Biography
Kornog first carried the sounds of Brittany to listeners around the globe. Formed in 1981 and active until 1987, the ensemble maintained an almost continuous touring pace while issuing four distinctive albums. After more than a decade apart, the original members reconvened. Their signature fusion of Scottish ballads and newly composed instrumentals remains as vibrant as before.
Four distinctive musicians shaped Kornog’s collective direction. The only non-Breton participant, Jamie McMenemy on vocals, bouzouki, mandolin and cittern, had already performed with several traditional folk ensembles while studying at Glasgow School of Art. He turned professional in 1976, touring and recording with the Battlefield Band before relocating to Brittany in 1979. Two years later he issued the solo album The Road to Kerrigouarch and co-established Kornog. Following the group’s initial dissolution he stayed away from music for six years, then resurfaced in 1993. Subsequent work has included appearances with the Belgium-based Celtic band Orion, a duo alongside Kornog fiddler Christian Lemaitre, and the trio Taxi Mauve, which backed vocalist Gerard Delahaye.
Lemaitre took up the fiddle in Paris before settling in Brittany, his family’s ancestral region. While first performing with Kornog he also appeared with the Breton dance troupe Pennou Skoulm and the string ensemble Archetype. After the band’s breakup he stayed active with the traditional-music teachers’ collective Tantad and the fest-noz group Storvan. Between 1992 and 1999 he toured three times with Kevin Burke and Johnny Cunningham under the name Celtic Fiddle Festival. He renewed his partnership with McMenemy in a duo in 1999 and, alongside his return to Kornog, continues to collaborate with Celtic vocalist Gilles Servat.
Wooden flute and bombarde player Jean-Michel Veillon ranks among the earliest musicians to adapt the wooden flute to Celtic repertoire. He had played bombarde since the age of fourteen and taught himself the wooden flute in 1977. Before helping found Kornog he recorded two albums of Breton dance music with Galorn. While touring and recording with Kornog he formed Pennou Skoulm in 1985. After Kornog disbanded he pursued non-traditional directions with Den, Barbaz and the Alain Genty Group. Since 1993 he has worked in a duo with Breton guitarist Yvon Riou and has continued releasing solo albums. The 1993 recording E Koat Nizon marked the first album devoted entirely to Breton music performed on the wooden transverse flute; a second such collection, Er Pasker, appeared in 1999.
Guitarist, flautist and vocalist Nicolas Quemener joined the reunited Kornog in place of original member Soig Siberil. A specialist in open-tuning guitar technique, Quemener grew up in Angers, France, and studied percussion at the National School of Music. He moved to Ireland in 1990, played with Arcady until 1994, then joined the Belgian band Orion. After settling in Brittany in 1993 he co-founded the traditional dance band Skeduz. In 1997 and 1998 he toured with Dan Ar Braz’s fifty-piece ensemble Heritage des Celtes. Beyond his work with Kornog he maintains a duo with uilleann piper Ronan Le Bars and, together with Lemaitre, forms the trio that accompanies Celtic vocalist Gilles Servat.
Four distinctive musicians shaped Kornog’s collective direction. The only non-Breton participant, Jamie McMenemy on vocals, bouzouki, mandolin and cittern, had already performed with several traditional folk ensembles while studying at Glasgow School of Art. He turned professional in 1976, touring and recording with the Battlefield Band before relocating to Brittany in 1979. Two years later he issued the solo album The Road to Kerrigouarch and co-established Kornog. Following the group’s initial dissolution he stayed away from music for six years, then resurfaced in 1993. Subsequent work has included appearances with the Belgium-based Celtic band Orion, a duo alongside Kornog fiddler Christian Lemaitre, and the trio Taxi Mauve, which backed vocalist Gerard Delahaye.
Lemaitre took up the fiddle in Paris before settling in Brittany, his family’s ancestral region. While first performing with Kornog he also appeared with the Breton dance troupe Pennou Skoulm and the string ensemble Archetype. After the band’s breakup he stayed active with the traditional-music teachers’ collective Tantad and the fest-noz group Storvan. Between 1992 and 1999 he toured three times with Kevin Burke and Johnny Cunningham under the name Celtic Fiddle Festival. He renewed his partnership with McMenemy in a duo in 1999 and, alongside his return to Kornog, continues to collaborate with Celtic vocalist Gilles Servat.
Wooden flute and bombarde player Jean-Michel Veillon ranks among the earliest musicians to adapt the wooden flute to Celtic repertoire. He had played bombarde since the age of fourteen and taught himself the wooden flute in 1977. Before helping found Kornog he recorded two albums of Breton dance music with Galorn. While touring and recording with Kornog he formed Pennou Skoulm in 1985. After Kornog disbanded he pursued non-traditional directions with Den, Barbaz and the Alain Genty Group. Since 1993 he has worked in a duo with Breton guitarist Yvon Riou and has continued releasing solo albums. The 1993 recording E Koat Nizon marked the first album devoted entirely to Breton music performed on the wooden transverse flute; a second such collection, Er Pasker, appeared in 1999.
Guitarist, flautist and vocalist Nicolas Quemener joined the reunited Kornog in place of original member Soig Siberil. A specialist in open-tuning guitar technique, Quemener grew up in Angers, France, and studied percussion at the National School of Music. He moved to Ireland in 1990, played with Arcady until 1994, then joined the Belgian band Orion. After settling in Brittany in 1993 he co-founded the traditional dance band Skeduz. In 1997 and 1998 he toured with Dan Ar Braz’s fifty-piece ensemble Heritage des Celtes. Beyond his work with Kornog he maintains a duo with uilleann piper Ronan Le Bars and, together with Lemaitre, forms the trio that accompanies Celtic vocalist Gilles Servat.
Albums
