SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain -- Rehearsing for their latest journey to Asia, Oreka TX, a group from Spain's Basque region, showcased modern compositions played largely on some of the world's most ancient instruments: a kind of bagpipe called the alboka, and the txalaparta, a kind of crude xylophone manned by two players banging on enormous blocks of wood.
The band was gearing up for Basque Week in Tokyo, which runs from Oct. 14 to Oct. 19 -- an event that underscores an improbable relationship between two distinctly different global regions. Since 2009, when a Japanese arts promoter stumbled across the band, Oreka TX has collaborated with Japanese drummers and jazz saxophonists, sharing concert tours that encompassed both Japan and the Basque Country. The band, which has even provided the soundtrack for a Japanese puppet show, is now on its sixth trip to Asia.
