Haratago (meaning “beyond” in Basque) reveals all of the strength of the Basa Ahaide, the name given to the vocal expression of mountain shepherds in the Basque Country that is traditionally sung solo and a capella.

Drawing inspiration from his encounters with Turkish and Azerbaijani musicians, Julen Achiary now revisits this ancestral repertoire in a quartet with an unprecedented line-up : Nicolas Nageotte on the clarinet and duduk, Bastien Fontanille on the hurdy-gurdy and banjo, and
Jordi Cassagne on the violone (aka the bass viola da gamba).

These orally-transmitted ancestral songs convey the shepherd’s emotions with regard to nature and his life in the high mountain summer pastures. From his early childhood, Julen Achiary has listened, heard… then sang these songs, firstly for his own enjoyment before he began looking for an appropriate way in which he could share these songs with an audience.