World Beat

Get your txalaparta groove on

Comments (0) By Laura Hahnefeld Thursday, Feb 3 2011

A 6,000-year-old instrument, exhilarating landscapes from around the globe, and a quest to jam with fellow artists in remote nomadic societies? Message to world-music hipsters and armchair travelers everywhere: Prepare to wet yourselves.

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The documentary Nömadak Tx follows the adventures of Harkaitz Martinez and Igor Otxoa, musicians who play variations of an ancient Basque instrument called the txalaparta (think a two-person xylophone played with thick sticks) in various corners of the world, fusing their music with like-minded nomads in a real life “We Are the World” jam session.

From an ensemble in Mumbai to skiing into the Arctic Circle for a performance on a txalaparta carved totally from ice, as well as musical meet-ups in the greater Sahara and chiseling an instrument out of rock for a crowd in an Algerian refugee settlement, the Basque duo travels the world in search of new sounds and the musical ties that bind cultures.

Sat., Feb. 5, 2:30 p.m.; Thu., Feb. 24, 6:30 p.m., 2011