strength of the melodies and the expressiveness of Balatti's flute playing.

“I've had the great pleasure of performing on stage many times with Michel Balatti over the years.
He is a fine flute player with a thorough understanding of the style and repertoire in Irish music. His flute playing sounds as authentically Irish as the best playing you might expect to hear in co. Clare or Sligo. This is a beautifully arranged and produced recording”
Martin Hayes, march 2016

credits

released January 1, 2016

Produced by Beppe Greppi for Felmay records
Recorded in october 2015 by Raffaele Abbate at OrangeHomeRecords Studio, Leivi (Ge), Italy
Mixed and mastered by Raffaele Abbate

liner notes by Michel Balatti
all photos by Antonio Ragni
graphic design by Sara Zucchetti and Marzia Ardissono / Fuocofisso
hand lettering by Minae Inoue

Michel Balatti plays
D flute by Geert Lejeune
Bb flute by Michael Grinter
F and Bb whistles by Colin Goldie

This album is dedicated to
my wife, Giulia, for your love, support and patience
my daughter Agata, for making me the happiest man on earth

Special thanks to
Michael Bryan and Fabio Biale for your invaluable friendship, musicianship, time, patience and hard work throughout the making of this album.

Caitlin Nic Gabhann, Nuala Kennedy and Elena Spotti for the great playing on the guest tracks.
Raffaele Abbate for the superb sound and for the coffee, wine, beer and food facilities in the studio!

Thanks to
papà Michele & mamma Silvana, famiglia Balatti and famiglia Aiazzi, Geert Lejeune and Fiona (for making me a flute that is a real joy to play!), Daniele Caronna, Fabio Rinaudo, Graham Dunne, Niamh Parsons, Beppe Greppi, Filippo Gambetta, Claudio De Angeli, Laura Torterolo, Carlo Galantini, Luigi Fazzo, Ivan Berto, Marco Fabbri, Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, John Rynne, Cyril O'Donoghue, Hajime and Minae Inoue, Umberto Bisi, Fabrizio Cotto, Davide Valfrè & all @ Folkclub Torino, Christiane Meininger, Dirk and Dorle Schopen, Andy Lang, Sara Zucchetti, Alessandro Nasuti, Antonio Ragni and the Volvo Car Corporation of Sweden.

Michel Balatti flutes, whistles
Michael Bryan guitar
Fabio Biale piano, bodhran (on tracks 1, 3, 5, 7, 11)

Special guests:
Caitlin Nic Gabhann concertina (track 2)
Nuala Kennedy whistle (track 10)
Elena Spotti harp (tracks 4, 9)