Exponents of unfamiliar styles need all the help they can get, and this virtuoso group from the mountains of southern Albania has deserved celebrity backing. Their debut album was co-produced by Joe Boyd, who has worked with everyone from Nick Drake to Taj Mahal, and engineered by Grammy-winning Jerry Boys, of Buena Vista Social Club fame. Saz’iso play saze, a style that developed when iso-polyphonic a cappella folk songs, with at least two melody lines and drone backing, were matched against violin, clarinet, lute and percussion. The result is music that is unworldly, often melancholy and haunting. The best songs include Nënockë, a tragic dialogue between mother and daughter, featuring the powerful interlocking voices of Adrianna Thanou and Donika Pecallari, with lute providing the drone effects, while the instrumentals include the exquisite and soulful Kaba Me Violinë. Saz’iso deserve a following far beyond Albania.
