The year 1998 marked a turning point in Kepa’s career. During that period KAP — the agency he founded with Aitor Narbaiza — was born, he signed with Resistencia, and released Bilbao 00:00h, his first double album featuring an outstanding international cast. The record achieved gold status after selling 50,000 copies, a figure that would eventually double. After leaving Producciones Serrano, Kepa and Aitor devised their first joint project: a concert with the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra conducted by Juanjo Mena at the Getxo Folk Festival. Upon returning to Madrid, Resistencia rejected the idea and requested a new proposal. According to Narbaiza, “Kepa took out a pen and paper and started writing a list of artists; then he presented the idea and they loved it, although few imagined how massive it would become.” Paco de Lucía was the only artist who declined the invitation..

The scale of the project was extraordinary: 23 compositions amounting to almost two hours of music, 52 collaborators, four months of recording across half a dozen studios, eight engineers and a 140-page book designed by Unai Molina. Artists from more than a dozen record labels took part, turning the album into a genuine bible of world music at the time. Among the musicians were Alasdair Fraser, Béla Fleck, Dulce Pontes, Hedningarna, Carlos Núñez, La Bottine Souriante, Justin Vali, Liam O’Flynn, Paddy Moloney (The Chieftains), Máirtín O’Connor, Phil Cunningham, Benito Lertxundi, Pedro Guerra, Oskorri, José Antonio Ramos, Sebastián Rubio, Faín Dueñas (Radio Tarifa), Carlos Beceiro, Jaime Muñoz (La Musgaña), Xosé Manuel Budiño, Tomás San Miguel, Pedro Estevan and Andrés Bedó.

To manage a project of such magnitude, a new core band was formed. Julio Andrade, a Venezuelan musician based in Donostia, took on the role of musical director. Kepa met Julio at Madrid’s Café Central, where he played flamenco jazz alongside Chano Domínguez, Nono García and Guillermo McGill, while already leading his own trio with four txalapartaris who would later become Oreka Tx, Igor and Harkaitz. Angel Unzu replaced Carlos Beceiro and Blas Fernández took over from Marie Hélène. Julio contributed arrangements for “Maitia nun zira?”, “Karola de mar”, “Sodade” and “Santimamiñeko…”, within what the Venezuelan describes as a collective and enthusiastic creative process.

The album travels through an astonishing sonic landscape: from traditional songs such as “Maitia nun zira?” or “Loriak udan” (with lyrics by Bilintx and vocals by Benito) to new hits such as “Bok-Espok” (with Hedningarna), “Santimamiñeko fandangoa & ioaeoe” and “Gaztelugatxeko martxa” (with Justin, Alasdair and Budiño). It also includes reinterpretations of “Nondik jo Maurizia” (a duet with Béla Fleck) and “Sodade”, where Dulce Pontes revisits Cesaria Evora through a delicate balance of morna and jazz. Bilbao 00:00h became Kepa’s most collaborative work to date, taking the triki into territories without borders or labels. As a curiosity, “Bok-Espok” was later included in Robert Dimery’s book 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die (Cassell, 2010).

Record label: Resistencia. Production: Kepa Junkera.