Among the many EPs of Albanian music released via Jugoton in the 1960s by Qamili i Vogël. This dates from 1968 and this pllakë is split between himself and Tahir Drenica singing both cuts on the B side. Though not credited on the front cover, he is pictured second from the left with Qamili to his right.
What I found interesting about this EP was More, e Kam Nji Jaran Si Bylbyl uses the melody of the song popularised by Salih and Feriz Krasniqi from the region of Malisheva who are regarded as perhaps the most revered exponents of Albanian folksongs from the 1940s to the 1980s.
The song in question is Lulzoj Fusha, Lulzoj Mali which vaguely translates as Flowers of the Field, Flowers of the Mountain. Sidetracking slightly here, the interviewer asks Salih Krasniqi about the sources of the songs and their repertoire.
They go on to say that they have played 500 different songs. Songs they've written. Songs they've learned. Songs they heard from their fathers. Songs of history. They'd travel far from village to village by horse and cart, finding songs from locals.
With the rapid westernisation of Kosovo post the 1998 war, such songs and insights will slowly fade away if not preserved properly. It's a great pity that with the advent of the internet in the past decade we have not seen a great deal of discussion or insight on Kosovo's rich Albanian musical heritage in English, let alone in its mother tongue. Hopefully with such postings, such musical treasures will spread past poorly annotated postings on Youtube and in a place where it's far more easily accessible by those who are interested in this peculiar type of Balkan music.
I remember buying this cassette at Belgrade international airport in 1987. It seemed like a curiosity at the time, considering where the kiosk was. And what it was and remains to be is a sampler of mostly rural Albanian music from Kosovo, recorded during the 1960s and the following decade. It features none other than Qamili i Vogël, the folklorist and ethnomusicologist who typifies the very beauty of Kosovar country-blues.
This cassette (like many at the time before they were made locally in Kosovo's capital Prishtina) was released on the Zagreb-based and state-owned Jugoton, who released many 45rpm EPs, LPs and cassettes of Kosovar-Albanian music. Naturally, this has been long out of print and has sadly yet to garner a CD reissue though the vast number of independent labels scattered throughout Kosovo.
With various world music compilations permeating record stores featuring Albanian music being relatively sub-par, Këngë Popullore Shqiptare (Albanian Folk Songs) represents true scope of Kosovo's traditional music as sung and performed by men and women from all the land's regions.
Mazllom Mejzini, Qamili i Vogël and Ismet Peja (sources unknown)
The story of Qamili i Vogël (Little Qamil) is obscured in depths of Yugoslavia's dark and repressive past - where the cultural and musical expression of minority groups made for a trying expressive experience.
Born in the southern urban centre of Gjakova in 1923, Qamil Muhaxhiri singlehandedly created a popular genre of ethnic music within the thin bounadaries of modern-day Kosovo and presented it to not only his people, but to the record buying public at large.
Qamili i Vogël composed, recorded a total of 80 original songs, many of which were initially released as EPs on the Jugoton label in the mid 1960s. His vinyl debut was the first for a Albanian artist to commit to tape for a state-owned recording company in Yugoslavia.
Second to his work as a singer and songwriter, Qamili i Vogël publish books of Albanian folk songs for the public to learn and perform; a concept which was previously unheard of at a time when Albanian was not recognized as a national language in Tito's Bratstvo i Jedinstvo - brotherhood and unity - of Yugoslavia.
Despite these historic firsts, his compositions today aren't copyrighted; his compositional credits are absent from interpreters of his work, and since his death in 1991, Qamili i Vogël's songwriting and compositional catalogue has not seen a serious reappraisal outside of poorly packaged and annotated bootleg cassettes and CDs drawing from his career-long association with the Zagreb-based label Jugoton.
Information on his discography is scattered and blurred, as is any biographical information. Though with the rising popularity of Youtube, many home-recorded videos from the 1970s, state television appearances and a snippet of a career biography have began to slowly appear on the video-sharing website in the past year.
This video offers an interesting biography on his life, detailing his work, starting as a singer for Albanian language radio shows in the fifties, and as a graphic artist for the Rilindja newspaper, amongst other insightful detail intertwined between dedicated music videos which would've been screened on Radio-Televizija Pristina in the 1980s.
And this is not to say that his musical legacy has been forgotten; many artists to this day do covers of his songs in both the recording and performing fields alike within Kosovo and the diaspora. His compositions have lent to a style of music named after his birthplace, Gjakovarë contempoarily spearheaded by the tenor, Xeni.
One particular purveyor of his songs is Ismet Peja, and like a Dardanian Sinatra, treats his arrangements and vocal inflections of what could be only described today as Kosovar standardswith a great sense of respect for Qamili's melodies and deeply emotional phrasing.
Peja, along with Mazllom Mejzini (both pictured above) were frequent vocal collaborators who in turn held successful solo careers as vocalists. Qamili i Vogel also sang alongside Sofie Hyseni, Bajrush Doda, Hamide Sadiku and other revered Albanian folksingers of the sixties and seventies.
Qamili i Vogël's group, Hajdar Dushi in 1969 Back row: Sabah Bytyqi, Gongje Qaushi, Bardosh Rudi, Masar Peja Front row: Mazllom Mejzini, Qamili i Vogël, Ismet Peja
This collection of 23 songs is one of those aforementioned CDs, which I purchased (after a great deal of fishing around various marketplaces) in his hometown in 2007. This set represents a balance of his early work; a minimalist orchestration of ethnic Albanian instruments with violin; and his later big-band orchestral work - adding clarinet, classical guitar, mandola, harmonium, piano accordion, and secondary male vocalists.
01. Hajro Plava dhe Hyseni Zajmi 02 Kënga e Rexhës 03 N'rimishë të Hollë 04 Lufta e Livoqit 05 Ku Po Knojnë Kto Dy Kumrija 06 Dil Njiherë Moj Vajzë e Bukur 07 Prej Shtëpisë Kur Jam Dalë 08 Sina Uba Kjo Punë e Verës 09 Jare Mos Më Shti Moj Me T'ba Be 10 Oh Fletët Tua Moj Drandofile 11 Pash Sytë e Mi Që I Kam në Ballë 12 Kënga e Ymer Rizes 13 Gonxhe Qeli Drandofili 14 Në Pranverë Lulja Në Behar 15 I Vujtun Jam Nëkët Jetë 16 Nagoi Drita Nbreg T'nji Prroni 17 Kënga e Vëlla e Motër Terbeshi 18 Për Herë T'pare Kur T'pash Moj Dije 19 Qofshë e Zezë Dile Proma 20 Kënga e Bajram Begut 21 Kënga e Tërmetit Të Dibres 22 Tridhjetë Ditë Ka Ramazani 23 Kënga e Trimave Gjkakovarë
