Senor Cabrales
Music from the Celtic Edge
Senor Cabrales
Music from the Celtic Edge
Our Albums
You can buy one of our current albums here. Aqui is our first album, and Sol Y Sombra is our most recent album
Aqui plus Sol Y Sombra
$49 inc post
To buy copies of both albums, Aqui plus Sol Y Sombra, please contact us at nicrig@gmail.com
Pinchos
$14
A sample of tunes from our performance at the Bathurst Entertainment Centre in 2018. To buy Pinchos, please contact us at nicrig@gmail.com
Pinchos Tracks
Marcha d’Anton El Neñu
An old Asturian funeral march for a young boy, apparently traditional. We don’t know anything more about the subject, but Juan, our piper, thinks it is at least a couple of centuries old. We note that it appeared on an influential recording by the folk band Beleños in the mid 1980s. We learned it from Felpeyu.
Castilian Tunes
Aguasvertientes is a fandango from the Salamanca region, which we learned from the band La Musgaña – we think it may be the name of an actual village or settlement.
Corrido de Encina - traditional from Segovia, in 5/8 time – typical of corridos and charradas from Northern Castille. The associated dances are called ‘baile a lo cojo’ – to dance as if lame. We learned it from Felpeyu, who had it from their Castilian fiddler, Fernando Oyagüez, but La Musgaña have also recorded it.
Fandangu
A live performance of a set from our first album “Aqui” that has proved popular. The slow air is The Lament for Owen Roe O’Sullivan (1748 – 1782), arguably the greatest, and probably the wildest, of the great folk poets of Munster (for more info, Daniel Corkery’s book, “The Hidden Ireland” is recommended.) On this performance, Juan leads in on low whistle, and Ian joins on flute on the repeat. The fandangu is from Central Asturias, and comes from the seminal collection of Eduardo Martinez Torner “Cancionero Musical de la Lírica Popular Asturiana” (1920) – a bible for Asturian musicians to
the present day. We have multiple copies !
D’Ancadeira
Marcha d’Ancadeira is a traditional march, originally for religious purpose, which Felpeyu learnt from Antón de Fonduveigas, a gaiteru born in Ancadeira. He called it “L’Altisimu”.
Alborada de Porcia was composed by the late, great Igor Medio, of Felpeyu, to celebrate a wonderful festival at that place.
Saltón de Brañalonga is a composition by Yago Prado, gaiteru from the band Llangres, dedicated to his grandmother, who apparently fed the band very well during rehearsals.
La Casa Gris (The Grey House) A song of displacement, homesickness and loss of traditions – the words by Asturian poet, Ignaciu Llope, set by band Llan de Cubel to two traditional tunes, one a harvest song. We bookend it with a Macedonian song tune, Yerakina, the story apparently about a young girl who
drowned in a well at Nigrita Serron, north-east of Thessaloniki, in the mid nineteenth century. Interestingly, the word Yerakina (the young woman’s name) means ‘buzzard’ .
Ross McDonald’s Farewell to The Hub
A set we learnt from Asturian band Niundes, and dedicated to the owner/manager of a renowned eatery in Keppel St, Bathurst, NSW, on the occasion of his retirement. The Hub is still there.
The Pasodoble de Carmina is traditional, as is A la Mar Fui por Naranxes (To the Sea I Went for Oranges – note Juan’s introductory comments on the track.
The Saltón de Taranis was composed by Niundes. Taranis is a powerful, ancient pan-Celtic god of Thunder,and references to him can be found in Asterix the Gaul. Presumably, he was, and still is, also a Big Deal in Asturias.
Enjoy !
Pinchos Recipes
A pincho (Spanish: [ˈpintʃo], literally "thorn" or "spike"), pintxo (Basque: [ˈpintʃo]) or pinchu (Asturian: [ˈpintʃʊ]) is a small snack, typically eaten in bars, traditional in northern Spain and especially popular in Cantabria, Asturias, the Basque country and Navarre.
Jim McWhinnie (bodhran)
Sardinas para uno
(sardines for one)
3 fresh sardines
Serves 1
* Catch the sardines.
* Grill the sardines.
* Eat the sardines.
* Serve with a bottle of cidra seca.
Nick Rigby (bouzouki)
Pimientos de Padron
(Padron peppers)
300 gm small green Padron peppers
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt to taste (lots)
Serves 4
* Heat the oil in a skillet.
* Fry the peppers over high heat until they blister to your preference.
* Pour onto a plate and sprinkle with sea salt.
* Serve with beer or fino sherry.
NOTE: Approximately one in ten peppers will be quite hot - in Galicia they like those odds.
"Os Pimientos de Padrón, uns pican e outros non."
("The peppers of Padron, some are hot and some not.")
Roger Hargraves (fiddle)
Morcilla con garbanzos y limones en conserva
(blood sausage with chick peas and preserved lemon)
100 gm morcilla sausage, cut into about 1 cm slices
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
180 gm canned chick peas, drained
1 teaspoon chopped preserved lemon
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Serves 4
* Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet.
* Add the morcilla and garlic and cook both sides of the morcilla for a couple of minutes over medium heat.
* Add chick peas and lemon and cook for 2 minutes, until the morcilla starts to break up.
* Add chicken stock, bring to the boil and cook until the liquid reduces by half.
* Stir in the parsley then pour into four small bowls.
* Drizzle the remaining oil over the bowls.
* Serve with fino or manzanilla sherry, or a tempranillo.
Juan Cordero (Asturian bagpipe, whistle)
Gambas al ajillo
(garlic prawns)
1/2 kg small prawns, shelled and deveined
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves of garlic (finely sliced)
1 teaspoon hot smoked paprika
1/4 glass dry sherry (manzanilla or fino)
1 small bunch of Italian flat leafed parsley
Serves 4
* Season the prawns with the paprika and add salt to taste.
* Heat the oil in a skillet.
* Add the garlic and cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes until it softens.
* Add the prawns. Toss and stir for a couple of minutes until they begin to change colour.
* Add the sherry. Continue cooking and stirring for another minute or so until the sauce comes to the boil and the prawns are cooked right through.
* Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley and serve with white rioja or Galician godello.
Ian Stewart (flute, whistle)
Chorizo con habas
(chorizo with broad beans)
250 gm chorizo sausage, cut into bite sized slices
250 gm broad beans, shelled
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
1/4 onion, finely chopped
zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons sherry (amontillado is good)
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Serves 4
* Cook the broad beans in boiling salted water for about 3 minutes.
* Drain the beans, rinse under cold water, then leave them to dry.
* Heat the oil in a skillet.
* Add the onion, garlic and chorizo and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
* Increase the heat to high and stir in the broad beans, lemon zest and sherry.
* Continue stirring and cook for 4 to 5 minutes.
* Serve with Reserva rioja or a lighter style tempranillo.
Bruce Cameron (mandolin)
Chipirones a la plancha
(fried squid)
1kg baby squid, fresh if available
2 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of fresh parsley
1/4 glass dry white wine
1/8 teaspoon chilli flakes
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Serves 4
* Clean the squid, gently removing the guts, the beak, any soft bone and outer skin. Dry the squid thoroughly on absorbent paper. Do not discard the tentacles.
* Finely chop the garlic and parsley, add the wine, chilli flakes and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and crush well using a mortar and pestle.
* Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a skillet and cook the squid for a couple of minutes over medium heat until lightly brown.
* Add the garlic and parsley dressing, heat for another minute or so while stirring.
* Add a pinch of salt and serve with sparkling wine (preferably Spanish cava) or beer.
