Gwendal

Formed in Brittany, France, in 1973, this folk group recorded acoustic albums of Celtic material before Gwendal 3, and subsequently switched to an ‘electric’ lineup. The latter featured Bruno Barre (violin), Youenn Le Berre (flute), Jean-Marie Renard (guitar), Roger Schaub (bass), Ricky Caust (guitar) and Arnaud Rogers (drums). For Gwendal 4 they merged Celtic tunes with rock, jazz and reggae. In 1982, constant changes in personnel resulted in the recruitment Robert Le Gall (fiddle/guitar). He and Le Berre then became the core of the group, with both writing and deciding on the musical direction. The band’s 90s set Glen River proved to be a pleasing, swinging collection with the overtones of a pure folk jig.