Most of us think of Scottish music and the Great Highland Bagpipes or perhaps Irish music and the Uilleann Pipes when we think about bagpipes, but variations of the instrument have been played for centuries through a lot of Europe, as well as other areas including the Persion Gulf. All capture air in a bag that feeds a set of enclosed reeds. There is a lot of really interesting pipe music out there for the folk music freak, and I know nothing at all about most of it. From time to time, this blog’s Daily Dose feature will offer up some examples of pipe music that may not have so much exposure as the Scottish pipes.
That was Sean Folsom. You may recall a video featuring him playing a very old chromatic button accordion not so long ago.
Here he is again playing an instrument called the Mezoued, or Double Pipe, played in North African countries.
Here’s a Tunisian combo, La Troupe Marhaban, with pipes and a strong emphasis on drumming. I like these guys!
There are even German bagpipes. Who knew?
27th Street 