We welcome to the program Xabier Díaz, a talented vocalist and percussionist from the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia whose music seamlessly melds the contemporary and the traditional. Xabier (pronounced sha-bee-AIR) has taken his band and his music to many countries, and this is what one commentator had to say about Xabier Díaz & Adufeiras de Salitre in an article in the London-based Folk and Honey web magazine under the headline Beautiful, uplifting contemporary folk music from Galicia: "Award-winning musician, composer, folklore researcher, singer and expert of the pandeireta Galega (Galician tambourine), Xabier Díaz combines his soulful voice with the rhythms and radiant singing of seven members of Adufeiras de Salitre choir." And referring to Díaz's 2016 album "Mr. Tambourine Man," the commentator says: "Popular songs from hillside villages are given a joyous reinterpretation through Díaz’s gently understated singing and the powerfully engaging ensemble performance of the Adufeiras. In Galicia, with its influences from Portuguese and Celtic as well as Spanish cultures, there is a renewed interest from young and old in traditional music and dance." In today's program Xabier Díaz talks to Justin Coe about his music and about some of the songs included on his latest album, entitled "Noró (Algunhas músicas do norte)" (North - Some music from the north). If you'd like a taste of the song and dance that Xabier Díaz and company serve up every time they perform, here's a link to their video of the album´s first track, "O baile de Noró" (dance of the north): www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwjZd5ak7xA .
