Cervantine

Even the most committed road-hogs get homesick now and then. Following a period of whirlwind touring and recording that took Jeremy Barnes and Heather Trost on multiple trips around Europe, the duo resettled in their hometown of Albuquerque with an eye towards examining not just the Balkan music that's at the root of A Hawk and a Hacksaw, but also the Spanish influences that color both eastern Europe and the southwestern US. Recorded live at the couple's home studio in Albuquerque (and, for the first time, released on their own label, LM Dupli-Cation), Cervantine features Barnes' accordion, Trost's violin and viola, a host of local New Mexican musicians and a pair of Polish émigrés, singer Stephanie Hladowski and her bouzouki-playing brother Chris Hladowski. On their most recent albums, most notably the bracingly immediate EP they recorded with Hungary's Hun Hangár Ensemble, Barnes and Trost have made the subtle but crucial transition from being musicians playing Balkan music to being Balkan musicians: that sense of being thoroughly immersed in this music remains, even when tracks like the originals "Espanola Kolo" (named for a Slavic social dance and the tough blue-collar town north of Santa Fe) and the title track (a tribute to Spanish author Miguel Cervantes, ultimate source of the quote that inspired the group's name) introduce flamenco-tinged nylon-string guitar and trumpet parts to the otherwise Eastern European sound. Other highlights include a spirited version of "Uskudar," the Turkish "Louie Louie," played by everyone from Ankara wedding bands to Eartha Kitt.